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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why were dead men thrown on trains transporting prisoners to different concentration camps?
(a) If their number was on the list, their life was considered less important than their number.
(b) They were there to take up space, so that the prisoners would not have much room.
(c) They were sent to spread disease to the other prisoners on the train.
(d) This was a cruel joke of the SS who wanted to horrify the other riders.

2. What does Frankl argue hurts most about being hit?
(a) The humiliation.
(b) Displeasing authority.
(c) The injury upon injury.
(d) The reprimand that this represents.

3. What kind of outbreak affected the prisoners at the author's camp?
(a) A strong seasonal flu.
(b) Measles.
(c) Scarlet Fever.
(d) Typhus.

4. What did prisoners often discuss when they had a free moment?
(a) Fear of death.
(b) Food.
(c) Escape.
(d) The past.

5. What were the exceptions to the "cultural hibernation" in camp?
(a) Art and music.
(b) Religion and writing.
(c) Politics and religion.
(d) Writing and music.

6. What did Frankl think when he saw a group of convicts pass by?
(a) That they enjoyed more well-regulated, happy, secure lives than the prisoners.
(b) That they had earned their misery while the prisoners had not.
(c) That life was unfair because he was in a position below them.
(d) That they deserved worse punishment.

7. How does the author describe the Capos?
(a) "The Capos enjoyed life in the prisons, and took pleasure in the humiliation of others."
(b) "Many Capos fared better in camp than they had in their entire lives."
(c) "The Capos were miserable, knowing that they had betrayed their people."
(d) "The Capos lived in fear, knowing that they could be stripped of their privileges at any moment."

8. How is humor characterized in camp life?
(a) Humor is rarely used.
(b) Black humor is the most common kind of humor in camp.
(c) Prisoners use humor as a weapon in self-preservation.
(d) The SS offices, and occassionally the Capos, are the only people in camp who use humor.

9. Who is this book most concerned with?
(a) The Capos -- "prisoners who acted as trustees, having special privileges."
(b) The Nazi leadership, and the way in which they made decisions regarding the fate of the concentration camps.
(c) Hitler himself.
(d) The "great army of unknown and unrecorded victims."

10. What are "premium coupons"?
(a) These came from the construction firm that hired workers through the prison, and could be used to buy days off work.
(b) These came from the construction firm that hired the workers from the prison, and could be exchanged for cigarettes.
(c) These were certificates from the SS guards, and were awarded to prisoners who arrived to work before the morning bell rang.
(d) Raffle tickets given to the SS guards to award them things previously owned by the prisoners.

11. What job do those who greet the prisoners as they arrive to the concentration camp do?
(a) They find prisoners who are willing to lie about their identities.
(b) They separate the sick from the fit.
(c) They take charge of the belongings of the new arrivals.
(d) They decide which women are not strong enough to work.

12. What was the main characteristic of the second phase of the prisoner's mental life?
(a) Love.
(b) Apathy.
(c) Anger.
(d) Violence.

13. What does Frankl call "the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire."
(a) Belonging.
(b) Hope.
(c) Love.
(d) Faith.

14. Under what conditions does Frankl describe the SS beating prisoners?
(a) At the slightest provocation or for no reason at all.
(b) When they were injurred and unable to work.
(c) At the direction of the SS authorities, prisoners were beaten.
(d) When they spoke before being spoken to.

15. What characterizes the second phase of a prisoner's mental state?
(a) Apathy in the face of the horrors of camp life.
(b) Suprise at finding the beauty in camp life.
(c) Depression.
(d) Grief.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Frankl believe explains the lack of sexual urge in the concentration camp?

2. Frankl was sent to another camp after his stay in Auschwitz. Why were the prisoners there pleased?

3. What does Frankl argue happened in camp to "sensitive people used to a rich intellectual life"?

4. What rule did the author establish for himself in Auschwitz?

5. What does the author claim helped to detach prisoner's minds from their surroundings?

(see the answer keys)

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