Hitler's Girls: Doves Amongst Eagles

by Tim Heath

The “frank, tragic, bittersweet, brutal, emotional” true story of the Third Reich’s so-called she-devils of the League of German Girls (Gerry Van Tonder, author of Berlin Blockade).   They were ten to eighteen years German girls who volunteered for the war effort, and were indoctrinated into the Nazi youth organizations, Jungmädelbund and Bund Deutcscher Mädel. At first they were schooled in a very narrow how to cook, clean, excel at sports, birth babies, and raise them. But when Hitler called, they were trained, militarized, and exploited for the ultimate goal of the Third Reich.   From the prosperous beginnings of the League of German Girls in 1933 to the cataclysmic defeat of 1945, Hitler’s Girls is an insightful, disturbing, and revealing exploration of their specific what was expected of them, and how they delivered, as defined by the Nazi state. Were they unwitting pawns or willing accessories to genocide? Historian Tim Heath searches for the answers and provides a definitive voice for this unique, and until now, unheard generation of German females.   “An essential account of the women who served Hitler during his years of power. Stunning photographs but a chilling narrative, in view of what they were required to do.” —Books Monthly

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Germany, World War II, Holocaust, Historical, War

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2017

About the author

Born in to a military family, Tim Heath’s interest in history led him to research the air war of the Second World War, focussing on the German Luftwaffe and writing extensively for The Armourer Magazine. During the course of his research he has worked closely with the German War Graves Commission at Kassel, Germany, and met with German families and veterans alike. Born out of this work, Hitler's Girls is his first book. He lives in Evesham, Worcestershire, with his partner Paula.

Reviews

[Katherine Addison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book turned out to be exactly what I expected after reading the introduction: amateur English historian of the Luftwaffe meets some nice elderly German ladies, gets them talking about their childhoods, and thinks, Hey, I should write a book! The book is mostly the women's stories about their childhoods, about the Jungmadel and the Bund Deutscher Madel, about their war experiences., with some pretty amateur history thrown around them. (I still almost can't believe Heath had never heard of Sophie Scholl before one of his interview subjects mentioned her.)

So as a source of primary information about what it was like to grow up in Hitler's Germany, this is okay. Where it really falls apart is where Heath makes a mistake that a lot of professional historians have also made, which is that he goes in for comparative atrocities. I understand his impulse. He's grown very fond of his interview subjects and they have told him some truly horrible things about the Russian invasion of Berlin. It's human nature to want to defend them. But nothing you can put forward makes the Russian invasion of Berlin worse than the Holocaust---or even the German invasion of Russia. My point is not that the German people somehow "deserved" what happened, any more than the Russian people "deserved" what happened. My point is that you can't do some kind of moral calculus and decide that what happened to the Germans was less deserved than what happened to the Russians (or the Poles or the Slavs or...) Heath's interview subjects are not, by virtue of being nice elderly German ladies, more innocent than the Russian people he doesn't go interview. What happened to German girls and women (and boys and men) in the Russian invasion of Germany was horrible. Full stop. It was not more horrible or less horrible than what happened to Russian girls and women and boys and men in the German invasion of Russia. You can say (as he does) that more German women were raped than Russian women: "It is certainly true that the Russians, civilians in particular, did suffer terrible cruelty at the hands of certain units of the German army during its victorious early successful campaigns on the eastern front, especially the SS, who were responsible for the murder of thousands. However, there was nowhere near the number of sexual violations carried out against very young girls and women, as there were by the Red Army in Berlin and surrounding Soviet-occupied territories clawed back from the Germans in the Second World war [sic]" (203)* But, even assuming that's true---and he doesn't offer any source for his information---how does mass rape stack up against mass slaughter? (And it's not thousands, Mr. Heath. It's millions.) How does it stack up against a deliberate policy of starvation? Rape is an atrocity. Murder is an atrocity. There isn't a point-system that lets you grade them and compare, and the attempt to do so merely shows a naivete that I (obviously) find both annoying and morally suspect.

