Background: The Nazis published an extensive series of booklets on the war intended for the youth titled the Kriegsbücherei der deutschen Jugend. There were 156 of them, appearing at weekly intervals from 1940 through December 1942. There were also fourteen special editions that were not for sale, rather used as rewards by the Nazi youth group. These were published at the end of the series. These booklets presented the war in an exciting manner, and often ended with an appeal to join the military. This page include the covers of twenty-eight of them, with translations of the full text of four and some interior illustrations. John Edward Kuykendall did a dissertation comparing these booklets to ones published in Britain: “‘The Unknown War’: Popular War Fiction for Juveniles and the Anglo-German Conflict, 1939-1945” (University of South Carolina, 2002).

Someone reprinted the fourteen undated special editions, with no indication as to who or when. However, the reprints are easily distinguishable from originals, as the paper of the originals will be yellowed, whereas the reprints are on new white paper.

Some of the authors later became prominent journalists. For example, the author of #52 was Josef Müller-Marein, later chief editor of the weekly Die Zeit.

War Library of the German Youth

[Kriegsbücherei der deutschen Jugend]

	#1: “Before the Attack.” This is the first of the series, and deals with the German attack on Poland.
	#12: “Three Flyers and an Entire Regiment.”
	#31: “Fishing Boats at War.”
	#32: “Tomorrow Morning You Will Be Shot.”
	#39: “PT Boats off Dover.”
	#42: “Breakthrough to Oslo.”
	#43: “Missing in No Man’s Land.”
	#58: “Shots in the Devil’s Forest.”
	#59: “Direct Hit on the Glorious.” The sinking of a British aircraft carrier.
	#61: “Three Cheers for the Blücher.” Tales of a German cruiser.
	#81: “The Death of the ‘Empress of Britain’.”
	#84: “Bombs on Coventry”: The attack on Coventry in November 1940.
	#88: “Long-Range Bombers over the Atlantic”: A story about the crew of a long-range bomber attacking British shipping.
	#94: “Spotlight ‘Caesar’ in Action.”
	#97: “Stukas Attack Malta.”
	#98: “Flamethrowers in Action!”
	#102: “Battleship in the Atlantic.”
	#103: “Night Fighters Attack the Enemy.”
	#106: “Assault Force Reinhold.”
	#107: “Picket Ships in Battle.”
	#120: “The Bunker Cracker of the Bug River.”
	#135: “Onward, Ever Onward!” A story about the early months of the infantry campaign in Russia. This includes the illustrations.
	#136: “Dust Cloud and Neptune: Hunting Convoys in the Mid-Atlantic”: A story about a submarine mission. This includes the illustrations.
	#146: “We’re Sailing West.” A late U-boat story.
	#151: “Waffen SS in Battle near Leningrad”: One of the last of the series in fall 1942, but covering the campaigns of 1941.
	#154: “Courier Pilot.”
	#155: “A Hunt in Lappland.”
	#156: “A Stuka Squadron in the East.” This is the last numbered issue.
	Special Edition: “PT Boats off the African Coast.” This is one of fourteen special issues released toward the end of the series.

Go to the 1933-1945 Page.

Go to the German Propaganda Home Page.