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Night
Elie Weisel, Holocaust, Auschwitz
110
Literature
10th Grade
05/06/2011
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Term
When does the story Night take place?
 Definition
It occurs near the end of World War II in 1944-45.
Term
Where does the story start? What city or town?
 Definition
It starts in Sighet, Romania, Elie Wiesel's hometown.
Term
Where does the action of the bulk of the story Night take place?
 Definition
It takes place in a concentration camp located at Auschwitz in Poland.
Term
Where does the story Night end?
 Definition
It ends with Elie Wiesel's liberation from the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany.
Term
How many people were in Elie's family as the story Night begins?
 Definition
There were six people in his family: his father, his mother, three sisters, and Elie himself.
Term
How old is Elie when the story Night begins?
 Definition
Since he was born in 1928, he would have been almost 16. That is, he would have been 15.
Term
Who is the first character described in Night?
 Definition
Moishe the Beadle
Term
What is a "beadle?"
 Definition
A "beadle" is a caretaker or janitor.
Term
How does Elie describe Moishe?
 Definition
He says he is a poor, friendly sort of dreamer, whom everyone likes.
Term
Why does Elie start the story with Moishe the Beadle?
 Definition
He doe so because Moishe is going to teach him Kabala and because his story foreshadows future events.
Term
Why did Elie's father not want him to learn Kabala?
 Definition
He said he was too young. He wanted him to study the basics.
Term
What is foreshadowing?
 Definition
It is telling a story by including events that hint at what will happen in the future.
Term
How does Elie describe his father at the beginning of Night?
 Definition
He describes him as a distinguished man of learning and culture.
Term
How does Elie describe himself at the beginning of Night?
 Definition
He describes himself as a very religious boy who studies the Talmud by day and prays by night.
Term
Why does Moishe become Elie's Kabala teacher?
 Definition
He does so because his father refuses to hire anyone to teach him. Moishe is his teacher by default.
Term
Why is Elie so careful to make the point about being spiritual at the beginning of the book?
 Definition
He does so because he wants to explain how his circumstances destroyed his faith.
Term
What happens to Moishe the Beadle in chapter 1?
 Definition
He is expelled from Sighet because he is a foreign Jew.
Term
What does Moishe say happened to him when he shows back up a few months later?
 Definition
He says that he and the other people deported were taken to Poland, turned over to the Gestapo, and taken out and shot.
Term
How did Moishe escape?
 Definition
He was shot in the leg and pretended to be dead.
Term
Why does Moishe return to Sighet?
 Definition
He returns to warn the other Jews about what was happening, but they don't listen.
Term
What literary device does Wiesel use to describe the foolish optimism fo the Jews in Sighet?
 Definition

He uses "irony."

Ex: Where is the famous Nazi cruelty?

The Jews of Sighet were still smiling.
Term
How did the Germans originally do to put the Jews of Sighet at ease?
 Definition
The were polite to them. They were even kind.
Term
What did the Germans make the Jews of Sighet to do after Passover?
 Definition
The forced them to start wearing the yellow star of David on their clothes.
Term
What was bitterly ironic about what Elie's father said about the yellow star?
 Definition
He said wearing a yellow star would not kill anyone.
Term
After forcing the inhabitants of Sighet to wear a yellow star, what did the Germans do next in the process of dehumanizing the Jews?
 Definition
They forced the Jews into ghettos.
Term
What was the next step after being forced into the ghettos?
 Definition
They began deporting them to Poland.
Term
What symbol of nature does Wiesel use that reminds the reader of Albert Camus and the Stranger?
 Definition
He uses the "sun" to show the brutality of nature.
Term
Why does Wiesel entitle his book, Night?
 Definition
He does so because of the march that occurs at night and because of the metaphor of spiritual and moral darkness associated with "night."
Term
What is the author's tone in Night? Why?
 Definition
It is mostly detached and matter of fact. It is the only way the writer can get through the story.
Term
What literary device does Wiesel use when he say Mrs.Schäcter looked "like a withered tree?"
 Definition
Simile
Term
What happened to Mrs. Schäcter, and what did she do?
 Definition
She lost her mind and started screaming "Fire, fire."
Term
Mrs. Schäcter's screaming, "Fire, fire" is an example of what literary device?
 Definition
Foreshadowing
Term
Mrs. Schacter is intended to remind the reader of which other character in the book?
 Definition
Moishe the Beadle. Their warnings are both ignored.
Term
What effect did Mrs. Schäcter's screaming have on the people on the train?
 Definition
It terrified them and frayed their nerves. Eventually they gagged and beat her so they would not have to listen to her.
Term
What was different about the treatment Moishe the Beadle received from the treatment Mrs. Schäcter received?
 Definition
He was ignored; she was physically silenced.
Term
Where did their deortation train finally arrive at the end of chapter 2?
 Definition
Birkenau, the reception center at Auschwitz.
Term
What was the first thing the Germans did when the train arrived at Birkenau?
 Definition
The separated the men and women on the train.
Term
Why were the men marched before Dr. Mengele?
 Definition
So he could do a selection based on their physical condition.
Term
What was ironic about the instrument Mengele used to do the selection?
 Definition
He used a conductor's baton to perform the selection. Batons are usually used to conduct music. He was conducting a symphony of death.
Term
What did the younger men want to do during the selection?
 Definition
They wanted to rush the guards and kill then and escape.
Term
What did Elie witness as he stood in line?
 Definition
He witnessed trucks pulling up and dumping the bodies of small children and babies into a pit of flames.
Term
What was Elie's last memory or sight of his mother?
 Definition
He saw her escorting his little sister inthe red coat off to the gas chamber.
Term
What did Elie consider doing when he thought he and his father were going to be marched into the pit of fire?
 Definition
He considered killing himself on the electrified fence.
Term
How does Wiesel make the march toward the pit of flame even more vivid?
 Definition
He does so by counting the steps...10...8..6...3.
Term
What series of repeated statements does Wiesel use in chapter 3 the emphasize the trauma of the event?
 Definition

