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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Helmut consistently obtain food?
(a) He takes photos in exchange for food.
(b) He visits the soup kitchen everyday.
(c) He begs when the bakery truck comes in every day.
(d) He sweeps the train station in exchange for food.

2. What opportunity does Gladigau give Helmut?
(a) He gives Helmut the shop in his will.
(b) He leaves Helmut responsible when on vacation.
(c) He lets him document the rebuilding of the train station.
(d) He lets him document the emptying of the city.

3. How are Lore and her siblings received by the first set of strangers they meet?
(a) With care and concern.
(b) Apathetically.
(c) With pity.
(d) With disdain.

4. How does Seiffert first introduce Helmut's family as impoverished?
(a) They are all underweight and pale.
(b) Their meals are very meager.
(c) The family cannot pay for a real doctor.
(d) The description of "drawer-for-a-cot."

5. What bad sign occurs on the first day of the children's trip?
(a) Lore spills some of the food.
(b) The twins fight the whole way.
(c) Juri strains an ankle.
(d) Leisel will not carry her share.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Helmut react to his photos of the gypsies?

2. Where is Helmut born?

3. Who does Juri offer his bread to despite his own hunger?

4. What "fault" is Helmut born with?

5. What does a woman offer Lore when Lore sits down very tired?

Short Essay Questions

1. The Third Reich is at its height when Helmut is a teenager. How does this age and Helmut's life affect his acceptance and loyalty to the Third Reich?

2. Helmut loses his parents and Gladigau is away. Helmut is often cold, hungry, and completely alone. How does he feel about the war at this stage?

3. Other than Lore, what do the children know of the current situation?

4. At the beginning of the war efforts, Helmut is intent on joining the army. Despite his arm, he is adamant about joining. Why is the army so vital in Helmut's life?

5. Describe Lore's role in the family.

6. Helmut does not ever speak of Germany's purge of its own population. Does Helmut, as a common civilian, know about the prison camps in other parts of Germany? Does it make a difference in his beliefs?

7. During one of Helmut's walks around the city, he encounters the SS collecting and trucking the gypsies away. What is Helmut's reaction to this event?

8. Helmut catalogues Berlin through his snapshots. For months, Helmut sees the emptying of the city. When Gladigau interprets the pictures, he sees Berlin as the home it always is. What does Helmut learn about photography from this experience?

9. When Germany takes Paris, there is a large celebration. Mutti and Papi attend but they do not ask him to go. When they return they meet him at the train station and leave looking like a happy family. Explain Mutti and Papi's actions.

10. When Juri is injured, Lore is the first to carry him on her back. What does this indicate about Lore and her responsibilities?

(see the answer keys)

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