Annexed | Historical Fiction | (SPOILERS!) | For School, A Book Review

AN: There are spoilers!

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Peter van Pels is ripped from his girlfriend, only to be stuck inside hiding for two years in the Annex during the Holocaust. Sharon Dogar portrays Peter at first hating the famous Anne Frank, who he lives with, in the story, Annexed. After going into hiding, he doesn’t know what’s happening outside, and is unable to take action as a Jew. After two years, Nazis find their hiding place nearing the end of the book and he begins to slowly die in a concentration camp. When their camp is abandoned and the Nazis are defeated, two men come to rescue any living people. But Peter dies before they can get him medical help. During his time in the Annex, Peter has so much time on his hands that he over analyzes everything; including the other people in the Annex with him, the Holocaust outside, and everything churning inside of him.

          There were 7 other people living in the Annex with Peter. This made for absolutely no privacy, and since no one had anything to do, fights broke out often. Anne Frank was probably the person who started the most fights by rudely commenting on someone’s screw up. More than anything, she made fun of Peter. Peter thought a lot, but didn’t say much of anything. Which is one reason why Anne thought she was so amazing; when she insulted him, he didn’t say a word. But being in such a small space, though, meant at some point you had to bond. Peter didn’t talk to Margot because she didn’t talk very much either, and everyone else living in the Annex with them were adults. So, Peter and Anne hung out in the attic a lot and mostly talked about if they were ever getting out, what they missed, what they hoped for, and most of all, what was going to happen. Trying to understand the outside world and the Nazi’s perspective.  

Peter and the others in the Annex were in hiding for 2 years. All the while, Peter wished he could fight, and didn’t really know much of what was going on in the Holocaust. To fully understand the story and what the people in the Annex were all going through, you have to understand the situation outside their walls. The Holocaust was a war when Hitler and the Nazis tried exterminating all Jewish people. Just like before the civil rights movement in America, the discriminated against couldn’t even drink from the same water fountain. Hitler wanted to kill all of these Jews, and he did so through concentration and work camps, where Jews suffered through hunger, abuse, and impossible work.

Unlike Anne, who was always hopeful and dreaming, and writing these happy thoughts in her diary, Peter was dark about everything. He was pessimistic and assumed the worst of the war, always. In a way, it was more mature of him to do this. It was realistic, but drove him nuts. There were complications at times, but the basic thing that was always eating away at him was, “What is going to happen to me and my family?” He wanted to live, and have all the experiences anyone else could, but he knew that in the end he wouldn’t be able to.

Overall, this was a very good book that I’d recommend to anyone, as long as they don’t cry easily! This was definitely a tear-jerker. I’d giveAnnexed 4 out of 5 stars because sometimes the book dragged, although that was definitely realistic, Peter having nothing to do but think the whole story.Annexed was a true eye-opener for me.