Studied by 8 peopleWho is Eliezer?
first person narrator
Who is Shlomo (his dad)?
respected by the entire Jewish community of Sighet
Who is Tzipora?
Eliezer’s youngest sister
Who is Moishe the Beadle?
poor Jewish man that lived in Sighet who taught Elie the Kabbalah, but he gets deported before the rest of the Sighet Jews, then escapes and returns to tell the town what the Nazis are doing to the Jews, but the community takes Moishe for a lunatic.
Who is Madame Schächter?
Jewish woman from Sighet who is in the same cattle car as Eliezer and is taken for a madwoman when, every night, she screams that she sees furnaces in the distance
Who are Yossi and Tibbi?
two brothers with whom Eliezer becomes friendly in Buna and they make a plan to move to Palestine after the war.
Who is the French girl?
Jewish girl whom Elie works next to at a warehouse at Buna and when Elie is beaten by Idek the Kapo, the French girl helps him and tells him to keep his anger for another day, but years later in Paris, Elie Wiesel runs into her in the Metro
Who is Meir Katz
Meir Katz is a friend of Elie's father, but he loses hope when his son is selected for the crematories
Who is Juliek?
young musician whom Eliezer meets in Auschwitz and before he dies after the death march Elie hears him playing the violin
Who is Idek?
Eliezer’s Kapo at the electrical equipment warehouse in Buna and during moments of insane rage, Idek beats Eliezer
Who is Zalman?
One of Eliezer’s fellow prisoners and is trampled to death during the run to Gleiwitz
Who is the Pipel?
the young assistant to the Dutch Oberkapo, the small, angelic-looking boy is tortured and hanged by slow strangulation because his body is too light to end the execution with one quick snap of the neck
Who is Dr. Mengele?
the cruel doctor who presided over the selection of arrivals at Auschwitz/Birkenau. Known as the “Angel of Death,”
Who is Rabbi Eliahou?
Jewish prisoner whose son abandons him and Eliezer prays that he will never behave as Rabbi Eliahou’s son behaves
Who is Akiba Drumer?
Jewish Holocaust victim who gradually loses his faith in God as a result of his experiences in the concentration camp
Who is the young rebel from Warsaw?
Holocaust
systematic destruction of 6 million Jewish people
Genocide
mass extermination
Anti-Semitism
hatred of Jewish people
Prejudice
irrational hatred; judgement
Nazi
socialist german workers party
Eugenics
involuntary sterilization
Kristallnacht
riot against Jewish owned businesses known as the “night of broken glass”
Ghetto
sections where Jewish people were forced to live
Nuremberg Laws
made Jewish people “second class”
Einsatzgruppen
SS killing unit
Arbeit Macht Frei
“work will set you free” the words on the entrance gate to Auschwitz
Extermination Camps
centers where Jewish people were systematically murdered; gas chambers
Zyklon B
cyanide-based pesticide used by Nazi’s in gas chambers
Selection
deciding the fate of Jewish prisoners
Kapo
a prisoner conscripted by the Nazis to police other prisoners
Final Solution
planned mass murder of Jewish people
Sonder-Kommando
prisoners forced to put corpses in the crematoria
Partisans
member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control
Bystanders
those who did nothing to stop or contribute to the holocaust
Righteous Gentiles
those non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust
Perpetrators
a person who carries out a harmful, illegal, or immoral act like the Nazi’s
Collaborators
a person who works jointly on an activity or project; an associate like Dr. Mengele and Hitler
What does Wiesel say about madness?
the origins of madness and why it happens
What dies Wiesel say about his survival?
he survived by chance and luck
What did Wiesel’s testimony help his life become?
he decides he has moral obligation to share his story and he wants to honor those who weren’t lucky enough to survive
How did the Nazi’s objective change during their reign?
Nazi’s wanted a society with no room for Jewish people, but towards the end of their reign they didn’t want Jewish people to exist at all
How were the Jewish people killed twice and denied proper burial?
Jewish people were forced to dig there own graves, then they were killed by SS and burned in their graves
What was obvious about Hitler’s war?
it was not only against Jewish people, but against the culture, religion and traditions aswell
What are some terrible experiences Elie struggled to describe?
cattle cars
innocent children dying
families tore apart
What were the last moments of Elie’s father’s life like?
his father was beat by SS for making too much noise, but Elie was too scared to stop them
What dies Wiesel say about the “response to Auschwitz”?
the response is responsibility and holding Nazi’s accountable
What dies Wiesel mean when he says “our eyes were opened too late”?
they realized they were not staying in Hungary and the train was being taken over by the gestapo
What did Madame Schächter foreshadow?
she has a vision of flames which foreshadows the crematories
What did they do to Madame Schächter to make her be quiet?
beat her
gag her
tie her up
Where does the train stop?
