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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 internee who was chosen as barrack chief?

2. How did Olga become a "rich woman" in the camp?

3. What metaphor did the author use to describe the train cars at the beginning of Chapter 2?

4. Why did the Stubendiensts surround the prisoners who were chosen for selection?

5. Why did Olga rip her own blouse and dress?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why did Olga blame herself for the deaths of her parents and children?

3. How were the people on the train cars affected by the trip and the inhumane conditions?

4. How did Olga react to her first sight of the women inside the camp?

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

6. What made the roll calls at the camp so difficult to endure?

7. What were the conditions like in Olga's barracks?

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

9. How did Olga come to work in the infirmary?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

According to the author, why is the entire world responsible for the atrocities that the Nazis committed? How does the blame of other countries compare to Germany's blame? What must the world do in order to make amends for its mistakes of World War II?

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)

This section contains 1,397 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample