From the Author’s Note:
Project 1065 is a work of fiction set against the very real backdrop of Nazi Germany in World War II. Kristallnacht, the Gestapo, the SRD, the concentration camps, the Hitler Youth, the Edelweiss Pirates, the “Aryan” education in German schools–all of this real. Everything Adolf Hitler says to Michael and the other boys in this book is an actual quote from Hitler; I gathered them together from various speeches and interviews so that I wasn’t putting words in Hitler’s mouth. Adolf Hitler said enough crazy, awful things that I didn’t need to make up anything new for him. p.307
I have the privilege of knowing Alan Gratz, the North Carolina author of this middle grade book for boys and girls. That last sentence is pure Gratz–I can hear his earnest voice saying those exact words.
REVIEW
 |
| https://www.history.com/news/how-the-hitler-youth-turned-a-generation-of-kids-into-nazis |
SECONDARY CHARACTERS
Fritz Bendler, a new scrawny boy at school who Michael befriends; Michael’s teacher, Herr Professor Doktor Major Melcher; and Simon Cohen, a Jewish airman who the O’Shaunessey’s hide in the Irish embassy, are all important secondary characters. Although Simon teaches Michael important lessons about facing his fears and being willing to make sacrifices, I’m going to share some excerpts about Fritz and Melcher which help define Michael’s journey.
Even though I wasn’t his biggest fan, I had a soft spot for the old codger. I’d gotten the impression he didn’t love the Nazis. It was nothing Melcher had said or done–anything that explicit would have gotten him hauled off to a concentration camp or reenlisted in the army, even though he was too old to fight again. it was just the way he talked so lovingly about the way things used to be. I felt he was a kindred spirit. A fellow faker. (p. 29)
Later on, his classmates are taken aback when Doktor Melcher points out that Hitler, and the other Nazi leaders do not fit the blonde, blue-eyed, straight-nosed Aryan ideal.
You could almost hear the classroom gasp. Was Herr Professor Doktor Major Melcher joking? It had to be a joke. It was no secret that the Führer didn’t match the Aryan ideal that he’d gone to war to defend, but no one talked about it. To speak of it in public was like saying the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes. It just wasn’t done. But Melcher wasn’t joking. I could tell, and so could the other boys. I felt as though I could hear the heartbeats of every boy in the room but mine slow to a cool, calculated thrum. They were trained to be on the lookout for dissenters, people who didn’t agree with the Nazi party, tuned in like the special radios that Nazis sold that only picked up German radio stations.
…..If he wasn’t careful he was going to end up in a concentration camp. (pp. 103-104)
Meanwhile, Fritz is frequently picked on because of his short stature. Michael decides to teach Fritz how to defend himself and the other boys set up a boxing match between the two friends. To his surprise, Fritz doesn’t hold back and tries to clobber him. The scene graphically shows Michael’s inner turmoil as well as the brutality of the fight.
I savaged him, fueling each new punch with some new hatred. I hated Hitler for starting this war. I hated the Hitler Youth for their constant bullying. I hated Fritz for making me hit him again. I hated myself for hitting him.
When at last I stopped, Fritz lay motionless on the ground, completely and totally beaten. All around us was utter silence. I looked up, eyes afire, chest heaving, arms tensed for another fight. Horst took a step back in fear. I had managed to scare even the monsters, and when you can scare monsters, you can be sure you’ve become one yourself (p. 128).
As the story progresses, the SRD boys–led by Fritz–torture and capture Doktor Melcher while the police stand by. Michael realizes that the police were scared of a group of 13-year-olds who could turn them over to the Gestapo. He is in agony–but chooses not to say anything in order to carry out his vital plan: steal the plans for Projekt 1065 from Fritz’s house.
 |
| https://www.history.com/news/how-the-hitler-youth-turned-a-generation-of-kids-into-nazis |
In a moment of painful analysis, Michael finally realizes why Fritz has become cruel and calculating.
Fritz stood over me, a look of fierce cruelty in his knitted eye-brows and suddenly I understood. Why Fritz had wanted me to teach him how to fight. Why he’d been so desperate to join the SRD. All his life, Fritz had been the boy with the bloody nose sitting here on the ground, looking up at the bully who’d beaten him.