Never, shall I forget...

Never, shall I forget...

Never, shall I forget...
Term
What happens to Elie and his father after the pit of flames?
 Definition
They are processed, made to strip, have their heads shaved, are deloused, and issued ill-fitting clothes.
Term
What did Elie become so angry with himself when he and his father first arrived at Auschwitz?
 Definition
He watched his father being struck in the face and did nothing.
Term
How does Wiesel say he has changed after one night in Birkenau?
 Definition
He says he has been stripped of his innocence and his God.
Term
Why did Elie like Auschwitz better than Birkenau?
 Definition
He liked it better because it was the first time he was treated like human.
Term
What was the next step of the admission process for Elie?
 Definition
Getting a tattoo with his "number."
Term
What did Elie's old acquaintance Stein try to find out from him?
 Definition
How his wife and children were doing. Elie lied to him.
Term
What did the religious Jews in the camp say was the cause of their suffering?
 Definition
They said God was testing them.
Term
Where were Elie and his father transferred next after Auschwitz?
 Definition
They were transferred to Buna, a forced labor camp.
Term
What did Elie and his father do at Buna?
 Definition
They sorted electrical equipment.
Term
At Buna, Elie was forced to go to the dentist. What was he looking for?
 Definition
gold teeth
Term
How did Elie avoid loosing his tooth?
 Definition
He told the dentist he was sick.
Term
Who was Idek?
 Definition
He was a terribly violent, angry Kapo that supervised Elie's detail at Buna.
Term
What finaly happened to the dentist?
 Definition
He was hanged for stealing gold.
Term
When Idek beat Elie so savagely someone comforted him. Who was it?
 Definition
It was a young French girl who worked at Buna.
Term
Elie met this young girl in Paris many years later. What did he want to know?
 Definition
He wanted to know if she was Jewish which she was.
Term
What did the Polish foreman Franek want from Elie?
 Definition
He wanted his gold tooth.
Term
When Elie refused to give Franek his gold tooth, Franek got even. How?
 Definition
By beating his father becaus ehe couldn't march.
Term
How did Elie try to stop his father's beatings?
 Definition
He tried to teach his father to march.
Term
Why did Idek march the whole work detail to the train station?
 Definition
So he could meet up with a girl to have sex.
Term
When Elie saw Idek and the girl , he laughed hilariously. What did Idek do in response.
 Definition
He beat him savagely with 25 blows.
Term
Why was one prisoner shot during an air raid?
 Definition
He tried to get soup from the unprtected cauldrons.
Term
What was the good news associated with the air raids?
 Definition
It meant the Allies were getting near the camps.
Term
One day supper was delayed and the whole camp was called out to be witnesses. What wer ethey witnessing.
 Definition
They were witnessing a hanging.
Term
Which hanging most disturbed Elie?
 Definition
The hanging that involved a young boy who did not die immediately.
Term
When Elie refers to himself as ashes, what is he suggesting?
 Definition
He is suggesting that is already dead and cremated.
Term
What do the prisoners debate during Yom Kippur?
 Definition
They debate whether they should fast.
Term
Why was the prisoner's debate over fasting ironic?
 Definition
They were pretty much fasting all the time.
Term
What was surprising about the cruel way the Kapo's treated the other prisoners?
 Definition
The main thing that is surprising about it is that the Kapos were Jewish like the prisoners.
Term
What "gift" did the Germans give th eprisoners right after the New Year?
 Definition
The gave them another selection.
Term
In Chapter 5, Elie says he felt stronger than God bcause he felt that he had the right to question or even condemn God? What literary device was he using?
 Definition
Paradox. Making a statement as true that normally would be considered completely untrue.
Term
During a selection, one of theprisoners gave Elie some advice about how to survive the selection. What was the advice?
 Definition
Pinch you cheeks to give them color. Run in place to get circulation going. Go quickly past the one making the selection without limping.
Term
One of Elie's frinds made a joke about the way Elie passed ones making the selection. What was it?
 Definition
That he ran by so fast they coul not writ edown his number.
Term
Several days later, Elie's father had to stay in the camp while Elie wnt out to work. Why?
 Definition
He had to undergo a second selection.
Term
What did Elie's father give him when he had to undergo the second selection?
 Definition
He gave him his knife and spoon as his "inheritance."
Term
What did Akiba Drummer ask Elie to do for him when he died? Did Elie do what he asked?
 Definition
He asked him to say Kadish for him. No.
Term
What physical ailment did Elie develop as winter came?
 Definition
He developed an abcessed foot from the cold.
Term
What did the Dcotor tell Elie about his foot?
 Definition
He told him it would have to operated on or he would lose his whole leg.
Term
Was the operation successful?
 Definition
Yes. The doctor simply drained the infection from the bottom of his foot.
Term
What rumor began to circulate around the camp just two days after Elie's operation?
 Definition
That the Russian Army was advancing on the camp.
Term
What did the Germans decide to do with the Jews in the camp at Buna?
 Definition
They decided to evacuate them back to Germany.
Term
What happened to the camp prisoners that stayed in the camp during the evacuation?
 Definition
They were liberated two days later by the Russians.
Term
What did the Germans do to those prisoners that could not keep up during the evacuation?
 Definition
They shot them.
Term

