Alfons Heck, born in 1928 in Wittlich , Germany 's Rhineland , joined the Hitler Youth at the age of ten. He rose to its tops ranks and by the end of World War II, at the age of 17, he was in command of 3,000. Mr. Heck attended the Nuremburg Trials in 1946, and spent the rest of his life trying to understand the "fatal attraction of Hitler," the fanaticism of the Hitler Youth, and why the regime was so successful in captivating the young. Mr. Heck wrote a best-selling book, A Child of Hitler: Germany in the Days When God Wore a Swastika , and co-authored the award-winning book Parallel Journeys with his late lecture partner, Helen Waterford, a survivor of Auschwitz . He also served as the narrator and technical consultant of the HBO documentary, Heil Hitler: Confessions of a Hitler Youth , winner of the ACE, EMMY and Peabody Awards.

Alfons Heck passed away on April 12, 2005.