Birkenau
Why does Elie lie about his age an occupation?
he was advised to by another prisoner and he wants to appear useful in order to stay with his father
What did Elie see that he disbelieved?
babies being burned
What did Wiesel mean when he said “never shall I forget these flames which consumed my faith forever”?
Elie begins to lose faith in God
How did Elie change in a short time?
he didn’t defend his father and he feels he lost his soul
What was Elie’s first impression of Aushwitz?
he thought it was the better place to be and more humane
What was the “compulsory formality” at the entrance to all camps?
stripped
shaved
disinfected
showered
What identification was used on the prisoners?
tattooed numbers
a-7713
Why was the prisoner in charge of Elie’s block removed from his position?
for being too humane
What were the rations at each meal?
black coffee
bread
margarine
soup
What was Bela Katz forced to do once chosen for his strength?
forced to throw his own fathers body in the crematory fire
Who is Franek?
prisoner in charge of Eliezer’s group at Buna, but notices Eliezer’s gold tooth and gets a dentist in the camp to pry it out with a rusty spoon.
What were the objectives of the medical examinations?
to determine who was best able to work and to take gold crowns off teeth
Why were Jewish musicians not allowed to play music by Beethoven?
they were not allowed to play German music
How did Elie avoid losing his gold crown?
he told the doctor he was sick each time he was supposed to get it removed, but eventually the doctor got arrested
Who did Elie meet years later on the Paris Metro?
the french girl who speaks kind words to Elie after he gets beat by Idek
What happened when Elie refused to give his gold crown to Franek?
Franek tormented Elie’s father which led to Elie loosing his crown for nothing in return
What happened with the soup cauldrons?
a man tries to steal the unattended cauldrons, but ends up getting shot and nobody got food that night
What did Juliek whisper to Elie during a hanging?
“they’re expecting trouble” the SS were prepared for a revolt
During a certain hanging the prisoners cried, why?
the hanging of an innocent child who was too light for the rope (the pipel)
Why didn’t Elie Fast on Yum Kippur?
his father forbid him to do so and he felt like a stranger to his own religion; wanting to rebel from god
What advice was Elie given to pass selection?
increase your chances and don’t be afraid
How did Elie’s father react when he learned his name had been written down?
he becomes anxious and feels as though he is running out of time
What did Akiba Drumer ask the others to do for him?
he asked them to say kaddish for him, but they all forget
Why was Elie in the hospital?
his right foot began to swell and he needed an operation for it
Why was the camp evacuated?
Russians were coming to liberate Buna and those who stayed in the hospital were freed
What happened to anyone who couldn’t keep up with the death march? (12 miles)
SS were ordered to shoot
How did Zalman die?
he got a stomach cramp and falls, which leads to him getting trampled
What realization does Elie have concerning Rabbi Eliahou and his son?
Rabbi Eliahou’s son abandoned his father during the death march and Elie prays that he never the same to his father
What was Juliek’s last act?
Juliek played the violin and was found dead the next morning
How did Elie help his father when the selection was made, and again when they were on the train?
Elie causes a commotion and switches his father from left (weak) to right (worker) and on the train Elie slaps his father awake to keep him from getting thrown off the train
How many people got into the wagon and how many left the wagon?
100 people got on, but only 12 remained; the dead were thrown off the wagon
Where did the wagon finally arrive?
Buchenwald, Germany
How were the father/son roles reversed?
Elie’s father had become childlike, weak, frightened, and unrollable, which meant Elie had to take care of him
What does Elie think of the advice given to him by the head of the block?
Elie agrees with the advice, but it makes him feel guilty because he didn’t want to abandon his father
What were Elie’s dad, Shlomo’s last moments like?
his last moments were full of pain and suffering, which lead to his death of dysentery and was later taken to the crematory
Why is Shlomo’s death significan?
he did not get a proper burial and nobody paid their respects to him, not even Elie
How does Elie describe his life through April, 1945?
his life no longer mattered to him since his father had died
What happened April 5th, 1945?
the resistance was coming to liberate prisoners
What was the resistance movement?
armed men who went against Nazi’s
What did the prisoners do when they were freed?
all the prisoners wanted to eat and not once did they want revenge
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