The World of Number the Stars: Families of World War II

Though wars are mostly known for their battles, it is also important to understand what life was like on the home front during those times. What was it like for children and their families during World War II? What did different countries do to keep families safe? Did the war affect jobs at all? Was it hard to get food or clothes? What did children do for fun? Did they go to school? What did they do to support the war effort? During World War II, the lives of children and their families living in America and the life of the Johansen family from Number the Stars (along with other families from Nazi occupied countries) had similarities and differences. One characteristic that was similar with all families during World War II is that their lives changed because of the war.  
 

Since much of the war was fought in Europe, Americans felt fairly safe. However, all that changed on Sunday, December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Suddenly, a war that seemed so far away started to get closer to their homes in America. After that, some cities began making the people who lived there put dark paper or dark curtains over their windows so that if bombers came, they would not see the city. They also turned off the street lights and sometimes had air raid drills. Children, like Annemarie Johansen from Number the Stars, who lived in the Nazi-occupied parts of Europe, were also forced to put blackout curtains over their windows. They had a curfew during the night and soldiers on the streets. 

In Denmark and other occupied countries, some people joined the Nazi army, while others stayed with their original jobs. Many Jews in occupied countries lost their jobs because the Nazis closed down their shops. Though the war was mostly fought on non-American soil, Americans were affected by the war also. One change was that the U.S. factories that once made every day appliances began to make weapons and other war-related items. Since most of the men who worked in the factories left to fight in the war, women worked in the factories. In some states, even children worked in factories part-time. The war, as terrible as it was, helped get the United States out of the Great Depression. Because more jobs opened up in the army and in the factories that made war materials, less people were out of work.   

During the war, everyday items were hard to find. If a family lived in a Nazi-occupied country, it would be hard to find a new coat, clothes, shoes, hats, and gloves. If one of those items was found, it would be very expensive. Usually mothers would have to make and re-make dresses, shirts, and other clothing items for their children. In Number the Stars, Kirsti’s mother bought her shoes made of fish scales because there were not any other shoes that she could buy, and Kirsti needed new shoes.  It was also hard to get food items, because most of the food was used to feed the Nazi army. In America, many food items, shoes, and gas were rationed to make sure that the army had enough to eat and enough other provisions that they needed.

In Nazi-occupied countries during the war, life was very different for the children who lived there. Many of the things that children enjoyed so much disappeared when the war began. Many foods, such as ice-cream and frosted cupcakes, were almost impossible to find. Children living in Copenhagen could not visit Tivoli Gardens any more, because the Nazis had closed it and burned part of it when they came. Families did not take vacations either. Since most families had trouble just getting food on the table, they did not spend money on pleasures. Most children would play with whatever things they already had. As for school, most children continued to attend, except for Jewish children who had been prohibited from taking classes there. In America, children also went to school and made do with what toys and things that they had. They had parks and places to play, but not many things to play with, since factories that used to make toys had begun to manufacture weapons.

Sometimes in German-occupied countries, older children, like Lise Johansen and her fiancé Peter, joined resistance fighters and fought against the Nazis. A few children may have even helped as Annemarie did when she helped her Jewish friend Ellen escape to Sweden. Children in America helped the war effort in many ways also. One way was by planting Victory Gardens. When the seeds that they planted grew, they would use the produce as food for their family so the farmers could send more food to the troops overseas. They also collected leather, paper, string, cloth, and metal to be recycled and given to the factories to be made into items for the army. In Chicago, Illinois, children saved $263,148.83 worth of change for the government to buy two airplanes, 125 jeeps, and a motorcycle. Many older boys even joined the army.

The lives of children and their families were changed because of World War II. Many families gave up their old way of life to help the war effort. Many in Europe were forced to give up their old way of life. Even though many families experienced hardship during the war, they still continued to fight for what they believed was right.

– By Clara May

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Sources:

Josephson, Judith Pinkerton. Growing up in World War II. Minneapolis: Learner Publications Company, 2003. Print.

Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1989. Print.

Nicholson, Dorinda Makanonlani. Remember World War II: Kids Who Survived Tell Their Stories.  Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2005. Print.

Whitman, Sylvia. Children of the World War II Home Front. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 2001. Print.