What literary device in being used in the following quote?

"Death enveloped me, it suffocated me."

 Definition
Personification
Term
What was so remarkable about Elie and father's run in the evacuation?
 Definition
That they survived at all and that they covered so much ground.
Term
Who was Rabbia Eliahu looking for?
 Definition
He was looking for his son who had run off and left him.
Term
How did Rabbi Eliahu's abandonment by his son affect Elie?
 Definition
He vowed not to forsake his father.
Term
The second night's march was different than the first night's march? How?
 Definition
Everything slowed down. Prisoners were no longe rbeing shot for straggling.
Term
Elie almost died at Gleiwitz. Why?
 Definition
He was almost crushed to death.
Term
At Gleiwitz Elie saw a Jewis boy named Juliek. What musical instrument did he play?
 Definition
violin
Term
Along the way to Buchenwald, the train stopeed from time to time. Why?
 Definition
So they could throw out the dead bodies.
Term
How long did the trip to Buchenwald take?
 Definition
10 days
Term
During the trip, a German workman did something that led to several Jews being killed. What did he do?
 Definition
He threw a piece of bread into the car.
Term
Why does Wiesel tell the story about the woman throwing coins?
 Definition
To clarify that throwing the bread was not an act of charity.
Term
What tragic interaction does Wiesel relate about a son and his father?
 Definition
A son beats his father to death over a piece of bread and is then beaten to death by other men n the train.
Term
Where did they finally arrive?
 Definition
Buchenwald, Germany
Term
When they arrived at Buchenwald, Elie yelled at his father. Why?
 Definition
He yelled at him because he had virtually give up and seemed content to die in the snow.
Term
What did the other prisoners do to Elie's father?
 Definition
They beat him and stole his food.
Term
What did the block leader at Buchenwald tell Elie about his father?
 Definition
He told to forget about his father and to take care of himself.
Term
What happened to Elie's father about a week of severe dysentery?
 Definition
He was carried off to the crematoria in the middle of the night.
Term
When was Elie finally liberated at Buchenwald?
 Definition
April 1945
Term
During his final days at Buchenwald, Elie says he only thought about one thing? What was it?
 Definition
soup
Term
Eventually, the resistance attacked the camp and the Germans abandoned it? Who then showed up?
 Definition
The American Army
Term
What happened after the liberation?
 Definition
Elie became very sick from food poisoning and almost died.
Term
Why does Elie always refer to the Germans as Germans and never as Nazis?
 Definition
He doesn't want to give the German people a pass by saying it was only the Nazis' fault.
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