1. Why was Moshe the Beadle important to Elie? / 2. What did Moshe the Beadle tell the people on his return from being deported? / 3. What did Madame Schachter see in her vision? / 4. What did the Jews in the train car discover when they looked out the window? / 5. What did Wiesel say about the travelers’ illusions?
6. What was Elie’s main thought as the men and women were being herded from the train? / 7. What were the people reciting as they walked toward the burning pit? / 8. What did Elie do when the gypsy struck his father when they first arrive at Birkenau? / 9. How did Elie react later when Idek hit his father? / 10. What did Franek want from Elie?
11. After he had been in Buna for a long time, what did Elie say were the only things in which he took an interest? / 12. How did Elie say the soup tasted the night the pipel was hanged? / 13. Why didn’t Elie fast on Yom Kippur? / 14. What was Elie’s inheritance from his father? / 15. Why are the prisoners forced to march from Buna to Gleiwitz?
16. When the prisoner’s were finally able to rest on the death march, why didn’t Elie and his father want to sleep? / 17. What did Rabbi Eliahou’s son do during the march? / 18. What does Juliek do in the barracks at Gleiwitz? / 19. What does the word dehumanize mean? / 20. What happens to Chlomo Wiesel’s will to live when they reach Buchenwald?
21. How do the other prisoner’s treat Chlomo Wiesel in Buchenwald? / 22. What internal conflict does Elie experience in Buchenwald? / 23. How did Elie react to his father’s death? / 24. What were Chlomo’s last words? / 25. What happened when the Germans tried to finish liquidating Buchenwald?
26. What is the mood of the following quote: “No prayers were said over his tomb. No candlelit in his memory. His last word had been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered” (112). / 27. What best describes the mood of the following quote: “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me” (115). / 28. What best describes the mood of the following quote? “And in the course of those evenings I became convinced that Moishe the Beadle would help me enter eternity, into that time when question and answer would become ONE” (5). / 29. What character traits of Mr. Weisel are evident in the following quote? “You are too young for that, Maimonides tells us that one must be thirty before venturing into the world of mysticism, a world fraught with peril. First you must study the basics subjects, those you are able to comprehend” (4). / 30. Elie’s struggle with his faith in God is an example of what type of conflict?

Answers:

  1. He was his instructor in the secrets of Cabbala.
  2. He told them the foreign Jews had been shot and dumped into mass graves.
  3. She saw a fire, a furnace with flames coming out it.
  4. They saw flames coming out of a tall chimney.
  5. He said they left their illusions behind on the train with their luggage.
  6. He wanted to stay with his father.
  7. They were saying the Kaddish, the prayer for the dead.
  8. He wanted to strike back, but he did not.
  9. He was angry with his father for not knowing how to avoid Idek.
  10. Franek wanted Elie’s gold crown on his tooth.
  11. Soup and bread were the only things in which he took an interest.
  12. He said it tasted of corpses.
  13. He didn’t fast because his father told him not to and as an act of rebellion against God.
  14. His inheritance was a knife and a spoon.
  15. The Russians are getting closer to the prisoners are being moved deeper into German territory.
  16. They were afraid they would freeze to death in the snow.
  17. He left his father behind in order to increase his own chances for survival.
  18. He plays a Beethoven concerto.
  19. Dehumanize means to treat someone as if they are not human—to treat a person like an animal or a piece of property.
  20. Chlomo loses his will to survive.
  21. The other prisoners abuse Chlomo verbally and physically.
  22. Elie struggles between helping his father and saving himself.
  23. He did not cry. He felt a burden had been lifted.
  24. Chlomo’s last words were Elie’s name.
  25. The resistance movement rose up and took over the camp.
  26. The mood is empty and regretful.
  27. The mood is full of death and hopelessness.
  28. The mood is full of peace and understanding.
  29. Mr. Wiesel is insensitive and discourages his son’s interests.
  30. Elie’s struggle with his faith is an example of internal conflict.