Witnesses of War: Children's Lives Under the Nazis (ISBN 1400033799)

War and children:
This is an excellent study of the affect World War II had on children, both German and their oppressed contemporaries in other countries. It's certainly most poignant when discussing the Jewish children, who were the ones who bore the brunt of the evils of the Nazi regime. There were also the so-called "sub-humans" (to the Nazis), the children of Poland, Russia, Czechoslovakia and others, whose fate, in some instances, was as terrible as the Jews. It's a very sad book, but an important one for us to realize that war has a most profound affect on the youngest of us, who have no say in what occurrs around them, or in what happens to them. What impressed me the most was the feeling of "victimhood" that the German people, young and old, adopted after the War. They knew, in many cases, that the Jews were being exterminated, but it didn't appear to bother them until the war, in all its horror, reached them where they lived. I grieve for the bad things that happened to the children of both sides, but assuming the mantle of victim by the Germans really is pushing sympathy to the breaking point. I won't say that I feel that they deserved what happened to them, what intelligent person would, but there is "war guilt" that was ignored right after the war, and only in the late 60s did the country as a whole own up to its responsibility. Better late than never, I suppose.

unbelievable:
This book was one of many I have read about Nazi inhumanity. The difference is that this one was centered on children. I was so astonished to read about the cruel and inhumane way the Nazis treated their own children that did not "conform" to the current political climate. My question, after reading this book is, are the traits that the German people seem to have had during the Nazi period part of the human condition, or part of Europe, or part of the first part of the 20th century, or what?? Is it in all of us to act and react as the people described in this book? This book is a MUST READ for anyone trying to understand the authoritarian, parochial and nationalistic actions of the Nazis and all Germans during the third reich.

The Other Side of Kindertransport:
As has become more recently of common knowledge, thousands of minor German Jews left Germany to spend the war, and in many cases the rest of their lives, in Great Britain and elsewhere with foster families, and at times, in group homes. This was the subject of an award-winning documentary recently. The other side of this story--the story of German and other youths and the course of the war on their developemnt and life histories has almost been a subject of PC silence, lest the "suffering" of Germans or children of Nazis be considered with versimilitude. This book proves these issues must be discussed and considered--they affect geopolitics today as much as they did in the 1930s and 1940s until the German reunification. Some of the issues invovled--protecting young Germans from the young "criminal element"--those youngsters being the seeds of the Third Reich post-war. Also important became protecting children during the RAF by night and USAAF by day bombing of German cities. As H. Goering said early in the war, should Berline be bombed, "you can call me Meier." Well, by 1940, some people were doing just so--quietly. Nicholas Stargardt uses his excellent understanding of German to bring as a truly deep and unique perspective into the young lives of children in the Reich, reminding us that FORTY PERCENT of men born in German in 1920 were dead by 1945. This is even more astounding than the currently fashionable debate about the incendiary bombing and casualties at Dresden. I believe it is long overdue that the effects of the war on Germans as well as the millions of Jews, Christians, Sinti and Roman, criminals, and enemies of the state be considered worthy of scholarly study. I also feel this book has set a standard to meet--including some of the most revealing photographs of childrens' art and children DOING art that I have yet seen. A masterpiece of scholarship!

Detailed exploration of Nazi rule on childrens' lives:
Mr. Stargardt brilliantly explores how Nazi rule affected the lives of children of all nationalities in wartime Europe during WWII. Through extensive research, the author shows how children thought and acted when faced with horrific experiences. Great historical writing and not a dull paragraph therein.

A different perspective on the effects of life under the Nazis:
WITNESSES OF WAR: CHILDREN'S LIVES UNDER THE NAZIS is a riveting, involving survey which uses original material from children's schoolwork, diaries, letters from evacuation camps and more to recreate the child perception and experience during the war. Many of these children had to take over when parents couldn't: their stories provide a different perspective on the effects of life under the Nazis, and should be added to the chronicles of any serious Holocaust representation. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch