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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At what point did Hitler begin denying the truth?
(a) During liberation of the lagers.
(b) After the invasion of Poland.
(c) After Stalingrad.
(d) After the invasion of France.

2. Which characterized the German spoken in the Lager?
(a) It was a dialect that has some Yiddish mixed in.
(b) It was a harsh version of the language.
(c) It was overly simplistic.
(d) It was a refined version of the language.

3. According to Levi, what creates a "convenient reality?"
(a) Telling outright lies about one's behavior.
(b) Substituting less painful memories for horrific acts.
(c) Merging one's story with the stories of other survivors.
(d) Focusing on only the positive memories.

4. How does Levi characterize the shame and guilt that survivors feel?
(a) Imaginary but heavy.
(b) Serious and debilitating.
(c) Funny and sympathetic.
(d) Absurd but real.

5. What was the job of the Sonderkommandos?
(a) To clean the barracks.
(b) To give out the food rations.
(c) To run the gas chambers and the ovens.
(d) To assign jobs to the new arrivals.

6. According to Levi, why can't the "privileged" be objective?
(a) They befriended the Nazis.
(b) They were unaccostemed to manual labor.
(c) They suffered least.
(d) They watched those around them die.

7. Which of the following was NOT a common justification that Nazis used when confessing?
(a) Being brought up in a racist environment.
(b) Believing in Hitler's ideas.
(c) Living in an environment of fear.
(d) Following the orders of a superior.

8. What happens to Alberto?
(a) He was sent to a different camp.
(b) He disappeared.
(c) He was liberated.
(d) He escaped.

9. According to Levi, what happened to prisoners who know no German?
(a) They were kept unaware of the horrors around them.
(b) They had an especially hard time in the lager.
(c) They escaped into a world of silence.
(d) They had translators who helped them.

10. What happened to Levi's tattoo after the war?
(a) He kept it.
(b) He had color added so it looked pretty.
(c) He got another tattoo on top of it.
(d) He had it removed.

11. Why does Levi feel the Germans suffered "willed ignorance" about the camps?
(a) The prisoners in the camps were all hardened criminals.
(b) Slave labor was an entrenched part of German society.
(c) They were happy to be getting supplies during war time.
(d) They knew that liberation would be coming soon.

12. Monowitz was part of which camp?
(a) Bergen-Belsen.
(b) Auschwitz.
(c) Treblinka.
(d) Buchenwald.

13. What does the theory of incommunicability from the 1970s state?
(a) People can and should talk.
(b) Talk is an antidote to negative silence.
(c) Talk is a veil over existential silence.
(d) People's messages are understood.

14. What is Primo Levi's profession?
(a) Chemist.
(b) Laborer.
(c) Philospher.
(d) Biologist.

15. Why did Levi's Kapo disappear?
(a) He collaborated with the Nazis.
(b) He escaped the camp.
(c) A prisoner switched his number on a list.
(d) A prisoner assigned him to another barracks.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Levi think is in the gray zone for ordering an underling to kill someone?

2. What was Hitler at the time of his death?

3. Which best describes historians forty years after liberation?

4. Why does Levi consider most survivors to be of the "privileged" class?

5. According to Levi, what happens when a story is often retold?

(see the answer keys)

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