Bergen-Belsen
What was the disease that Blanca and Sonia were sick from?
Typhus
Who liberated Bergen Belsen?
British
What did they have to do when they arrived at Mauthausen just to get to the camp?
Climb a large hill that was nearly impossible while sick with Typhus
What was the Kaddish? What did rabbis not want it to be prayed?
Jewish prayer for the dead.
They wanted there to be hope for loved ones to be alive.
Who helped Sonia, Blanca, and Norbert get into the United States?
Uncle Harry
What was roll call called?
Appell
What did Sonia do for work at Venusburg?
Built airplanes for the German Reich
What happened on May 4th and 5th 1945?
May 4th- All guards disappeared
May 5th- American soldiers entered the camp
Who or what is a Sondercommando? What did Norbert get from one, and what did he do with it?
A prisoner who searched other prisoners for valuables before they went into the crematorium. Norbert got a gold ring that he gifted to Sonia on her 17th birthday to remember what happened and share her story with others.
Who did Sonia marry? How was he different than other people that she had dated?
Dr. Mark Weitz
He was older and had served with the medical corps so he understood the horrors of war
What were the "tricks of surviving"?
The "tricks of surviving" were the middle of appell lines in order to be held up by others and be away from the whips. In the food lines, the middle was also the best place. The people at the beginning got a watery substance and the people at the end had a chance of not getting any food.
How did Sonia discover the female guards were much worse than the males?
Because Blanca was too sick to get food, Sonia went through the line first for her sister and then returned a second time to get food for herself. The female guard noticed, and it was the first time she was ever beaten in a camp.
What was Sonia's age/physical state when the camp was liberated (be specific)? Who helped get her out of the camp?
-17 years old, sick with Typhus, 60 pounds, hair falling out, had to be fed through a feeding tube and holes needed to be cut in her mattress because of her hip bones.
Norbert and Niusiek Strahl
Describe the acts of kindness extended to Sonia, Blanca, and Norbert by Joe and the other American soldiers.
The Americans gave Sonia a radio so she could finally listen to music again. Joe gave Nobert his own wedding ring after being so touched by their story and reunion. They also shared all their packages with the people at the camps.
Who or what is a historical revisionist? What did they inspire Sonia to do?
Someone who said that the Holocaust was fake. They wrote books and spoke at colleges. It made Sonia angry and was the reason why she decided to share her story.
What was Bergen Belsen like? Why was it worse than any other camp?
It was overcrowded and unsanitary. 300 were put into a room for 50. It was the worst camp for Sonia because there was no work. Work had given them some purpose and a connection to the world of the living-at Bergen Belson they waited to die.
How did Sonia show recklessness to stay with Blanca? What would have been the consequence in this "civilized camp" and why?
She faked sickness.
Doctor and dentist came to take out appendix and pull teeth
Who founded Camp Hart? What was it and its functions?
Norbert and Simon Wiesenthal with other survivors.
2 functions:
A camp to live and recover; a documentation center to sign in a find loved ones.
What were the obstacles preventing Sonia from moving to Poland or the United States?
-Poland had anti-semitism and was a "graveyard"
-US had very strict rules to get in including good health, documentation, and a blood relative sponsor
Who was Harriet Wacks? How did she help Sonia and what organization did they found?
Harriet Wacks was a professor at Salem State College. Sonia began to speak to her students and eventually taught there. They created The Holocaust Center, Boston North. They taught about the Holocaust in order to spread awareness about racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism.
Who was Mama Fredrich?
While on the cattle car trying to take care of Blanca, Sonia was pushed into the bucket on the train. In an act of kindness, Mama Fredrich gave Sonia a piece of her daughter's blanket. She acted like a mother to Sonia and did something good in the depths of dehumanizing treatment.
Who was Erna?
A beautiful woman who was married shortly before entering the camp. She was emaciated and had scabs all over her body. She became obsessed with looking and screaming at herself in the mirror. She survived the war but later died in a streetcar accident.
What happened to Janek?
He was beaten with a chair by a Ukranian Kapo for not being able to work. He was also thrown into a barrel of water just to make sure he was dead.
What was the purpose of the Nuremberg Trials? Describe what most Nazis plead or did to avoid being held responsible.
To have trials for the Nazis. Many Nazis plead innocent or created false identities and fled to other countries like Argentina.
Describe the "Tree of Life" and what it symbolized.
When Sonia returned to her childhood home in Krakow, she remembered that her father had planted two trees outside of the balcony-one for her and Blanca. She returned to find one tree had survived. To her, the tree symbolized life- a symbol of survival after she had survived the war.