Hindsight is 20-20



The Boy Who Dared by Susan Bartoletti

Bartoletti, S. (2008). The boy who dared. New York: Scholastic Press.

There’s an old truism:  “Hindsight is 20-20.”  It’s so easy to see the right thing to do after the fact.  The trick is to see the truth and act upon it when you’re in the midst of a situation.  But only a few are willing to invest that kind of time, energy or courage.  Helmuth Hubner, the hero of Susan Bartoletti’s The Boy Who Dared, is one of those rare individuals.

I used to wonder how the Germans who followed Hitler could have ever given themselves over to something as horrible as the Nazis.  Bartoletti does an excellent job of showing how Hubner – and most of the German people – could be swept up in the fervor of the times, believing that the Nazis Party was the balm to heal their post-World War I resentment, poverty and humiliation.  But Helmuth has a wisdom and courage beyond his years as he realizes the threat of the Nazis and is willing to take a stand against it.

This same theme is a common one in our own history if you consider events like the Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism, etc.  And that’s why I think this book is an excellent choice for students.  Last spring, a poll of graduating American high school seniors found that 53% of them had no idea who Hitler was.  As another old truism says: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

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