Age
10-14
Grade
5-9
Ann Bausum
Ensnared in the Wolf's Lair: Inside the 1944 Plot to Kill Hitler and the Ghost Children of His Revenge
Hardcover
(National Geographic Kids Jan. 12, 2021)
"I've come on orders from Berlin to fetch the three children." ?Gestapo agent, August 24, 1944
With those chilling words, 12-year-old Christa von Hofacker and her two younger siblings are snatched from their home which had already been stripped of their father, mother, and older siblings. Christa and dozens of other children across Germany had become ensnared in a web of punishment as twisted and entangled as the thoughts of the man their fathers had just conspired to kill: Adolf Hitler.The dictator's systematic and vindictive impo,ition of Sippenhaft--guilt by association for all blood relatives of the accused--threatened to separate families indefinitely. Christa recorded her experiences in a diary that chronicled the trauma inflicted by everyday uncertainty and the fear that she'd never see her family again.
Author Ann Bausum breathes life into Christa's experiences and those of the other children who experienced the Sippenhaft, dubbed "ghost children" by nearby residents because of how they wandered the grounds of their holding area like stunned silent specters. Bausum's compelling narrative, illustrated with rare archival images, draws power from extensive onsite research, excerpts from Christa's diary, and interviews with Christa (now in her nineties), and other survivors of this tragic situation. By exploring this overlooked history, Bausum elevates our understanding of the German resistance to Nazi rule and Hitler's frantic determination to preserve his regime at any cost.
With those chilling words, 12-year-old Christa von Hofacker and her two younger siblings are snatched from their home which had already been stripped of their father, mother, and older siblings. Christa and dozens of other children across Germany had become ensnared in a web of punishment as twisted and entangled as the thoughts of the man their fathers had just conspired to kill: Adolf Hitler.The dictator's systematic and vindictive impo,ition of Sippenhaft--guilt by association for all blood relatives of the accused--threatened to separate families indefinitely. Christa recorded her experiences in a diary that chronicled the trauma inflicted by everyday uncertainty and the fear that she'd never see her family again.
Author Ann Bausum breathes life into Christa's experiences and those of the other children who experienced the Sippenhaft, dubbed "ghost children" by nearby residents because of how they wandered the grounds of their holding area like stunned silent specters. Bausum's compelling narrative, illustrated with rare archival images, draws power from extensive onsite research, excerpts from Christa's diary, and interviews with Christa (now in her nineties), and other survivors of this tragic situation. By exploring this overlooked history, Bausum elevates our understanding of the German resistance to Nazi rule and Hitler's frantic determination to preserve his regime at any cost.
- ISBN
- 1426338546 / 9781426338540
- Pages
- 144
- Weight
- 27.2 oz.
- Dimensions
- 7.9 x 5.5 in.
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