---
*Also, he's wrong about the details. The Einsatzgruppen (which is what he means by "certain units of the German army") were NOT part of the Wehrmacht. They were part of the SS, which was a paramilitary organization answering to Himmler.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book and one which I warmly recommend to students of history, politics and military affairs. Above all in my opinion it should be read by all who share a common humanity with the children who grew up in a Nazi Germany. It also should be championed by women’s movements across the world to show the strength and courage of women and while equality is a reality not a dream.
What is also an astonishing fact is this is Tim Heath’s first book. He should be very proud and if he chooses to he has a successful career as an author waiting for him.
This is a history book charting the raise of Nazism under Hitler’s government, World War II and the fall of Berlin. What makes it stand out is the passage of time since these events, allowing for the release of records but more importantly the opening of memories of those involved namely the girls and young women of Germany.
It is Heath’s good fortune and expertise in fashioning his narrative around first hand experiences. It is no small task to provide courage and convey trust for these women who have been quiet all their adult lives to finally describe and remember the worst times of their lives. He has been sensitive but he has allowed their words to stand out. He has therefore been patient, open and he must possess a listening heart.

This is the best non-fiction book I have read this year. It has taught me so much I thought I knew but only previous grasped in in the most simplistic of ways. It demonstrates the value of eye witness testimonies and despite the voices of Hitler’s Girls finally being heard I despair we won’t all be ready to listen and learn.
It is a compelling read, covering changing attitudes to the role of women within Germany from Mother Earth nurturing the pure children of the Reich to replacement ‘men’ working in factories and taking up arms to defend the Fatherland.
The women speak with honesty and openness about these times, young love, fear and loathing of allied bombing and doing their duty.
The most chilling passages concern the end of hostility and the fall of Berlin. It firms up what I had heard about the Soviet advance and consequences of their arrival first into the destroyed city.
It is heartbreaking and difficult to read, the words hit Home as they are not opinions or reflections on historical events but first hand witness testimony of girls who saw, were beaten and raped.
Pen & Sword have a great sense of time and place in their published historical books this one is a gem, a real diamond and will live with me for the rest of my life. This is the power of books; but they gather dust unless you read them. This is one you cannot afford to miss. In an age where celebrity books are best sellers this fine book tells about ordinary women who are closer to you than any star of stage or screen. For these girls have so much more to say and they share your humanity.

[Cam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the account of the women who served Hitler during his years of power and what they were required to do.

From the League of German Girls in 1933 to the defeat of 1945, what was expected of them, and how they delivered, as defined by the Nazi state.

[Soraya Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great non-fiction read about women in Germany.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the indoctrination of girls and young women in Nazi Germany with many interview extracts in their own words as the women looked back on their lives from around the year 2000. They showed great courage in speaking out, especially in the final sections of the book which deal with the very harrowing accounts of what happened when the Soviet army moved into Berlin and committed countless atrocities particularly against the female inhabitants.

It was also interesting to learn to what degree the Nazis reversed their own doctrines which confined girls to a future of housework, childcare and cooking when it suited them: suddenly the girls had to learn to fire rocket launchers at tanks or, if they were able, to become sharpshooters. Cynically, the leaders of the regime cowered in the Hitler Bunker while sending children and young people out into the streets of Berlin to fight the Soviet soldiers. They had also earlier sent them against the American army in the West and this was new information to me as I hadn't realised they had also been deployed to fight against appalled US troops who nevertheless had to retalliate to prevent themselves being killed. There were also some interviews with a couple of the troops giving their viewpoint on this.

The one thing that holds back a 5 star rating is that there are quite a few misprints in the book or words missed out etc and also awkward phrasing in quite a few places so it seems to lack a good editor. But a 4 star read nevertheless.

[Anna Morgenstern · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well structured, well crafted book of accounts never seen or heard before; the girls of the Nazi regime.
In just over 200 pages Heath skillfully managed to portray the life of Girls starting from early on the Nazi's rise to power up until the end of WW2. Very recommended to everyone with interest to the subject.

