The book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer tells a story about two kids that are in the war. One is a Jew. One is in Hitler Youth. The book from the novel is "God , whats going to happen to us ? How could it end like this?''(Ayer, 156). I think it means that it ended really bad and, they don think there is going to be a future. Also it can mean that the war was really bad. Maybe there will be a future.
Courage is not giving up,it is trying hard when you have difficulties.In the novel Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer,it describes many acts of courage by German Jews during world war 11."The survivors who straggled home from the camps had lived through more than the mind could imagine."(175).Innocent Jews had to suffer unnecessary hate during World War 11 and had to struggle through tough times.Although courage did not stop the horrible hatred,it made Jews feel more stronger.
In the book, Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, Alfon Heck is an inspiration, even after he realized what he had been doing his whole life was wrong, he still pulled himself together and did not let it dictate the rest of his life. He had worshipped Hitler, but when he found out the truth about him, Alfon found a way to move on and forgive himself for loving such a sick man. Alfon stated, “No longer did I feel like a worthless prisoner whose life meant nothing to anybody. At last, someone was looking at me as a teenager with a future, worthy of being educated” (194). He had been trained his whole life to take commands, without question, and to focus on war, but finally, at age 17, he was educated, and looked at as a child, not a man, ready for war. Although society saw him as a boy, he on the inside, was still an old hardened man, because of his experiences, that will forever be a part of him.
'Twas a dark time for Jews living In Germany, Hitler and the Nazis were terrorizing Jews! Oh no! In the novel Parallel Journeys by Elanor Ayer, it is told in two perspectives, Helen lives the normal life of a Jew in Germany, she has many friends, and first hears about the Nazis as a young girl, not thinking they are a large threat, she lives her life as she did before she heard about them. As life goes on she hears about what the Nazis have been doing and begins to fear them, she is later sent to a concentration camp with her mother, one day all the Nazis left the camp with the gates open, and they were free. Alfonso is a young German boy growing up a few miles from Helen, he grows up believing in Hitler, and becomes a Nazi. "Thanks to the efforts of very few gentiles (non-Jews), the lives of thousands of Jews were saved," (Ayer, 81). These few, selfless non-Jews did the best they could to protect the Jews and succeeded, they are loved by many Jews today. This book was not very good because it was boring and very easy to put down.
Eleanor Ayer's book, Parallel Journeys, tells the story of two people who lived through WWII; a boy, named Alfons Heck, who admired Hitler, and a Jewish girl, Helen Waterford, enduring the horror of WWII and the hate against the Jewish people. Alfons Heck became a Hitler youth around when he was 15 and became Major General. When Hitler came to power, Many Jews were killed, sent to concentration camps, or thrown out of Germany, Helen immigrated away, but was soon captured by the Nazis and forced into a camp. After the war, Alfons said,"None of us who rose to any high rank in the Hitler youth could say that we had a clear conscience. All of us, perhaps unknowingly, had looked the other way, preferring not to know the truth. Sadly, now, we are the other part of the Holocaust, the generation burdened with the responsibility for Auschwitz. That is our life sentence for having been the enthusiastic followers of Adolf Hitler."
The novel Parallel Journeys written by Eleanor Ayer, tells the story of Helen Waterford, a German-Jew and Alfons Heck, a fanatic Hitler Youth member, to illustrate these two very different perspectives of World War II. These two young people lived 60 miles from one another before the war, and their lives took vastly different paths. Eleanor ended up at Auschwitz (concentration camp) and Alfons, a Hitler Youth Leader (Bann Fuhrer) finds himself in charge of hundreds of young boys. Alfons and Helen held many lectures together about their experiences during World War II. “Mr. Heck, would you have killed Mrs. Waterford if you had been ordered to do so in the Hitler Youth?”(213). This question shocked Alfons Heck. “I’m afraid young man, the answer is ‘yes.’ Obeying without question was the iron-clad rule by which we were raised. To refuse a direct order in the line of duty, no matter how repulsive that order might be, was simply unthinkable”(213). Many years later after the war, Alfons told Helen that the kid needed an honest answer. This quote means that Alfons would have done anything he was ordered to do during the war, probably because his life depended on it. Alfons felt he had no choice but to say that he would have killed Mrs. Waterford. If one did not follow through with the orders one was given, it would have meant death for that individual. It is hard to imagine what these two people went through, but the book demonstrates the power that Adolf Hitler had at the time and how helpless people whether they were Jewish or forced into the military.
