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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. What function did ghettos serve?
(a) They gave Jews a safe place to live.
(b) They cut off communication between people.
(c) They kept offensive books away from people.
(d) They assisted people in learning new languages.

2. Which subset of prisoners does Levi think make the best observers?
(a) Kapos.
(b) Italian Jews.
(c) Political prisoners.
(d) Intellectuals.

3. Who confronts Levi after liberation?
(a) The SS.
(b) Daniele.
(c) His kapo.
(d) Alberto.

4. What was the place of the Sonderkommandos within the Lager?
(a) They shared barracks with other prisoners.
(b) They moved about freely.
(c) They were kept segregated.
(d) They only ate with other prisoners.

5. The Nazi party was elected to power in which country?
(a) Italy.
(b) Belgium.
(c) Germany.
(d) Poland.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Levi, why can't the "privileged" be objective?

2. Who orated in the style of Hitler?

3. After the war, what was a major source of reconstructing what happened?

4. Which characterized the German spoken in the Lager?

5. Why should survivors' stories be read critically?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the classic militiamen defense that Eichmann and Hoss used?

2. Levi often characterizes survivors as being privileged. What does he mean by this?

3. Why does Levi think prisoners are beyond neuroses?

4. Explain the concept of "convenient truth."

5. Explain the nature of human memory.

6. How does a totalitarian state control its citizens?

7. Why do historians need to study the stories of survivors?

8. Why does Primo Levi write about his experiences?

9. What is "willed ignorance?"

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

(see the answer keys)

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