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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. Which of the following is NOT a reason survivors feel guilty?
(a) They should have tried harder to escape into the forest.
(b) They did not do enough to oppose the system.
(c) They failed to resist.
(d) They failed to help others.

2. What language does Levi speak after the war?
(a) Polish.
(b) Yiddish.
(c) German.
(d) Lager German.

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

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

5. What does Levi think about power?
(a) That it is necessary.
(b) That it is evil.
(c) That it is intoxicating.
(d) That it corrupts people.

Short Answer Questions

1. From where did Monowitz receive new prisoners?

2. How did prisoners who speak Yiddish look upon Italian Jews who did not speak it?

3. What function did ghettos serve?

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

5. Which of the following did Levi think is the worst crime of the Nazis?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why does Levi think prisoners are beyond neuroses?

4. Why does Primo Levi write about his experiences?

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

6. Explain the theory of "incommunicability."

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

8. What is "willed ignorance?"

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

10. What does Levi consider to be his mission and why?

(see the answer keys)

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