HITLER, MY NEIGHBOR is a rare look at the conflicted, often horrifying childhood of a Jewish boy in Nazi Germany, but not just any Jewish boy. Edgar Feuchtwanger lived across the street from Adolf Hitler.

Edgar was the son of Ludwig Feuchtwanger and nephew of Lion Feuchtwanger, both men well-known Jewish intellectuals and writers whose family had resided in Germany since the 1500s. He recalled hearing about Hitler from the age of five, in 1929, when the leader of the Nazi Party moved into an apartment across the street.

"Readers who, for age or other reasons, are distanced from the Nazi era would do well to read Feuchtwanger’s memoir, follow his example to consider eternal truths, and resolve never to forget."

The book is styled as a series of observations by a child who gradually grows in understanding as circumstances around him rapidly change. He knows that somehow these changes occur because of his enigmatic neighbor. Hitler has seized power, imposing his worldview on all Germans, even the boy’s schoolmates. Edgar hears his parents discussing whether or not to flee the country, discussions that grow gradually more fraught, even frantic at times. The little boy longs to tell his classmates that it’s the Romans, not the Jews, who betrayed Jesus, hopes to try out for the Olympics, and wants to be a proud German soldier someday. Even the grown-ups hold out hope that Hitler will not target Jews for his hate-filled policies.

But terrible things keep happening. A friend of Ludwig is forced to carry a sign that reads, “I’m a Jew and I’ll never criticize the police again.” Lion's house is ransacked, and he and his wife are forced to leave the country. There are major events that the child is aware of without knowing their full significance: the Night of the Long Knives and Kristallnacht. Edgar is crushed when his beloved nanny leaves because it is now unlawful for her to tend to a Jewish family. Ludwig loses his job. Friends and relatives begin to emigrate as the laws of the land become overtly anti-Jewish. Edgar gives up on convincing his former school friends that the rapidly spreading propaganda about Jews isn’t true. His world comes crashing down when Ludwig is carried off to Dachau.

Feuchtwanger’s childhood recollections were told to French journalist Bertil Scali in 2012 when he was 88. His book was first published in France in 2013, and now has been rendered into English by award-winning translator Adriana Hunter. Chapters begin with eerie quotations from MEIN KAMPF in which Hitler chronicles his visceral, racist hatred of Jews --- not only their religion but also their appearance and mannerisms --- reminding readers of the way the evil roots of Nazism mushroomed in the mind of a deranged dictator.

Scali stated that the elderly Feuchtwanger finally agreed to share his memories when he began to “think about eternity.” Readers who, for age or other reasons, are distanced from the Nazi era would do well to read Feuchtwanger’s memoir, follow his example to consider eternal truths, and resolve never to forget.