Reading Journal Post 5: Chapters 13-15

     The Embellishment of the camp gained the Danish commissioner's approval. His jovial demeanour, apparent while he was running the inspection, showed that he was blind to the reality of the camp's state. Prisoners were ordered to play "parts" during the inspection; such as bakers in white uniforms making bread and children lining up and playing happily; and false signs were painted by Anneke's father, saying things life "Boy's School" and "Closed for the Holidays". Because of the inspection's success, a movie about Theresienstadt was going to be made. Anneke's father had to work on drawings for this movie. Because of the apparent unfairness of all of this, Anneke became frustrated with her father. She asked him one day, "'You know,...do you have to make those drawings for the movie?'" (155). Anneke's father was very offended that he asked him that, and became upset. He exclaimed, "'You haven't the right to ask me that, child!'" and sat down on a bench, panting; trying to hold himself together.
   Anneke goes on a stream on consciousness on how she feels about her statement:

No, I'm glad I've finally spoken up. Why won't Father do the same? Why won't he tell the Nazis he won't draw lies? But already, I know the answer. He can't tell them anything. He can't speak up to them the way I've just spoken up to him. If he does, he risks everything. Everything! (156)

   Anneke has learned to understand that even though actions seem hypocritical and against everything a person believes in, they sometimes must be done to protect a family. Although she wasn't sorry for what she said, she has long realised from her experiences at camp that things are not as simple as right and wrong.

***

  Later, when Anneke is alone in her house, a group of Nazi soldiers pound at her door. They burst in, yelling, directing Anneke to show them any and all drawings that her father made. They were on a search for any piece of media incriminating to the camp's reputation. Frightened, Anneke showed the angry soldiers all the drawings in the house she knew of. Anneke quickly realised that the soldiers are

...afraid that somehow, one day, people will see the drawings--and know the truth. But if the drawings are destroyed, no one will ever know the truth. There will be no point to our suffering! It will be as if none of this has ever happened...Otherwise, things like this--murders,lies,soldiers terrifying girls--will happen again.  (163)

  The soldier does a horrible thing to Anneke. He "...removes one of his thick leather gloves and sticks his hand down the front of [her] nightgown." She is very frightened and scarred by how he touches her inappropriately, and is too ashamed to tell any of her family members about that part when they come home to a house ransacked by the soldiers.
   Anneke goes onto the roof with another girl from the camp to see Little Fortress and witnesses the torture that the artists caught with incriminating images face. She was very upset by it, and called it another horrible image she had to carry with her. She was glad that her father was not caught, because she didn't know where his real drawing were kept in the house, or whether they even existed when the Nazis grilled her for it.
  Although many dark events occur in these chapters, there is still an air of resolvation in the story. One example of this is when Anneke's father gets a cryptic postcard regarding one of his artist friends whose drawing hand was mutilated at Little Fortress. It read, "Saw O.U. doing a charcoal sketch." Despite his punishment for his drawings, the artist still found a way to draw.

Reading Journal Post 4: Chapters 10-12

     At the beginning of chapter ten, Hannelore and her mother leave on a transport. Anneke is devastated that her best friend is gone. She doesn't cry, though, because she feels that she doesn't have any tears left. Soon after, her Opa arrives from Bergen Belsen into Theresienstadt. She has a hard time learning to share her bedspace with him, but quickly grows fond of his presence. When her whole family is gathered around her sick Opa, he wakes up and says,  "'Tell me,' he asks, his eyes wet with tears, 'am I--could I be--by any chance--in Heaven?'" (130) 
     Anneke's little brother, Theo, has been selected to be transported to a different camp. Anneke's family was very upset about this, and didn't plan telling Theo until they absolutely had to. Anneke's father talked to the head to beg that Theo's name be taken off the list. Because of his artwork and (mandatory) contribution to the camp, his son was taken off the transport list.
     At the end of chapter twelve, Anneke receives a gift from her father for her fifteenth birthday. It is a drawing of a house in winter back  in Holland where they used to live, encased in a small silver frame. She attached it to her necklace from Fracentik and kept it there.
    In chapter ten, some other children ask Anneke to follow them up the tallest building to climb on the roof and see the view (another concentration camp, Little Fortress, could be seen from there). With hesitation at first, Anneke followed. As they were climbing the stairs, they passed a number of elderly people living in the attic. Anneke was frightened when encountered one woman. She 

