Characters
Rivka is really...
Aunt Eva
When Hannah goes back in time, what country does she go back to?
Answer: Poland
What holiday is the family celebrating at the beginning of the book?
Answer: Passover
In the concentration camp crematorium was called
Answer: Lilith's Cave
What is the point of view with this story?
3rd person limited
What happens to Fayge?
She is shot when she goes to be by Shmuel. It is ironic because she is the one who decided not to partake in the escape plan.
Who was Wolfe?
Grandpa Will/ Rifka's Brother
What is the last step of the Seder?
Answer: Opening the door for the Prophet Elijah.
What event are Gitl, Hannah and Shmuel getting ready for?
Shmuel's wedding to the Rabbi's daughter
What is the meaning of the word "shtetl"?
Answer: a small town
What were Hannah's last words as the girls entered Lilith's Cave?
Answer: "Ready or not, here we come..."
Why was Hannah afraid of the showers?
She thought they were gas ovens.
In the concentration camp the word "processed" meant
Answer: cremated
As the Jewish villagers rode in the truck they showed their spirit by?
Singing
When Rifka tells Chaya that she "organized" shoes and sweaters for them, what does she mean?
Answer: She stole them.
Who is the blokova? Why did she lose her fingers?
The female inmate who was in charge of Chaya's group. The Natzis cut off one of her fingers every time that she lost control of the inmates. She loses a finger the night after Gitl and Chaya's attempted escape.
What is Hannah's name when she goes back in time?
Answer: Chaya
Why were Shfire, Rivka, and Esther chosen to enter Lilith's Cave?
Answer: The guard needed three more Jews to make up a full load to be efficient.
When Hannah tries to brush the fly away from Tzipporah the next morning,
Answer: She finds out that Tzipporah died in her sleep.
What is the translation of the words ARBEWIT MACH FREI at the entrance of the camp?
Answer: Work makes you free.
How did Rivka survive the concentration camp?
Answer: Hannah took Rivka's place when Rivka was chosen to go to Lilith's Cave.
The signal for the young children to hide in the midden when the commandant is coming is
Answer: a clucking sound made by placing the tongue against the roof of the mouth.
Why did Chaya come to stay with Shmuel and Gitl?
Answer: Her parents died and she was sick.
The suitcases and clothes that belonged to Fayge's grandmother were thrown outside of a train. This might mean that her Grandmother and other villagers:
Answer: have been killed or are unable to use them.
What does the title mean?
The Devil's Arithmetic
Everyone in the camp knows people who have died in the camp.
When one person dies, it might mean you get to live another day. If a group of people are chosen, then you would not be chosen.
"A simple bit of mathematics, like subtraction, where on taken away from the top of the line becomes one added to the bottom. The Devil's arithmetic." (Yolen 146)