The book Parallel Journeys,by Eleanor Ayer,tells a story of two different children during the holocaust. Alfons Heck,a fanatic hitler youth,praised hitler and became a big person during World War II.While Helen,a German jew,tried to make it alive during this tragedy.During the war people did not have a lot of money .A quote I found was “It took 4.2 billion German marks to equal a single American dollar.”(3)That was a hard time for Jews during the war.That is so amazing that during the world war II they had to have so many marks to equal a dollar.During this big tragedy Helen had no money and had to raise her child,Doris with no help.While Alfons became a prisoner he finally realized that he followed a cruel man who order to kill jews.finally the war ended and Helen went to the US to start a new life and alfons did the same.They experience a lot which they wanted to share to the world.
Helen Waterford, a Jewish woman, and Alfons Heck, a Nazi youth leader, present lectures together, but many people think Helen shouldn't be as forgiving to Alfons. She claims that nobody should hate every member of a group. Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, takes place during World War II and is about Helen, who was fighting to survive, and Alfons, who had a powerful future to look forward to. As quoted by Helen Waterford (221.) "You asked me if I have forgiven Alfons Heck...There was nothing to forgive. Mr. Heck was raised into the Nazi system as a child." This shows that Helen believes that children do not have an adult's judgement and that they should be forgiven for what they were forced to do. When Helen said (221.) "...I had learned only to well that hate is a boomerang that only destroys the sender. I wanted to build peace, not feed the flame of a never-ending destruction," she understood that hatred will destroy you but forgiveness will give you peace. I agree with Helen because hatred can get out of control, so by forgiving each other we could stop spreading it. Helen wanted to help everyone see what hatred can do so that something like the Holocaust will never happen again.
Imagine being in hiding from people who do not like or understand your same culture, or growing up to hate certain cultures because they are not your own. The Novel Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, takes the reader through a journey of two very different people who lived through the same very difficult time. Parallel Journeys tells the story of Helen Waterford, who was a Jewish Middle aged woman with a child when the Holocaust began. Helen went into hiding, so that her daughter could survive. She left her with a non-Jewish family. The novel Parallel Journeys is also about a young boy, Alfons Heck, who was one of the thousands in the Hitler Youth, Hitler knew he had power over the young boys and girls of Germany, which made it easier for him to brainwash the young people into hating every Jew, every Gypsy, and every Jehovah’s Witness. In the novel both Helen and Alfons hardships and great accomplishments become known to the reader. At the end of the Novel Helen says “You ask me if I have forgiven Alfons Heck… There was nothing to forgive. Mr.Heck was raised into the Nazi system as a child. He wasn't an adult with mature judgement. I don't blame him” (pg221).This proves her understanding that it was not Alfon’s fault, making it easier for her and many other Jews, Gypsies, and Jehovah's Witnesses to move on. It may of been a harder journey for him to move on from, but... These are still their Parallel Journeys.
When talking about World War Two, people remember the Nazis and the Jews. The novel Parallel Journey’s by Eleanor Ayer tells a story about two children who are on different sides; one Jew.ish and one in Hitler Youth. "God , what's going to happen to us ? How could it end like this?” (156). When Monica, a friend of Alfon from the Hitler Youth, said this, she thought that Germany was going to win, but Germany did not, Hitler and thousands of people were dead. About 3% of the world was killed because of his rage on the Jews.
In the book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, a boy and a girl live during World War II under the rule of Adolf Hitler. Alfons Heck, like most kids during this time was brainwashed by Hitler, for example Hitler told everyone that Jews were bad and were trying to harm them. Alfons was devoted to him, and he was willing to risk his life for this man who had destroyed the life of so many Jewish people. He saw him as a strong and powerful leader who would help their country. "’We survived, but our lives are destroyed’ said a Czechoslovakian immigrant “(221). Because of that man that he looked up to the lives of all Jewish people were ruined, they constantly had to live in fear that somebody would come and take them away. From the very beginning he was taught to think that Jews were bad just because they were different. Today in different places of the world some kids are still being brainwashed and being taught that other races are bad or not as good as their own, and this is something that needs to stop. Whatever it is, children should be able to have their own thoughts and opinions without being taught what should be thought of as right and wrong.
My book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer is talks about two people who go through WWII. And those two main characters are two very different people but in some ways alike, but both of these characters suffer through world war 2 but have two totally different perspectives about this situation. In this novel you will go through many emotions but will also feel like you are in the story from how well the author uses her words and how well she puts detail and effort into every sentence. A quote from this novel would be "Let me rephrase that. Would you do it again in order to save the plane?" "NO Herr Sturmbannfuhrer, not even to save me." (pg 90.) And this quote is basically saying that if the soldier was in war at this exact moment would he disobey his commander's orders just to save the plane and have a disaster happen, but the glider pilot said he would never do it again not even to save his own life. I highly recommend you to read this book about a journey that two people from very different perspectives learn how to fight for their lives because both of them have something in common that they both have HOPE.
