Night Study Guide Questions

1

Night Study Guide Questions KEY

Section 1: pages 1-20

1.  Describe Moshe, the Beadle.

·  Jack of all trades, poor, stayed out of people’s way, awkward as a clown

·  Becomes Elie’s mentor

2.  Who is the narrator of the story?

·  Elie

3.  What point-of-view is used?

·  1st (“I”)

4.  What is Elie Wiesel’s hometown and what country?

·  Sighet, Transylvania in Romania

5.  In what year does Elie’s story begin? How old was he then?

·  1941

·  almost 13

6.  Why did Eliezer pray?

·  deeply observant, religious

·  praying is a part of life for him (like breathing)

7.  Why did he cry when he prayed?

·  “…because something inside me felt the need to cry”

8.  Upon his return, what story did Moshe tell?

·  Jews were taken in trucks, forced to dig ditches and then they were shot and their bodies fell into those ditches

9.  Why didn’t the people believe Moshe?

·  Sounds crazy; can’t possibly be true

10.  What world-known leader are the Jews afraid of and why?

·  Hitler and German soldiers

·  Want to exterminate all Jewish people

11.  List the rules the Jews are made to abide by.

·  Yellow star

·  Curfew

·  Forced out of homes

12.  What is a ghetto?

·  Fenced off section of town where Jewish people were kept

13.  Why did the citizens resist the truth, even when it was in front of them?

·  Scared to believe them

·  By the time they realized the truth, it was too late

14.  What are the feelings of the Jews as they experience deportation?

·  Fear

·  Anger/frustration

·  Sadness

15.  Describe the conditions in the train (at the end of the chapter).

·  Crammed (80 people per car)

·  Bit of bread and water

·  Cars sealed off

Section 2: pages 21-32

16.  Under whose authority are the Jews as they are transported out of Hungary?

·  Germany

17.  What is to happen to anyone who keeps anything valuable in his possession?

·  Shot and killed

18.  What was foreshadowed by Madame Schacter’s nightmares?

·  She claims to see fire

19.  What did some of the passengers do to quiet Madame Schacter?

·  1st tried to calm her

·  then bound and gagged her

·  started hitting her

20.  Where did the train finally stop?

·  Auschwitz

21.  What is Elie’s one thought as the Jews are separated?

·  Doesn’t realize it’s the last time he/s seeing his mom and sister

·  Thought is to stay with father

22.  What can you say about the faith of the older Jewish prisoners?

·  Never stop praying

·  Faith was strong/unbreakable

·  Some thought God was just testing them

23.  When questioned by the S.S. Officer, why did Elie lie about his age and occupation?

·  1 of the prisoners told him to lie so they don’t kill him for being too young

24.  What was the first horrifying sight that Elie at first disbelieved?

·  Saw large truck filled with live babies and dumped them out into a pit of flames

25.  Explain what Elie meant when he said, “Never shall I forget these flames which consumed my faith forever.”

·  His flames went up in smoke -> faith in God/humanity/life

26.  How had Elie changed in a short time?

·  Now he’s angry and bitter

Section 3: pages 33-43

27.  What are the prisoners made to do as they entered the barracks?

·  Strip

28.  Who are the Kapos?

·  Older Jewish prisoners there for a while

·  Have authority -> some were tougher than the Nazis were because their own lives were on the line

29.  What happens to the prisoners the next morning?

·  Heads were shaved

30.  What change does Elie state has taken place within him?

·  Continues to discuss the questioning of God and his justice

31.  Why was it lucky that Elie’s shoes were covered with mud?

·  They were taking everyone’s new shoes

·  Couldn’t tell his were new because they were covered in mud

32.  Where does the SS officer say that they are? What does he say their choice is?

·  Auschwitz

·  Work or die

33.  What does the Kapos do to Elie’s father?

·  Slaps him for asking where the bathroom was

34.  What is Elie’s first impression of Aushwitz?

·  Not that bad (flowers, gardens, large cement buildings)

·  Better than other camps

35.  What is the compulsory formality at all of the concentration camps?

·  Shower

36.  What sort of identification was used on the prisoners?

·  Tattoo of # on their arm

37.  What were the prisoners’ rations at each meal?

·  Bit of soup, bread, and coffee

38.  Why does Elie lie to Stein about his family?

·  Wanted to keep his hopes up and keep his morale up

39.  Why was the prisoner in charge of Elie’s block removed from this position?

·  He was too humane/nice

40.  Where are Elie and his father taken after leaving Aushwitz?

·  To another camp (Buna)

Section 4: pages 44 – 62

41.  What were the objectives of the medical examinations?

·  to find gold teeth

42.  Why were the Jewish musicians not allowed to play music by Beethoven?

·  Not allowed to play German music because they weren’t good enough to be able to play it