[Josephine (Jo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although enthralling this was also in places a difficult book to read. I knew quite a bit about the Hitler youth (as in the movement for young boys) but I had no idea what part the girls were expected to play in the war in Germany. The fact that girls were expected to join the Jung Madel at the age of ten and then the Bund Deutscher Mädel on reaching the age of 14 until 18 was something I had never heard of. The physical examination for entering the Jung Madel to check for purity of race and also physical perfection and purity was so stringent that it was physical abuse. The girls were given the idea that it was going to be all fun and trips to camp and games to lured them in and then they were indoctrinated into the Nazi beliefs, often turning on their own parents. On the surface, they were learning to be good housewives and mothers but as the war progressed and things looked worse for Germany their role changed from potential wife to soldier. Even the younger girls were trained in some form of combat and Hitler had no compunction in using little children who may get killed doing his evil work. The dreadful behaviour of the Russian (and some other nationalities) who were supposed liberators was truly wicked and no one was safe as they entered the German cities and towns.
This was moving, disturbing and sad but also something that people should read and know the truth of what happened to these young girls.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book while on a long car trip. To say I enjoyed it would be the wrong phrase, but I did find it compelling reading. We are only now beginning to understand women's wartime experiences; they were more than hiding or waiting around at home. Women worked; women built bombers and fed children and resisted.

Women were also combatants.

I felt that this story of young women growing up in Nazi Germany and their own wartime experience, including as combatants, was an important missing piece of World War II.

I didn't understand the inclusion of the chapter on the young women Hitler dated (or not); it was mostly speculation and old ground. The interviews with the Hitler Youth girls themselves were the real story here. The last chapter of this book, which was about what happened to these girls when the Red Army arrived, was very difficult to read.

All in all this was a worthwhile addition to the literature of women in World War II. Highly recommended.

[Sam Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking but I didn't like some parts of the author's style.

[Liane · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say I enjoyed this book is very much the wrong wording but it made for extremely interesting and compelling reading

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent if rather harrowing analysis of the lives of several girls who lived in Hiter's Germany, mainly focussing on the BDM but it does also look into the HJ. This is the first time I have read personal primary source accounts of participants involved in the League of German Maidens and their stories both pre, during and post war. There is also a section on the Werewolf's, something that I have not seen covered in any detail in other books looking at this period.

A unique insight into what these girls went through. It also totally demolishes (if any further evidence needs to be shown) that the Russians were 'liberators' of Berlin. Should be recommended reading for anyone wanting to understand WW2, dictatorship, sexual violence during war time or the effects that propaganda can have on young minds.

[Ian Pattinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I'm honest, I'd rather have given this book 3.5 stars. It's a fascinating subject, and a worthy project, but there was occasional clunky phrasing and a couple of sections where it would have benefited from another round of editing.

Definitely worth reading, just needed a little more polishing.

[Delrene Abraham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, written in an easy to understand way

[Claire Biggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories of the Girls and how they were made to join the different leagues and then made to fight or be killed by their own officers/leaders, the stories of what happened to them when the Russians came in makes for difficult reading but a must for the reader to know what really happened

[Mattie Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a stunning account from interviews with multiple German women, of the role of German girls during the years of the Reich. The first non-fiction book I have read since secondary school education, 10 or so years ago. It is so important to know of the lives of ordinary people during the war for the beliefs of politicians.
My only criticism is that there are a few grammatical errors.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right after getting in power, Hitler and others within Nazi Party wasted no time to embark on a quest to turn Germany into a totalitarian society. In this book, it is discussed how the Nazis tried to shape women into their vision of their role in Nazi society and put them in various uses as German war efforts took turn for the worse. Indeed, the indoctrination began from earliest age, as German girls joined Deutsche Jung Madel from age 10 to 14, while after that Bund Deustcher Madel, for girls aged 14 to 18 awaits. Within this group girls were brainwashed into faithful servants of the Führer and the Nazi Party, serving as homemakers and baby-making machines to keep the Nazis’ Machines of world conquest going. However, it was also through these organizations that many German girls found their freedoms and better lives, experiencing things such as going on a camping trip for example, or escaping from overbearing and physically abusive fathers, for example, luxuries that could not happen without those organizations.