The novel Parallel Journey By Eleanor Ayer, you will find out the story of two young kids from Frankfurt, Germany who are going through the same thing but have two very different perspectives. What I mean is there are two young kids one of them is Alfon Heck a young boy who became part of the Hitler Youth. Helen Waterford was a young jewish girl from Germany. In this interesting novel you will learn what it's like to go through a time when World War II was about to happen. A quote from the novel that I could use would be “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”[pg. 8] Which is basically saying that since they're going to war, that's all this person has to offer. Throughout the book it talks about life before, during, and after World War II. Read about how these two young kids and their families go through these experiences.
He hated Jews, he blamed everything on the Jews, and he had an army/fanatics based on his hatred, that was Adolf Hitler. In the book, Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, it informs us about the two sides of one of most catastrophic events in Earth history, World War II, also known as the Holocaust. It explains the suffering of a Jewish family in which Helen Waterfold was in, and a Hitler Youth fanatic, Alfons Heck. There was a bright future for Heck, but we can not say the same thing about Waterford. Heck joined the Hitler Youth, at age 16 , he reached an Bannführer, a ranked equal to a major general in the United States army. Meanwhile Waterford was in 2 concentration camps. After World War II, Hitler got married with longtime girlfriend. That same day, both died. Waterford was finally released from the concentration camp. She and her friend, Becky, age 16, went off together to find their family, but Becky soon betrayed Waterford’s trust. “ Becky who, was Dutch, bent over to the man and said, “This woman is a Moff” (the most hateful word a Dutch can describe a German). “ She is an enemy to our country” (Ayer 174). I was astonished when I read this, because Waterford trusted Becky, both being in a concentration camp, you would think Becky wanted the same thing as Waterford, being with her family again, but she betrayed Waterford by lying. Later in the years Waterford met her now-husband, and she communicated with Heck, sending their messages and their stories across the world.
In the novel, Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, Hitler became the new president of Germany. He hated the Jewish people. Helen Waterford, a German-Jewish person, had to suffer because of Hitler´s hate. Hitler started killing hundreds and thousands of innocent Jewish people.¨They killed 300,000 in Hungary, 277,000 in Czechoslovakia, 264,000 in Romania, 125,000 in Germany and 106,000 in Holland.¨ (173) Poland and Soviet countries suffered the most losses of Jews plus other European countries lost many lives as well.There was a total of 6 million dead Jewish in the Holocaust. When the Holocaust happened Hitler passed a law for guards to use excessive force to kill Jews for no known reason when the Jews did not do anything. This novel shows how Hitler devised a plan to erase a race of people just because of their religion.
During World War II, Jewish people were killed, murdered and slaughtered just for their beliefs. "He declared that he would go into his grave happy knowing he helped kill 6 million Jewish people¨(70). In the novel, Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, Hitler and his ruthless Nazi army destroyed everything the Jewish people new and had. They forced the Jewish people to flee the country in search of safety. But for the Jewish people, no matter where they were, they could not escape the Nazis. The Nazi's seemed to be everywhere. Some went into hiding but not all succeeded. But some people did survive, for example, Helen Waterford. She went through difficulties during the war and tried to leave the country like many other Jewish people. She and her husband, Siegfried, went to the Netherlands to escape the war. The Germans were dominating in the war with a little bit of help from a young German,Alfons Heck, who joined the Hitler Youth and had to make hard decisions. The United States was not a threat to the powerful Germans. As the Germans were focused on their battles with big name countries the United States came out of nowhere and defeated Germany.
Over 6,000,000 Jews were killed during the Holocaust, from 1939 to 1945. In the book Parallel Journeys, by author Eleanor Ayer, it describes the hardships that Jewish families and people had to endure during this time, and the life of a Nazi boy, high ranked in the Hitler Youth. It all started when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, during a terrible time for the country, but he promised to make it better. He did at first, but then started to blame everything on the Jewish population. One of these Jews was Helen Waterford, who went into hiding with her husband and daughter at the beginning of the war, but then was captured and sent to the Aushwitz Death Camp. “ I cannot say how many people in our car alone died on this trip. Everything was so confusing, and always there was screaming. The chaos was unbelievable.”(121). This quote shows just how hard it was for Jews during that time. They were being moved to death camps without a choice, and the entire time, there was death all around them. During this time, Alfons Heck, a jingoistic boy, part of the Hitler Youth, would soon come to power. During the war, he was an outstanding leader of his unit, and promoted to a position of a Fuhrer. Towards the end of the war, prisoners were released from the death and labor camps all over Europe, while the German military reign was coming to an end. Over the course of their lives, Helen and Alfons met in America, sharing their stories with the world.
