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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Levi's Kapo disappear?

2. What does Levi think most survivors feel at Liberation?

3. When Levi's squad was clearing rubble, what did he find?

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

5. From where did Monowitz receive new prisoners?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Explain the concept of "convenient truth."

3. Briefly describe the Nazi death camp system.

4. Why does Levi argue that survivors should not feel guilt?

5. What is Primo Levi's theory about judging any people associated with the lagers?

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

7. Briefly describe the life of Chaim Rumkowski.

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

9. Explain the theory of "incommunicability."

10. What happeneds to people who become sonderkommandos?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why do the Nazis need or want prisoners in the lagers to be collaborators? Discuss different kinds of collaborators and how they benefited the Nazi agenda.

Essay Topic 2

Levi titles Chapter 5 Useless Violence. Do you think that violence can ever be useful? Use examples from the book and your own life to give a rationale for your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Levi states that victims and oppressors are both tormented by memories.

Part 1: Explain the kinds of memories that the victims might have and why these memories are difficult, even forty years after the fact.

Part 2: Explain why and how oppressors tend to hide from memories of their past actions.

(see the answer keys)

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