Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

First published: 1989

Type of work: Historical fiction; children’s literature

Principal characters:

• Annemarie Johansen, a ten-year-old girl who helps her friend Ellen and other Jews escape to Sweden
• Ellen Rosen, a Jewish friend of Annemarie
• Inge Johansen, Annemarie’s mother, who knowingly assists the endangered Jews
• Mr. Johansen, Annemarie’s father
• Uncle Henrik, Mrs. Johansen’s fisherman brother
• Kirsti Johansen, the youngest daughter in the Johansen family
• Lise Johansen, the oldest Johansen daughter, who is killed by the Germans
• Peter Neilsen, the former fiancé of Lise Johansen
• Mr. Rosen, and
• Mrs. Rosen, Ellen’s Jewish parents

Overview

This historical novel, set in German-occupied Denmark in 1943, includes in its account of two fictional Danish families—one Christian and one Jewish—many factual incidents that occurred as the Danish people successfully helped many of their Jewish fellow citizens escape to Sweden and thus avoid death and deprivation at the hands of their Nazi captors. In seventeen brief chapters, author Lois Lowry recounts the fear, secrecy, uncertainty, and subterfuge experienced by the Johansens as, in the spirit of all Danes during World War II, they protected and assisted the Rosens and other Jewish friends, demonstrating their individual courage, their innate humaneness, and their unrelenting empathy for a persecuted people. Annemarie Johansen learns from her father the various stories about the bravery of their good King Christian X and the Danish Resistance, and she wonders whether she could be as courageous. The events over the next few days will tell.

For three years, German troops have occupied Denmark, but everyone becomes worried when two soldiers question Annemarie and her friend Ellen Rosen on the way home from school and when on the following day the Hirsches’ shop is found locked by the Germans and the Hirsches are mysteriously gone. The Jewish community knows that it must act when the rabbi tells them he has word the Nazis plan to “relocate” the Jews. The Rosens make hasty arrangements for Ellen to stay with the Johansens under the guise of being Annemarie’s sister Lise, who had been killed, according to her parents, in an automobile accident. Annemarie understands the wisdom of such a ploy when German soldiers break into their house that night.

Annemarie has already learned firsthand to fear the abuse of the rude Germans, and she understands somewhat the dangers facing the Jews in Denmark. What is she to make, however, of the cryptic telephone call by her father and the sudden trip by Mrs. Johansen and the children, including Ellen, to the seaport village of Gilleleje to visit Uncle Henrik? She perceives that her parents and Uncle Henrik are lying to her. Piece by piece, the puzzle comes together. First, the wake for Great-Aunt Birte—who, Annemarie knows, never existed—is actually a gathering of Jews, the Rosens included, whom Uncle Henrik will take in his boat across the short distance to freedom in Sweden. Annemarie unwittingly plays a crucial role in the success of the escape when she delivers to Uncle Henrik an important packet containing a handkerchief. She experiences a fearsome night and rough treatment by German soldiers who roughly search the contents of her decoy lunch basket.

Only after the success of the rescue of Jews that night does Annemarie discover fully the truth about coded messages, secret compartments on boats to hide escaping Jews, a special drug to block temporarily the sense of smell by German police dogs, and the valiant efforts of the Danish Resistance, which cost the lives of her sister Lise and her fiancé, Peter Neilsen. To her surprise, she learns that she, too, is courageous, for as Uncle Henrik explains, bravery is “not thinking about the dangers.” Perhaps more important, she learns about the terrible injustice of racial prejudice.

Through one family’s efforts to aid Jewish friends in their escape to free soil in Sweden, Number the Stars captures the heroic spirit of many compassionate Danes during World War II who risked their lives and property by defying Nazi persecution of their Jewish citizens. It is a story that young people need to know; it is a story that promotes a tolerance that all people need to possess. Beyond the particulars of historical fact, the novel addresses universal issues that maturing youths must resolve: the natures of social justice, racial prejudice, personal responsibility, and courage.

