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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. The Third Reich did all of the following to stay in power except:
(a) Provided transparency.
(b) Controlled information.
(c) Used propoganda.
(d) Created a climate of fear.

2. Why should survivors' stories be read critically?
(a) Each story is individual and lacks overall perspective.
(b) Survivors like to tell lies about their experiences.
(c) Survivors have a bad grasp of the German language.
(d) Each story tells the same information about the war.

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

4. After the war, what was a major source of reconstructing what happened?
(a) The evidence of Nazi officials.
(b) The stories of liberating soldiers.
(c) The stories of survivors.
(d) The ruins of labor camps.

5. According to Levi, what can cause victims' memories to drift?
(a) Guilt.
(b) Shame.
(c) Fear.
(d) Fraud.

Short Answer Questions

1. What nationality is Primo Levi?

2. How does Levi characterize the shame and guilt that survivors feel?

3. With which statement about Eichmann and Hoss would Levi agree?

4. After liberation, why did survivors feel diminished as human beings?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Alberto change his mind about consoling oneself with illusions?

2. How does Levi shock Germans after the war?

3. Briefly describe the life of Chaim Rumkowski.

4. Why does Levi think prisoners are beyond neuroses?

5. Why do survivors simplify the past by using stark good vs. evil distinctions?

6. According to Levi, why do oppressors suppress memories?

7. Comment on how a prisoner's moral yardstick changed during his internment.

8. Comment on Levi's experience with speaking/understanding German in the lager.

9. While clearing rubble, Levi finds a spigot with fresh water. Why was this such a big deal?

10. Briefly describe the Nazi death camp system.

(see the answer keys)

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