As Germans went into setback and inevitable defeat, however, the Nazis vision of women as housekeepers were conveniently casted aside, as girls and women were mobilized to meet German war efforts, from tending farms, working at ammunition factories, and even serving as soldiers, children soldiers even, as I disturbingly found out the uses of Boys and Girls as soldiers through Operation Werewolf and Volkssturm, Battle of Aachen being a gruesome example. What angers me the most was Soviets’ rape of Berlin, a term which I use in this context literally and figuratively. Such brutality that had to be faced by German women, that at one point I simply stopped reading for a while, for I could not stand it. However, I applaud the bravery of women who came out to be interviewed by the author, who had to face their fears so that theirs stories can be known by others who read this book. One interviewee’s story moved me so much, that unconsciously my chest tightened when reading her story of how her adoptive parents (she often had quarrels with the father) went out of the trouble to find her from one prisoner camps to others. Her being in Nazi’s youth organizations, then serving as auxiliary was indeed because of her antipathy to her adoptive father, yet it all ended with how she finally recognized him as his true father and asked to be taken home.

Overall, I found this book a worthwhile reading, except one chapter describing Hitler’s sexual preferences and probable deviances, which I found needlessly explored within this book, and I recommend this book to everyone who is interested in lessons of history.

[False · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a great deal about World War II as well as Nazism, but this was a new perspective where the author interviews surviving members of the women's youth groups of German (to be healthy, strong and prepared for motherhood.) Instead, at the end of the war they were armed and fighting with a mishmash of forces. Like others in their culture at the time, these women who, as girls, fell hook, line and sinker for the Hitler Youth myth. Beautiful looking girls, some of them, too, sporty, athletic and devoted to their country and their Fuhrer.

Sadly, however, the book is horribly badly written. There are appalling grammatical errors, the author mixes his tenses - sometimes in the middle of a sentence - in the most irritating way and the punctuation is all over the place. Moreover he depressingly often starts and ends a sentence with the same words! Where are the razor sharp editors who would have dived in with the proper corrections immediately.

Far and away the best bits of the book are the memories of the ladies themselves - even if they do need some correction. The historical chapters are nothing like so good. The chapter about Sophie Scholl read more like a collection of notes waiting to be moulded into a proper chapter and was very confusing in places.

Finally, the author needs to check up on his history. When he first introduces Geli Raubel he suggests that she moved into Hitler's apartment in Munich with her two children - when she was in fact one of those two children; her mother was the housekeeper. And there is a line which suggests the whole of the 3rd Reich was jealous of Eva Braun when she moved into the Reich Chancellery with Hitler in 1939. She was living at the Berghof in 1939, and no one knew she existed at that time!

And lastly, the author should be more careful about Hitler and sexual matters. There was a lot of rather spiteful propaganda written about Hitler by the British and by the Americans, and none of it was ever proved to be a fact. This book suggests he was leaping in and out of bed with endless pretty women - however, one of his butlers from the Berghof actually said, in a television documentary, that Hitler and Eva never shared a bed and whenever he came to change the sheets there was never any sign that anything had occurred between them in either his or her bed. These are things best left to history, not written about in such a way as to imply implicit truth in the allegations. the maim, the elderly and even younger children. At least women's voices are now being heard as part of our shared history and not these voiceless, ghostly shadows who were never heard from.

[Josie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My god, those were dreadful times and it is one of the many reasons why up until now I have refused to talk about it.  For heaven's sake, all we needed was bread -- it just all went too far.

3.5 stars.  This was such a compelling read, grim and dark but at the same time fascinating.  I really appreciated that so much of it (maybe around half?) is just pure quotes from the author's interviews with women who were part of the Jung Madel and the BDM.  Their eyewitness testimony is illuminating and invaluable, especially since women understandably didn't want to talk about their experiences for so long.

