night english quiz - jewish holidays & vocab

kabbalist(s)

a student or expert in Kabbalah, a mystical tradition seeking to understand the nature of God, the soul, and humanity's relationship with the divine, often through interpreting the Torah

ghetto

enclosed or restricted districts, usually in the poorest, most run-down sections of cities, where the Nazis forced Jewish populations to live under inhumane, overcrowded, and miserable conditions

shavuot

a major Jewish holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the ancient summer wheat harvest. occurring seven weeks (or 50 days) after Passover, it completes the "Counting of the Omer" and symbolizes the culmination of the Exodus, when the Israelites became a nation committed to God

sabbath/shabbat

Shabbat (the Sabbath) is the weekly Jewish day of rest and spiritual enrichment, lasting from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. it is usually celebrated via prayer, spending time with family, and eating festive meals

where did the train Elie FIRST took take him to?

Kaschua, Czechoslovakia

what did Moishe the Beadle's name mean/stand for?

in yiddish, moishe means leadership and strength, while a beadle is a minor parish official, responsible for maintaining order, ushering, and assisting in church services

what is yiddish?

Yiddish is a Germanic language with Hebrew and Slavic influences that many Jewish individuals used

who did the term "Gypsies" refer to?

Romani people (Sinti and Roma)

what was Elie's tattooed number?

A-7731

Kommando

a basic organizational unit of forced laborers in Nazi concentration camps

what year was Elie taken from Sighet?

1944

how old was Elie when he was taken to Auschwitz?

15, but he lied and said he was 18

Blockälteste

a prisoner functionary in Nazi concentration camps assigned to be in charge of a specific accommodation block

SS (Schutzstaffel)

lead in the organization that ran concentration/death camps and also responsible for the central planning and execution of the Holocaust.

Kapo

a concentration camp prisoner in Nazi Germany appointed by SS guards to supervise forced labor or barracks

Appelplatz

roll call area, the central square in Nazi concentration camps

Lagerältester

a high-ranking functionary prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, usually appointed by the SS to oversee the entire camp's daily operations

Oberkapo

a senior prisoner functionary in Nazi concentration camps, responsible for supervising hundreds to over a thousand laborers in large work details. (a higher ranking Kapo)

pipel

a young, often attractive male child or teenager in a Nazi concentration camp who was granted special privileges and protection by working as an assistant or servant to a Kapo

Lagerkapo

a prisoner functionary in Nazi concentration camps responsible for overseeing work detachments and maintaining order within the camp. Lagerkapo often supervised the internal maintenance detachments (like cobblers and craftsmen)

the jewish year

the number of years passed since the creation of the world, calculated by biblical tradition as 3761 BCE. the jewish year usually starts in september or october.

Rosh Hashanah

he New Year in Judaism & the first of the High Holy Days. this holiday includes sounding the shofar (ram's horn) to signify repentance, and eating symbolic sweet foods like apples dipped in honey to invoke a sweet year

Kaddish

a central Aramaic prayer in Judaism that praises God and sanctifies His name, commonly recited during mourning to honor the deceased

Yom Kippur

the holiest day in Judaism, occurring in September or October as the climax of the High Holy Days. It is a day of repentance, introspection, and fasting (25 hours) to seek forgiveness for sins from God and others, and to start the new year with a clean slate.

Selection

the Nazi process of sorting concentration camp prisoners upon arrival, or later, to determine who would be murdered immediately (due to weakness) and who would be used for forced labor.

why did the prisoners have to evacuate Buna?

the red army (soviet union) was coming to bomb the camp & liberate (free) any Jewish people left behind.

Gestapo

secret State Police.

Meister

Master (often referring to a civilian supervisor).

Aryan

The "superior" Germanic race.

Sonderkommando

Prisoners forced to work in crematoria