Solomon Perel was a German-born Israeli author and motivational speaker famous for saving himself from death by posing as a member of the Hitler Youth during World War II. His life story was told through a film loosely based on his autobiography Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon I Was Hitler Youth Salomon in the 1990. Perel was born in Peine, Lower Saxony, to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Russia to Germany. When the Nazi invaded Poland Perel was able to convince his captors that he was an ethn... moreSolomon Perel was a German-born Israeli author and motivational speaker famous for saving himself from death by posing as a member of the Hitler Youth during World War II. His life story was told through a film loosely based on his autobiography Ich war Hitlerjunge Salomon I Was Hitler Youth Salomon in the 1990. Perel was born in Peine, Lower Saxony, to Jewish parents who had emigrated from Russia to Germany. When the Nazi invaded Poland Perel was able to convince his captors that he was an ethnic German living outside Germany and they believed him since he was a native German speaker. He was put into their unit under the name Josef Perjell, and made him an interpreter, he later participated in interrogation of Joseph Stalin's son, Yakov Dzhugashvili. He lived in fear that he might be discovered and even tried running away several times but to no avail. Due to his age he was later sent to a Hitler Youth boarding school in Braunschweig. He was drafted into the army, but was captured by the US army in 1945 right before his 20th birthday. Perel later wrote a book about his exploits and made into a movie that won the Golden Globe for best foreign film, the movie was named best foreign film by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the National Board of Review.
