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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. At the end of Chapter 19, Yanek thinks he may be losing his mind when he hears the sound of what?
(a) Bombing.
(b) Ocean waves.
(c) His mother's voice.
(d) Singing.

2. Once Yanek finds out where his train is headed in Chapter 15, a man nearby gives Yanek advice about what topic?
(a) Grief.
(b) Religion.
(c) Murder.
(d) The gas chambers.

3. As Yanek and the other prisoners enter the gates of Auschwitz, they see a sign announcing that "work is" (148) what?
(a) Mandatory.
(b) Freedom.
(c) Healing.
(d) Salvation.

4. What numerical term does Yanek use to describe the number of people who have died during the long train trip to Birkenau?
(a) Scores.
(b) One dozen.
(c) Hundreds.
(d) Several dozen.

5. The term "Muselmann" (96) is used by prisoners to refer to a person with what condition?
(a) Rickets.
(b) Shingles.
(c) Severe malnutrition.
(d) Gout.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year does Yanek arrive at the Auschwitz concentration camp?

2. At the start of Chapter 19, Yanek states that when he gets to Auschwitz, he is how old?

3. What is NOT a physical characteristic of the prisoner who steps in to help Yanek support the weight of his fellow prisoner on the trip from Auschwitz to Sachsenhausen?

4. What is Yanek's first sign that Fred has contracted an illness?

5. What is NOT something Yanek associates with his formerly safe and happy self?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is different about Yanek's experience at Bergen-Belsen, in relation to his previous experiences with concentration camps?

2. Which qualities of new prisoners help Yanek to qualify certain individuals as such?

3. What scent does Yanek detect in the air when he is brought to the Birkenau death camp?

4. Discuss an instance in the novel when Yanek's determination to survive is apparent.

5. What distinction does Yanek make between the Trzebinia concentration camp and the other camps in which he has been imprisoned?

6. What small moment of triumph does Yanek experience during the transition from Auschwitz to another concentration camp?

7. To what location is Yanek sent after he is removed from the Plaszow concentration camp?

8. Which objects in the salt mine does Yanek consider aesthetically beautiful?

9. At what point do Yanek and the other new arrivals to the Birkenau death camp realize that they have been spared for the moment?

10. What is the significance of the novel's title?

(see the answer keys)

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