He’d joined the SRD so he could become the bully himself. Just like little Hitler. (p. 236-7)
PERSONAL NOTE
 |
| https://www.history.com/news/how-the-hitler-youth-turned-a-generation-of-kids-into-nazis |
My father was forced to flee Germany in 1939. He remembered the Hitler Youth rallying outside his parents’ apartment in Nuremberg and that one boy betrayed his parents. “Either you were in the Hitler Youth–or else,” he told me.
Carol, I enjoyed your blog about “Projket 1065” and even though it is for middle grades, I think a few adults may enjoy this as well. Definitely worth reading and sharing with others; I hope I can read this book one day. Thanks for writing.
Thanks, Diane. Alan is a fantastic writer. I hope you get to read some of his books!
Sounds like quite a powerful book. Thanks for featuring, Carol. I'll recommend this book to the school librarian.
Great job of explaining and sharing this intense story. I plan to read this soon and share it with my grandsons.Thanks for posting Alan's amazing story.Sheri
Thanks, Jillanne. Allan Gratz is a fantastic author.
I have to find this book. I have personal connections to this time in history, but don't know enough about it. It sounds like this author really does thorough research.
ALan Gratz always does his homework. You're in the giveaways for Perfect Candidate and the Next to the Last Mistake–two times for each. Thanks!
Carol, this is a book I really think I'd enjoy reading. Maybe one or both of my grandsons would too. I think I'll mail them copies. I posted Talking Story to my Facebook page. If my name should happen to be drawn, I'm quite interested in “When Worlds Collide.” Thank you. I wasn't quite sure how to send an email from the newsletter post.
Your grandsons (and you) would love Alan's book, And you and your hubby would like “When Worlds Collide.” Your name is in the hat for that! Thanks for leaving a comment.
Thanks for reviewing another one of Alan Gratz's great books. I haven't read this one and am pushing it up to the top of my list now.
I purchased this book last year for my then-11yo son, and he loved it — we were fortunate enough later on to be able to see Alan speak at Fiction Addiction and to get our book signed. I think its most important takeaway is that “Never Again” isn't just for Holocaust survivors and their descendants — it's on all of us to ensure, starting with understanding how it happened to begin with. Project 1065 is a great place to start.
Yes, it is an amazing book.
Wow, Carol! What a powerful historical fiction with life lessons that still ring true today. Love that opening hook about dinner with a Nazi! Thanks for introducing me to this tale.
You are welcome, Cat. Alan is an amazing author.
Carol, I enjoyed your blog about “Projket 1065” and even though it is for middle grades, I think a few adults may enjoy this as well. Definitely worth reading and sharing with others; I hope I can read this book one day. Thanks for writing.
Thanks, Diane. Alan is a fantastic writer. I hope you get to read some of his books!
Sounds like quite a powerful book. Thanks for featuring, Carol. I'll recommend this book to the school librarian.
Great job of explaining and sharing this intense story. I plan to read this soon and share it with my grandsons.Thanks for posting Alan's amazing story.Sheri
Thanks, Jillanne. Allan Gratz is a fantastic author.
I have to find this book. I have personal connections to this time in history, but don't know enough about it. It sounds like this author really does thorough research.
ALan Gratz always does his homework. You're in the giveaways for Perfect Candidate and the Next to the Last Mistake–two times for each. Thanks!
Carol, this is a book I really think I'd enjoy reading. Maybe one or both of my grandsons would too. I think I'll mail them copies. I posted Talking Story to my Facebook page. If my name should happen to be drawn, I'm quite interested in “When Worlds Collide.” Thank you. I wasn't quite sure how to send an email from the newsletter post.
Your grandsons (and you) would love Alan's book, And you and your hubby would like “When Worlds Collide.” Your name is in the hat for that! Thanks for leaving a comment.
Thanks for reviewing another one of Alan Gratz's great books. I haven't read this one and am pushing it up to the top of my list now.
I purchased this book last year for my then-11yo son, and he loved it — we were fortunate enough later on to be able to see Alan speak at Fiction Addiction and to get our book signed. I think its most important takeaway is that “Never Again” isn't just for Holocaust survivors and their descendants — it's on all of us to ensure, starting with understanding how it happened to begin with. Project 1065 is a great place to start.
Yes, it is an amazing book.
Wow, Carol! What a powerful historical fiction with life lessons that still ring true today. Love that opening hook about dinner with a Nazi! Thanks for introducing me to this tale.
You are welcome, Cat. Alan is an amazing author.