Hitler has come to power and children throughout Germany are joining the Hitler Youth movement. The narrator of this story and his friends, Heinz and Gunther, are members. The narrator and Heinz are enthusiastic, but Gunther participates only because of pressures on himself and his family.

Set in the turnmoil and terror of Nazi Germany, this authoritative, understated, first-person account of the day-to-day events and attitudes of the Third Reich provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of German young people of that period, a period that had a shattering effect on so many people - and does to this day.