Analysis

The outside world is now coming after Hans and Alex Steiner. The Nazi Party is punishing them for their actions, Hans for giving bread to a Jew and Alex Steiner for refusing to give up Rudy. The words on Hans’s letter are powerful in that they are responsible for taking him away; they are also physically embedded in the paper, which represents their strength and permanence. The words, and what they require of Hans, are something that – he can’t escape.