Number the Stars-Introduction Unit

Introduction

From the back cover

Fro

From the back of the book:

Ten year old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think about life before the war. But it's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen, Denmark is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldeirs marching in their town. The Nazis won't stop. The Jews of Denmark are being "relocated", so Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be part of the family. Then Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission. Somehow she must find the strength and courage to save her best friend's life. There's no turning back now.

Task

It is September, 1941, and you are citizens of Denmark. As a Dane, you take great pride in your idyllic country's way of life.

Rumors of war and increasing racial intolerance of disabled, African, Slavic, and especially Jews, enter the borders of your country in April of 1940. Newspapers are now censored by the Nazis, thus the Danish print illegal newspapers to reveal the truths.

Then, in September 1941, a German informer leaks to a Jew that the Nazis will take the Jews as their prisoners, transporting them to a concentration camp. The Danes, however, refuse to stand for it. The non-Jewish Danes immediately hide the Jews and ferry them to safety across the strait to neutral Sweden.

Denmark proved that though their numbers were small, resistance to an enemy can prevail. Most, but not all, of the 8,000 Jewish citizens of Denmark were saved.

Your task is to learn more about Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party by answering questions related to the topic. This will give you a broader understanding of the topic and allow you to better understand the action in Number the Stars.