However, there were so many mistakes!  Spelling, grammar, weird sentence structure, and just heaps of silly little things like "buildings raised to the ground", Berlin not given a capital letter, names constantly misspelt, and the author unable to decide whether to refer to himself in the first or third person...  It dragged down the quality of the book, and made it seem clumsy and amateur, which is a real shame given the importance of the subject.  (Is it really that difficult to find a good editor?)

The chapter on the Soviet rapes was very difficult to read, but necessary to include, but the author claims that it only went on for three days because Stalin ordered it to stop?  Uh... no.  Having read A Woman In Berlin I was already pretty certain it went on for much longer, and a quick Google search threw up this article from Women's History Review which states:

Atina Grossmann places the occurrences of most of the rapes between 24 April and 5 May 1945, while Erich Kuby agrees that about 80% of all the rapes in Berlin occurred between 24 April and 3 May.

That's... a little longer than three days.

I also found the following problematic:

As far as can be ascertained, there are no reports of any British soldiers ever having taken part in the rape of German girls or women.  The British Tommy has always been, perhaps, the best disciplined of soldiers in the world, and in most cases conducted himself with great moral distinction throughout.

This is such a ridiculously biased statement I don't even know where to start.  Perhaps the author should have read To The Victor The Spoils, which isn't afraid to discuss the subject or pretend it didn't happen.  There's even a handily summarised section on Wikipedia that covers it...

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hitler's Girls: Doves Amongst Eagles by Tim Heath is the second book for me by this author and it adds to the knowledge of what happened on the German Homefront detailed in Creating Hitler's Germany. It is based on research into documents that survived the war as well as interviews of people who were there to experience it all. The focus of this book is on the young German girls who were initially encouraged and later required to join the Jung Madel for ages 10-14 and the Bund Deutscher Madel for older girls 14-18. They initially enjoyed participating because of the trips to camps somewhat similar to the Girl Scouts here. But the training was focused on indoctrinating these girls for their eventual purpose for the Third Reich: household chores of cooking and cleaning, first aid training, and health with the intent to become mothers to more Nazis. There was not much emphasis on any traditional courses such as mathematics and science as the Nazis determined that these were unnecessary to their purpose. At the same time they were ingrained with the Nazi ideology that they were part of the master race and that other races, especially Jews, gypsies, slavs, poles, and others were sub-human. As the war intensified, these girls, along with the male counterpart Hitler Youth were trained to use explosives, anti-tank weapons, rifles, etc. to fight and kill allied soldiers whenever possible. By the time the war progress had turned against Germany these children (because that's what they were) were so brainwashed that they accepted that it was their duty to put their lives at risk for a war that was obviously lost. The effect on the western allies was horrifying when they were forced to shoot and kill these children, especially the girls. On the Russian front there was not the same concern and, in fact, they had no qualms about it and proceeded to brutalize and kill them even after they had surrendered. These are the girls that the author was able to track down to learn about the way the Nazis used even children to further their cause. It shows what concentrated indoctrination can do to young minds. Many of them still felt that what they did was justified but many expressed regrets and recognize how they had been used by Hitler and the Nazis.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive and Graphic

