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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. In Chapter 10, Keneally states that the SS was becoming more powerful because they were becoming:

2. The street on which Oskar Schindler's apartment was located ended at. . .

3. In Chapter 11, who does Schindler name as the plant manager of DEF?

4. In Chapter 8, for whose sake did Oskar Schindler attend church on Christmas morning?

5. In Chapter 4, Schindler tries to warn Itzhak Stern about. . .

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 1, Keneally says "For Oskar, the Thirties must have seemed a mere epilogue to his glorious mistake on the Altvater circuit in the summer of '28." What does he mean by that?

2. What does Keneally's initial description of Oskar Schindler tell you about the man?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 14, Keneally says "Even in the summer of 1942 it was impossible to guess at the connections between such a man as this and those ovens of extraordinary cubic capacity." What does he mean by this?

4. In the Prologue, Keneally describes Schindler as "Sudenten German--Arkansas to their Manhattan, Liverpool to their Cambridge." What does he mean by this?

5. According to witnesses, what did Amon Goeth do just before he was hung?

6. At the beginning of Chapter 6, Keneally describes Oskar Schindler using "portable wealth--diamonds, gold, trade goods" as the desirable currency of the day. Describe some of the "trade goods" that you think might have been used as currency or barter since much of the Jewish wealth had been confiscated.

7. In Chapter 27, the burning of the bodies begins at Plaszow. Keneally says "In the enthusiasm of the spring of 1943, bodies--notably the bodies of those killed in the ghetto's last two days--were thrown randomly into mass graves in the woods." Having read of the number killed in the ghetto clearances, and knowing how many have been killed since at Plaszow, describe how you think this level of murder could be completely hidden. If you think it cannot be completely hidden, tell why you think that.

8. What benefits does Leopold Pfefferberg bring to the ghetto citizenry via his membership in the OD?

9. The Trustees of Yad Vashem began to collect testimonies regarding Oskar. Were all of them positive? If not, what was a complaint?

10. When Oskar is trying to leave Brinnlitz, his car won't start. What was the cause?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 1, Keneally searches for some reason or incident in Schindler's background to explain his motivation for saving so many Jews. He doesn't come up with anything definitive. Explain your own theory as to why Oskar Schindler risked so much to save these people. Was it just the thrill of taking risks? Did all of these people become good friends of his? Did he see how wrong the German actions were? If so, why didn't he speak up?

Essay Topic 2

Identify at least three traits of Oskar Schindler's personality and then detail how they affected the story. What difference did these traits make in the decision he made? Did Keneally's description of Oskar and his actions always seem true to these traits? If not, where did it seem to diverge?

Essay Topic 3

Chapter 16 describes a violent act of resistance by the ZOB and Halutz Youth. They blew up a restaurant, killing several SS men and injuring even more. Some would call that terrorism. Others would call it justified resistance. List at least three methods of resistance that Jewish people employed in response to the German persecution (the Jewish people do not have to have survived their act of resistance for it to count). Describe the acts of resistance, and how effective they were (or not) against the Nazis, both in the short term as well as the long term.

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