Night Answer Key
Parts 1-9 Comprehension Questions
Section 1 (pg. 3-22)
1. Who was Moishe the Beadle?
a. Homeless man who teaches Elie about Hasidic lore that his father tells him he
is forbidden to learn until later
2. Why did Elizer spend a lot of time with Moishe?
a. Elie picked him as his religious mentor
3. What happened to Moishe that caused a great change in him?
a. Deported, tortured, a witness to early Jewish Holocaust
4. How did the rest of the community react to what Moishe told them?
a. They don’t believe him or the stories he tells them about what he saw
5. What were the ghettos?
a. Small fenced/walled in communities sectioned off for Jews or invalids
6. At first, how did the Jews of Sighet feel about the ghettos?
a. They were happy
7. Who offered Elizer’s family safe refuge?
a. Their old servant, Maria/Martha (depending on your translation)
8. On what day of the week was Elizer’s family expelled?
a. Saturday, the day of the Sabbath in Judaism
Section 2 (pg. 23-28)
1. Why did the Hungarian lieutenant move among the prisoners with a basket?
a. To collect valuables
2. Who was Madame Schachter?
a. A woman on the cattle car who had a Holocaust premonition or
foreshadowing to what the Jews would eventually see
3. What would happen if someone tried to escape?
a. Shot down and killed. The leader of the cattle car would be shot as well.
4. Where was the final stop for the train?
a. Auschwitz concentration camp
Section 3 (pg. 29-46)
1. What 8 words did the SS men keep repeating when they arrived at the camp?
a. “Men to the left, women to the right”
b. Men would live for another selection (if they met age qualifications
c. Women would be sent straight to be gassed, or required to work in kitchens,
clean, or become an SS officer mistress
2. What was Eliezer’s last view of his mother and sister?
a. Them hand in hand walking away; Tzipora’s red coat
3. Why did Eliezer and his father lie to Dr. Mengele?
a. To make their ages more appealing
b. 15 to 18 (Elie)
c. 50 to 40 (Shlomo)
4. Why did his father wish Eliezer had gone with his mother?
a. So he wouldn’t have to see his only son die
5. What is the Kaddish?
a. The prayer of the dead
6. According to the SS officer, what was the only way to avoid the furnaces?
a. To work
7. Why did the gypsy strike Eliezer’s father?
a. Shlomo asked if he could use the bathroom/where the bathroom was located
b. This even further dehumanized him; wasn’t worth using indoor plumbing; hit
in front of a group of people to show inferior state
8. To what new camp were the prisoners marched?
a. Birkenau (part of Auschwitz)—Working camp
9. What does the sign ARBEIT MACHT FREI on the entrance to Auschwitz translate to
in English?
a. “Work will set you free” or “work is freedom”
10. What is the only way to survive, according to the Polish man in charge of Block 17?
a. To run when there is a selection
11. What did Eliezer’s new name become when it was tattooed on his arm?
a. A-7713
12. After 3 weeks in Auschwitz, what camp do they march to next?
a. Buna
Section 4 (pg. 47-65)
1. What does one of the tent leader’s aides want from Eliezer?
a. His shoes
2. The dentist wasn’t looking for cavities but instead ___________.
a. Golden teeth or gold crowns that could be sold for money
3. What work assignment did Eliezer and his father get?
a. Electrical
b. Sorted electrical wiring, nuts, and bolts
4. How did Eliezer avoid getting his gold tooth extracted by the dentist?
a. First time, pretended to be sick—Told to come back next day
b. Second time, pretended to be sick—Told to come back next week
c. Third time the dentist had been sent away or killed for selling the gold teeth
and crowns
5. What does Franek want from Eliezer?
a. His gold tooth
6. What was Eliezer’s punishment for seeing Idek with the Polish girl?
a. 25 lashings (whips)
7. What did the sirens go off?
a. An air raid/Air bomb practice
b. This was used during WWII to prepare for the possibility of a bomb attack
from troops. People would hide in fallout shelters or inside buildings when
there was a enemy plane on the radar, so that troops/enemies would not be
able to see any people outside on the ground from above
Section 5 (pg. 66-84)
