Night (chapters 1 - 4 review questions)
Give three examples of ways in which the Jews were dehumanized upon their arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
1) stripped naked and given ill-fitting clothes 2) every hair on their bodies was shaved 3) required to shower in disinfectant
In chapter 3, Elie is 15 years old. How old is he told to say he is to anyone who asks?
18
How long were Elie and his father at Aushwitz?
3 weeks
In chapter 3, Elie's father is 50. How old is he advised to tell anyone who asks?
50
How many Jews are in each cattle car leaving Sighet (at the end of chapter 1)?
80
What lands near the Appelplatz (assembly point) in Buna during the alert that the inmates find after the hour long raid?
A bomb from an American plane. The bomb did not detonate.
Who is Akiba Drummer?
A young man who would sing Hasidic melodies in a "deep, grave voice" (45). He predicts "Redemption" in three weeks (51).
What is the name of the first camp at which Elie and his family arrive?
Auschwitz
What music does Louis, a native of Holland, say he is not allowed to play and why?
Beethoven because it is German music.
Once Elie and his father leave Aushwitz, they are transported to the next camp. What is the name of this camp?
Buna
Who ends up asking Elie and his father their ages?
Dr. Mengele
Who is the author of Night?
Elie Wiesel
Does Elie give Franek what he wants, in chapter 4, and what happens as a result of this decision?
Elie does not give Franek his gold tooth. As a result of this, Franek takes his aggression out on Elie's father by beating him because he could not march in step. Elie tries to teach his father how to march in step, but he is unsuccessful. The abuse continues for two weeks before Elie can't take it any longer.
In chapter 3, Elie runs into his relative, Stein, who asks about his wife, Reizel, and his two sons. What does Elie tell him and why does he tell him this?
Elie tells Stein that his wife and two boys are fine and that his mother had heard from them. Elie does this because he knows that it would give Stein something to live for, something to hang onto when there is nothing left, something to keep working for in Aushwitz.
Elie is the only one who believes Moishe's story about the terror of what he witnessed at the hands of the Gestapo.
False
Elie's father viewed the wearing of the yellow star as one of the most terrible punishments set forth by the Germans in Sighet.
False
In Aushwitz, Elie and his father have a young Pole in charge of one of their blocks. This man is one of the most awful people Elie comes across during his time in the Holocaust.
False
Once the ghettos began forming in Sighet, the Jews felt the terrible reality of what the German officials were able to do.
False
The Jews on Madame Schacter's cattle car continuously comfort her as she screams and cries in agony.
False
When the German soldiers first arrive in Sighet, they were terrible to the Jews.
False
The evening the young pipel is hanged, Elie says his soup tastes delicious.
False (He says the soup tastes of corpses.)
In chapter 4, Elie witnesses the hanging of the pipel, the sad-eyed angel. The SS officers were not concerned with the hanging of a child by means of public execution.
False (They were more worried than usual. They seemed preoccupied.)
In chapter 2, Elie describes Madame Schacter's behavior on the cattle car. What does she say she sees?
Fire
What happens to Elie as a result of seeing Idek with the young Polish girl?
He is given 25 lashes. (He passes out from the pain.)
The young Pole who acted as Elie's Blockalteste was removed from his position as block leader. Why?
He was judged too humane.
In chapter 3, we hear about Elie's experiences at his first camp. From whom is he separated at the start of this chapter?
His mother and his sisters
At the beginning of Night, the Jews of Sighet believe the Red Army will stop whom before they are affected?
Hitler
As an additional for of dehumanization, each prisoner has a number tattooed on his or her arm. Elie's number is A-7713. Why is this act of tattooing considered a dehumanizing one?
It removed each prisoner's individuality and humanness by making him or her a number and nothing more. They are no longer people. They are numbers.
What was the first edict placed upon the Jews by the Germans (in chapter 1, in Sighet)?
Jews were prohibited from leaving their homes for three days or they would die.
Does the dentist get what he wants from Elie in chapter 4?
Later on in chapter 4, the dentist does pull Elie's gold tooth, with the "help of a rusty spoon," so that Elie is able to get Franke to stop beating his father (56).
Who helps Elie study the Zohar, the Kabbalistic works of Jewish mysticism?
Moishe the Beadle
Does Elie give the young man what he wants, in chapter 4, in exchange for a good Kommando?
No, and the irony of this is that he ends up having his shoes taken away anyway in exchange for nothing.
At the beginning of Night, the setting is where?
Sighet, Transylvania
Yossi and Tibi, two brothers from Czechoslovakia, live for one another. Why?
There parents were exterminated in Birkenau.
In chapter 4, the sirens go off as an alert, and the prisoners go into their blocks while the SS officers take refuge in shelters. What do they see during this time and what happens to what they see?
They see two cauldrons of soup untended. A weak man crawls very slowly toward the soup, as jealousy invades the other inmates' watchful eyes. Once the weak man musters the strength to raise himself toward the cauldron, he ends up screaming and falling open mouth into the steaming liquid. He is shot and dies.
Chapter 3 is the first time Elie and his father escape selection.
True
Elie sees babies being thrown into the flames in chapter 3.
True
In chapter 4, Elie witnesses the public execution of a young boy from Warsaw. After he witnesses this, he is given soup, and he decides that it had never tasted better.
True
When Elie tells Stein that his mother had heard from Stein's family, Elie is lying.
True
When Moishe returns, he tells the Jews of Sighet about the horrors of what he had seen and no one believes him.
True
When the foreign Jews of Sighet were expelled, in chapter 1, Moishe the Beadle was expelled as well because he was a foreigner.
True
At Auschwitz, the gate has an inscription that reads, "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" (40). What does this inscription mean?
Work makes you free
How old is Elie at the start of the memoir?
almost 13
When Elie and his family arrive at their first camp, what is it that they smell?
burning flesh
When Elie catches Idek with a half naked young Polish girl, what does he do?
bursts out laughing
When Elie and his family are finally expelled from Sighet, what is their mode of transportation?
cattle car
Madame Schacter's "vision" while riding on the cattle car, in chapter 2, is an example of what literary element?
foreshadowing
What does the Wiesel's former maid, Maria, asks the family to do in chapter 1?
go with her to her village where she had prepared a safe shelter
In chapter 3, Elie hears someone saying the Kaddish for whom?
himself
Bela Katz, the son of an important merchant in town, was forced to throw whose body in the crematorium?
his father's
What does Franek want from Elie in chapter 4?
his gold tooth
At the start of chapter 4, in Buna, a young man wants what from Elie in exchange for a good Kommando?
his shoes
In chapter 3, Elie says that the backpack of belongings he carried (and the belongings that each Jew had brought with him or her) was left behind along with what?
illusions
At Auschwitz, there are several signs with inscriptions that read, "WARNING! DANGER OF DEATH!" (39) This inscription is an example of what literary element?
irony
Who does Elie say is his first oppressor (in chapter 1)?
the Hungarian police
What is the name of the Jewish prayer for the dead?
the Kaddish
What happens if a Jew escapes a cattle car (in chapter 1 when they are being expelled from Sighet)?
the person in charge of the cattle car would be shot
When Idek the Kapo "[vents] his fury" on Elie in chapter 4, who comforts him and tells him to remain strong? (53)
the young Frenchwoman who Elie runs into at a Parisian café many years later
If Elie or his father refuse to work during their time at Auschwitz, what would happen to them?
their bodies would be tossed in the crematorium
What does the dentist want from Elie in chapter 4?
to remove his gold crown
Does the Jewish community of Sighet value Elie' s father and his opinion?
yes