GLOSSARY OF TERMS IN NIGHT - NT Schools



English Name ________________________________

Date __________________ 10 - ______

GLOSSARY OF TERMS IN NIGHT

anti-Semitic – discrimination against Jews

Aryan–In Nazi ideology, the pure, superior Germanic race.

Beadle- minor parish official

boche or bosche–WWI derogatory French slang for a German, usually a soldier.

Cabbala–Jewish mysticism, studied by a select few

charnel house–A building used to house corpses and bones.

concentration camp–Camps that were primarily used for slave labor, holding camps or transit camps.

death camp–Camps dedicated to the efficient murder of Jews and other victims; e.g. Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmo, Madjanek, Sobibor, Treblinka. The term was also used for concentration camps where thousands died of starvation and disease.

death’s head–Skull insignia for S.S. brigades working in concentration camps.

deportation – exile, banishment

Fascism–A system of government with centralized authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship and usually a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.

Gestapo–German acronym for the German Secret State Police, part of the SS notorious for terrorism against enemies of the state.

ghetto–The confinement of Jews in a set-apart area of a city. The first exclusively Jewish ghetto was in Venice in 1516.

gypsy–Pejorative term for Roma or Romany, an ethnic group with roots in India which suffered large losses in the Holocaust.

Hasidism–Movement of Orthodox Judaism with strong mystical and emotional elements.

Himmler, Heinrich (1900—1945)–Head of SS and principal planner of Jews’ total extermination.

Hitler, Adolph (1889—1945)–Dictator of Germany, 1933—194.

Holocaust – sacrifice consumed by fire; mass slaughter of Jews by Nazis

Job–Biblical figure who has come to symbolize suffering.

Kaddish–Jewish prayer recited in daily ritual after the death of a close relative.

kapo–Camp prisoner forced to oversee other prisoners.

Lazarus–A man described in the Books of John and Luke as having been raised from the dead by Jesus.

los–German for "Go on!"

Maimonides (1135—1204)–Jewish rabbi, physician and philosopher.

Mengele, Dr. Josef (1911—1978)–Auschwitz physician notorious for so-called medical experiments performed on inmates, especially twins and dwarves.

Musulman–German for Muslim. Camp slang for a prisoner who is too weak to walk, work, or stand, and therefore marked for death. Believed to derive from prisoner’s resemblance to a Muslim in prayer.

Nazi – a member of a German Fascist party controlling Germany under Hitler

Rabbi – an ordained Jew – leader of Jewish congregation

SS–Abbreviation of Schutzstaffel (Defense Protective Units). Notorious for implementing European Jews’ extermination.

Talmud–The most important compilation of Jewish oral tradition.

Temple–Holiest place in Judaism, located in Jerusalem. Biblically ordained sacrifices were performed here. Built and destroyed twice.

yellow star–Nazis forced Jews to wear a cloth badge with Jew written in the center of a yellow 6-pointed star.

Zionism–Political movement advocating the establishment of a Jewish state.

Zohar–From the Hebrew meaning light or splendor. One of the major works of the Cabbala.

Character List: Describe each of the following characters as you read about them in Night.

Be sure to include why each person is important to the story.

Eliezer:

Chlomo (Eliezer’s father):

Moshe the Beadle:

Akiba Drumer:

Madame Schachter:

Juliek:

Tibi and Yosi:

Dr. Josef Mengele:

Idek:

Franek:

Rabbi Eliahou:

Zalman:

Meir Katz:

Stein:

Hilda:

Bea:

Tzipora:

Reading Guide Questions for Night, by Elie Wiesel

Directions: As you read each chapter, answer the questions that go with that chapter. Be specific and include details. COMPLETE SENTENCES ARE REQUIRED.