There is much darkness in the world, although with the kindness and compassion of many people, there is also much light. Historically, there are numerous heroic people who brought light to the ones in need. In the time period during Hitler's regime there were people called the Righteous Gentiles who were an example of light to the Jewish people. In many situations the Jewish people felt as if the Righteous Gentiles were their angels, protecting and saving them in their darkest hours. In the novel Parallel Journeys, by author Eleanor Ayer, it provides insight about the Righteous Gentiles and how they helped the Jewish people. Righteous Gentiles, "Thanks to the efforts of very few gentiles (non-Jews), the lives of thousands of Jews were saved" (81). These beneficial, productive, and significant humans would do anything in their power to help the Jewish people. They refused to obey Hitler's regime and decided to service and support the Jewish people. Some of the ways they helped was finding places for Jewish people to hide, getting food tickets for the Jewish people that they were hiding, and many more life saving acts. If it was not for the Righteous Gentiles, many more Jewish people would have been tortured and killed.
In Eleanor H. Ayer’s novel, Parallel Journeys, tells the story of Alfons Heck, a proud member of the Hitler Youth, and Helen Waterford, a Jewish woman dealing with the struggle of livinfg during the Holocaust. Alfons’ grandfather was at first skeptical of Hitler and his cause. For example, “‘You mark my words,’ my grandfather cried, waving his ever-present pipe as we listened. ‘They’re going to hand this country over to that crazy Austrian.’...Less than two years later my grandfather and nearly all our neighbors were solidly behind Adolf Hitler.” Though Alfons’ grandfather found Hitler “crazy” at first, he warmed up to him later on.
Abhorrence for Jews is the main foundation supporting Hitler in the novel Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer. In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck, the two main characters of this novel. Helen was a young German Jew, already wedded and with a child, Doris. Alfons was just a curious teenager, part of the Hitler youth, brainwashed by Hitler. By the age of 16 Heck ranked equal to a major general of the US army. “....mass murder of Jews.” (Ayer 201)This is quote speaks the truth. Innocent and blameless people was murdered for believing in their religion. Hitler's hatred for Jews drove him to killer about six millions Jews during the Holocaust
Helen Waterford, a young german jew, Alfons heck, an ardent member of the hitler youth, a teenage commander of a frontline troop, both people starring in the novel ¨Parallel Journeys¨ by Eleanor Ayer. This book describes the hardships of world war 2 and the experiences Alfons and Helen witnessed,in which they witnessed one of the darkest times in modern history, in the six years between 1939 and 1945 in which world war 2 claimed the lives of nearly about fifteen million soldiers in which fought in the battle field and some friends of Alfons heck who worshipped their ¨great¨ leader, Adolf Hitler. Reading the book you are able to read their perspectives during that time. The time Hitler made Germany great yet sent jewish to there death, blamed all the harsh causes to the jewish population. This caused jewish people to hide because hitler decided to sent jews to concentration camps. Some jews who went into hiding where Helen, her husband and her daughter. They were able to hide but not for long, for they were captured and sent to an Auschwitz Camp. ¨Tis strange, but true; for truth is always strange,- Stranger than fiction. Truth can be stronger than fiction. It can be exciting or resilient or even terrifying, it can be a life lesson. Truth does not bother itself with events that could have happened or what might have it only bothers itself with what did happen. Helen and Alfons are real people and also very common people, they were born just a few miles from each other in German Rhineland. This story of Helen and Alfons is all true, nothing is sugar coated and nothing is sprinkled with little lies it is all true.
During World War II Hilter tired to make the "Perfect" race. Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, describes a time cruel, harsh and devastating time in history."They took everything. All I have left is blood,toil, tears and sweat, nothing." (8). Nazis destroyed individuals, families and whole cities. The Nazis shattered store windows and they would take personal possessions which was everything they owned in the world. The soldiers would load three to four year old's and put them in the back of a truck to gas them. This is horrible that they would take children and other people and murder them just to make the "perfect" race.
The book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer tells a story about two kids that are in the war. One is a Jew. One is in Hitler Youth. The book from the novel is "God , whats going to happen to us ? How could it end like this?''(Ayer, 156). I think it means that it ended really bad and, they don think there is going to be a future. Also it can mean that the war was really bad. Maybe there will be a future.