This book describes the rise of Hitler and the Nazis as they begin to infiltrate all aspects of life. Initially to many, including the Germans, it seems harmless enough, even positive and the people don't realize they are being brainwashed to hate the Jewish people, gypsies, Romanians, homosexuals etc. Even teachers within the schools would take part in bullying their Jewish students. It was normalized.
The reader also learns about several groups that are basically club like meetings designed for both boys and girls. Initially, the girls were only taught things like cooking, housekeeping, and encouraged to bear as many children as possible because it is their duty to Hitler and the German people. Females were very much seen as second class citizens who must always keep an orderly home, cook nutritious meals and never resist or deny their husband sex. Boys would learn about fighting, military marches, their superiority over women, Jews and basically everyone else except Hitler and a few select others.
It goes on to scenes of war breaking out and the approach of Russian soldiers , capturing civilians and soldiers alike whenever possible including women and children. They would kill the males in brutal ways when they captured one and with many of the women as well as the female children in many instances, they were subjected to rape , sometimes followed by death.
I will not describe the entire book but I learned things that weren't in other books I've read. It did have a fair amount of swearing including taking the Lord's name in vain which I cannot tolerate! It also got quite graphic in detail at times with regard to the rapes, brutality, deaths and gore.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this book to be hard to read at times I can say I honestly cried at some of the harrowing things that happened to the German women and children. Also a very insightful book as to what the Russians did at the close of WW2 and very apt for today with what's happening in the Ukraine. The book focuses mainly on the young girls who had no choice but to join the female Hitler Youth (BDM) and how many were coerced into taking up arms against the Red Army as it began its advance on Berlin. At this point in the war there were women and children and old men mobilized to fight under the Volkssturm (Peoples Storm). Remnants of Waffen SS units mingled in with those of the Wehrmacht or regular German army. At no point does the author insinuate that the SS were part of the Wehrmacht ( as one reviewer wrongly remarks) and he makes clear distinctions between the various German units. The rape of German females as young as 8 to as old as 80 is common knowledge today. In the book cases of horrific rapes are discussed by members of Allied mobile medical/surgical units responsible for treating victims of which there were 90,000 recorded cases yet many more have come to light since.

[Stephen Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-Researched

This history does give too much of a pass in the end to the Nazi followers after voluminous anecdotal treatment, so that excusing it from wrongdoing and if turning one’s head should be re-examined; “not living personally under a dictatorship” doesn’t suggest that one cannot criticize the Nazis and people who lived on Germany during their rule. A good many were fine with what happened, and a good many weren’t. Critiques of this population remain extremely necessary to sort things out correctly, and to say otherwise — to exempt certain people from criticism of their ethics — reeks of an apologist’s claim.

Nonetheless, the awful crimes of the occupation needed detailing for many twenty-first century readers, as this too must be fair and balanced. And it was; as was the work’s overall treatment of girls and women who served in the Nazi youth groups. Such individuals must be seen in their context, and they very much were. That is why I gave it five stars.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book was better than expected. Covers the rise of the Hitler Youth followed and obviously by the title focuses on the BDM.
It is good to remember that there are always more than 1 side in conflict. Not just the victors, this book is 95% from the German perspective. what makes it stand out is it is war from and female and child perspective. Children that grew up being brainwashed and then forced to fight in werewolf actions.
No holds bar account of the rape and atrocities faced by men, women, and children when Berlin fell to the Russians.

[MARK A · Rating 1 out of 5]

The bottom line of the book is that Germans were victims of Hitler too and should be forgiven. Using children and then extending the logic of the argument to all is clever. It of course ignores the fact that they were raging anti-semites before Hitler. Apologists love the "if not for this one evil man" view of history. "They didn't know what happened to their disappeared Jewish neighbors"? The fact is they didn't care. ...and if Germany had won the war they never would've cared.

[Katherine L · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have given it five stars

I found the book fascinating. I did not mind the scenes of violence so much, because they belong to the story. My only quibble is with the gratuitous descriptions of the rumors of Hitler’s sexuality. I felt it was too much and unnecessary information, but overall I enjoyed the book very much.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting perspective

This book provided an interesting perspective on a aspect of ww2 that I was not familiar with. The author captures the Nazi mindset that was so influential on the young minds of German youth at the time. On a downside, the book needs a good copyedit.

[Mick Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a hard read especially towards the end.it had more impact on me than some of the heavier reads on the same subject.told by the people who were there not supposition.if only we learnt from history and not repeat it.

[Todd R · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for WW2 history

This book really tells the horrors of the war. It is real stories from the people themselves. The author does a great job telling the facts without going into long over analyzed theories like so many history book

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The interviews with the German ladies who lived through the war were fascinating. However I disliked the author’s style. 2 stars for author pulled up to three stars by interviews.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le sobra el capítulo sobre la vida sexual de Hitler, pero por lo demás es una lectura muy interesante sobre un tema raramente tratado.