What happens in Chapter 1 of Number the Stars?
Chapter 1 begins in Copenhagen, 1943, during the German occupation. Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen are hurrying home from school along their usual route when they encounter two Nazi soldiers at a street corner. The soldiers question the girls, watching them with a chilling authority, and one of them reaches out to touch Annemarie's blonde hair before allowing them to go. Disturbed by the encounter, the girls decide to take a longer, safer path home to avoid the soldiers in the future. Once they reach the Johansen apartment, Annemarie's mother listens to their story with quiet concern and tells them to always use the alternate route. Meanwhile, Annemarie's little sister Kirsti, blissfully unaware of the threat, talks about the soldiers as if they were just an annoyance. The chapter ends with Annemarie pondering a ripped election poster of the Danish king, a small yet powerful symbol of resistance clinging to the wall.
Analysis
Lowry quickly sets up the novel's central tension through a foot race. The opening sprint is literal—two girls running—but it soon becomes metaphorical: in occupied Denmark, even the simplest actions can attract scrutiny. The soldier's gesture of touching Annemarie's hair conveys a subtle menace; Lowry portrays state violence not as a dramatic spectacle but as a casual, almost indifferent intrusion, which makes it even more unsettling.
The contrast between Annemarie and Ellen is introduced clearly. Annemarie has fair hair and is Danish; Ellen has dark hair and is Jewish. Lowry subtly plants this physical difference, allowing readers to sense its significance before the story makes it explicit. Kirsti acts as a tonal counterpoint—her innocence slightly mitigates the chapter's tension, keeping it relatable for young readers without diluting the threat.
The torn election poster of King Christian X stands as the chapter's most effective symbol. Damaged yet still recognizable, it represents Danish identity under occupation: diminished, monitored, but not erased. Lowry's prose remains sparse and direct, reflecting the discipline needed by those who must choose their words carefully. The chapter's title—a question from a soldier—recasts running itself as suspicious, indicating that in this world, even children's freedom of movement requires justification.
Key quotes from Chapter 1
“'Why are you running?' the soldier asked. His Danish was very poor. 'What are you running from?'”
A Nazi soldier stops Annemarie and Ellen on the street corner, his broken Danish underscoring his foreignness and authority over a country not his own.
“Annemarie stared at the soldier. He was so tall, and his eyes were very blue. Frightened, she looked ahead, toward home.”
Annemarie's internal response to the soldier captures the novel's core dynamic: the child's gaze meeting state power, then instinctively turning toward safety and family.
“Kirsti scowled. 'I don't like the soldiers. They took all the butter.'”
Kirsti reduces the occupation to its most concrete, domestic inconvenience, providing dark comic relief that also reveals how children process incomprehensible political realities.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter 1
- lanky
- Tall and thin in an awkward, ungainly way, with long limbs that seem too long for the body.
- stocky
- Short and solidly built, with a broad, sturdy body — the opposite of tall and slender.
- Star of David
- A six-pointed star that is the symbol of Judaism; in the novel it appears on the yellow badge Jews were forced to wear under Nazi occupation.
- Wehrmacht
- The regular armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II, whose soldiers occupied Denmark and patrolled its streets.
- swastika
- The hooked-cross symbol used as the emblem of Nazi Germany, appearing on flags, armbands, and uniforms of the occupying forces.
- contemptuous
- Showing open disrespect or scorn toward someone, treating them as worthless or beneath consideration.