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ReplyDeleteCourage is not giving up,it is trying hard when you have difficulties.In the novel Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer,it describes many acts of courage by German Jews during world war 11."The survivors who straggled home from the camps had lived through more than the mind could imagine."(175).Innocent Jews had to suffer unnecessary hate during World War 11 and had to struggle through tough times.Although courage did not stop the horrible hatred,it made Jews feel more stronger.
ReplyDeleteIn the book, Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, Alfon Heck is an inspiration, even after he realized what he had been doing his whole life was wrong, he still pulled himself together and did not let it dictate the rest of his life. He had worshipped Hitler, but when he found out the truth about him, Alfon found a way to move on and forgive himself for loving such a sick man. Alfon stated, “No longer did I feel like a worthless prisoner whose life meant nothing to anybody. At last, someone was looking at me as a teenager with a future, worthy of being educated” (194). He had been trained his whole life to take commands, without question, and to focus on war, but finally, at age 17, he was educated, and looked at as a child, not a man, ready for war. Although society saw him as a boy, he on the inside, was still an old hardened man, because of his experiences, that will forever be a part of him.
ReplyDelete'Twas a dark time for Jews living In Germany, Hitler and the Nazis were terrorizing Jews! Oh no! In the novel Parallel Journeys by Elanor Ayer, it is told in two perspectives, Helen lives the normal life of a Jew in Germany, she has many friends, and first hears about the Nazis as a young girl, not thinking they are a large threat, she lives her life as she did before she heard about them. As life goes on she hears about what the Nazis have been doing and begins to fear them, she is later sent to a concentration camp with her mother, one day all the Nazis left the camp with the gates open, and they were free. Alfonso is a young German boy growing up a few miles from Helen, he grows up believing in Hitler, and becomes a Nazi. "Thanks to the efforts of very few gentiles (non-Jews), the lives of thousands of Jews were saved," (Ayer, 81). These few, selfless non-Jews did the best they could to protect the Jews and succeeded, they are loved by many Jews today. This book was not very good because it was boring and very easy to put down.
ReplyDeleteEleanor Ayer's book, Parallel Journeys, tells the story of two people who lived through WWII; a boy, named Alfons Heck, who admired Hitler, and a Jewish girl, Helen Waterford, enduring the horror of WWII and the hate against the Jewish people. Alfons Heck became a Hitler youth around when he was 15 and became Major General. When Hitler came to power, Many Jews were killed, sent to concentration camps, or thrown out of Germany, Helen immigrated away, but was soon captured by the Nazis and forced into a camp. After the war, Alfons said,"None of us who rose to any high rank in the Hitler youth could say that we had a clear conscience. All of us, perhaps unknowingly, had looked the other way, preferring not to know the truth. Sadly, now, we are the other part of the Holocaust, the generation burdened with the responsibility for Auschwitz. That is our life sentence for having been the enthusiastic followers of Adolf Hitler."
ReplyDeleteThe novel Parallel Journeys written by Eleanor Ayer, tells the story of Helen Waterford, a German-Jew and Alfons Heck, a fanatic Hitler Youth member, to illustrate these two very different perspectives of World War II. These two young people lived 60 miles from one another before the war, and their lives took vastly different paths. Eleanor ended up at Auschwitz (concentration camp) and Alfons, a Hitler Youth Leader (Bann Fuhrer) finds himself in charge of hundreds of young boys. Alfons and Helen held many lectures together about their experiences during World War II. “Mr. Heck, would you have killed Mrs. Waterford if you had been ordered to do so in the Hitler Youth?”(213). This question shocked Alfons Heck. “I’m afraid young man, the answer is ‘yes.’ Obeying without question was the iron-clad rule by which we were raised. To refuse a direct order in the line of duty, no matter how repulsive that order might be, was simply unthinkable”(213). Many years later after the war, Alfons told Helen that the kid needed an honest answer. This quote means that Alfons would have done anything he was ordered to do during the war, probably because his life depended on it. Alfons felt he had no choice but to say that he would have killed Mrs. Waterford. If one did not follow through with the orders one was given, it would have meant death for that individual. It is hard to imagine what these two people went through, but the book demonstrates the power that Adolf Hitler had at the time and how helpless people whether they were Jewish or forced into the military.
