" Every Father, every Mother must see this film, to feel what is happening in the soul of your child. " - Duisburger General-Anzeiger, Oktober 20, 1933

We are proud to announce here our latest German Films Dot Net book in our continuing series on German film man Karl Ritter:

Hitler Youth Quex, the story of a fifteen-year-old working-class boy who defied his father to join the Hitlerjugend in 1932 and died a martyr, was a best-selling novel that became a box office hit when it was released as a motion picture by the famous Ufa film studio in September 1933.  It was the first feature film in history devoted to those under the age of twenty, and critics worldwide came to the film’s premieres in Munich and Berlin. Adolf Hitler attended both gala premieres. The film’s song became the anthem of the HJ, and over eleven million youngsters saw the film in the Third Reich. Hitlerjunge Quex became the cult film of  the new German youth.  

This Guide provides a wealth of information about the film – from the evolution of the story as a novel to its newspaper serialization to the silver screen. The fascinating careers of the critical men involved  – the book’s author Klaus Schenzinger, the film’s producer Karl Ritter, and the film’s director Hans Steinhoff –are presented. The pivotal role of the Reich Youth Leader Baldur von Schirach is explored, with additional commentary from his oldest son, Klaus. The unpublished diaries of Karl Ritter found in Argentina provide new insight into the film's production. A chapter on Jürgen Ohlsen, who played the title role, offers information heretofore overlooked. All of the comprehensive Ufa studio marketing and publicity materials are translated into English for the first time. The movie's success before 1945, not just in German cinemas but in Europe, North America, and Japan between 1934 and 1944, is documented with rare advertising and reviews. The fate of the film post–WWII and how it is dealt with in today’s Germany is examined. Post-war critical analysis is also surveyed.  Author is William Gillespie.

389 + -x- pages, 63 B&W  photos/illustrations, 4 colour plates. AVAILABLE to Australian residents via our Poster Store listing.

Note:  We have received the stock of books from the printer's. ORDER NOW!

The price is AUD$49.95 / €32 to Australian postal addresses. Orders from other countries please see BELOW:

International ordering

Book orders outside of Australia must be via International Historic Films in Chicago, USA. Their website is linked here.  Their new 2022/23 print catalogue has this advertisement for the book:

IHF is also offering a COMBO of the book plus their DVD of the film at a savings of US$10.00.

February 2024 update:

The prestigious academic journal The Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television reviewed the book and summarised it as follows:

[T]he greatest merit of Gillespie’s book is that he not only brings together many sources that are – if at all – difficult to access, but also that he makes them accessible to an English-speaking audience.

Hitler Youth Quex: A Guide for the English-speaking Reader’s unique selling point … is the way it presents and discusses a range of different primary sources and embeds them in the historical context.

"Gillespie's book is a treasure trove for scholars of history, film history and propaganda more generally. This includes graduate and postgraduate students, early career researchers and more established academics. As such it is recommended for the essential classroom reading lists on any course dealing with film propaganda." - The Historical Journal of Film, Radio & Television, 2024.

Likewise, a review is anticipated in Germany's ranking film journal, Filmblatt  (CineGraph, Hamburg) later this northern Spring.

Back in Berlin......

Our roving reporter found the old Gemeinde Schule 1999-2005 shown in the film when Heini comes out his trade school and takes a handbill from HJ Fritz Dörries and then is invited to come to the Dörries home for dinner, where he meets Fritz's charming sister, BDM girl Ulla.

The school as shown in the film:

The school today, under renovation, located on Levetzowstraße, corner of Gotzkowskystraße, in Alt–Moabit. Gotzkowskzstraße and its bridge over the Spress River is where Red Leader Stoppel tells Heini to report for the anti-HJ attack being planned.  That bridge today looks like this.

BELOW: A 1939 contemporary book illustration form a Third Reich children's book, depicting the assault on Herbert Norkus by Communist thugs; which was the basis of the novel Hitlerjunge Quex by Schenzinger.