Number the Stars

Summary

Number the Stars is set in Copenhagen and on the north coast of Zealand in September and October 1943, during the German occupation of Denmark. Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen race each other home from school and are stopped on the street by two German soldiers; Annemarie's little sister Kirsti, five, chatters at them fearlessly. At home the family remembers Lise, Annemarie's older sister, who was killed in what the girls were told was an accident two weeks before her wedding to Peter Neilsen. Papa tells the story of King Christian X, who rides through the city each morning without a guard, and of the Danish boy who told a soldier that the whole nation was the king's bodyguard. When Mrs. Hirsch's button shop is suddenly closed, Peter, now secretly in the Resistance, warns that the Germans have taken lists of Jewish families from the synagogue. On the Jewish New Year the Rosens go into hiding and leave Ellen with the Johansens as a third daughter. That night soldiers search the flat. Annemarie tears the Star of David necklace from Ellen's neck and grips it so hard it marks her palm, and Papa passes off dark-haired Ellen as Lise by showing a baby picture of his dead daughter; the officer rips the photograph and leaves. Mama then takes the girls and Kirsti by train to the seaside house of her brother Henrik, a fisherman near Gilleleje, from which Sweden can be seen across the water. Uncle Henrik and Mama announce a wake for a Great-aunt Birte whom Annemarie has never heard of. Annemarie realizes they are lying, and Henrik admits it in the barn, telling her that knowing less makes courage easier. Mourners arrive, among them the Rosens and Peter. When soldiers demand to see the body, Mama says the old woman died of typhus and offers to open the casket; the officer slaps her and leaves. Peter reads a psalm about the God who numbers the stars. The casket holds blankets and warm clothes; Peter gives a baby drops to keep it asleep and hands Mr. Rosen a packet that must reach Henrik. At dawn Annemarie finds Mama hurt on the path with a broken ankle and the packet lying in the grass. Disguised as a silly girl bringing her uncle his lunch, she runs through the woods and meets soldiers with dogs, who seize the packet and throw away a plain handkerchief. Henrik later explains that its scent ruined the dogs' noses, so the searchers found nothing under his deck, and the Rosens reached Sweden. Two years later the war ends. Annemarie learns that Lise died in the Resistance and that Peter has been executed, and she resolves to wear Ellen's mended necklace until the Rosens come home. Houghton Mifflin published the novel in 1989; it won the 1990 Newbery Medal, and an afterword explains which parts are historical.

Plot or Argument

• Chapters 1-3: Copenhagen under occupation

  Annemarie and Ellen are stopped by soldiers on a street corner; Kirsti mocks them. Papa's story of King Christian's bodyguard, the unopened trunk of Lise's wedding things, and the sudden closing of Mrs. Hirsch's shop show a city learning to be afraid.

• Chapters 4-5: The night search

  Peter brings word that Jewish families are to be taken; the Rosens flee and Ellen sleeps in Lise's old bed. Soldiers search the flat before dawn; Annemarie hides the Star of David in her fist, and Papa's photograph of baby Lise passes Ellen off as his daughter.

• Chapters 6-8: To the house by the sea

  Papa uses a coded telephone call about the fishing weather and cigarettes to arrange the trip. Soldiers question the travelers on the train north. At Uncle Henrik's house the girls play in the meadow, and a casket is brought in for a Great-aunt Birte.

• Chapters 9-11: The wake

  Henrik admits in the barn that there is no Great-aunt Birte. The Rosens arrive with other refugees and Peter. Mama defies the soldiers with talk of typhus, Peter reads a psalm, and the casket is opened to give the travelers warm clothing before they leave for the boat.

• Chapters 12-15: The run through the woods

  Mama does not come home; Annemarie finds her injured on the path and sees the forgotten packet. She runs with it in a lunch basket, telling herself the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and outlasts the soldiers and their dogs by acting like a foolish child.

