When I looked at my bookshelves a couple months ago and realized how many books I hadn't read yet, this was one of the ones that embarrassed me. I'd heard people talking about it for years, including colleagues who mentioned it casually in conversations about Holocaust fiction as if everyone had read it. I knew I should have been included in that "everyone," and rather than admit how I'd managed to overlook it all this time I just nodded my head in agreement and reminded myself once again that I really should read this soon. Well the day has finally come (and it literally only took a day to read because it's a short 130ish pages, yet another reason why there's no excuse for not having read it long ago).
Lois Lowry's depiction of the Holocaust in Number the Stars is a little different than most that I've read. Ten-year-old Annemarie lives with her parents and little sister in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II; soldiers with guns on every street corner are a reality she and her family are used to. When Jews in their neighborhood start to disappear, though, fear rises. Annemarie's family isn't Jewish, but their best friends and across-the-hall neighbors are. When an opportunity to help them escape to safety presents itself, Annemarie and her parents must weigh some dangerous risks for the sake of friendship and human decency.
There are a couple reasons why I think this book is different than most I've read on the topic, and I'll try to explain them without giving too much of the plot away. First of all, the protagonist is not Jewish. I know that there are several other examples of this approach (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, for one) but I feel like most literature comes from the perspective of the oppressed (Diary of Anne Frank, Chains, The Color Purple, etc.). I think the biggest reason I find Number the Stars to be distinctive, though, is because of how little Annemarie understands throughout the entirety of the plot. It's not a naive and frustrating lack of understanding, though, like I expressed in my review of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas; Annemarie trusts her parents and her uncle and bravely follows their instructions even when she doesn't fully get the big picture or most of the details. She acts courageously and helps them all relocate many Jews to safety without ever being told any actual facts or insights into what the plan is, and she doesn't complain like I imagine most 10-year-olds would in such a situation. She is extremely observant and picks up on clues along the way, but doesn't press for more information.
I'm mostly just in love with Annemarie and her family. They don't seem to ever question their role in this dangerous fight against the Nazis, they just act. Quickly, bravely, and wholeheartedly, they dive in and completely surrender themselves to what they know they need to do. It makes me wonder whether I live my life in that way, or if I would if I felt like such an opportunity was presenting itself. True, we don't live in a Nazi-occupied country that's been stripped of all rights and basic necessities, and we also aren't watching neighbors be inexplicably ripped from their homes in the middle of the night...but am I missing out on opportunities to quickly, bravely, and wholeheartedly throw myself into something that would change the lives of the people around me? It's worth seriously considering, I think.
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