ReplyDeleteThe book Parallel Journeys,by Eleanor Ayer,tells a story of two different children during the holocaust. Alfons Heck,a fanatic hitler youth,praised hitler and became a big person during World War II.While Helen,a German jew,tried to make it alive during this tragedy.During the war people did not have a lot of money
ReplyDelete.A quote I found was “It took 4.2 billion German marks to equal a single American dollar.”(3)That was a hard time for Jews during the war.That is so amazing that during the world war II they had to have so many marks to equal a dollar.During this big tragedy Helen had no money and had to raise her child,Doris with no help.While Alfons became a prisoner he finally realized that he followed a cruel man who order to kill jews.finally the war ended and Helen went to the US to start a new life and alfons did the same.They experience a lot which they wanted to share to the world.
Helen Waterford, a Jewish woman, and Alfons Heck, a Nazi youth leader, present lectures together, but many people think Helen shouldn't be as forgiving to Alfons. She claims that nobody should hate every member of a group. Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, takes place during World War II and is about Helen, who was fighting to survive, and Alfons, who had a powerful future to look forward to. As quoted by Helen Waterford (221.) "You asked me if I have forgiven Alfons Heck...There was nothing to forgive. Mr. Heck was raised into the Nazi system as a child." This shows that Helen believes that children do not have an adult's judgement and that they should be forgiven for what they were forced to do. When Helen said (221.) "...I had learned only to well that hate is a boomerang that only destroys the sender. I wanted to build peace, not feed the flame of a never-ending destruction," she understood that hatred will destroy you but forgiveness will give you peace. I agree with Helen because hatred can get out of control, so by forgiving each other we could stop spreading it. Helen wanted to help everyone see what hatred can do so that something like the Holocaust will never happen again.
ReplyDeleteImagine being in hiding from people who do not like or understand your same culture, or growing up to hate certain cultures because they are not your own. The Novel Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, takes the reader through a journey of two very different people who lived through the same very difficult time. Parallel Journeys tells the story of Helen Waterford, who was a Jewish Middle aged woman with a child when the Holocaust began. Helen went into hiding, so that her daughter could survive. She left her with a non-Jewish family. The novel Parallel Journeys is also about a young boy, Alfons Heck, who was one of the thousands in the Hitler Youth, Hitler knew he had power over the young boys and girls of Germany, which made it easier for him to brainwash the young people into hating every Jew, every Gypsy, and every Jehovah’s Witness. In the novel both Helen and Alfons hardships and great accomplishments become known to the reader. At the end of the Novel Helen says “You ask me if I have forgiven Alfons Heck… There was nothing to forgive. Mr.Heck was raised into the Nazi system as a child. He wasn't an adult with mature judgement. I don't blame him” (pg221).This proves her understanding that it was not Alfon’s fault, making it easier for her and many other Jews, Gypsies, and Jehovah's Witnesses to move on. It may of been a harder journey for him to move on from, but... These are still their Parallel Journeys.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about World War Two, people remember the Nazis and the Jews. The novel Parallel Journey’s by Eleanor Ayer tells a story about two children who are on different sides; one Jew.ish and one in Hitler Youth. "God , what's going to happen to us ? How could it end like this?” (156). When Monica, a friend of Alfon from the Hitler Youth, said this, she thought that Germany was going to win, but Germany did not, Hitler and thousands of people were dead. About 3% of the world was killed because of his rage on the Jews.
ReplyDeleteIn the book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, a boy and a girl live during World War II under the rule of Adolf Hitler. Alfons Heck, like most kids during this time was brainwashed by Hitler, for example Hitler told everyone that Jews were bad and were trying to harm them. Alfons was devoted to him, and he was willing to risk his life for this man who had destroyed the life of so many Jewish people. He saw him as a strong and powerful leader who would help their country. "’We survived, but our lives are destroyed’ said a Czechoslovakian immigrant “(221). Because of that man that he looked up to the lives of all Jewish people were ruined, they constantly had to live in fear that somebody would come and take them away. From the very beginning he was taught to think that Jews were bad just because they were different. Today in different places of the world some kids are still being brainwashed and being taught that other races are bad or not as good as their own, and this is something that needs to stop. Whatever it is, children should be able to have their own thoughts and opinions without being taught what should be thought of as right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteMy book Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer is talks about two people who go through WWII. And those two main characters are two very different people but in some ways alike, but both of these characters suffer through world war 2 but have two totally different perspectives about this situation. In this novel you will go through many emotions but will also feel like you are in the story from how well the author uses her words and how well she puts detail and effort into every sentence. A quote from this novel would be "Let me rephrase that. Would you do it again in order to save the plane?" "NO Herr Sturmbannfuhrer, not even to save me." (pg 90.) And this quote is basically saying that if the soldier was in war at this exact moment would he disobey his commander's orders just to save the plane and have a disaster happen, but the glider pilot said he would never do it again not even to save his own life. I highly recommend you to read this book about a journey that two people from very different perspectives learn how to fight for their lives because both of them have something in common that they both have HOPE.
