Flowers in the Gutter

By Tammy Nguyen, Adriana Palacios, Megan Pham, Nicholas Ramirez, & Isaac Rico

Review:

Flowers in the Gutter by K.R. Gaddy focuses on the hardships that youth had to face in Germany during World War II as they try to survive day by day under the Nazi regime. The fear that threatens them everyday is highlighted through descriptions of the bombings that happened nearly everyday and the poor conditions of the jail cells and concentration camps. The Night of Broken Glass, Kristallnacht, marked the night where civilians and SA officers destroyed store windows and businesses in retaliation to the Nazi regime. This caused a mass destruction to take place and changed the Germany that people had once known right in front of their eyes. The book also includes some snippets of how the youth attempted to lead a normal life by gathering with friends and singing songs accompanied by the guitar. However, the main focus of the book is on the Edelweiss Pirates’ opposition to the Nazi regime. By following the lives of Gertrude, Jean, and Fritz, the dangers of being a young adult who is against the Nazi teachings is highlighted.
The Edelweiss Pirates stood up to the Nazis by scattering flyers at a busy train station in an attempt to warn people about the wrong-doings of the Nazis. This shows how they were willing to take a risk to stand up for what they believe in despite knowing the repercussions they would have to face. The Edelweiss Pirates were seen as a criminal gang by officers and would often be taken into the EL-DE house for interrogations in relation to crimes they did or didn’t do. The brutality of the EL-DE house is also highlighted by the cramped living spaces and inhumane beating of children to get "confessions.” Gertrude, Jean, and Fritz all had to experience the brutality of the EL-DE house through the interrogation methods of the officers. The officers would beat the Pirates in an attempt to make them turn their backs on each other, something that they promised they wouldn’t do. However, this method eventually worked and Barthel inadvertently turned in Fan and Jean as he named them as the leader and member of a camp that had a large supply of weapons. Even though Barthel thought he did what he had to do at the time to survive, he caused the lives of his friends to take a turn for the worse.
By the end of the war, youth groups were seen as criminal bands, causing many former Pirates to deny having ever been in the group to avoid further trouble. Fritz comments that "the end of the war was the beginning of years of silence." (Gaddy 330) The Edelweiss Pirates were never truly recognized as a resistance group or having participated in a resistance movement because they were seen as individuals who didn't want to be told what to do. In addition, because they were a loose group and lacked a leader, they were not considered a true resistance group because they didn't publicly stand up against Hitler and the Nazis. However, by voicing their opinions and standing up for what they believe in, they did do something as opposed to just blindly following any and all rules that were placed on them.

Biography:

Kristina R. Gaddy, or K.R. Gaddy, grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and was first captivated with the idea of writing when she would visit museums as well as co-curate exhibits on the arts and craft behind the concept of a modern teapot. It was through that work that she attended Goucher College and pursued a MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing, where her thesis focused on the stories of mostly medical workers during the Progressive Era—whether they be public health workers, doctors, or midwives searching for a safe way to assist in childbirth.

While K.R. Gaddy is a writer, she is also a historian. She received a Network to Freedom grant, which she used to research the freedom of enslaved African Americans. Through this research and need to write about it, Gaddy graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County with degrees in History and Modern Languages, German and Spanish specifically.

Armed with these degrees and the knowledge that accompanies her research and her interest in writing and history, Gaddy uses her writing to explore and emphasize histories that have been marginalized or even forgotten. Her work has appeared in the The Washington Post, Baltimore magazine, Baltimore Sun, and countless other publications. However, while her essays and research have been viewed in many mediums, Flowers in the Gutter is her debut nonfiction title from this year, 2020. Because of the success of this book, her next work, Well of Souls: Music, Dance, Spirituality, and Early Banjo, looks to be seeing a 2022 release and focuses on the history of the banjo in the Americas as well as its role as a spiritual device for Africans.

K.R. Gaddy is an author, a freelance writer, as well as a historian who has won awards for her work. Through the essays, research, and books she writes, she seeks to broadcast her belief in the power of nonfiction narratives. She wants to highlight untold narratives and bring the past to life with those stories to inform the modern world. This proves especially important since the YA literature landscape should demonstrate this broad history of these ignored peoples who deserve to have their stories told.

Resources:

1. The Secret Student Resistance to Hitler

This is a short animation that goes over the White Rose, the most recognized of the German Youth groups. The White Rose were outspoken against the Nazis and distributed ant-Nazi pamphlets and posters denouncing the party and their beliefs.

