Book Review: Hansi - The Girl Who Left the Swastika

First of all, I apologize for the abysmal picture. There are virtually no pictures of this book online, so I was forced upon my own devices. As you can tell, my own devices are rather deplorable. That and my sister was waiting for the camera.

Anyway.

As I was looking for images of this edition of the book, I found out several interesting things.

1. The first time it was published, it was a heavily edited version titled I Changed Gods (which, I happen to think, is a fascinating title).

2. It as also been titled Hansi: The Girl Who Loved the Swastika (which seems to be the more popular version, judging from the amount of pictures I found)

3. It has also been released as a comic book, where you can get the gist of the story in 36 pages. If you're interested, click here. (I've only glanced over it, so I have no real idea if it's any good. The book, I'm sure, is a thousand times better anyway)

But interesting facts never got mistaken for a book review, so here we go!

Synopsis:
"Don't ever forget Jesus!" This tearful admonition of her foster mother followed the teen-aged orphan girl as she began her trip to Prague. Maria (Hansi) was the ency of all in her little Czechoslovakian village because she had won a scholarship to the Nazi school in the capital and would be able to serve the Fuhrer. 
Thus Maria began a long journey in 1940 which was to lead her into the darkness of blind devotion to Hitler and the atheism of the Nazi system. The path led to a storybook romance...cruel disillusionment at Hitler's suicide...a traumatic awakening to the swastika's scourge across Europe upon the Jews...a breathtaking escape from the Communists...and the reemergence into the love and lordship of her Mother's Jesus. (Back cover)

Plot: As this is a biography, I can't rip it apart like I normally would. Her plot was written by God and I can't really argue with Him. I will say, though, that this book is an excellent glimpse into the side of WW2 that you don't often see. Books about Jews surviving the Holocaust and other closely related topics are a dime a dozen, but you don't often find a book that speaks candidly about what it was like to be a German teenager, brainwashed by Hitler.

I often think 'how could you not know that Hitler was evil; and that was he was doing was absolutely wrong'. But in order to make such a judgement, I'd have to understand what was taught to these innocent young people. I can't understand the blind service and belief in Hitler because I wasn't educated in a Nazi school like Hansi was, where everything else got pushed out by persuasive reason and swift - and twisted - logic.

The details of life in a Nazi school training to be a Hitler Youth Leader were intensely interesting - as were the small romances that cropped up from the letter-writing to soldiers that Hansi and her other patriotic friends took up.

And alas, when everything began to crumble, I was amazed at how God cared for Hansi, even though she had basically denied Him and tossed her faith at the foot of the swastika. Her life in Communism, her escape, her experiences in a world putting itself back together, her marriage and her eventual emigration to America - it's all just one amazing God-experience after another.

Conclusion:
I loved the way this book was written. It was candid, it wasn't preachy, and it presented the story in an interesting way that didn't lag. I could relate with Hansi a lot because she struggled with many of the same things I've struggled with (a loving God, anxiety, doubt, ect.) and her triumph over them was immensely encouraging.

I would be slightly surprised if you find this book anywhere (I found it in my church library, which boasts an enormous collection of obscure, out-of-print books), but if you ever do stumble across it in any of its forms (except, perhaps, for the comic book...) keep in mind that I recommended it!

 'Till next time,