Number the Stars by Loid Lowry

When I visited the Yad Vashem, holocaust museum in Jerusalem long time ago I was able to see that the number of Jewish victims in Denmark was the smallest when compared to all other European countries. Reading this book I also was able to find that Jewish people were smuggled in boats to Sweden. I did not know that.
The novel made me think of what it meant growing up in the war, how children were forced to mature sooner.  I understand that parents had to conceal the truth from the young girls at times.  Not knowing is usually equated with being a child, but  in this story not knowing means being able to face danger, which is a mature trait.  So Anna Marie has to find a balance between demanding the truth and protecting herself from it.
The novel made me think of all the young children that suffered in the war in Bosnia, young people stuck in Sarajevo during the siege. It made me remember the war days and the sanctions Serbia and Serbian part of Bosnia had.  War seemed to last forever and there was so much uncertainty at when would it end.  People became nationalities and they were all judged not by their actions but by their nationality. So if you were a Serb in Zagreb it was not safe for  you, if you were Muslim and Croat in Banja Luka you were  equally not safe, and like that all over Bosnia and Croatia.  The war forces individuals conceal their true identities and actions. Unfortunately, in the wartime some sort of worst people come to prominence that other people are ashamed of and they did things that in the peacetime they would never dare. I didn't know now that the Danish king was such a brave man, whom people really loved and were willing to protect.  Ellen Rosen character made me think of my friend Danira. She and her family had to flee, town where I was born,Visegrad just because they were Muslims. Her family was lucky to escape and eventually leave for the  the US. Nowadays she lives in New Jersey.
I would have students write a journal where they would compare and contrast different characters in the story. They would write thoughts and questions as they read each chapter. I would show the students maps of prewar and postwar Europe.  We would research how Danish Resistance managed to smuggle almost  its entire Jewish population to safety nearly seven thousand people.