"...gasped when a cold bony hand touches the small of my back. When I spin around, I see a face so pale it seems to shine in the dark. It belongs to an old woman. The bones on her face protrude under her papery skin. She looks more dead than alive. I draw back from her as if I am afraid to catch whatever she has got." (120)

   The imagery in this thought is representative of the decaying of human life and souls in the camp. The treatment and belittling of the people has reduced them to weary, desperate masses of weak flesh that beg for at least one ray of hope. Anneke's fear of this woman is reflectant of her fear of the future--her fear that one day, she may turn out just as dead, or more so, than the old woman on the stairs. 
   Anneke's story continues to advance as she feels less and less hopeful of the future. What do you think? Here are some questions to consider:
      - Is Anneke going to lose anything out   of this experience that she can never regain? What would that be?
       - How will Anneke view the world if and when she escapes the camp?
       - Where will Anneke be by the end of the story?
       - Will Anneke ever find Hannelore or Francentik again?
       - How will Anneke deal with the hypocrisy surrounding her?
       - How will Anneke find hope in her situation?

Reading Journal Post 3: Chapters 7-9

      Anneke and her family are woken up in the middle of the night for a census count in the rain. They stay out there amongst all the prisoners until early in the morning. Anneke finds out through word of mouth that the camp is going to undergo an "Embellishment". The Danish ambassadors are going to inspect the camp and rate its living standards, so the Nazis have decided to add benches, murals, and flowerpots to the streets.

       The census count was a harsh reminder to all prisoners of how horrible the conditions really were. The field was stuffed with over 40,000 people, and people were dropping to the ground in the cold. It was a truly demeaning event. People were starving, cold, uncomforable, and were not allowed to leave or use the bathroom properly. Anneke was angered by the situation, and felt helpless to stop it.

     Anneke finds this Embellishment deceitful and demeaning. She thinks to herself that

...though the camp is being embellished -- there are a few new benches, a playground with three seasaws, the barracks have been cut down so there are two tiers of beds, not three -- only the surface of our world has changed. We are still starving. We are still in danger of being sent on one of the transports. Death still stares us in the eye. (112)

      Anneke is also frustrated that no one else seems to see the mockery the Nazis are making of the prisoners. Her parents try to see the bright side of the situation, and this makes her feel as if they are not being real. Since her dad has to help with the Embellishment by painting murals, shes at first sees him at a hypocrite. Most likely, the adults of the camp have already accepted the fact that everything done by the enemy has a corrupt ulterior motive, and have learned to look past the awful truth and deal with what they have got. Anneke has not reached that stage yet. She still (understandably) sees the dark in all situations.

      The absense of Franticek also takes a toll on Anneke's well-being. She is upset that he is gone, and still thinks about him often. She has deep feelings for him, and she worries about him a lot. She says: "I'm convinced that without Franticek, my world would end. And because I woke up this morning, Franticek must still be alive, mustn't he?" (84) The hope that maybe, just maybe, she will see him again keeps her going every day.

           

Reading Journal Post 2: Chapters 4-6

      In these chapters, Anneke moves out of the Barracks’ bunk-houses and into a small house. Still in the concentration camp, she sees a patrol of Nazis coming near. They target three men and end up hanging them. This was because “one man didn’t tip his hat when a Nazi officer passed. One tried to smuggle a letter to his wife. And one stole a potato.” Anneke is upset and deeply saddened by this unjust display. No matter how much Anneke tries to weed out the hardships of the camp, they always come back to remind her. This is one of the ways that the author portrays the claustrophobic feeling of the Holocaust - the feeling that there is no escape.

