Parallel Journeys

Eleanor H. Ayer introduces her book with a sentiment from Lord Byron—the truth is often stranger than make-believe. Truth can also be tremendous and terrifying, and for Alfons Heck, a member of the Hitler Youth, and Helen Waterford, a Jewish person, the truth is the latter: They survived World War II and the Holocaust. The war killed over 50 million people, and the Holocaust killed 11 million people, around six million of whom were Jewish. The death and destruction changed Alfons and Helen forever. Alfons was a teen, and Helen was a young parent with a husband.

Alfons and Helen tell people about the consequences of hate. What happened in Nazi Europe—genocide—has happened again, and prejudice and lack of understanding are two key reasons. In the spirit of understanding, Ayer brings together the journeys of Alfons and Helen, and she does so using their books. Heck’s books are A Child of Hitler: Germany in the Days When God Wore a Swastika (1985) and The Burden of Hitler’s Legacy (1998), and Waterford articulates her story in Commitment to the Dead: One Woman’s Journey Toward Understanding (1987).