The story of King Christian X fearlessly riding alone through the streets of Copenhagen because, as her father said, all Denmark is his bodyguard greatly impresses Annemarie and introduces the central theme of the true definition of bravery, which she doubts that she has. Yet, without consciously deciding to be brave but instead employing unrecognized inner resources, she acts courageously when she snatches Ellen’s necklace with the Star of David pendant and hides it in her hand while German soldiers search their bedroom and when later she races to Uncle Henrik’s boat to deliver the handkerchief. The Jewish families also exhibit courage as they face the dangers and deprivations of the escape route. Bravery is thus defined dramatically as doing what is necessary without considering the possible costs. Its genesis is in a concern for people, a conviction of rightness, and a determination to do what is right.

The juxtaposition of the Nazis’ hatred and persecution of blameless Jews with the Danes’ caring protection of them is telling. Moreover, the interrelated themes of social justice, racial acceptance, and personal responsibility permeate the novel from the beginning and invade the story from several sources. The Johansen family is a microcosm of the Danish people, for they are unwilling to sit idly by when the Danish Jews are threatened. The Johansens risk disastrous reprisals by passing Ellen off as their Gentile daughter, by smuggling the Jews out of the country, and, in the case of Lise and her fiancé, Peter, by participating in the Danish Resistance. They understand that one must go beyond mere intellectual agreement with justice and equality to the level of personal involvement, regardless of the cost. Annemarie demonstrates this spirit of identification with others in the closing line of the book: She says of Ellen’s Star of David that until the return of the Rosens, “I’ll wear it myself.”

The final, symbolic action of Annemarie’s decision to wear Ellen’s necklace, undeniably striking in itself, is overshadowed by a similar symbol early in the novel when, to prevent Ellen’s being detected as a Jew by three Nazi officers who burst into their bedroom, Annemarie jerks Ellen’s necklace off and clasps it tightly in her hand. After the officers leave, she relaxes the clenched fingers and sees the Star of David imprinted in the palm of her hand. The implication is clear; she, a Gentile, bears the mark of a Jew. Lowry’s point is just as clear: The answer to racial prejudice lies not in mere tolerance of other races but in active identification of oneself with them.

In some sense, Number the Stars is a suspense story. Annemarie is not always told the truth about what has happened and why certain actions and precautions are being taken. Thus, she (and the reader) is puzzled and must either figure out what is going on—and what is likely to happen—or be told later in the concluding chapter. She is told that the closed lips are for her safety; nevertheless, the lack of information makes for suspenseful reading.

Although she had already established herself as a noted author of children’s books through many previous novels, especially those about Anastasia Krupnik, Lois Lowry reaches new heights of achievement with this historical novel, which won the coveted Newbery Medal in 1990. Her other well-loved books deal mostly with the perils of puberty, but the depth of content exhibited in Number the Stars and later in The Giver (1993), for which she won her second Newbery Medal, show her to be a writer of the first order.

For much of the historical information in the book, Lowry is indebted to her friend Annelise Plat, who was a child in Copenhagen during the German occupation. The story of the Danes’ love for King Christian X, the blowing up of the small Danish navy to prevent the ships from falling into the hands of the Germans, the warning to the Jews by a high German official that allowed the smuggling of almost all of the seven thousand Danish Jews to Sweden, the hiding places on boats, the use of a special drug on handkerchiefs to deaden police dogs’ sense of smell, the execution of young freedom fighters—all make their way into the fabric of this much-needed novel for youths.

Sources for Further Study

Chaston, Joel D. Lois Lowry. New York: Twayne, 1997.

Kennedy, Louise. “Lighting the Way: Lois Lowry’s Books Help Children Understand Life, but Parents Don’t Always Like Their Dark Themes.” Boston Globe, April 28, 2003, p. B7.

Lowry, Lois. Looking Back: A Book of Memories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.

McElmeel, Sharron L. One Hundred Most Popular Children’s Authors: Biographical Sketches and Bibliographies. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1999.

Marcus, Leonard S., ed. Author Talk: Conversations with Judy Blume . . . [et al.]. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000.

Pearlman, Mickey. Listen to Their Voices: Twenty Interviews with Women Who Write. New York: W. W. Norton, 1993.