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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What name was given to the prisoner who was chosen to oversee the service within each block?

2. Why did Olga get in the line to have her hair shaved?

3. How long after their arrival did Olga and her fellow prisoners receive their first morning meal?

4. Where did the ambulances take the sick and injured who got off the train?

5. What was the name of the building that became Olga's home while she was in Auschwitz?

Short Essay Questions

1. What dilemma did Olga face whenever her companions argued about the existence of the crematories?

2. How did Olga's life in the infirmary compare to the life she was previously leading in the camp?

3. Why did the Germans allow the prisoners to write postcards to their loved ones outside of the camps?

4. How did Olga and her husband react to meeting each other within the camp?

5. Why did Olga ask forgiveness from her mother and father while they waited in the train car?

6. Why did Olga relate the sensation of thirst to her memories of the concentration camp?

7. What went on in the washroom during the rest hour?

8. How did Dr. and Mrs. Lengyel respond to the stories they heard about the cruelty of the Germans and their treatment of prisoners?

9. How did the conditions in the "koias" affect the prisoners?

10. What details about their arrival offered the passengers hope that their conditions would be better at the camp?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How was the author able to maintain her positive perspective on human nature despite the horrific ordeals she had experienced and witnessed?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the role of choice versus luck in the author's ability to survive her ordeal. How much of her survival was a result of the choices that she made, and how much of her survival was the result of luck?

Essay Topic 3

How did the idea of medical care (in particular, the oath to "do no harm") become subverted in the Nazi concentration camps?

(see the answer keys)

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