Kriegsbücherei der deutschen Jugend     
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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]

Volume 81
#1: “Before the Attack.” This is the first of the series, and deals with the German attack on Poland.
Volume 81
#12: “Three Flyers and an Entire Regiment.”
Volume 81
#31: “Fishing Boats at War.”
Volume 81
#32: “Tomorrow Morning You Will Be Shot.”
Volume 81
#39: “PT Boats off Dover.”
Volume 81
#42: “Breakthrough to Oslo.”
Volume 81
#43: “Missing in No Man’s Land.”
Volume 81
#58: “Shots in the Devil’s Forest.”
Volume 81
#59: “Direct Hit on the Glorious.” The sinking of a British aircraft carrier.
Volume 81
#61: “Three Cheers for the Blücher.” Tales of a German cruiser.
Volume 81
#81: “The Death of the ‘Empress of Britain’.”
Volume 84
#84: “Bombs on Coventry”: The attack on Coventry in November 1940.
Volume 88
#88: “Long-Range Bombers over the Atlantic”: A story about the crew of a long-range bomber attacking British shipping.
Volume 94
#94: “Spotlight ‘Caesar’ in Action.”
Volume 94
#97: “Stukas Attack Malta.”
Volume 98
#98: “Flamethrowers in Action!”
Volume 102
#102: “Battleship in the Atlantic.”
Volume 103
#103: “Night Fighters Attack the Enemy.”
Volume 81
#106: “Assault Force Reinhold.”
Volume 81
#107: “Picket Ships in Battle.”
Volume 120
#120: “The Bunker Cracker of the Bug River.”
Volume 135
#135: “Onward, Ever Onward!” A story about the early months of the infantry campaign in Russia. This includes the illustrations.
Volume 136
#136: “Dust Cloud and Neptune: Hunting Convoys in the Mid-Atlantic”: A story about a submarine mission. This includes the illustrations.
Volume 81
#146: “We’re Sailing West.” A late U-boat story.
Volume 81
#151: “Waffen SS in Battle near Leningrad”: One of the last of the series in fall 1942, but covering the campaigns of 1941.
Volume 81
#154: “Courier Pilot.”
Volume 81
#155: “A Hunt in Lappland.”
Volume 81
#156: “A Stuka Squadron in the East.” This is the last numbered issue.
Volume 81
Special Edition: “PT Boats off the African Coast.” This is one of fourteen special issues released toward the end of the series.
Last edited 10 September 2025