Holocaust, All But My Life, the study questions

All But My Life, the study questions.Study questions pages 95-210 All But My Life

SOSNOWITZ

1. “Now I have to live,” Gerda reflects on the train (p. 95). What reasons does she give for wanting to live?

2. What is a Dulag?

3. Who are the “living skeletons” Gerda meets in the Dulag? Where are they to be sent?

4. During the train ride to the camp, why does Suse Kunz say that she feels “pretty good, in spite of everything” (p. 113)?

BOLKENHAIN

1. Who is Frau Kügler?

2. Bolkenhain is Gerda’s first view of the “homeland of Nazism” (p. 114). How do the Germans there seem different from those she observed in Poland? What is “propaganda,” and what effect has it had on the German people’s preconceptions about

Jews?

3. Why do the inmates of Bolkenhain have to wear three stars?

4. What is Yom Kippur? Why do the prisoners decide to fast, and what satisfaction do they derive from this fasting?

5. How did Frau Kügler save Gerda’s life? Do you believe that genuine affection existed between Frau Kügler and the girls under her care?

MARZDORF

1. Why is the supervisor’s question to Gerda, “Are you hungry?” (p. 147) a “tricky” one?

2. What keeps Gerda from throwing herself under a train and ending her life?

LANDESHUT

1. Upon seeing Litzi, Frau Kügler, and Mrs. Berger again, Gerda’s reaction is “This was home!” (p. 153). What has she learned from her experiences at Marzdorf?

2. Why do Italian prisoners suddenly appear in Burgberg? What has happened in the war to turn the Italians and the Germans into enemies?

GRÜNBERG

1. What is the Spinnerei? Why is it so dangerous to work there?

2. What is tuberculosis? What happens to the girls who contract it in Grünberg?

3. What impact does the beating by the SS guard have on Gerda? How does it affect her will to survive? How does it affect the other girls?

4. Why are the girls undressed and given numbers (pp. 178-179)?

5. Why does Gerda want to purchase poison?

THE MARCH

1. Why do the authorities decide to embark on the march to Czechoslovakia? What turn in the war has prompted this flight?

2. Why do Gerda and Ilse not carry out Gerda’s plan to go to the police station?

What might have happened to them had they done this?

3. Why do the guards abandon the marchers?

 

All But My Life

Study questions pages 211-261

VOLARY

1. What is Gerda’s first impression of Lt. Kurt Klein? What does he represent to

her? Why does she feel compelled to tell him they are Jews? What is his response?

2. When does Gerda finally admit to herself that her parents are dead? Why has she

delayed the acknowledgement until this moment?

3. What does Kurt mean when he says, “It seems we fought a war against the Nazis,

but I haven’t met a Nazi yet” (p. 221)?

4. What are Gerda’s emotions on seeing Liesel, Suse, and Ilse’s graves? Why does

she turn abruptly away from them?

EPILOGUE

1. Gerda writes, “Survival is both an exalted privilege and a painful burden”

(p. 247). What does she mean by this? In what way is it a burden?

2. What does the State of Israel symbolize to Gerda?

3. What are Gerda’s feelings about suicide? What has formed these opinions?

4. Why was she unable to speak German on the radio? Why does Gerda prefer

speaking English to any other language?

 

Reflection:on Judaism, including the video in the PP, The Master Race and Antisemitism power point. Due in Assignments. Be sure to use separate headings and titles for each item assigned. And, do in order that it was assigned.

• Read the Power point on Judaism, be sure to watch the short video included in the power point and include in the reflection – History of Antisemitism – European Antisemitism from Its Origins to the Holocaust – 14 minutes
•  

• Read the power point on Antisemitism

• Watch the Film; The Master Race  53 minutes