Number+the+Stars+Synopsis

__**Day 1: 5/27/08**__ Today my group discussed the first two chapters of "Number the Stars". This story, so far, focuses on the life of a girl named Annemarie and how her society is being impacted by the invasion of the Nazis. We talked about how intimidation brings out the worst in people. In this story, German soldiers have invaded the streets of Denmark, guarding each corner and watching the actions of pedestrians. An event that occurred between the character of Annemarie and a soldier showed us how soldiers were abusing their power to frighten the civilians by intimidating them in order to keep control. Annemarie is also one of those pedestrians who is frightened from these soldiers and her feelings portray how the society and conditions in which children live under, influence their thoughts and opinions. Annemarie's little sister yells at the German soldier for touching her hair, which is evidence for the fact that even a young girl has hatred towards these soldiers equipped with rifles. These issues in their lives impact their behavior, feelings and most of all their childhood experiences and memories.

There is a mention of Annemarie's sister in the story, and she mentions how "her tall, beautiful sister who had died in an accident two weeks before her wedding"(Page 14). My group made an inference that her death must be related to the occurrence of this war. This is a very important concept because it shows how families are being affected by the issues going on and how this loss has emotionally affected their lives. Luxuries simple as butter, sugar and tea have been taken away from the Civilians. These things are being taken away from them for the benefit of the Germans, they are taking advantage of their power and are having the upper hand from this war. Because they have more power, they get the privilege of having butter, tea, etc. while the Civilians living in the country they invaded, are not capable of having such things.

When Annemarie's mother and her best friend Ellen's mother are having 'coffee', they talk about this newspaper that is illegal. It is a document in which is presented facts about what is going on around the world, and in their own country. This paper is prohibited from being read by these Civilians and we concluded how these German's are taking away certain things in order to keep the Civilians of Denmark in captivity. They are also being kept ignorant of what is happening in other areas and how other people are being affected around them. This shows how a lot of their daily lifestyle has been changed and their privileges have been decreased after the unexpected arrival of the Nazis in their country. Questions that came up in our lit circle discussion were:
 * 1) Did Annemarie's sisters' death have to do with the war?
 * 2) Did keeping the Civilians in captivity also prevent the rest of the World from knowing what was going on?
 * 3) How much knowledge did the rest of the World have on the Holocaust?
 * 4) If Jews knew what was going to happen to them, would they have rebelled?



-By Mariam Bhatti

Today our group discussed how after the invasion of the Germans, sights in Denmark were beginning to be destroyed and even simple areas that people used to go to for leisure purposes were being burnt by the German forces. Tivoli Gardens, was a area that was mentioned in the book, and Annemarie tells us how most of this place was destroyed after the unexpected arrival of the Germans. Another idea that we discussed was how people, Jewish people in particular were disappearing. In the book Mrs. Hirsch (a minor character) disappears from the book. Annemaries mothers sends her to get a button fixed but when she arrives to the destination, it is noticed that Mrs. Hirsch was not present. This tells us how people were probably being taken away from the Nazis.
 * Day 2: 5/29/08**

What we concluded was that it was a very slow process in which Nazis went about killing Jewish people. At first it was only that they had to wear a star of David and later they would start to relocate people into ghettos and then later they would be sent to Concentration Camps and so on. This may be on the biggest reasons why the Jewish people chose not to rebel. They did not know what to expect or what was going to happen to them in the future and this lack of knowledge kept them ignorant till the end. Just like we discussed in chapter 1 and 2 of the book, it tells us how certain Newspapers were prohibited from being given out to the civilians because then they would become aware of what was going on in the society. One strategic method that the Nazis used were to keep the Jews in total captivity and keeping them ignorant. One question that came up was, what is the difference between the Germans and the Nazis?

In chapter 3, Annemarie talks about how if anything was to happen to Mrs. Hirsch then the neighbors and friends would help them out. It shows that during the Holocaust or specifically after the invasion of the Germans, people had to rely on one another for help. Even though they had to be really cautious about the events that took place, they really had to trust somebody in case of an emergency. Not many people could be trusted during the Holocaust but it was essential that everyone had at least someone that they can trust and get help from. One question that was brought up from this question was that, when people found out about the slaughter that was happening to the Jews, why didn't they do anything to help?



