Parallel Journeys

Introduction

All over the world, millions of lives of the people, including the soldiers were taken during the Second World War. The estimated numbers of the deceased is 12 million Jews and thirty nine million civilians. The parallel journeys by Eleanor Ayer narrate the lives of Alfons Heck and Helen Waterford. These individuals took different pathways during the time of the war. Whatever path they took, both of them saw their loved ones and their friends getting killed as the result og the policies of Hitler. Gradually, both of them realized the significance of sharing and narrating their life experiences during the time of the war. They eventually wrote a book together and also conducted different lectures so that the people will hear about their lives. This book tells the story and experiences of both Helen and Alfons: what they faced, what they experienced, how it got started, how it ended and what happened after the war.

Summary

Eleanor Ayer narrates the nonfiction story of two very dissimilar people in her book, “Parallel Journey.” These people lived through the chaos and madness of the Second World War. Helen was married at the time when the world war erupted. She, along with her child went into hiding as they were Jews, while, Alfons Heck was merely an adolescent when the war started. At the end of the war, Heck was a high ranking official in the Hitler Youth while Helen successfully found a safe home of her child (Heck, pp. 45). However, she and her husband got separated from each other as the Nazis found their hideout. Helen never saw her husband again.

Alfons Heck

At age 10 he was elected to represent the Hitler Youth organization at his school in the Nuremberg Party Congress. From 1939 to 1945, Heck rose rapidly in the Hitler Youth and was appointed general. He led several thousand boys and girls in their district. Heck is introduced in the book in the first chapter. He is a young German boy who was raised in Germany in the Rhineland region. Since Alfons was born, he had witnessed the Nazis in his country. He didn't know the Germany without the Nazis. He was raised by being taught by the Nazis themselves and was taught that Jews were bad people. Heck and his class fellows were taught to hate the gypsies, communists and Jews (Heck, pp. 67). The children were taught ...