2. The White Rose Resistance Group

The White Rose Movement was a nonviolent German Youth group led by young students from Munich, Germany founded in 1942. Led by Hans and Sophie Scholl, this is an interview from 1992 with their surviving younger sister, Inge Scholl, who tells the story of her older brother and sister's strength to fight against the Fascist Regime.

3. The German Youth Movement

This video briefly tells of the background and ideology of the Wandervӧgel movement. This movement will evolve into and help define the ideology of the bündische group such as the Edelweiss Pirates and the Navajos that arise in the novel.

4. 'The Enemy of Our Enemy': A View of the Edelweiss Piraten from the British and American Archives

This article reviews documentation and includes the history of the Edelweiss Pirates from their conception, their resistance and opposition to the Nazi Party, and what happened to many of them after the war ended.

5. Anti-Nazi Youth Resistance

This article provides historical information of the Edelweiss Pirates, Navajos, and other similar German Youth groups who rejected the Nazi Party's beliefs and actively fought against it. It shows how young teenagers can play a pivotal role and take action in standing up against tyranny instead of retreating and standing by passively.

6. Edelweiss Pirates Movie
This is a 2005 film directed by Niko von Glasow that follows the story of Hans "Bomben-Hans" Steinbrück, Cilly Serve, Josef Hoegen and other young resistance fighters from the Ehrenfeld Group that Jean Jülich encountered and was involved with in 1944 Cologne, Germany.

7. Youth Resistance in the Third Reich

This article outlines several resistance groups that formed in retaliation of the Nazi Youth Groups under Hitler's reign. This paper goes in-depth and examines the socio-economic situation that prompted many of these young teenagers to make a stand against their country and countrymen.

8. The Nazi Machtergreifung

This book inspects the German Youth Movement of the Nazi Youth group as well as bündische groups that arose in resistance. It outlines the origins as well as answers how and why these bündische groups came about and what exactly they stood for.

Instructional Activity:

Grades 11-12

Goal of Lesson:

Students will activate their prior knowledge by connecting prior experiences
Students will complete the provided handout by gathering information from the text and a
a secondary source to support their ideas
Students will be able to analyze and interpret themes and ideas such as freedom and morality
Have students identify the differences between separate accounts of the same event

California Common Core Standards:

English Language Arts Standards: Reading: Literature:

1.) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

2.) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2
Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

3.) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

4.) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7
Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.

5.) CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on
meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is
particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.

Instructional Plan:

Themes:

Individual Morals vs. Society Morals, Freedom of Speech/Personal Freedoms vs. Government Authority

1.) Anticipatory Set: At the beginning of the quarter, students will be assigned the novel Flowers in The Gutter by K. R. Gaddy and will be expected to complete the novel in 3 weeks. Students will also be given a Graphic Organizer Handout the same day the book is assigned; although the handout is to be completed after reading the book, providing them with the handout ahead of time will help students prepare for it. Also, a week before the due date, students will be required to search for a current event that follows a theme and discussion topic to complete the last section of the Handout. The current event should be relevant (within the past year or so).

2.) Introduction: On the day of the activity, students will be expected to have completed the book. Students must bring the book to class, and a printed copy of the current event article they chose to write about. The teacher will begin the class by briefly presenting students with the following 3 thematic questions on the whiteboard.

-For one of the characters’ stories, explain what form freedom takes for that character,

and how that form is relevant today.

-How do the characters in the novel stand up for their personal morals and how do

people in society perceive their actions? What are the consequences for their actions?

Is it wrong of them to go against public opinion?

-How do one of the novel’s characters represent young adults’/teens’ capability to

influence political discourse around them? Is it impactful or is it worthless?

Students will choose one question, and write their answer down on their handout. The class

will then begin with a brief 15 minute discussion of the book, current event articles, and their

answer to the thematic question they selected.

3.) Lesson Body:

The class will then move on to complete their Graphic Organizer Handout. The instructions

are as follows:

1. Quote and cite from the primary text

3. Quote and cite from a secondary source

4. Explain the two quotes and why they are both relevant and/or supports your argument

5.) Conclusion/Closure:

The class will be concluded with a discussion of their findings, and how they were able to effectively relate their answer to the quotes they have provided. In this way, students will learn not only to make an argument but also to support their claim.

Graphic Organizer Handout:

Handout