Helmuth had ideas from the start. He did all of the correct German boy
activities…was a part of the Hitler Youth, participated in school activities, was a good Mormon boy…but he didn't believe. In fact, in his heart, he knew that the Fatherland was lying. It was something that gnawed at him and forced him to do reckless things. Through a shortwave radio, he listened to broadcasts about the war from the BBC and he drafted up leaflets to warn the German's about the propaganda his own country was serving up. He invited his friends to listen and to help him circulate the handouts. He even wanted to translate them into different languages. Silence was not going to find a home with Helmuth. The truth was. All of this cost him his life. At age sixteen he was put on trial as an adult for treason and he was executed to make an example for others.
This work of historical fiction is based in reality. These events all happened and Bartoletti put them together and speculated on what Helmuth might be feeling, a sixteen year old put on trial for his perceived wrong doings. We have all read the concentration camp stories, we know how the Jews were persecuted and what horrific things they went through at the hands of Hitler and the Nazis. What people probably don't know is the story of how German's treated their own citizens during this period in history...the paranoia, the fear, the lies. This book is fascinating and compelling.
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