e. How did the Nazi officers behave with the Johansens?
Answers
Explanation:
Ellen and Annemarie stay up late talking in Annemarie’s bedroom. They nervously wonder whether the Germans will come to see if the Rosens are hiding in Annemarie’s house. Ellen decides that anyone asks her, she will pretend to be Lise. The girls discuss the night Lise died. Annemarie does not know the details - all she remembers is that it was raining, and Lise was with Peter when a car struck her in the middle of the night. Everyone cried, but Papa was very angry. The girls reassure each other that the Germans will never come for Ellen, and fall asleep.
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A few hours later, three German officers pound on the front door. Annemarie cracks open her bedroom door and watches as he talks to her parents. The German officer knows that the Johansens are friends with the Rosens, and therefore, he thinks that Mama and Papa must know where the Rosens are. Mama and Papa insist that they have no idea. The officer rudely demands to search the house and starts toward Annemarie’s bedroom, despite Mama's pleas to him not to wake the children.
Annemarie realizes that Ellen is still wearing her gold Star of David necklace. She panics and instructs Ellen to take it off, but Ellen has never removed it before and cannot undo the clasp. Desperate, Annemarie rips the necklace off Ellen's neck and crumples it in her hand moments before the officers barge into the room. When the officers as the girls to identify themselves, Ellen introduces herself as Lise. The head officer, however, notices that Ellen has dark hair, unlike the rest of the family. He asks why, and Papa quickly tears some photos from the family photo album. One of the photos is of Lise, who had dark hair as an infant. The officers finally accept Papa’s explanation and leave the apartment.
Analysis
Annemarie and Ellen’s conversation about Lise at the beginning of Chapter 5 is an important example of foreshadowing. Ellen jokes about pretending to be Lise, and a few hours later, her life depends on convincing the Gestapo that she is the eldest Johansen daughter. However, their conversation about Lise's death also foreshadows the revelation at the end of the book that Lise did not die in an accident, but was murdered by the Germans for her participation in the Resistance. Papa’s anger and Annemarie's confusion about what actually happened to her sister are hints that the girls do not know the whole story.
The German officers’ midnight visit is Annemarie’s first truly frightening encounter, a stark contrast to their stern but harmless conversation with the Giraffe on the street. The Giraffe touches Kirsti's hair fondly, because it reminds him of own daughter. However, the Gestapo who come to the Johansen's door harass Ellen by tugging at her dark hair, a trait that could reveal her identity and lead to her death. Through this comparison, Lowry demonstrates that some German soldiers were crueler and more frightening than others. The Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, rounded up Jews and members of the Resistance and killed them or brought them to concentration camps. Lowry’s portrayal of the Gestapo officers is appropriately ruthless - they were frequently violent towards children. She presents a more subtle character in the Giraffe, who was likely drafted and stationed in Denmark, although he would rather be at home with his family.