View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Hitler's intention from the start of the war?

2. About what did prisoners speculate?

3. Most of the letters that Levi received were about what topic?

4. According to Levi, which of these factors did NOT play a role in the Nazi violence?

5. According to Levi, what lessened the perpetrators' guilt?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the women at Birkenau use their bowls for?

2. Why does Levi agree with Amery that believers had an easier time in the lager?

3. What is Levi's explanation for why Jews did not try to escape?

4. Why does Levi think the Nazis waged a suicidal war?

5. Explain why violence is endemic in the Third World.

6. Which types of professionals were allowed to practice their trade in the lagers?

7. Explain the relationship between Levi and his German publisher and translator.

8. What does Levi think about Amery's definition of an intellectual?

9. Summarize Levi's response to Dr. T.H. of Hamburg.

10. Levi considers the violence perpetrated by the Nazis to have been useless except for one thing. What was it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Many survivors, Levi included, tell their stories so that the world can learn from their experience. We know that genocide has happened since World War II in different parts of the world. Analyze the extent to which you think hearing survivors' stories helps prevent another atrocity.

Essay Topic 2

The lagers were concentration and death camps established by the Nazis so they could have slaves and exterminate the Jews. Why were the Nazis fearful that the rest of the world would learn about the lagers? What did they have to hide when Hitler's rhetoric about riding Germany of Jews was so clear?

Essay Topic 3

Levi writes this book hoping to receive letters that help him answer the question of whether or not Germans can be understood. Do you think Levi gets his answer? Do you think Germans can be understood for their role in the Holocaust?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 852 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample