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By Eleanor H. Ayer

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9780689832369

Eleanor H. Ayer

28 June 2011

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Parallel Journeys

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About the book, about the author.

Eleanor H. Ayer is a novelist, biographer, and travel writer from Vermont. She is best known for her book Parallel Journeys

Product Details

• Publisher: Aladdin (March 1, 2000)
• Length: 256 pages
• ISBN13: 9780689832369
• Grades: 5 - 7
• Ages: 10 - 12

Browse Related Books

• Age 12 and Up
• Children's Non-Fiction > Social Situations > Prejudice & Racism
• Children's Non-Fiction > History > Holocaust
• Children's Non-Fiction > Biography & Autobiography > Historical

Awards and Honors

• ALA Best Books For Young Adults
• CBC/NCSS Notable Children's Book in Social Studies
• Christopher Award
• Flora Stieglitz Straus Award

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Parallel Journeys

Ayer presents two alternating perspectives of the Holocaust — one from Helen Waterford, a Jewish woman and her struggle to survive and one from Alfons Heck, a Hitler Youth whose ambition is to climb in rank. After meeting in the Unites States long after the war, this Aryan and Jew befriend one another and, remarkably, join forces to educate the youth of America to prevent this atrocity from ever happening again.

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ISBN 0689318308

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WWII Soldiers’ Stories

Books in this list — both fiction and nonfiction — present personal stories of soldiers who fought on both sides of World War II. These books are an excellent complement to World War II history units. 

Parallel journeys

By eleanor h. ayer.

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Includes bibliographical references (p. 233-234) and index.

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Parallel Journeys

61 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 4

Chapters 5-9

Chapters 10-14

Chapters 15-19

Chapter 20-Postscript

Key Figures

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Parallel Journeys (1995) is a nonfiction book by Eleanor Ayer. It won several awards, including the American Library Association’s Best Book for Young Adults. An author of many nonfiction books about the Holocaust , Ayer pairs the stories of Alfons Heck (a former Hitler Youth member) and Helen Waterford (a Holocaust survivor) to show how Nazism impacts the people it empowered and targeted. Ayer didn’t choose Alfons and Helen randomly. They formed a partnership in the 1980s and began giving lectures together to promote understanding. Their experiences link to themes like Death and Visibility , Power Versus Helplessness , and Compassion Versus Hatred and Indifference .

This guide refers to the e-book version of the 2000 Aladdin Paperbacks edition of Parallel Journeys .

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Content Warning : Parallel Journeys centers on the Holocaust and World War II and features the violent, deadly traumas associated with the genocide and global conflict.

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Alfons Heck and Helen Waterford live in Germany. Alfons is Christian and lives on a farm with his grandparents. Helen is Jewish and lives in the city of Frankfurt with her parents and brother. Alfons is six when Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party, becomes Chancellor of Germany, while Helen is a young adult. Alfons can’t wait till he turns 10 and can join the Hitler Youth, the official youth group of the Nazis . Helen’s mom can’t wait for her daughter to get married, but Helen prefers to hang out with her friends and be free.

After losing World War I , Germany’s economy collapsed, and Germans felt dishonored. Hitler stabilizes the economy, and his bellicose rhetoric makes many Germans feel better about themselves and their nation. He claims that certain groups—primarily Jews—threaten Germany, and, as he collects despotic powers, he subjects Jewish people like Helen to massive violence and destruction.

Helen marries Siegfried, and they move to Holland, away from antisemitic Germany. Helen and Siegfried have a daughter, and Helen works as an interior decorator to support her family.

Alfons turns 10 and joins the Hitler Youth. His dad upbraids him, but Alfons doesn’t care. He’s a member of the drum and fanfare division, and he gets to go to the Nazis’ theatrical rally in Nuremberg, where he sees Hitler, his idol, speak. The Hitler Youth is harsh, but Alfons remains obedient and dedicated. When the Nazis invade Poland on September 1, 1939, starting World War II, Alfons approves.

Soon, the Nazis invade Holland, and Helen and Siegfried work with non-Jewish activists, the Righteous Gentiles , to stay alive. The Righteous Gentiles get them food, find a non-Jewish home for Doris, and locate a series of hiding spaces for Helen and Siegfried. In August 1944, the Nazis find Helen and Siegfried and deport them to Auschwitz—the notorious concentration camp where the Nazis intentionally kill Jews and other groups in gas chambers.