By Mariam Bhatti __**Day 3: 6/8/08**__ Today day my group and I had discussed chapters 5&6 of "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry. This story is during the time of the Holocaust. it is a portrayal of a girl named Annemarie Johnson and her Jewish friend Ellen Rosen. Since this is during the time of the Holocaust just for being Jewish Ellen's family was being targeted. Jewish people were being taken left and right. Many Jews who led normal life's and most likely did not commit any crime were being taken away by the Nazis. In this chapter, Ellen's is already staying with the Johnson's and was to be posing as Lise Johnson. This was going well until the Nazi soldiers had showed up at Annmarie's house and began questioning Annemaries parents. Then Annemarie's father showed a picture of the real Lise Johnson when she was a baby with dark hair. Then Inge(Annemarie's mother) had decided it was time to visit Uncle Henrik.

During our group discussion we thought that Ellen need her safety. When she was leaving to go to Uncle Henrik she argued about not going to school. She said that her parents wanted her to get an education no matter what happened. this shows just because Ellen was Jewish she couldn't get a proper education. While in the train to go to Uncle Henriks house some Nazi soldiers had asked some questions like "Is it your new year". In other words the question is "Are you Jewish". In chapter 5 the Nazis had destroyed a picture of Lise so it was harder for Ellen to play the part of Lise without photo I.D.

The soldiers were so sure that Ellen was Jewish so it became harder to prove she was Jewish. Annemarie's father had to break out the baby pictures. He had to prove that Ellen was there child. Since Lise had dark hair as a baby it became easier to prove that Ellen was their child. Then the Nazi soldier had destroyed the picture of Lise. This proves that many of the Nazis were so completely sure that Ellen was Jewish was Jewish. Then were proven wrong. So Ellen was able to be safe for the trip to Uncle Henrik.

By: Danell Singh __**Day 4: 6/10/08**__ Today my group and I discussed Chapters 7&8 of "Numbers the Stars" by Lois Lowry. This story is a portrayal of a girl named Annemarie Johnson and her Jewish friend Ellen Rosen. Ellen's family has to run from being caught by Nazi soldiers, so Ellen's mother and Father are forced to run away with Peter Nielson, Ellen stay with Annemarie's family and pose as Lise Johnson Annemarie's dead sister. Lise John was also Peter Nielson fiance (soon to be wife). After Ellen takes on the identity of Lise Johnson Two soldiers come and terrorize the Johnson family. The people these 3 Nazi soldiers were looking for; the Rosen Family. This shows that no one had any free will or privacy.

In Chapter 7 there is a mention of Uncle Henrik he is Annemarie's mothers brother. Annemarie, Kristi, Ellen, and Annemarie's mother. On the phone when Annemarie's father is talking to Uncle Henrik he mentions to bring "a carton of cigarettes" in this quote the "carton of cigarettes" he mentions is Ellen Rosen. During this quote Uncle Henrik says to only bring one. he is saying to only bring Ellen. Not that they (Annemarie's family) could, no one except Peter Nielson who no one has any idea where he is. In Chapter 8 Annemarie and Ellen are scolded by Annemarie's mother that no one should be allowed to see Ellen. this would mean it is hard to trust even close friends there is a possibility that that person could be with the Nazis. Another thing is that Isolation brings out the best and worst in people.

Everyone who lived within the areas that were terrorized by the Nazis, lived in almost total fear. Whenever a Nazi asked anybody a question the answerer would have to think before he or she had to say or do anything. the Nazis were very strict. if anybody insulted them (i dont think anybody did) intimidation took place. The Nazis had guns on them at most times. Whatever the person said it would affect his or her own self and there family. it had changed the childhood of everybody that was either recently born or or was from 3 to 4 years old. it would require a good memory for most children to remember a lot of things. As Annemarie's mother says on page 10 "For a little girl you have a long memory". this would mean that no one had remember a lot of things. For Kristi being 6 years old she was able to remember things like butter, sugar (in cupcakes) and flour. She had to be old enough to what a cupcake was it was surprising. For a whole year there was none of these food making items.

Now that the Nazis invaded Denmark it was hard to remember the old happiness that was once there. Many things were taken away from the people who suffered from the Holocaust. With the Holocaust in action all of the citizens of Copenhagen had an eight o'clock curfew. It was dangerous for anyone to be out after 8:00. this would go against the law that the Nazis made. Even with the illegal newspapers mentioned on Day 1 it was dangerous. it had to be turned to ash or it may result in a bad consequence. It was difficult to do many things. Now people were being taken away these people may have gone to "ghettos" or concentration camp.

