Night, chapter 5-9 questions

6. What agreement did Elie and his father reach

Elie and his father agreed that they would watch out for each other and not let the other fall asleep.

11. What did Elie's father give to Elie, and what did Elie ironically call it

Elie got his father's knife and spoon-what Elie called his inheritance

22. Why did Elie's hospital neighbor refuse to be fooled

He felt that all the Jews would be annihilated before they would be freed.

10. Of the 100 men who had gotten on the train with Elie, how many got out

What does the death of Meir Kayz suggest? Twelve. Survival had to do with more that just physical condition

6. Several hours later, what happened

American soldiers arrived at Buchenwald.

1. After they arrived, the prisoners were supposed to shower. What did Elie's father want to do

He wanted only to lie down in the snow to sleep and die

12. Who was the boy underneath Elie

It was Juliek, a Polish boy who played the violin

7. who was Rabbi Eliahou looking for

The Rabbi was trying to find his son who had been with him in the camps for three years.

17. What was the doctor's diagnosis

The doctor said that Elie would need an operation or else the toes, and perhaps the entire leg, would have to be amputated

2. How did the prisoners know that the end of the war was near

The guard was late in arriving to count the prisoners. The guards had never been late before.

1. As the prisoners ran through the night, what orders were the S.S. guards under

The guards were required to shoot anyone who could not keep up.

6. What advice did the block leader give Elie

The man tells Elie: "Don't forget that you're in a concentration camp. Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father. Here, there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone.

4. At one stop, a workman tossed in a piece of bread. What happened? How can you account for the prisoner's actions?

The prisoners began to fight with each other for the scrap offood. They were crazed with hunger; rational behavior seemed beyond the reach of most, but Elie and his father still seemed to be able to weigh risks and rewards.

5. What "gift" did the Germans have for the prisoners for the New Year

There was to be a selection; the Gestapo selected weakened prisoners to be sent to the crematoria

5. Weakened further by dysentery, the father could not get out of his bunkWhat further injury did some of the inmates do him?

They beat him and stole his food

4. What did the Germans decide to do with the prisoners

They were all to be evacuated (sent to the gas chambers, ten blocks each day.

2. How did the prisoners respond? How did Elie save his father's life?

They were glad to throw out the corpses since it meant more room for the living and more clothes because the bodies were stripped naked Two men, thinking that the old man was dead, were going to throw the father off the train but Elie revived him.

11. Where did the remaining prisoners finally arrived?

They were now in Buchenwald, another concentration camp located in Germany

10. What was to become of these men

They were to go through a second selection.

2. "Death wrapped itself around me...it stuck to me" is an example of what literary device

(Pg. 82) Because something that is not human or alive, death, is given qualities of an animate object, the quote is an example of personification. Use of personification here helps Wiesel emphasize the insidiousness that death seemed to have.

8. After lying ill for over a week, what finally happened to Elie's father

A German officer, trying to silence him, hit Elie's father violently on the head with a truncheon. Some time during the night, he was carried to the crematory

9. During the last day of their journey, what happened

A bitterly cold wind arose, and it continued to snow. The men knew that they could not hold out much longer and began wailing, groaning, and crying

25. What became of those people who stayed behind in the hospital

After the war, Wiesel learned that they had been liberated by the Russians two days after the other prisoners were evacuated.

14. What did Akiba Drumer ask of his fellow prisoners

Akiba asked the other prisoners to say the Kaddish, which is the prayer for the dead, three days after he was gone, in accordance with Jewish custom

8. What scene did Elie witness

At the end of this scene why do you suppose Elie tells us that he was fifteen? A son beat his father to death for a scrap of bread. Then the son was beaten by others. The corpses of the father and son lay next to Elie. It is a horrific scene to be witnessed at any age, but at fifteen, it is going to stay with him a long, long time.

13. Why was Akiba Drumer chosen for selection according to Elie

Because Akiba had lost faith in God, he lost his reason for struggling and had already begun to die

16. This chapter is about hardship, perseverance, caring and not caring. List some quotes to support this generalization

Come father...I'll watch over you, and then you can watch over me Under our feet were men crushed, trampled under-foot dying. No one paid any attention He [the Rabbi's son] wanted to get rid of his father...in order to get rid of the burden" "give me strength never to do what Ithe Rabbi's] son has done.

3. How long did they travel

For ten days and nights they traveled in the open cattle cars. During this time the prisoners were not fed

1. How long was Elie's stay at Buchenwald?What were his thoughts during this time?

From mid January until April 11, Elie was a prisoner at Buchenwald. After the death of his father he felt nothing and thought only of food

6. The head of Elie's block gave some words of advice to the prisoners to improve their chances and avoid being selected. What did he say

He advised them to move about toget some color so they would appear healthier, they should run, not walk slowly; they should not look at the S.S., and they shouldnot be afraid.

