Ensnared in the Wolf's Lair: Inside the 1944 Plot to Kill Hitler and the Ghost Children of His Revenge

Ann Bausum's engrossing Ensnared in the Wolf's Lair details Adolf Hitler's sweeping revenge against participants (and their families) in a failed coup and assassination attempt.

Bausum charts Hitler's rise to power and the subsequent resistance by German dissidents that culminated in a failed attack on Hitler at his isolated military outpost, the Wolf's Lair. Trusted associates and community leaders banded together against the regime to mount an assault code-named Operation Valkyrie. When the plot deployed on July 20, 1944, it was only a series of coincidences that saved Hitler's life. The vast reach of Valkyrie fueled Hitler's mounting paranoia. His policy of Sippenhaft--or "family punishment"--implicated relatives in anti-Nazi conspiracies and demonstrated Hitler's merciless commitment to retaining political control. Within weeks, the investigators held some 700 extended family members, and Gestapo agents seized detractors' youngest children, holding them in a secluded rural facility. Through primary resources, emphasizing four detainees who offered her their first-person accounts, Bausum recounts the heartbreaking months of isolation and anxiety suffered by the young prisoners, who became known as "the ghost children."

Bausum's writing is uncomplicated and respectfully frames the ghost children's shared experience of trauma for a middle-grade audience. Supporting photographs humanize the Valkyrie participants, and rich primary resources feature journal entries from Christa von Hofacker, who kept a diary while detained as a 12-year-old. Extensive back matter includes a full listing of families ensnared by Sippenhaft, an author's note, bibliography and much more. As with her previous work, Bausum (The March Against Fear; Viral) excels at tackling thorny issues with frankness and approachability. This gripping insight into German dissidence and Valkyrie should fascinate and inform history enthusiasts and modern upstanders alike. --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf

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