Annexed Essay

The early 1940’s was an awful time to be a Jew. You had Adolf Hitler leading Germans into Amsterdam, invading Jews by kidnapping and bringing them to concentration camps forcefully. The book “Annexed” takes place in an Annex, which is essentially an additional complex to a main building. The main character, Peter Van Pels, is in hiding from the Germans with his mother and father, Anne Frank and her family, and the dentist, Dr. Pfeffer. Their job is to hide from the the Germans and to survive in the concealed space as long as they possibly can without being found. In the book “Annexed” by Sharon Dogar, readers can use the cultural lens to help readers see how the Nazi’s marginalized the Jews by kidnapping them and giving them orders, and also and how poorly they treated them during the Holocaust.

One way the Nazi’s marginalized Jews was when they invaded Amsterdam and kidnapped thousands of Jews, including Peter and Anne’s families.

The Nazi’s at the time did not treat jewish people like normal human beings whatsoever. And in the book “Annexed”, they abruptly came into the Annex where the two families were hiding and immediately took over by coming in with guns and giving commands which included obvious consequences if you didn’t obey. And Peter and Anne’s families did just what they said because they were scared of them and hopeless. “‘You!’ he says to Mr. Frank. ‘Show me where you keep your jewelry and money!’ Mr. Frank points” (270). This is an example of how Jews were marginalized. Otto Frank doing exactly what he is told. He didn’t even argue or fight back. They didn’t choose to fight back because they were fearful, had a lack of weaponry , and overwhelming dominance and power the Nazi’s brought on heavily is what caused the group in the Annex to obey and have their lives be taken

over.
Fast forwarding to when they arrive into the concentration camps, the Nazi’s divide the Jews up into separate lines of men and women. But Peter and the rest of the group cannot process what is even happening because this is so life-changing for them and it’s all happening so fast. “We are shocked. We are scared. We are so tired and thirsty we cannot think… We have seen that they’ll kill us if we do not do whatever they want, and quickly. We glance at each other before we let go of each other’s hands like obedient children” (285). Peter Van Pels even said it himself, “obedient children”. That is how the Germans were making them feel. Always having to obey what they are told to do. They don’t even have a right to argue or retaliate, unless they want to face extreme consequences. Another reason why they chose not to fight back was because they didn’t have a chance of surviving and/or escaping. That is how the Nazi Germans marginalized jewish people. By coming into their homes and concealed spaces and taking over their lives with aggressive action.
Another way how Nazi’s marginalized jewish people was the conditions they put them through and how they treated them. On the way to the concentration camps, the Jews did not enjoy the train ride there. “I am on a train. I do not know where we are going” (279). “Suddenly there is no light--or just a sliver of it, like a half-memory, high up in the carriage” (279). Although the Jews are clueless on where their destination will be, one thing they know for sure is that danger awaits them. Nothing good is coming. They knew Germans were out to get them, so they know nothing good can possibly happen to them. The train they’re on is essentially pitch dark.
Another way how the Nazi’s treated the Jews poorly was by not giving them any food or water for long periods of time. In addition, it was very hot inside the train car so it made the prisoners even more thirsty. “‘Water!’ people cry. ‘Water!’ But there is no water. No one answers. There is just the heat. The stench. The silence” (282). They would give them enough just to barely survive, but not enough so they suffer. “‘Answer us!’ We wait, but there is no answer”(282). The Nazi’s would purposely ignore the jewish people they trapped in the train cars to make them feel like animals. They dehumanized Jews by throwing them into train cars in the pitch dark and also not giving them any food or water for long periods of time.
The cultural lens is not the only lens readers can use to analyze this book. Readers can also use the archetypal lens through tragedy. Essentially the whole book is tragic for Peter Van Pels and Anne Frank and their families. Constantly living in fear from the Germans for two straight years, and everyone but Otto Frank, Anne’s father, dying in the Holocaust. And even for the short period of time when Peter and Anne were in love, Anne decided that her writing was more important so she fell out of love with Peter, breaking his heart. Essentially nothing goes well for Peter or the two families throughout the whole book, making this book a tragedy as well.