• Chapters 16-17: The truth told

  Henrik tells Annemarie a little of how the boat hid passengers and what the handkerchief did. Two years later, at the liberation, her parents tell her how Lise and Peter died, and she asks Papa to fix Ellen's necklace.

• Afterword

  Lowry separates fact from invention: the king's rides, the escape of most of Denmark's Jews to Sweden in October 1943, the treated handkerchiefs used by boat captains, and the last letters of young Resistance members.

Characters

• Annemarie Johansen, protagonist

  Ten-year-old Copenhagen girl who discovers she can be brave for her friend.

• Ellen Rosen, Annemarie's best friend

  Jewish girl, a lover of acting, who hides with the Johansens and escapes to Sweden.

• Kirsti Johansen, Annemarie's little sister

  Outspoken five-year-old whose innocence is both a danger and a cover.

• Mama (Mrs. Johansen), Annemarie's mother

  Steady, quick-witted mother who guides the Rosens to the boat and faces down the soldiers at the wake.

• Papa (Mr. Johansen), Annemarie's father

  Gentle father who tells the king's story and protects Ellen with Lise's photograph.

• Uncle Henrik, Mama's brother

  Fisherman on the north coast who carries Jewish refugees to Sweden in his boat.

• Peter Neilsen, Lise's former fiancé

  Young member of the Resistance who leads refugees and is later executed.

• Lise Johansen, Annemarie's dead older sister

  Killed before the story opens; her Resistance work is revealed only at the end.

• Mr. and Mrs. Rosen, Ellen's parents

  Jewish parents who hide, attend the false wake, and cross to Sweden.

Lessons

• Courage is doing what must be done while afraid

  Annemarie never stops being frightened, yet she holds the necklace, keeps silent at the wake and runs the packet past armed soldiers. Uncle Henrik's account of bravery as attention to the task at hand gives a child a usable picture of fortitude.

  • Annemarie says she was not brave, only scared. Was she right?
  • Why does Uncle Henrik think it is easier to be brave when you do not know everything?
  • What helps Annemarie keep running on the dark path?

• A whole people can protect its neighbors

  The king's story in Chapter 2 grows into the plot of the book: Papa, Mama, Henrik, Peter and many unnamed Danes each do one part of the rescue. Lowry shows how ordinary jobs, such as a fisherman's boat or a mother's lunch basket, become means of saving lives.

  • Who helps the Rosens, from the beginning of the book to the end?
  • How does Annemarie come to understand the story about the king's bodyguard?
  • What small, ordinary things in the book turn out to matter a great deal?

• Friendship that costs something

  Annemarie and Ellen begin as schoolgirls racing on the street and end separated by the sea, bound by the necklace Annemarie keeps for her friend. Friendship in the book is measured by what each family risks for the other.

  • Why does Annemarie keep Ellen's necklace instead of throwing it away?
  • What does the Johansen family risk by hiding Ellen?

• Truth, secrets and protection

  The adults hide things from Annemarie, Mama lies to the soldiers, and Annemarie later pretends to be a silly child. The book lets children see the difference between deceiving a friend and shielding the innocent from those who mean to harm them.

  • Why were Annemarie's parents not truthful with her about Lise?
  • Is Mama's story about typhus a wrong lie or a right one? Why?
  • How does Annemarie finally learn the truth about Lise and Peter?

Context

Germany occupied Denmark on 9 April 1940, and for three years the Danish government stayed in office and Danish Jews were left largely undisturbed. When the Germans moved to arrest the Jews in early October 1943, word was leaked in advance, and Danes hid their Jewish neighbors and ferried most of them, some seven thousand people, across the Øresund to neutral Sweden in fishing boats. King Christian X's daily rides through Copenhagen became a national symbol during the occupation.

Composition

Lowry based the story on the wartime memories of her friend Annelise Platt, who had been a child in Copenhagen, and wrote it in the late 1980s. Houghton Mifflin published it in 1989 with an afterword in which Lowry explains which incidents are drawn from history, including the drug-treated handkerchiefs carried by boat captains to defeat police dogs and the farewell letters of executed Resistance members.

