Number the Stars — Chapter 3

About This Passage

This passage closes chapter three. Annemarie has just promised to be a bodyguard for the Jews, but here, alone in bed, she does something that takes a different kind of courage: she asks the question honestly and answers it honestly. Lowry shows the reader that real bravery is not the loud kind — it is the quiet, private moment when a person admits to themselves that they don't yet know if they could do the brave thing. Copying the passage trains the trailblazer to notice the shape of an honest mind: the question, the second harder question ('Truly?'), and the unflinching admission.

Narration Prompt

Retell chapter three in your own words. Begin with the September days passing and the broken button on Kirsti's jacket. Then the closed shop with the swastika sign. Then Mama going to talk to Mrs. Rosen and Peter coming late at night with seashells. Then the news that the Germans are closing Jewish-run stores. End with Annemarie's promise to be a bodyguard for the Jews — and her honest doubt as she lies in the dark.

Discussion Questions

1. What in the story tells the reader that Mrs. Hirsch did not close her own shop? Look at the new padlock, the sign in German, and the swastika. How do you know these are signs that someone else closed the shop, not Mrs. Hirsch?
2. Peter comes to the apartment after eight o'clock at night, even though there is a curfew and being out is dangerous. What does this tell you about Peter? What in the story shows you he came because the news could not wait until morning?

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide