Elizabeth Raum - World War II: An Interactive History Adventure

You Choose Books are published by Capstone Press,
1710 Roe Crest Drive, North Mankato, Minnesota 56003. www.capstonepub.com

Copyright 2009 by Capstone Press, a Capstone Publishers company.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Capstone Press, 1710 Roe Crest Drive, North Mankato, Minnesota 56003.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Raum, Elizabeth.

World War II : an interactive history adventure / by Elizabeth Raum.

p. cm.(You choose books)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Summary: Describes the events of World War II and explains the significance of the war today. The readers choices reveal the historical details from the perspective of a member of the Dutch resistance, a Canadian soldier, and an American soldierProvided by publisher.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4296-2344-5 (hardcover)

ISBN-13: 978-1-4296-3457-1 (softcover)

ISBN-10: 1-4296-2344-6 (hardcover)

ISBN-10: 1-4296-3457-X (softcover)

ISBN: 978-1-4765-0252-6 (e-book)

1. World War, 19391945Juvenile literature. I. Title.

D743.7.R38 2009

940.53dc22 2008028916

Editorial Credits

Megan Schoeneberger, editor

Juliette Peters, set designer

Gene Bentdahl, book designer

Wanda Winch, photo researcher

Photo Credits

The author would like to dedicate this book to her father, Staff Sergeant Charlie Fletcher, a tank driver who served in Europe with the 191st Tank battalion (19421945); her father-in-law, Sergeant Howard Raum, an Army x-ray technician stationed at Oliver General Hospital, Augusta, Georgia (19421945); and his brother, Corporal Robert Raum, a cannoneer in the 194th Field Artillery battalion killed in France, January 14, 1945.

YOU are living in the late 1930s. More than 20 years have passed since World War I. Now conflicts in Europe and Japan are building up again. Will there be another world war?

In this book, youll explore how the choices people made meant the difference between life and death. The events youll experience happened to real people.

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page. After you finish one path, go back and read the others. Use your devices back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice. Then try a different link for a new adventure.

YOU CHOOSE the path
you take through history.

Look! your brother says, holding up the newspaper on September 1, 1939. In black letters are the words German Army Invades Poland.

Germany was not pleased with the peace that followed World War I (19141918). The country lost the war, and many Germans believed they were treated unfairly.

Many Germans saluted Adolf Hitler as the leader of their country.

Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany in 1933. He and his political party, the Nazis, blame Germanys problems on the last war. They also blame the Jews, a group of people descended from ancient Hebrews. Hitler believes the Jews are a weaker race than the white German race. A stronger race will drive out the weak, he writes.

Hitler promises to make Germany powerful again. He began in 1938 by taking over Austria. In March 1939, Hitler seized Czechoslovakia. And now his army has invaded Poland.

Theres fighting in Asia too, your brother says. The Japanese are attacking China.

The leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini, vows to help Germany gain power in Europe. In 1940, Japan joins Germany and Italy to form the Axis powers.

Poland, Great Britain, France, India, Australia, and New Zealand hope to stop the Axis. Together they are known as the Allied forces, or Allies.

Will there be another world war? you ask.

Im afraid so, your father says. Sooner or later, youll have to decide what role to play.

Early Friday morning, May 10, 1940, you awake to the sound of popping noises filling the air. Whats going on? you ask.

Those are German planes! your brother shouts, pointing to the sky. Theyre shooting at our planes.

But the Netherlands is neutral. We arent part of the war.

That doesnt matter to Hitler, your brother says. First he attacked Poland, then Norway and Denmark. Now hes coming after us.

German bombs destroyed the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in May 1940.

The Germans are heavily armed with tanks and bombers. The small Dutch Army has no tanks. Their planes are old. They ride bicycles and carry outdated guns. Outnumbered and outmatched, the Dutch Army does its best to hold off the Germans. After three days, the Germans control most of the country. But the major cities are still under Dutch control.

On May 14, Germans drop bomb after bomb on the city of Rotterdam. The city is destroyed. More than 900 people, including your cousin, are killed in the attack. The next day, the Dutch government surrenders to the Germans.

That night, your family gathers around the radio. Londons radio station, the BBC, reports that Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government have left the Netherlands for England. Why has she left us in our time of need? you ask.

She must have good reasons, my daughter. Someday well understand, Father says.

When German soldiers march through the streets, you stand on the sidewalk and sob. Your cousin is dead, and your country is no longer free.

Some of your neighbors support the Germans by joining the Dutch Nazi Party. Others welcome German soldiers into their homes. Not you and your family. You want nothing to do with the Nazis.

Soon the Nazis secret police, the Gestapo, begin making rules. First they make it illegal to listen to the BBC. Then they order citizens to turn in their radios.

Well keep our radio, your father says.

Its dangerous. If the Germans find the radio, your father could be arrested.

They wont find it, he says. He cuts a hole in the wall. Then he moves the radio, which is the size of a small dresser, into that space. A bookshelf hides the lower half. He hangs a mirror over the top part.

Every night, you listen to broadcasts from the Dutch government in England. It is the only news you trust.

Your brother begins a secret newspaper to report what you hear on the radio. Will you help me deliver copies to the neighbors? he asks.

It is dangerous work. If you are caught, you will be arrested. And the Nazis kill traitors.