Reception

The novel won the 1990 Newbery Medal and has sold millions of copies, becoming one of the most widely read children's books about the Second World War and the rescue of the Danish Jews. It is often a child's first introduction to the Holocaust.

Comparisons

• the-hiding-place

  Corrie ten Boom's memoir tells of a Dutch Christian family who hid Jews in their Haarlem house during the same occupation years; the ten Booms are caught and sent to the camps, while Lowry's fictional Johansens see their friends safely to Sweden.

• the-blue-fairy-book

  Lang's collection includes Little Red Riding-Hood, the tale Annemarie tells herself on the dark path in Chapter 14; she meets her own wolves in the soldiers' dogs and outwits them by playing the innocent girl with a basket.

• the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe

  Both are wartime stories for children; Lewis's Pevensies are evacuated from the London bombing into a land under a usurper's winter, while Annemarie's occupied Copenhagen is the real thing, and in both a child must choose loyalty in danger.

• letters-and-papers-from-prison

  Peter's letter from prison before his execution in Chapter 17 echoes the real letters of young Resistance members that Lowry cites in her afterword; Bonhoeffer's writings from a Nazi prison show the same calm under a death sentence from a Christian pastor's pen.

• johnny-tremain

  Both follow a child drawn into a secret resistance movement, carrying messages and seeing a beloved older friend die for the cause; Johnny rides for the Boston patriots, Annemarie runs a packet for the Danish rescuers.

• the-hundred-dresses

  Two short novels for the same young readers about friendship and the outsider; Estes's girls fail a classmate through silence, while Annemarie keeps faith with Ellen at real cost.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• Ellen's Star of David necklace: when Annemarie tears it off in Chapter 5, where she hides it, and what she decides to do with it in Chapter 17.
• Papa's story about King Christian in Chapter 2, and how Annemarie thinks about it again later when Danes start protecting the Jews.
• Every time a grown-up tells Annemarie only part of the truth, and when she finally hears the whole of it.
• The fairy tale Annemarie tells herself on the dark path in Chapter 14, and how it helps her when the soldiers come.
• Kirsti's talk to the soldiers, on the street in Chapter 1 and on the train in Chapter 6, and whether it puts the family in danger or helps them.

Key terms and names

Occupation

When soldiers of another country take control of a land and stay. German soldiers stand on the street corners of Copenhagen all through the book.

Resistance

Danes who secretly worked against the German occupiers. Peter belongs to it, and at the end Annemarie learns that Lise did too.

Star of David

A six-pointed star that is a sign of the Jewish people. Ellen wears one on a necklace her father gave her.

Gilleleje

A fishing town on the north coast of Denmark, near Uncle Henrik's house. From the shore there, Sweden can be seen across the water.

Sweden

The country across the sea from Denmark. It was not under German rule, so Jewish families could be safe there.

Wake

A time when family and friends sit with a dead person's body before the funeral. Uncle Henrik and Mama hold a pretend wake so that the Rosens and others can gather without being questioned.

Rosh Hashanah

The Jewish New Year. The Rosens learn that the Germans plan to arrest Jewish families on that holiday and must leave home that night.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension Why do the Rosens leave Ellen with the Johansen family?
2. Comprehension When the soldiers come in the night, how does Papa make them believe Ellen is his daughter?
3. Comprehension What does Annemarie carry through the woods to Uncle Henrik, and why does she have to be the one to take it?
4. Interpretation Uncle Henrik says brave people think about what they must do instead of the danger. When does Annemarie do that?
5. Interpretation Annemarie pretends to be a silly little girl when the soldiers stop her. Why does that work better than acting grown-up?
6. Interpretation Why does Annemarie decide to wear Ellen's necklace at the end of the book?
7. Big Question Mama and Uncle Henrik tell lies to the soldiers to save their friends. Is it ever right to hide the truth from someone who wants to hurt others?