Chapter 1

1. What was very important to Eliezer as a child?

2. Describe Moche the Beadle and what happened to him.

3. Describe Eliezer’s father.

4. At first, how did the German officers treat people? Why do you think they did this?

5. Describe some of the laws Jews had to live by.

6. Describe one situation in which things were terrible but the people were optimistic.

7. Describe life in the ghetto.

8. How did the Hungarian police treat the people during deportation? Be specific.

9. Describe the conditions of the 24-hour wait in the synagogue before they were deported.

Chapter 2

1. Describe the conditions of the train.

2. What did they realize too late?

3. What would happen if anyone was missing from the train car?

4. Describe Madame Schachter and what she did that caused the others to hit her, tie her up, and gag her.

5. In what way was Madame Schachter right?

6. Where did they arrive and stay?

Chapter 3

1. Explain how and when Eliezer and his father were separated from his mother and sisters.

2. Why did Eliezer and his father lie about their age?

3. Who made the selections?

4. What did Eliezer see burning in the ditch?

5. What was his plan as they approached the ditch themselves?

6. What was Eliezer and his father’s main goal throughout every day?

7. What did they have to go through as they entered each camp?

8. Why does Wiesel repeat the phrase, “Never shall I forget…” over and over again on page 22?

9. On page 25, what does the S.S. officer tell them about Auschwitz?

10. What was placed on each prisoner by the veterans with the medical instruments. Why?

11. What did they get to eat each day?

12. Why did Eliezer lie to Stein about Reizel?

13. Why did they avoid talking about the rest of their family as much as possible?

14. To what camp was Eliezer moved?

Chapter 4

1. Describe Buna.

2. Why was the head of Eliezer’s tent especially interested in children?

3. Why did Eliezer have to go see the dentist?

4. Where were Eliezer and his father sent to work?

5. What happened to the dentist? Why?

6. What was the only thing Eliezer was interested in now?

7. Why didn’t the French girl who worked next to Eliezer want anyone to know she spoke German?

8. What did Franek want from Eliezer and who did he take his anger out on when Eliezer wouldn’t give

it to him?

9. Why and how was Eliezer punished by Idek?

10. What was left unattended during the air-raid and what happened?

11. Why weren’t the prisoners afraid of the bombing raids?

12. What was the sentence for stealing during an alert? Explain what happened to the condemned man.

13. Describe the other hanging Wiesel describes and why it bothered him more than the others.

14. What did someone ask during the execution of the child?

Chapter 5

1. Why didn’t Eliezer fast?

2. What was Eliezer’s “New Year’s Gift”?

3. What advice did the head of Eliezer’s block give them about the selection?

4. What did Eliezer do to avoid being written down during inspection?

5. What happened to Eliezer’s father during the selection? Why did he give Eliezer his knife and spoon?

6. Who was Akiba Drumer and what did he want the others to do for him (p. 51)?

7. Did Eliezer and the others follow through on their promise? Why or why not?

8. What did the sick man in the hospital bed next to Eliezer warn him about?

9. What choice did Eliezer and his father have, what did they choose, and what would have happened to

them if they had decided differently?

Chapter 6

1. What would happen to anyone who paused or stopped while they were “marching” away from Buna?

2. Why didn’t Eliezer’s father want them to sleep when they took cover in the brick factory?

3. What did Rabbi Eliahou’s son do to his father?

4. What did Eliezer pray for after this realization?

5. What was different about the march after they had rested?

6. What will Beethoven always remind Wiesel of?

7. What happened when Eliezer’s father was sent to the left during the selection before they left

Gleiwitz?

8. They weren’t given any water or food for three days. What did the prisoners do to quench their thirst

as they were waiting for the train?

9. How many were put into a train car this time? Why is there a difference from the first time?

Chapter 7

1. What did the “volunteers” do as the train stopped?

2. What did the prisoners do to the dead bodies?

3. How many days did they travel and what did they live on during this time?

4. What happened when a German workman threw some bread onto the train?

5. Describe the scene with the father who was able to get a piece of bread.

6. What happened when one man cried before he died on page 69? Why did this happen?

7. Out of the 100 who got on the wagon, how many survived and got off at Buchenwald?

Chapters 8 and 9

1. Describe the condition Eliezer’s father is in as they enter Buchenwald.

2. Why did Eliezer argue with his father before the showers?

3. What was Eliezer’s father’s condition when he found him the next morning?

4. How do Eliezer’s attitude and feelings towards his father begin to resemble that of Rabbi Eliahou’s

son? What does he feel when his father dies and why?

5. What did Eliezer’s father sit up and urgently tell him about?

6. What were the Frenchman and the Pole doing to Eliezer’s father and why?

7. How did his father die?

8. Where was Eliezer transferred to?

9. What did the camp resistance organization vow? What did they do?

10. What happened later that night?

11. What was their first priority as free men?

12. What did Eliezer say he looked like in the mirror?

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