      Anneke also meets and has an emotional encounter with a boy named Franticek Halop. Although he has had many partners and a girlfriend, Franticek dismisses his actions as "animal things" (78). He is "not proud of it, but a person...well, a person has to survive. And in a place like this, sometimes a person has to take what he can get. Just to feel alive" (79). He declares his love to Anneke as real and true, and they share a passionate first kiss. He gives her his leather neckpiece to remember him by. Only then after does Anneke find out that Franticek is to be transported into another camp the very next day. They may never meet again.
      Because of this, Anneke shows substantial character development. Being young and inexperienced, she is confused by her feelings of attraction towards Franticek. She gets feelings of discovery in the heat of the moment. An experience with a first love at a young age is an unforgettable moment, but she tries not to think about it too much, as there is nothing she can do to advance or change anything at this point in time.
      Hannelore, Anneke's best friend, also finds and old skirt for sale in one of the shops. She is very excited about it, and consoles with Anneke about whether or not to buy it. She ends up purchasing it, but Anneke feels sad about it because she knows that the Nazis shouldn't have even taken away their belongings in the first place.

Reading Journal Post 1: Chapters 1-3

       What World Is Left starts with Anneke waking up in the barracks of Theresienstadt, her dream of home broken by the nip of bedbugs and the press of other prisoners sleeping at her side. As she vigorously scrubs the giant cauldrons in the diet kitchen at day, Anneke feels as if the war will never end.

The first three chapters outline her experiences in entering the concentration camp through flashbacks up until the present point in the story. Events from Annke’s healthy life in her Holland home are also described as she yearns for her recent past. For example, she talks about a gold brooch she received for her  birthday and how she hid it in her bags for Theresienstadt. The brooch is taken by the entry soldiers assigned to root through the prisoner’s luggage, and this event leaves her crestfallen. Instances such as this are littered throughout the book, and the small occurrences help the reader see her perspective judging by her day-to-day experiences.

     This book is written in a format that incorporates unpretentious but fulfilling forms of imagery and style. The simple format and descriptors used in the novel make it an easy read, but not so much so that the story-telling is limited. The protagonist is a fourteen-year-old girl, so the linguistics used enhance the story’s authenticity and relatability.  This style is evident when Anneke describes her initial thoughts of the camp in Chapter 1. She angrily expresses that Theresienstadt is

Some model city!  I shake out my arm to make the cramping go away. It is Father and Mother's fault we ended up here! How could they have been so foolish? Why hadn't we left Holland when it was still possible for Jews to leave the country? Parents were supposed to look after their children, but Father and Mother haven't done a very good job of it, have they? (6)

     Anneke didn't know where to turn when she found out where the family had been taken to, and her first thoughts are feelings of resentment towards her parents. Soon after, these feelings of blame fade away as she realizes the reality of the situation at hand. Her problem is addressed when she tries to make friends Hannelore, who later becomes her very best friend, and continues to search for hope in her dark situation.

Introductory Post

Novel Profile

Title: What World is Left

Author: Monique Polak

Publisher: Orca Book Publishers

Copyright date: 2008

Number of pages: 215

Fiction

   While scanning through the books the library, searching for a good read, I came across "What World is Left" by Monique Polak. Judging by the cover and its photo, I saw that it was a book about the times of World War II. It looked interesting, and was of a good length for an independent novel study. I am often interested in content about the second world war, namely the Holocaust, and this book is about just that. The back of the book reads:

The unthinkable has happened. Anneke and her family have been taken by train from their comfortable home in Holland to Theresienstadt, a "model" concentration camp in Czechloslovakia. But there is nothing model about bed bugs, starvation, disease, lice, hard labor and constant brutality. Despite the hunger, the anxiety and the pain, Anneke learns that she is capable of doing whatever it takes to survive. She also discovers that even the grayest of days can be brightened by a friend's smile or a lover's kiss.

   In reading this novel, I hope to get a look at one specific experience/circumstance that could have occurred in history. Although this novel was written recently, I trust that it will not fail to give insight and personal depth to the life of a concentration camp prisoner. I am looking forward to an engaging and smooth read.