8. What happened to Elie after liberation

He got food poisoning three days after liberation and spent the next two weeks deathly ill

7. Throughout this chapter, how does Elie view the average German civilian

He has told us several times that German civilians observed the inmates, but were not surprised or horrified by what they saw. German workmen enjoyed the spectacle. One infers that Wiesel considers them as guilty of this horror as any of the S.S

4. The next day when Elie went in search of his father, what was his fleeting hope

He hoped he would not find his father so that he could use all of his strength for his own survival

6. Why do you suppose Elie then tells the story about the woman throwing co to the natives

He is making it clear that the actions of the workman were not acts of charity

7. What comments did Wiesel make about the prisoners' actions after liberation

He noted that there was no thought of revenge.

9. What did Elie do in response

He prayed for the strength never to abandon his own father. 10. The second night's march is different from the first in what ways? Discipline was not enforced, and the guards no longer shot the slower prisoners.

3. Although Elie felt that he could have easily given up and died, why did he run on

He ran for his father's sake. "What would he do without me?" he asked.

2. Why did Elie shout at his father

He wanted to keep him from giving up

12. What happened to Elie's father

He was able to prove he was still useful and, therefore, escaped the second selection

5. Some time later, Elie was awakened by his father. Why would he not let Elie sleep

He was afraid that if Elie really slept in the snow, he would never wake up

7. Of the advice, Elie says He was right, I thought in the most secret region of my heart In what sense was the block leader right

His advice was practical and logical; in the animal kingdom the instinct to survive is the strongest drive; apparently Elie hung on to his humanity because he ran to find some soup for his father

16. When winter came to the camp, what happened to Elie

His foot became swollen because of the cold, and he was unable to walk. He went to the doctor to have it examined

7. When Elie's number was not written down for selection what joke did his friend make

His friend said he was running too fast for the S.S. to see it.

5. What happened next

More workmen and curious spectators began throwing pieces of bread to the prisoners and watched as they fought for the food

15. How did some of the prisoners try to distance themselves from the grim reality oftheir existence

Some separated themselves through music, some with religion, and some by refusing to think about it.

13. Some time during the night, what did Elie hear

Someone, probably Juliek, was playing the violin

19. Two days after Elie's operation, what rumor began circulating around the camp

The Red Army was advancing on Buna

11. When the prisoners finally reached their destination of Gleiwitz, a new danger arose. What was it

The men were in danger of being crushed to death or smothered by the bodies of the dead, the dying, and the still living

4. During Yom Kippur, what did the prisoners debate

The prisoners debated whether or not they should obey the religious observation of Yom Kippur and fast. The irony was that prisoners fasted all the time.

23. What bad news did the prisoners receive that day

The prisoners heard the camp was to be evacuated to somewhere inside Germany.

3. What did the prisoners think was going to happen to them

The prisoners thought Hitler was going to keep his promise, and that all theJews would be executed

14. After three days, what happened

The prisoners were driven out of their barracks and marched to a railroad line to await the arrival of a train

1. After the transport train stopped in the middle of field, what orders were given

The prisoners were ordered to throw out all the dead

5. Before all the prisoners could be evacuated, though, what happened

The resistance organization decided to fight back against the Germans. The Germans fled, and the resistance was now in charge of the camp.

3. What finally forced them inside

The sirens sounded an alert, and the guards drove the prisoners toward the blocks

8. Elie told the Rabbi that he had not seen his son, but later remembered that he had indeed seen the boy. What else did Elie remember about the Rabbi's son

The son had seen his father slowing down and falling to the rear of the column of prisoners, but the son continued to run. Elie realized that the Rabbi's son had wanted to get rid of his father

10. Why do you suppose that Wiesel always refers to his persecutors as Germans or S.S but never Nazis

There are some who say that it was not the German people, but the Nazis who were responsible for the Holocaust. Wiesel does not share that opinion

4. Given the situation and their physical condition, what was remarkable about their night's journey

They covered forty-two miles in one day.

21. The prisoners had heard similar rumors in the past. Why were they particularly hopeful this time

They heard guns in the distance.

20. Why was this good news for the prisoners

They hoped they would be liberated from the camp by the Russian Army.

9. Several days later though, some of the prisoners were told that they were not to report to work but would instead stay in camp. Who were these prisoners

They represented those whose numbers had been chosen at the selection and were required to stay behind

24. What choice did Elie and his father have to make that day

What was their decision? Elie and his father had to decide whether to be evacuated with the others or stay in the camp's hospital. They elected to be evacuated with the others.

8. What did the head of the block tell everyone after the selection process was over

Why did he say this? Nothing was going to happen to anyone-even those whose numbers had been written down He tried to keep everyone calm for as long as possible.

9. What does the last line of this book suggest

Wiesel says that the look in the eyes of the "corpse" that gazed back at him from the mirror has never left him. Those eyes that saw so much horrific suffering and death still feel the pain, and see the suffering that will always stay with him.

18. Was the operation successful

Yes. The doctor only drained an infection on the sole of Elie's foot and did not have to do any amputation