The Upstairs Room

“Where was Austria, which Hitler had attached to Germany in the spring? It was not a nice thing to have done, I guessed. Father had looked angry.”

This initial thought of the six-year-old narrator, Annie, demonstrates how naive and innocent she is. Her youth is evident in her lack of knowledge about European geography. Also, she gleans that the annexation of Austria to Germany is “not a nice thing” because of her father’s anger, not because she understands world events. This establishes the narration as that of a child in the moment, not an adult looking back.

“Sometimes the tree talked to everyone.”

The text personifies the tree in the center of town, where Nazi soldiers post notices, as someone talking to the townsfolk. This use of figurative language demonstrates Annie’s childlike perspective as well as German manipulation. Usually bearing notices for Jewish residents, now the tree announces rations that affect everyone living in Winterswijk. Shifting to inclusion takes the focus off the Jews in Winterswijk momentarily, creating a false sense of security for them. The combination of Annie’s innocent perspective and the Germans’ plan thematically fuels The Loss of Innocence in Extreme Circumstances.

“Nine days later the letter that Rachel had written for Mrs. Gans came back from Mauthausen. UNKNOWN was stamped across the envelope.

‘Funny, that they wouldn’t remember him,’ Mother said.”

The Ganses receive a letter from their son at the Mauthausen camp and Rachel helps them respond. This letter is returned with an “UNKNOWN” stamp, suggesting that the Gans boy is dead.