your mother
great aunt birte is not real
Annemarie accuses Uncle Henrik of lying to her about Great Aunt Birte because she never accepted the idea that the family's elderly relative had emigrated to the U.S. Instead, Annemarie learned the truth about what happened to Great Aunt Birte during the war when she visited Uncle Henrik and his family at their seaside home.
Annemarie was shocked that they had kept the death of Great-aunt Birte a secret from her. She was also surprised by her mother's emotional reaction to the news and the realization of the dangers faced by their Jewish friends.
She was the fake great-aunt of Annemarie.
Mama had tripped and fell over a root running home after helping Peter get the Jews on to Uncle Henrik's boat and when she tripped she broke her ankle
In "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry, Birte is a character who is a member of the Johansen family's housemaid staff. She helps the family in their efforts to protect Ellen Rosen, a Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Birte plays a small but important role in the story's message of bravery and resistance in the face of injustice.
Mama and Uncle Henrik were speaking in code, discussing the impending Holocaust. Annemarie realizes that she never had a Great-Aunt Birte. So she realizes she was told a lie and that her folks were keeping another danger from her. She was also confused when Uncle Henrik said he was going to spend the night on his boat because the weather would be good for fishing. She knew that he never really cared about the weather and that bad weather would not keep him from fishing. This is loosely based on information from the GradeSaver site.
Annemarie was shocked about the death of her aunt because she had never heard of a Great-Aunt Birte, although she knew everyone of her family members.
In chapter 7, Annemarie, Ellen, Kirsti, and Mrs. Johansen had arrived at Uncle Henrik's house. The next day, Annemarie awoke to find her mother and Kirsti in the kitchen. Kirsti had found a small, gray kitten. She named her kitten the "God of Thunder." Uncle Henrik returned from his day of fishing and announced that his Great-Aunt Birte had died.
They wanted to help save all the Jews so the Jews can come to the house and come to the backyard, get into the boat and leave Denmark and go to Sweden.
Jews, who pose as friends of Great-Aunt Birte show up at the fake funereal.
During the funeral of Great Aunt Birte, Ellen receives a letter revealing that Birte had left her a significant inheritance in her will. This surprise inheritance changes Ellen's life and sets off a chain of events in the story.