Faith Connections

• Psalm 147:3-4 (Scripture)

  Peter reads from a psalm that praises the God who heals the brokenhearted and counts the stars and calls each one by name. Lowry took her title from it: on a night when people are hunted and hidden, the psalm says not one of them is forgotten by God.

• Exodus 1:15-21 (Scripture)

  The Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah refuse Pharaoh's order to kill Israelite boys and give him a false excuse, and God blesses them. Mama's story about typhus at the wake belongs to the same kind of moment: protecting children from a ruler who means them harm.

• John 15:13 (Scripture)

  Jesus says there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. Peter and Lise give their lives in the Resistance, and the Johansens risk theirs to hide Ellen.

• Esther 4:14 (Scripture)

  Mordecai tells Esther she may have come to her place for such a time as this. A ten-year-old with a lunch basket turns out to be the only one who can carry the packet to the boat.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: The Germans are strong, armed and suspicious, and a child cannot fight them. But a whole people can protect its neighbors when each person does one faithful part: Peter warns, Papa hides, Mama leads, Henrik sails, and Annemarie runs. Annemarie is frightened at every step, yet she keeps going because she thinks of what must be done and not of the danger. Therefore courage does not mean feeling no fear, and ordinary people, even children, can save lives.

Rhetorical device: allusion. In Chapter 14 Annemarie tells herself the story of Little Red Riding Hood as she carries her basket through the dark woods; in Chapter 15 the wolves of the tale become soldiers with snarling dogs, and the girl's pretended silliness becomes her protection.

Debate: Resolved: Annemarie's parents were right to keep the truth about Lise from her until the war was over.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Annemarie says she was not brave. Using the night search in Chapter 5, the wake in Chapter 10 and the run through the woods in Chapters 13-15, explain whether you agree with her.

Comparison with The Hiding Place: Both the Johansens and the ten Boom family hid Jewish people from the Nazis. Compare how each family kept its guests safe and what each was willing to risk.

Medical Lens

The novel is not about medicine, but two drugs and one disease matter to its plot. The handkerchief Annemarie carries was, as Lowry's afterword explains, treated with a preparation of dried rabbit's blood and cocaine: the blood drew the police dogs and the cocaine, a local anesthetic, numbed their noses and spoiled their sense of smell for a time. Lowry credits Swedish scientists with the device; the details come from her afterword and should be checked against histories of the October 1943 rescue before being cited as fact. Peter also gives a refugee baby a few drops from a bottle so it will sleep through the crossing; the book does not name the drug. Mama turns away the soldiers at the wake by claiming the dead woman had typhus, a credible threat in 1940s Europe that occupying troops took seriously. The family's quiet, unspoken grief for Lise, and the late revelation of how she died, give a gentle picture of mourning in wartime.

• Chapter 10

  Mama tells the officer that the doctor warned of typhus and the casket should stay closed, then offers to open it herself.

  Fever Infection
• Chapter 11

  Peter gives the baby drops from a small bottle so it will not cry during the crossing.

  Pharmacology Poisons
• Chapters 15-16; Afterword

  The soldiers' dogs sniff the handkerchief; Henrik explains what it did, and the afterword describes the blood-and-cocaine powder.

  Pharmacology Poisons
• Chapters 2 and 17

  Lise's unopened trunk of wedding things, and the parents' final account of her death.

  Grief

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  On a map of Denmark and Sweden, trace the journey from Copenhagen to Gilleleje and across the Øresund, and mark where each event of Chapters 6-16 happens.

• Fiction

  Write Ellen's first letter to Annemarie from Sweden, telling what happened in the hidden space under the deck of Uncle Henrik's boat.

• Dialogue

  Write the conversation between Papa and Uncle Henrik on the telephone in Chapter 6 twice: once as the soldiers might hear it and once as the brothers-in-law really mean it.

Further Reading

• The Giver, Lois Lowry

• Rescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust, Milton Meltzer

• Darkness Over Denmark: The Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews, Ellen Levine

• The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom

  Memoir of a Dutch Christian family who hid Jews during the occupation.