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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. The Nazi party was elected to power in which country?

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

3. According to Levi, who may judge collaborators?

4. Who confronts Levi after liberation?

5. What did the other prisoners think about the Sonderkommandos?

Short Essay Questions

1. Briefly describe the Nazi death camp system.

2. Why does Primo Levi write about his experiences?

3. What is "willed ignorance?"

4. How does a totalitarian state control its citizens?

5. Briefly describe the life of Chaim Rumkowski.

6. What happeneds to people who become sonderkommandos?

7. Explain the nature of human memory.

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

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

10. How does Levi shock Germans after the war?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What would you have done if you were recruited to be a sonderkommando? How do you think you would have handled being in that situation?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the writing style and the tone of the book. How does it contribute to the overall impact of the book?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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