ReplyDeleteThe novel Parallel Journey By Eleanor Ayer, you will find out the story of two young kids from Frankfurt, Germany who are going through the same thing but have two very different perspectives. What I mean is there are two young kids one of them is Alfon Heck a young boy who became part of the Hitler Youth. Helen Waterford was a young jewish girl from Germany. In this interesting novel you will learn what it's like to go through a time when World War II was about to happen. A quote from the novel that I could use would be “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”[pg. 8] Which is basically saying that since they're going to war, that's all this person has to offer. Throughout the book it talks about life before, during, and after World War II. Read about how these two young kids and their families go through these experiences.
ReplyDeleteHe hated Jews, he blamed everything on the Jews, and he had an army/fanatics based on his hatred, that was Adolf Hitler. In the book, Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, it informs us about the two sides of one of most catastrophic events in Earth history, World War II, also known as the Holocaust. It explains the suffering of a Jewish family in which Helen Waterfold was in, and a Hitler Youth fanatic, Alfons Heck. There was a bright future for Heck, but we can not say the same thing about Waterford. Heck joined the Hitler Youth, at age 16 , he reached an Bannführer, a ranked equal to a major general in the United States army. Meanwhile Waterford was in 2 concentration camps. After World War II, Hitler got married with longtime girlfriend. That same day, both died. Waterford was finally released from the concentration camp. She and her friend, Becky, age 16, went off together to find their family, but Becky soon betrayed Waterford’s trust. “ Becky who, was Dutch, bent over to the man and said, “This woman is a Moff” (the most hateful word a Dutch can describe a German). “ She is an enemy to our country” (Ayer 174). I was astonished when I read this, because Waterford trusted Becky, both being in a concentration camp, you would think Becky wanted the same thing as Waterford, being with her family again, but she betrayed Waterford by lying. Later in the years Waterford met her now-husband, and she communicated with Heck, sending their messages and their stories across the world.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel, Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer, Hitler became the new president of Germany. He hated the Jewish people. Helen Waterford, a German-Jewish person, had to suffer because of Hitler´s hate. Hitler started killing hundreds and thousands of innocent Jewish people.¨They killed 300,000 in Hungary, 277,000 in Czechoslovakia, 264,000 in Romania, 125,000 in Germany and 106,000 in Holland.¨ (173) Poland and Soviet countries suffered the most losses of Jews plus other European countries lost many lives as well.There was a total of 6 million dead Jewish in the Holocaust. When the Holocaust happened Hitler passed a law for guards to use excessive force to kill Jews for no known reason when the Jews did not do anything. This novel shows how Hitler devised a plan to erase a race of people just because of their religion.
ReplyDeleteDuring World War II, Jewish people were killed, murdered and slaughtered just for their beliefs. "He declared that he would go into his grave happy knowing he helped kill 6 million Jewish people¨(70). In the novel, Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, Hitler and his ruthless Nazi army destroyed everything the Jewish people new and had. They forced the Jewish people to flee the country in search of safety. But for the Jewish people, no matter where they were, they could not escape the Nazis. The Nazi's seemed to be everywhere. Some went into hiding but not all succeeded. But some people did survive, for example, Helen Waterford. She went through difficulties during the war and tried to leave the country like many other Jewish people. She and her husband, Siegfried, went to the Netherlands to escape the war. The Germans were dominating in the war with a little bit of help from a young German,Alfons Heck, who joined the Hitler Youth and had to make hard decisions. The United States was not a threat to the powerful Germans. As the Germans were focused on their battles with big name countries the United States came out of nowhere and defeated Germany.
ReplyDeleteOver 6,000,000 Jews were killed during the Holocaust, from 1939 to 1945. In the book Parallel Journeys, by author Eleanor Ayer, it describes the hardships that Jewish families and people had to endure during this time, and the life of a Nazi boy, high ranked in the Hitler Youth. It all started when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, during a terrible time for the country, but he promised to make it better. He did at first, but then started to blame everything on the Jewish population. One of these Jews was Helen Waterford, who went into hiding with her husband and daughter at the beginning of the war, but then was captured and sent to the Aushwitz Death Camp. “ I cannot say how many people in our car alone died on this trip. Everything was so confusing, and always there was screaming. The chaos was unbelievable.”(121). This quote shows just how hard it was for Jews during that time. They were being moved to death camps without a choice, and the entire time, there was death all around them. During this time, Alfons Heck, a jingoistic boy, part of the Hitler Youth, would soon come to power. During the war, he was an outstanding leader of his unit, and promoted to a position of a Fuhrer. Towards the end of the war, prisoners were released from the death and labor camps all over Europe, while the German military reign was coming to an end. Over the course of their lives, Helen and Alfons met in America, sharing their stories with the world.
