Annexed Research (#5)

The photo on the left is a picture of the Annex; the building that Anne Frank's family, as well as Peter Van Pels - the main character of the book I'm reading - lived in. The house at Prinsengrach 263, in Amsterdam. This is a really small place to live in for eight people. These eight people were Mr. and Mrs. Otto Frank, their daughters, Anne and Margot, the Van Pels family - Papi, Mutti, and Peter - and Dr. Pfeffer. Many vital moments of the story take place in the attic, which can be seen at the top of the image. It gives the story new life and meaning to be able to actually see the place in which they were hiding. It's much easier to relate to the story now than it was before I had found this picture. This picture can be found on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website.

The website also has an online exhibit about Anne Frank. I really enjoyed reading and learning about her, as well as looking through the various images of her. I haven't been able to read The Diary of a Young Girl, which is Anne's diary. It would've been very useful to have read her diary before I read Annexed, and I was becoming a little worried about my lack of background information about Anne. Now, I know a lot about Anne and this gives a new perspective about Anne, as opposed to Peter's perspective, which is rather critical of her. This page parallels with the story; the workers that are helping the hiding Jews are named, as well as many other characters and facts from Annexed. Sharon Dogar might have used this site as a reference while she was writing the story.

I'm really happy that I got a chance to research the characters from Annexed. I learned a lot and now understand the story much better than I would've had I not been able to use the ethe USHMM's website; it is an excellent resource that I'm going to use more over the course of the Holocaust unit. If a book that I'm reading ever has to do with a well-known story, I'll be sure to use my resources to find out more about the book. Thanks for reading!

Here are my citations for the website:

United States Holocaust Memorial Musem. "Anne Frank." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 02 Dec. 2011.

Kulturbesitz, Bildarchiv P. ANNE FRANK - PHOTOGRAPH. Digital image. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 02 Dec. 2011.