1. On Rosh Hashanah, what did Eliezer lose?
a. His faith
2. On Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, what did Eliezer decide to do?
a. Eat
b. Any Jew celebrating Yom Kippur would have fasted on this day for God to
judge them
3. Eliezer was transferred to a new Kommando—what was it?
a. Construction
b. Moving heavy blocks from one part of camp to another
4. Why did Eliezer’s father give him his knife and spoon?
a. He was chosen for selection and this was Elie’s “Wiesel Inheritance” because
his father had nothing else left in the world to hand down to his son
5. Why did Eliezer need an operation?
a. His foot was infected
b. Much bacteria were in the camps, and if Elie got scratched or hurt, the
bacteria would get into his body (like his foot) and he would be more
susceptible to disease
6. What does the faceless man in the hospital say about Hitler?
a. Hitler always keeps his promises
b. He never once lied about what he was going to do to the Jews
7. With the advancement of the Red Army, what was the decision of the camp?
a. Move everyone out
Section 6 (pg. 85-97)
1. What happened to people who couldn’t keep up the pace in the march?
a. Shot and trampled in the snow
2. Who is Rabbi Eliahu looking for?
a. His son (who was next to Elie for a while in the march)
b. Thought to have either been trampled, or to have run away to get away from
his father for survival
3. What the prisoners finally arrive at Gleiwitz and struggle to sleep, what sound
comes through?
a. Juliek, playing Beethoven on a violin
b. Beethoven would have been outlawed for a Jew to play because he was a
German composer. Jews would not have been allowed to play Germany
composer’s music due to the idea that they weren’t “pure” enough to play it.
4. How do Eliezer and his father avoid selection
a. Run
5. At the end of this section, where do the prisoners march to?
a. A train station, to go to Buchenwald
Section 7 (pg. 98-103)
1. When the train stops, what do the SS command the prisoners to do?
a. Throw out the dead bodies
2. What happens when bread is thrown into the train?
a. They fight for it like dogs
3. What happens to the old man when he comes up with some bread?
a. His son goes after him for the bread, and kills him
4. On the 3rd day, what does someone try to do to Eliezer?
a. Tries to strangle him
b. Elie Wiesel never finds out who this person was or why they were trying to
strangle him on the cattle car
5. Where did the train bring the prisoners?
a. Buchenwald
6. One hundred people got on the train, how many got off?
a. 12
b. 88 people died
Section 8 (pg. 104-112)
1. In regards to his father, what does Eliezer mean when he says, “I knew that I was no
longer arguing wit him but Death itself.”
a. Shlomo Wiesel was so sick and far gone that there was no point talking to
him—he had already given in to death and given up hope (VERY sick)
2. What does Eliezer feel ashamed about?
a. Wanting his father to die to lift the burden of keeping Shlomo safe off Elie’s
shoulders
3. Why weren’t the sick in the infirmary given any food?
a. They were already dying and the SS officers didn’t want to waste any food on
the dying, but instead give it to the living who would work
4. What was Eliezer’s dad suffering from?
a. Dysentery
b. A bacterial disease that gets into the water that causes severe stomach pains
and bowel problems where the more you drink water, the more the bacteria
gets into your system. If you don’t drink the water you may die from
dehydration
c. But if you do drink the water, you may die from the bacteria
5. What was the “poison” to his father even though he begged his son to give him
some?
a. Water
6. What was his father’s last word?
a. Elie’s name: “Eliezer”
Section 9
1. What was Eliezer always thinking about?
a. Soup
b. Food
c. Bread
d. Soup
2. On April 5th, what did the Germans decide to do with all of the prisoners at
Buchenwald?
a. Shoot them, send them out, and blow up the camp to destroy any evidence
3. On April 10th, they were going to kill the remaining 20,000 prisoners and then blow
up the camp. What happens to deter it?
a. There is a resistance planned and a sneak attack from allied forces
4. The next morning, on April 11th, on their way to be killed (the prisoners in the camp)
what happens?
a. Americans strike and liberate the camp
5. What is Eliezer’s first act as a free man?
a. To eat
6. What happens to Eliezer three days after liberation?
a. Elie gets food poisoning
b. After months of not getting any nutrients, he now gorges himself on provisions,
which causes his body to go into shock. This is a very common thing that
happened right after camps were liberated.
7. What image of Eliezer is he left with at the end of the book?
a. A corpse in the mirror staring back at him