The book

Parallel
Journeys was
published in
June 1st, 1995.
Also, the
author of this
book is
Eleanor Ayer.

Alfonz Heck is a
young German boy
trained to hate and kill
Jews. Meeting Hitler
only adds fuel to the
fire. Eventually
becoming a German
officer. He is trained
to kill people like
Helen. He was
continuously promoted
and made his way up
in the ranks. When the
war came to an end,
he denied that he was
apart of Hitlers men to
avoid prison. Years
later he wanted to
write a book about his
experiences. He
partnered up with
Helen Waterford, an
Auschwitz survivor.

Main Characters

Helen Waterford is
a young Jewish
girl that is in love
with a man named
Sigfried Wohlfarth.
At the age of
sixteen she is sent
to a concentration
camp, Auschwitz.
She lived in a bed
with termites and
he had many
infections while in
Auschwitz. When
she was finally
released from
Auschwitz she
wieghed only 70
pounds. Years
later she crossed
roads with Alfonz
Heck and made a
book with him
from their life.

Setting And Plot

Helen : The setting of Helens side of the story takes place in Auschwitz, Holland, and America. The
major conflict in this story in simply, will Helen survive World War 2? It all started when Hitler started
discriminating Jews, then one thing leads to another he starts building his army. Meanwhile, Helen gets
married to the love of her life Sigfried Wohlfarth. Pretty soon Helens father and brother are sent to
concentration camps. Helen and Sigfried have a baby named Doris, but they have to give her away because
they did not want her to be imprisoned like they were about to be. Helen was separated with Sigfried and he
was never seen again. She was soon sent to the concentration camp, the almighty Auschwitz. Eventually
she outlasts the war and is free for once. After being released she only weighed 70 pounds when she left
the concentration camp. At the end of the book she finds Doris and moves to America.
Alfonz: The setting of Alfonz story takes place in Wittlich, Germany. The story begins when Hitler
comes into power, and Alfonz wants to be apart of it. There is a question of whether he did it for the cause
or if he did it for the power. He joined the Hitler youth. Pretty soon he was promoted to Jungvolk. He took a
test to become commander but he failed, but they saw something special in him so they gave him a second
chance and he passed. He starts fighting in the army as a commander but loses a battle and is demoted.
Soon enough, the war is over and Alfonz finds out the truth about Hitler. American army takes Alfonz into
custody but they release him. French took him into custody and sentenced him to death. However the case
is reversed and he fleas to Canada.

THEME
The theme for
Helens story is that
she wanted to be
free and back to her
normal life. Helen
hopes she will one
day be released from
the concentration
camp and be
reunited with her
husband and her
child, Doris.

The theme for

Alfonz story is;
he was blinded
from the truth
because all the
power he was
given. Alfonz was
not really a bad
person, he was
just following
orders. If he was
not given so
much power I
believe he
would've left
Hitlers youth
earlier.

CONCLUSION
Overall, I enjoyed
this book, however
it was long and
sometimes I lost
interest. In the end
of the book, Helen
and Alfonz cross
lines and make a
book together. The
main part of this
book is that people
from completely
opposite lives
eventually meet up.

I recommend this
book to anyone who
enjoys readying
journal type books or
likes the WW2 era.