2. “Meet the Author”
Biographical Information
• Lois Lowry was born in1937.
• She was a child in a military family,
born in Territory of Hawaii. She
then moved with her family to
Pennsylvania, Tokyo, and New
York.
• She originally intended to write for
adults, but was convinced by her
editor to pursue adolescent novels.
• Lowry never wanted to “teach”
children, she just happens to
connect with young adult audiences.
3. Setting
• Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1943 during
WWII.
• German forces have invaded the lands
around Germany.
• Great Britain and France have joined
forces to stop Germany.
• Germany has invaded Denmark and now
the Jewish people fear for their lives!
5. The Germans
• Adolph Hitler was the
leader of the Germans
(called a dictator).
• He believed that German
people were members of a
master race that should
take over the world.
• He led the Nazi party of
Germany.
6. The Nazis
• The Nazis believed that Jewish people
were the most dangerous race alive.
• They wanted to rid the world of all
Jewish people. (among others)
• In 1938, over 1,000 synagogues were
burned and 30,000 Jews people were
arrested.
• The Jewish people began to flee
Germany.
7. Kristallnacht
“Night of the broken glass”
Jewish people were taken away and their stores
were vandalized.
8. The Nazi Takeover in Europe
• The Nazi party created
Concentration Camps
(work camps with horrific
conditions for Jewish
people).
• As the Nazi party
became more powerful,
they captured more and
more countries and more
and more Jewish people.
10. Denmark and the Germans
• In 1940, the country
of Denmark was
captured by the
German Nazis.
• There were 8,000
Jewish people living
here at this time!
• There were also about
1,500 Jewish people
who had fled to
Denmark in the early
1930s.
11. The Arrest of the Danish Jews
• In 1943, when the Danish people heard
that the Germans had decided to arrest
and imprison Jewish people, they
formed the Danish Resistance.
• Finally, many of the Danish Jews decide
to flee Denmark.
12. How bad was life for the Jewish People under
Nazi rule?
The following were rules for Jewish residents of
areas controlled by the Nazis. These rules affected
everyone who had at least one Jewish grandparent.
• In many places, Jews had to wear a yellow 6-pointed
star on their clothing.
• They were limited in the use of public transportation.
• They had to hand in their bicycles.
• They were no longer allowed to go to theaters,
movies, and sporting events.
• They could shop only at Jewish stores and only
between 3-5 pm.
13. How bad was life for the Jewish People under
Nazi rule?
• Children had to attend Jewish schools and couldn't
visit Christian friends.
• All Jews had to be indoors by 8 pm.
• They could not hold government jobs.
• Non-Jewish citizens were ordered not to go to
Jewish doctors or hire Jewish lawyers.
• Jewish teachers were fired.
• Jews who owned stores had to mark windows with the
word “Jew” and eventually had to sell their businesses
to non-Jews.
• Jewish residents had no political rights
14. The Holocaust
• The word Holocaust, which means
“complete destruction by fire" was first
used in the late 1950's to refer to the
death of six million Jews at the hands
the Nazis.
• Today we honor and remember the
victims of Nazi torture through special
museums, documentaries, and stories.