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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. Surviving the initial selection at Auschwitz, Kovály is assigned what work?

2. What is the apartment like that Kovály is assigned?

3. Who offers Kovály an apartment where she can stay?

4. After returning to Prague, Kovály receives a note from Ruda that contains what?

5. During her time in hiding, what does Kovály spend a lot of her time doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is life like for Kovály in the ghetto?

2. What does Kovály do during her five months being hidden by the resistance?

3. After Margolius' death, why does Kovály worry that she would be arrested?

4. What is Kovály's last meeting with Margolius like?

5. Why is Kovály hesitant to get involved with the Communist Party?

6. After her husband is arrested, what do state policemen come to her apartment to do?

7. Why do Kovály and her friends decide to try to escape the camp guards?

8. What brought the war to a conclusion for Kovály personally?

9. What is contained in the note that Ruda sends Kovály after she settles in his apartment?

10. What complaint does Marta have about Vlada when Kovály met her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia. When does it occur and how does it affect Kovály? Why does the Soviet Bloc feel compelled to occupy Czechoslovakia?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the Iron Curtain. What is the Iron Curtain? What does the Iron Curtain have to do with Czechoslovakia? Does it affect Kovály directly? If so, how?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the author of "Under A Cruel Star," Heda Margolius Kovály. What does the reader learn about Kovály by reading this book? What are her defining characteristics and how do these characteristics help her throughout her life? Why is her life worth reading about?

(see the answer keys)

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