Characters
Rivka is really...
Aunt Eva
Along with the badchan, who was "chosen", from the men's side of the camp?
Rabbi Boruch
Provide examples of the following theme
Sometimes it is those who endure hardships that are heroes.
Rivka inspires Chaya to never give up.
Gitl survives the camp and goes on to create a rescue mission.
The inmates are starved, overworked, and face danger every day, but they do not give up.
Describe the exposition of the story.
Hannah Stern is twelves years old and lives in New Rochelle, NY in 1989. Her family is Jewish and they are celebrating Passover. Her great aunt and grandfather are Holocaust survivors. Hannah is tired of talking about the past. Suddenly she is transported back in time, and she is in Poland in 1942.
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
Provide an example of the following theme
One must always have hope, even when facing the darkest of times.
Chaya stops telling the others about what she knows will happen to people in the camps. She wants them to have hope.
Gitl finds moments to laugh. She tries to make Hannah laugh pretending her dress is fashionable. page 101
Rivka is determined to reunite with her brother. She never gives up hope.
What are some of the key events in the rising action?
Chaya meets Gitl and Schmuel.
Chaya and new friends are traveling to Schmuel and Fayge's wedding.
Army trucks are in Viosk and they take everyone to a train. The train ride involves horrible conditons. The boxcar is overcrowded, unsanitary, and does not have any fresh air. They are not given any food on their four day journey. Several people die.
They arrive at the concentration camp.
What type of character is Hannah?
Dynamic?
Static?
Round?
Flat?
Name all that apply!
Dynamic - she changes over the course of the story
Round- the reader has a lot of information about her, her
What happened to Yitzchak?
He escaped the camp! After the Holocaust, he went on to live in Israel with Gitl. He became a member of the Israeli senate.
What was Wolfe's job in the camp?
Wolfe was a sonderkommando. Part of his job was bring other prisoners to the gas chambers and crematorium. He had to burn the bodies of the deceased, as he did with Fayge. page 153
Provide an example of the following theme
Never take family for granted.
Many people in the Holocaust lost all of their family members. Entire bloodlines were wiped out.
Hannah is embarrassed by her grandfather. She later realizes how horrific the Holocaust was and is more understanding.
Yitzchak loses all of his children during the Holocaust.
Gitl loses her brother, Schmuel.
Describe what happens when Chaya arrives at the concentration camp.
Men and women are separated.
They take a shower, are given old clothes, their heads are shaved. Later they are given watery potato soup and a hard shelf to sleep on.
What does the title mean?
The Devil's Arithmetic
Arithmetic- the branch of mathematics that deals with numbers ( adding, subtracting, etc)
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)
Who is the blokova?
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.
Who does Hannah talk to about going back in time?
Aunt Eva
Provide an example of the following theme
It is important to remember the events of the past and respect survivors.
Hannah comes to understand why Grandpa Will is so emotional.
Rivka points out that everyone in the camp is a hero just for not giving up in the concentration camp.
What is the climax of the story?
Chaya realizes that she will somehow be able to go on as Hannah. She grabs the scarf off of Rivka's head and tells her to run for her life. Then Chaya marches off towards Lilth's Cave.
Despite the sadness, what is the overall tone of the book?
Tone - the author's attitude about the subject
Profound because it reveals much of what the Holocaust was really like for the inmate.
Hopeful- through it all, many of the characters never give up and hold on to hope
Who did Chaya go to Lilith's Cave with?
Shifre and Esther
Chaya saves this young child from the commandant.
Leye's baby
page 123
Provide an example of the following theme.
Sometimes, people must make sacrifices for others
Chaya risks her life for Leye's baby.
Chaya trades places with Rivka on the way to Lilth's Cave.
Chaya speaks up for Reuven.
Fayge gives her life to be by Schmuel's side when he is killed.
Gitl shares her food with the children in the camp, even though she is being starved.
Rivka gives the blokova a gold ring to secure a job for Chaya in the kitchen.
What is resolution of the story?
Chaya returns to her old life as Hannah. She speaks to Aunt Eva about what she experienced as Chaya. .
What does Arbeit Macht Frei mean?
Work makes you free
It is on the gate at the entrance of the camp that Chaya is in. In real life it was on the gate at Auschwitcz, the biggiest death camp of the Holocaust.
Later in the book, Commodant Breuer says that "All that gives you life is work- and my good wishes."
To stay safe from the choosing, the inmates had to show the Nazis that they could work. However, the Nazis were never going to let them really be free.