Holocaust Research Assignment – Part 1

Elie Wiesel

Using the following website answer the questions posed about Elie Wiesel. Please do not cut and paste but answer questions in your own words.

1. In what town and country was Wiesel born and why was it labeled “a hostage to the fortunes of war?”
2. What community did Wiesel belong to? What was the specific religious sect that Wiesel’s mother family belonged?
3. Cut and paste a picture of Elie Wiesel.
4. In what year did the Nazis arrive in Sighet?
5. How old was Wiesel when he was deported to a concentration camp?
6. List three things that Wiesel had to endure on a daily basis to survive in the concentration camps.
7. For ten years Wiesel “observed a self-imposed vow of silence” and did not talk of or write about his experiences. In five sentences or more, describe why you think this was?
8. What award was Elie Wiesel awarded in 1986?
9. Cut and paste five other links about Wiesel and his life.

Throughout his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel discusses how important his faith was to him, how it began to falter and how he felt about his relationship with God in the concentration camps. Link to the following website to become better acquainted with the Jewish faith and answer the following questions in your own words.

1. What is a Rabbi?
2. Why is G-d spelled without the “o”?
3. List three of the minimum requirements of the Jewish faith.
4. What does Judaism focus on? List two.
5. What is the Torah?

Read the Wiesel and Winfrey interview and answer the follow question.

Why do you think it is important for Wiesel to share his story with individuals, both in his book, his teachings and through interviews?

Holocaust Research Assignment – Part 2

The Holocaust

Several terms associated with the Holocaust are vital to understanding the situation. Using the following website define each term.

1. Anti-Semitism
2. Auschwitz
3. Concentration Camp
4. Crematory
5. Fascist
6. Gestapo
7. Ghetto
8. Hitler
9. Holocaust
10. SS

“36 Questions about the Holocaust” provides us with much information about how and why Hitler and the Nazis gained power and control in Germany. Using the website please list at least two different items of information that you find particularly interesting or compelling.

Using the following website, scroll down to the year 1942 and answer the following questions.

1. How many Jews were approved for extermination at concentration camps in 1942?
2. What groups did the Nazis target with their technologically advanced crematoriums?
3. How did the Germans hide their true plans from the Jews in ghettos?

Use the following website to answer the following questions.

1. The Jews were treated brutally by the Nazis. What were some of the “Special Treatments” allotted to the Jewish people? List three.
2. Upon entering a concentration camp many Jews were immediately exterminated. Some were kept alive. These people had their heads shaved, were given uniforms and had to wear badges signifying their position within the camp. Some of the badges that individuals had to wear are listed on the web page.

1. Cut and paste one badge and explain its meaning.
2. Explain in five or more sentences why you think that individuals were placed in uniforms, given haircuts and labeled when they entered the camps.

This site is the property of M.E. LaZerte High School, Edmonton Public Schools. While you are most welcome to use this site, its organization, all annotations, and most activities are copyrighted, and permission must be sought for their reproduction. E-mail questions to C. Peterson, M.E. LaZerte High School Teacher Librarian, at cynthia dot peterson at epsb dot ca (replace the word "at" with the @ symbol; "dot" with a period). Last updated April 28/04