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.

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