By Daniell Singh

Today in class, my group discussed the chapters 11and 12 in the book Number The Stars. We first talked about a quote from chapter 11on page 77 which stated:"Peter's voice was firm. ' We can't take a chance.'" We concluded that people took many risks during the holocaust but at certain times they had to be very secretive and could not take any risks. If a risk was taken and somebody was caught, then it would lead them to many problems that would affect everyone not just the individual who caused it. We also talked about how even the most innocent humans such as kids or babies were affected by the Holocaust when they didn't even have anything to do with it. To us it seemed like children were more ignorant then their parents about the conflicts that were occuring but still the Nazis did not take pity on them but slaughtered and killed them as well, in order to form a "perfect race". This idea of a perfect race seemed very stupid because it does not occur and there is no such thing as a perfect race just like there can never be a utopia, there will never be a society in which a perfect race such as the Aryan race exists.
 * __Day 5: 6/13/08__**

We also thought that everyone has their own fears and different things they are afraid of. Ellen was afraid of soilders and she needed to stop being afarid because in order to survive thought the tragic events you need to be strong. Overcoming your fears was a beginning step in order to proceed and survive in the society. Ellen says "I'll come back somday...I promise." to Annenamarie before they leave. It shows how through the Holocaust many strong bonds and relationships between people were broken. They also do not know weather they would see eachother agaon but still they needed the hope in order to keep going. Many people during the Holocaust managed to mainatin hope even in the worst situations.

We also discussed that it would of been hard if were in that situation and there wouldnt of been no choice then just keep going with the rules that were'nt optional. Then if we were being forced to be separated by our familes with out knowing how and where we would be able to see them at least once a month. After this we talked about the Jigsaw project. we had said our parts that we had to get done for next class.

By: Sandra Avila

An important idea that we discussed today was that in order to stay safe during the Holocaust, it became a main aspect of peoples lives to lie to others. When Annemarie was confronted by the German soldiers, she had to lie to them and tell them that she was going to give lunch to her Uncle Henrik, who forgot his lunch at home. She lied because she did not want the German soldiers to discover the handkerchief that was hidden below all the contents in the food basket. Annemarie lies in order to help Uncle Henrik, but during this event she is unsure of what exactly the handkerchief is for.
 * __Day 7: 6/17/08:__**

The question that was brought up from this discussion was that, to what extent is lying considered a good thing? The decision that they made was caused by the situation they were in. The group came to a conclusion that lying in this case was not a negative thing but a positive thing. This is because if this lie could help save many innocent lives, then it is a positive thing. People would not have to lie if the Germans had not been treating the Jews with such hatred, but because the Germans were doing something wrong, other Civilians also had to do something wrong (lie) in order to fix the problems that the Germans were causing (by fixing I mean, help the Jews from not being killed). When we told Ms.Sarah, she brought up the idea that "two wrongs make a right". This quote does make sense, because at first it was only the Germans who were doing something wrong, then it was also the Civilians who did something 'wrong' but the outcome at the end was good because it helped save some lives that would have been lost.

These chapters showed us how people struggled and helped one another during the Holocaust. People were helping one another in their time of need and it shows how some people were courageous enough to put their own life at stake in order to save another's life. This also shows us how ignorance plays a role in your courage. The less Annemarie knows about the situation, the more courageous she was. If she had knew what really the Handkerchief was meant to do, or what she was really delivering to her uncle, then maybe she might have hesitated and things would have went wrong.

Another idea brought up was that Jewish people lived their life in lies. In most situations they had to lie in order to live. If they did not lie then they would have been killed by the German Nazis. They were stuck in many different situations, and the outcome of most of them would lead to death. First it was that they had to really on the Nazis in order to live. They were the ones who had most of the power, but this was the same force that wanted to kill. Another situation was that they could not change their religion at this point because most believed that once a Jew always a Jew. So the Christian hated them, then the Nazis hate them as well because they still consider them a Jew, and then even Jewish people begin to hate those who tried to change their religion. This shows how they really had to be cautious and think bout their actions because there would be consequences to almost everything. So a questoin that came up from this was that when laws are unjust, is is ok to not abide by them and do what you think is right?



In order to get more information about the events that occurred specifically in Denmark go to the website: http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/denmark.htm To learn more about the Holocaust you can go the wesite: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005143

By: Mariam Bhatti
 * Day 8:**