ReplyDeleteThere is much darkness in the world, although with the kindness and compassion of many people, there is also much light. Historically, there are numerous heroic people who brought light to the ones in need. In the time period during Hitler's regime there were people called the Righteous Gentiles who were an example of light to the Jewish people. In many situations the Jewish people felt as if the Righteous Gentiles were their angels, protecting and saving them in their darkest hours. In the novel Parallel Journeys, by author Eleanor Ayer, it provides insight about the Righteous Gentiles and how they helped the Jewish people. Righteous Gentiles, "Thanks to the efforts of very few gentiles (non-Jews), the lives of thousands of Jews were saved" (81). These beneficial, productive, and significant humans would do anything in their power to help the Jewish people. They refused to obey Hitler's regime and decided to service and support the Jewish people. Some of the ways they helped was finding places for Jewish people to hide, getting food tickets for the Jewish people that they were hiding, and many more life saving acts. If it was not for the Righteous Gentiles, many more Jewish people would have been tortured and killed.
ReplyDeleteIn Eleanor H. Ayer’s novel, Parallel Journeys, tells the story of Alfons Heck, a proud member of the Hitler Youth, and Helen Waterford, a Jewish woman dealing with the struggle of livinfg during the Holocaust. Alfons’ grandfather was at first skeptical of Hitler and his cause. For example, “‘You mark my words,’ my grandfather cried, waving his ever-present pipe as we listened. ‘They’re going to hand this country over to that crazy Austrian.’...Less than two years later my grandfather and nearly all our neighbors were solidly behind Adolf Hitler.” Though Alfons’ grandfather found Hitler “crazy” at first, he warmed up to him later on.
ReplyDeleteAbhorrence for Jews is the main foundation supporting Hitler in the novel Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer. In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck, the two main characters of this novel. Helen was a young German Jew, already wedded and with a child, Doris. Alfons was just a curious teenager, part of the Hitler youth, brainwashed by Hitler. By the age of 16 Heck ranked equal to a major general of the US army. “....mass murder of Jews.” (Ayer 201)This is quote speaks the truth. Innocent and blameless people was murdered for believing in their religion. Hitler's hatred for Jews drove him to killer about six millions Jews during the Holocaust
ReplyDeleteHelen Waterford, a young german jew, Alfons heck, an ardent member of the hitler youth, a teenage commander of a frontline troop, both people starring in the novel ¨Parallel Journeys¨ by Eleanor Ayer. This book describes the hardships of world war 2 and the experiences Alfons and Helen witnessed,in which they witnessed one of the darkest times in modern history, in the six years between 1939 and 1945 in which world war 2 claimed the lives of nearly about fifteen million soldiers in which fought in the battle field and some friends of Alfons heck who worshipped their ¨great¨ leader, Adolf Hitler. Reading the book you are able to read their perspectives during that time. The time Hitler made Germany great yet sent jewish to there death, blamed all the harsh causes to the jewish population. This caused jewish people to hide because hitler decided to sent jews to concentration camps. Some jews who went into hiding where Helen, her husband and her daughter. They were able to hide but not for long, for they were captured and sent to an Auschwitz Camp. ¨Tis strange, but true; for truth is always strange,- Stranger than fiction. Truth can be stronger than fiction. It can be exciting or resilient or even terrifying, it can be a life lesson. Truth does not bother itself with events that could have happened or what might have it only bothers itself with what did happen. Helen and Alfons are real people and also very common people, they were born just a few miles from each other in German Rhineland. This story of Helen and Alfons is all true, nothing is sugar coated and nothing is sprinkled with little lies it is all true.
ReplyDeleteDuring World War II Hilter tired to make the "Perfect" race. Parallel Journeys, by Eleanor Ayer, describes a time cruel, harsh and devastating time in history."They took everything. All I have left is blood,toil, tears and sweat, nothing." (8). Nazis destroyed individuals, families and whole cities. The Nazis shattered store windows and they would take personal possessions which was everything they owned in the world. The soldiers would load three to four year old's and put them in the back of a truck to gas them. This is horrible that they would take children and other people and murder them just to make the "perfect" race.
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