War Child: Growing Up in Adolf Hitler's Germany

by Annelee Woodstrom

Annelee Woodstrom was twenty years old when she immigrated to America in 1947. These kind people in America wanted to hear about Adolf Hitler, the man who was despised everywhere in the world. During her adolescene, constant propaganda and strictly enforced censorship influenced her thinking. As a young adult, the bombings and all the consequential suffering caused by World War II affected Annelee deeply. How could Annelee tell them that as a child, during 1935, she wanted nothing more than to be a member of Adolf Hitler’s Jung Maidens’ organization?

Genres: Holocaust, Book Club, History, World War II

252 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2003

Reviews

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting life amid Nazi Germany.
Young Girl must choose between Faith and New Religion of the Nazi Party.
Friends vs. new ideals.
Hero/Idol Worship.
Smacks of today, w/National Healthcare and Government Handouts to buy people over to policies that are not of a Democratic, Free Republic.
Thought of "Book Thief", Dystopia books, "Resistance Books" Corrie Ten Boom; "The Hiding Place" "An Elephant in the Garden" and several others.
Worth the read.

[Tracy Christianson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an amazing story! I’m not a huge fan of non-fiction books, but if they were all written like this I’d probably like them more. Annelee writes the story as a novel and everything flowed so well. It’s one of those stories where I wanted more; more details, more behind the scenes, more everything. Highly recommend.

[Jodi Sorenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautifully written, but also makes me realize how incredibly ill-informed I am about world history.

[Ivory · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend (and junior high English teacher) wrote this book about her experiences as a young girl in Hitler's Germany. It's an amazing and honest story.

Reading this, one sees how many German people viewed Hitler as a leader before and during the war, the lack of awareness many had about Hitler's treatment of the Jewish people, the difficult economic times that preceeded the war, and the devistating impact of the war on Annelee's family, friends and neighbors. Ultimately, it's a story of the realities of war for the everyday citizen and the lifelong impact that has. And, finally, it's a love story: Annelee ended up in small town Minnesota teaching English to kids like me because she came to the U.S. to marry an American soldier.

[Note: the publishers could have done better with the proofing, etc. Compared with the mainstream/larger publishing houses, the final product isn't as polished as we're accustomed to.]

[Patsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annelee Woodstrom was twenty years old when she immigrated to America in 1947. These kind people in America wanted to hear about Adolf Hitler, the man who was despised everywhere in the world. During her adolescene, constant propaganda and strictly enforced censorship influenced her thinking. As a young adult, the bombings and all the consequential suffering caused by World War II affected Annelee deeply. How could Annelee tell them that as a child, during 1935, she wanted nothing more than to be a member of Adolf Hitler's Jung Maidens' organization?

[Nicole Denekamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book so much. After reading it, I had the opportunity to listen to and meet the author. She was so charming and real and honest. What a joy to meet her and hear her stories come to life. She has a wonderful way with words and brings such a different perspective to this time in history.

[Kristie Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of hosting Annelee Woodstrom as a visiting author and guest speaker at the school in which I teach. She is a remarkable woman, and her story will always stick with me. As a high school English teacher in MN, having the opportunity for my students to read this book AND confer with Annelee in person was both relevant and rewarding.

[Mary Fridgen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by a German woman who grew up in Hitler's Germany. It was very interesting but what really is kind of cool is she ended up living in Twin Valley, Minnesota which is just 30 miles north of us! She had an amazing story to tell!

[Carolyn]

I'm grateful that people who lived through momentous times in history take the time to write their stories and save them for the rest of us.
But if one wants to publish their story in the form of a book, the services of a good editor are needed.