I’ve read quite a number of books about the Holocaust, but it wasn’t until reading “Number the Stars” that I read about it from the Danish perspective. It was fascinating.
Annemarie Johansen lives in Denmark with her family and has a best friend named Ellen Rosen, who is a Jew. As the political tensions in Denmark increase, Annemarie and her family take in Ellen for a while, until her parents can get her to safety – Jews are disappearing all over Denmark.
Annemarie’s mother takes her and Ellen on a trip to visit their uncle, a fisherman in the north of Denmark. He points across the water and shows them that the strip of land they can see is part of Sweden. Annemarie doesn’t know it at the time, but her uncle has been working with the Resistance, and takes Jews across the water over to Sweden. He’s been doing this for some time, and now he will help the Rosens to escape.
They stay with Annemarie’s uncle until Ellen’s parents arrive, and then the plans are made for the journey. The fishing boat has a secret hiding place for passengers, and in the dark of night, the Rosens, along with a few other Jews, creep to the boat and stow themselves away. Near dawn, Annemarie’s uncle prepares to cast off, but it is discovered that he left behind an important parcel, and Annemarie dashes through the woods to bring it to him. She is questioned by German soldiers, but manages to escape their suspicion and makes it to the boat. It’s a miracle she did – the package held a handkerchief soaked with a solution that would make any search dogs lose their sense of smell, and sure enough, the dogs came just as Annemarie left. The Jews went undetected and arrived in Sweden safely.
I not only enjoyed hearing the story from the perspective of a Dane, but from that of a child as well. A children’s novel, this is one that adults will also appreciate for its merit. “Number the Stars” is a Newbury Medal winner, for good reason.
(This book was published in 1989 by Houghton Mifflin.)
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