43.  Describe one of Idek’s bouts of madness.

·  Attacked Elie one day

·  Attached Elie’s father one day

44.  How did Elie initially avoid losing his gold crown?

·  Said he felt sick and had a fever

45.  Whom did Elie meet years later on the Paris Metro?

·  A French woman he worked with at the camp

·  She was actually Jewish but had fake papers

46.  What happened when Elie refused to give his crown to Franek? What was the end result?

·  He became cruel to his father

·  Had to give him the crown

47.  Describe the scene with the soup cauldrons.

·  During an air raid 2 prisoners went out to steal some soup and 1 prisoner was shot and died

48.  During one of the preliminary “ceremonies” for a hanging, what did Juliek whisper to Elie? What does this suggest?

·  “will it be over soon?”

·  suggests they’ve become so accustomed to death and care more about food

49.  During one hanging, Elie and the other prisoners cried. What made this hanging different from others?

·  2nd hanging was a young boy

·  took him 30 minutes to die

Section 5: pages 63-80

50.  Why didn’t Elie fast on Yom Kippur?

·  Father forbid him

·  Losing faith in God -> “protest against him”

51.  Describe the selection process Elie and his father go through at this time.

·  Got examined to see if they were fit to live or not

52.  What advice was Elie given to pass the selection process?

·  Try to look fit -> run, don’t walk and move around to get color

53.  How did Elie’s father respond when he learned his name had been written down?

·  He gave Elie his knife and spoon

54.  What has begun to happen to the faith of some of the Jews?

·  They’re losing faith

55.  What did Akiba Drumer ask the others to do for him? Did they do it?

·  Asked them to think of him and say Kiddish for him

·  No, they forgot

56.  Why was Elie placed in the hospital?

·  Had to have surgery on his foot

57.  What is Elie’s reoccurring thought? (the same thought he mentions in Chapter 3)

·  Death and wanting to survive and not get separated from dad

58.  Why was the camp to be evacuated?

·  War is getting closer so the Germans had to leave

59.  What did Elie learn of the fate of those-who stayed behind in the hospital?

·  They were freed by the Russians 2 days later

Section 6: page 81-92

60.  What happened to anyone who could not keep up with the march?

·  Got shot and killed

61.  What is it that keeps Elie from giving up and falling out of line during the evacuation?

·  “Don’t think, don’t stop, run!”

·  “What would he do without me? I was his sole support.”

62.  How did Zalman die?

·  “He must have died, trampled under the feet of the thousands of men who followed on.”

63.  What horrible realization did Elie come to concerning Rabbi Eliahou and his son? How did Elie respond to this?

·  The son saw his father falling behind and he kept running

·  Wonders if he wanted to rid of his weak father

·  Doesn’t tell Rabbi he saw his son leave him

·  Wonders if he’ll ever do this to his father

64.  What was Juliek’s last act?

·  Played Beethoven

65.  What is the physical condition of Elie and his father after covering more than 42 miles by foot?

·  Worn out, hungry, very skinny and weak

66.  How did Elie help his father when the selection was made?

·  Ran through the crowd and created confusion as they chased him and then they switched sides and went on the “healthy” side

Section 7: pages 93-109

67.  How old is Elie at the time of the evacuation when the prisoners traveled for ten days and nights?

·  16

68.  How did Elie again help his father when they were on the train?

·  Wakes him up

69.  Describe the scene Elie witnessed between the father and son.

·  Son killed father over a piece of bread

70.  How many got out of the wagon? Where had they arrived?

·  12

·  Buchenwald

71.  What is the familiar fear Elie feels when they arrive at Buchenwald?

·  “not to lose him [father]”

72.  What is Elie’s father’s condition and spirit at Buchenwald?

·  Very weak; wants to be left to die

73.  When he becomes separated from his father, what is Elie’s thought that he is ashamed of later?

·  He thinks about how it might be better if he couldn’t find his father so he could just worry about himself and his own survival

74.  What did Elie think of the advice given to him by the head of the block?

·  “in this place, it’s every man for himself, and you cannot think of others”

·  Elie agrees at 1st but doesn’t do it

75.  What happens to Elie’s father?

·  Taken to the crematorium on Jan. 28th, 1945

76.  While awaiting evacuation, how long does Elie go without food?

·  5 days

77.  What happened on April 5th?

·  Evacuations began

78.  What was the resistance movement? What did they do?

·  Armed soldiers

·  Fought with SS officers and freed the Jews

79.  What did the prisoners do when they were freed?

·  Ate

80.  Do the released prisoners think of revenge?

·  No