Reading guide for On Hitler's Mountain by Irmgard Hunt

Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

This reading guide is intended for adult discussion groups.  For younger readers, visit Irmgard Hunt's website for a teacher's guide, suggested classroom activities, and a list of additional resources.


Introduction

Born in 1934, Irmgard Hunt grew up in the Bavarian village of Berchtesgarden, in the shadow of Hitler's infamous "The Eagle's Nest." In this fascinating memoir, she offers an intimate glimpse into German life in the Third Reich, recalling an "ordinary" childhood in an extraordinary time and place.



Discussion Questions

Can you pinpoint the moment in your own life when you discovered the meaning of loss? What was that moment for Irmgard? Think of the children in your own life: do you believe that a child can ever truly understand death's logic?

1. How do you think Irmgard's experience of the loss of her father changed when, many years after his death, she realized that not only was he stolen from her by war, but also by flawed ideology?
   
   
2. As a reader, did you find yourself sympathizing with Irmgard, or were you hesitant to feel sorry for a victim of the Nazis who did not suffer the Konzentrationslager? Before reading On Hitler's Mountain had you thought of the psychological burden borne by German children of the Third Reich? How do you think their suffering differed from the guilt of their parents' generation?
   
   
3. Think back to your childhood. What were the major world events that influenced your own world view? Did you have a teacher or an adult in your life who shaped your opinion of the people of another nation, ethnicity, or racial group? Was there a moment when you realized that your own thoughts and ideas might have been manipulated by another's prejudices or by the political culture of the times?
   
   
4. How do you think Irmgard's brutal and early experience with the unfathomable forces of chance, time, history and circumstance set a course for her life? Do you believe that she would have grown to be a different person if she had been born ten years earlier or ten years later?
   
   
5. It has been said that "a man's character is his fate." Do you believe that character is immutable, or can it be influenced by the times in which we live? How is the destiny of the led bound to the leader?
   
   
6. Discuss whether you feel that ordinary citizens, both men and women, are an integral part of the political decisions and events of which they can become either beneficiaries or victims. What, if anything, could an average German who disagreed with the Nazis or became disenchanted with them have done about Hitler once he was in power? How much influence do you think your own personal politics has on the public and foreign policy decisions of your own national government?
   
   
7. This leads to a question many people have asked. Could a Hitler happen here? If you think so what would be the circumstances? Are there aspects of life in the United States that would prevent a Hitler from occurring here?
   
   

   Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Harper Perennial. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.