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Pennies for Hitler by Jackie French
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Pennies for Hitler tells the story of Georg, a German boy who, in a single day, sees his father brutally murdered by Nazis and discovers that he is a Jew (according to his hero, Hitler). Through Georg’s escape from Germany, his life in Blitz-time London and his evacuation to a foster family in coastal New South Wales, Jackie French explores his courage, his lies and his losses, and the dislocations, prejudices and grief of allies and enemies in World War II.
This book gives a complex rendering of life in the Battle of Britain and of the experiences of a Jewish refugee, and immerses young readers in a variety of lesser known experiences of war. These include the transportation of unaccompanied children, the difficult position of German dissenters and the induction of women into high-level government work. Georg constantly crosses boundaries — of territory and of enmity — and, in the process, invites young readers to experience the dissolution of hate into kindness.