Parallel Journeys

Parallel Journeys is a most excellent book which captured my attention and interest the more I read. It really revealed some truths that I had not before known. It showed in ,contrast, two perspectives of the same event. It is always better to have both sides of a story in order to better understand it. So often a person's mind can be twisted to one side of an argument because they are not informed of the different views. It is a truly horrific thing that happened to Jews and other minorities during WW2, but I also understand the appeal of Hitler. He gave the German people a new hope for a better future. The book also shows what can happen when you allow hate to drive you. It is a powerful force of destruction and sadly one that has often been used. Parallel Journeys really touched my heart and revealed some things about our past that can help us in the future.

In middle school we were doing group readings. I picked this book because it was a historical book and seemed mildly interesting. It is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. It shows Nazi Germany from two points of view. I liked that it wasn't hostile toward the Germans that were caught up in the Fatherland. The boy in the book is a part of the Hitler Youth and you have relate to him. I used to think that everyone in Germany knew of all the horrible things that were happening, because that is basically what they taught us in school. This book changed that, now I think most people would have followed Hitler, becuase he did bring prosperity back to Germany. Don't believe that I am saying this because the Nazi were good people, but it makes them seem more real. On the other side of the story is a woman and her attempts at trying to escape and how her life was during that time, even though she wasn't in Germany the whole time. You can tell the horrors she and her family were put through. The sadest part was all that happened with her daughter. The end was really good though becuase it talks about how the two of them now go around and talk about their experiences together. It helped me relize the whole of World War II not just what the teachers decided to tell us.

This book was given to us in school for Grade 11 History. I started reading it and was unable to put it down. The best parts of the book are the parts about Alfons Heck. Throughtout the entire book you neve once hear that he never believed that what he was being told was wrong. He fully believed that Germans were a superior race and all others must be done away with. I think that he should extreme courage to be able to tell his story about who his life was effect by being in the Hitler Youth. Helen Waterford's stroy was just as amazing. She showed such courage even though she faced what seemed like impossible odds. World War II is one of my favorite subjects and this book shows you an even darker side to it.

This book should have been a work of fiction. It truely made me believe that the Holocaust should have never happened in our world but only in a fictional book. But it did happen and we need to learn from it. This books should us how

"Parallel Journey's " is about two really different teenagers. One girl named Helen Waterford that's Jewish, and one boy named Alfons Heck that's German. The story tells how they go their totally seperate ways. The girl, Helen, goes into hiding with her husband and daughter. But, they decide to send their daughter with someone else. Well, they get found by a German officer and they got seperated and they go to 2 different extermination camps (jewish camps). The boy, Alfons, joins the Hitler Youth group and goes into the flying classes. He was so good at it that he got raised to a higher and higher level, and then he gets to a point where he is in charged of about 180,000 boys and 5,000 girls. I like this book because I like books about the Holocaust.

This book is geared for youth, and I think it's okay for kids from age 10 on up. Older teenagers and adults should be sure to check out Heck's other two books, "Child of Hitler: Germany in the Days When God Wore a Swastika," and "The Burden of Hitler's Legacy." All three books contain good stuff that is left out of the other two books - for example, Parallel Journeys contains the Jewish perspective of Ms. Waterford, and is written for youthful readers; Child of Hitler focuses on the events prior to and during the war; and The Burden of Hitler's Legacy provides a lot more detail about the events leading up to the end of the war, and the events after the war. I strongly recommend all three books, and promise you that you will not come away with the feeling that you have read the same story three times.