The Nazis must battle England, Russia, and the United States, and their war machine crumbles, but Alfons flourishes. He joins the elite Flieger Hitlerjugend (junior air force) division of the Hitler Youth and dreams of being a fighter pilot for the Luftwaffe (German air force). Due to the desperate situation, Alfons never gets to fly, but the Nazis continue to give him responsibilities. By 1945—the end of the war—he’s the equivalent of a major general, with 6,000 young people under his command.

Siegfried and Helen spend three nights in filthy, overcrowded cattle cars before they arrive at Auschwitz. They separate, and Helen never sees her husband again. She stays alive and then moves to a work camp, Kratzau, where she stops herself from becoming another hateful prisoner. The Russians liberate Kratzau, and Helen determinedly returns to Holland and reunites with her daughter. The relationship is rocky, but they manage, and Helen moves them to Chicago to be with her mom and dad.

Americans take over Alfons’s town, Wittlich, and Alfons becomes a translator for them. When they find out he was a passionate member of the Hitler Youth, they fire him. The French take over for the Americans. They imprison Alfons and threaten to kill him, but the death threat is a mind game.

Upset and confused about his past Nazi beliefs, Alfons attends the Nuremberg Trials, where the Allies—mainly England, the United States, and Russia—sentence top Nazis to death or jail. The Nazis evade responsibility for their actions, but Alfons confronts his role. He moves to Canada to start over but can’t avoid his atrocious past.

As an adult, Alfons moves to America and writes articles about his experiences. Helen reads one of his pieces and gives him a call. Though other Holocaust survivors excoriate Helen for working with a former Nazi, she and Alfons team up and give lectures to promote understanding. They’re an unexpected team, and TV shows and newspapers boost their story, and one magazine calls them “the Odd Couple.”

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• Parallel Journeys Summary

by Eleanor H. Ayer

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

Written by William Cuellar and other people who wish to remain anonymous

Parallel Journeys is a true story about the terrors of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, told through the narratives of its victims. Helen Waterford is one of these victims, a Jewish girl born in the early 1900's. In 1933, she married, and the Helen and her husband, Siegfried, lived together happily for a time. Yet, as Hitler's power grew in the country, the two decided it was best to flee to the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, the two had a daughter named Doris. However, while visiting in Holland, Germany's troops captured both Helen and her husband, while Doris was able to remain safe. Doris was dropped off at another home, but Helen and Siegfried were separated while going to the concentration camp, and never saw one another again.

In a neighborhood close to where Helen grew up was a boy named Alfons. As a young boy, he became a member of the Hitler Youth organization, where he quickly excelled through the ranks. Becoming a glider pilot, Alfons was well respected while Helen was forced into labor at Birkenau and in Czechoslovakia.

Soon, the war ends, and Alfons is arrested. He, however, is set free, but he feels very guilty for what the Nazi's had done. He eventually moves to the United States. Helen is liberated by the Allied troops, and finds her daughter. They too move to America.

Helen finds a newspaper article that Alfons had written about the war, and the two meet each other once again, remembering how they had lived so close by. They discussed how, even though they came from the same area, their life journeys were completely different.

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Parallel Journeys Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Parallel Journeys is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

parallel journeys

-in Chapter 2, Helen and her family lived in Frankfurt, Germany. Helen's mother was German and her father came from Lithuania. They knew that Hitler hated the Jews but the thought of mass murder seemed implausible.

-In September of 1933, all Jews...

Parallel Journeys

Chapter please?

Which of these inferences about the period leading up to Kristallnacht is best supported the text?

I would consider:

D. Some German Jews were suspicious of the Nazi intentions even before Kristallnacht .

Study Guide for Parallel Journeys

Parallel Journeys study guide contains a biography of Eleanor H. Ayer, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Parallel Journeys
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Parallel Journeys Summary Eleanor H. Ayer

Everything you need to understand or teach Parallel Journeys by Eleanor H. Ayer.

• Parallel Journeys Summary & Study Guide
• 30 Parallel Journeys Lessons
• 20 Activities
• 180 Multiple Choice Questions
• 60 Short Essay Questions
• 20 Essay Questions
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Parallel Journeys Overview

Parallel journeys study guide, lesson plan.

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