Night Vocab Flashcards
What is Kaddish?
A hymn of praises to God found in the Jewish prayer service. The central them ha the magnification ans sanctification of God’s name. It is a prayer that praises God and expresses a yearning for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Elie wanted to study this. Moishe taught him a lot about this.
What is a Kapo?
A prisoner in a nazi concentration camp who was assigned by the SS guards to supervise forced labor or carry our administrative tasks in the camp. A Jew who helped the nazis. They were often as cruel as the Germans.
Who was Idek?
Elie’s Kapo at the electrical equipment warehouse in Buna. He has no control over violence.
What was A-7713?
The identity number given to Elie by the nazis at the concentration camp.
Who was Mengele?
The cruel Doctor that was over the selection of arrivals at Auschwitz/ Birkenau. He sent many to the furnace or ran horrible experiments on some.
Who was Moishe the Beadle?
He teaches Elie Jewish mysticism. He is a very poor man who lives in Sighet. He is deported before the rest of the Jews but escapes and returns to tell everyone what the nazis were doing to the Jews.
Who was Schächter?
She was in the same cattle car as Elie. She is thought to be crazy because she screams about a fire. They all soon see the crematorium.
Where was Sighet?
The Transylvanian town that Elie was from.
Who was Rabbi Eliahou?
A Jewish prisoner whose son abandons him.
What is Talmud?
What Elie studies during the day. Central text of Rabbinic Judaism
What is a rabbi?
A Jewish scholar or teacher, especially one who studies or teaches Jewish law. A person appointed as a Jewish religious leader.
What is Aryan?
A term meaning noble. Hitler believed there was an aryan race. He thought all other races were inferior. He thought the aryan race was blonde hair and blue eyes
Who was Pipel?
A young assistant under the Dutch Oberkapo (head overseer) at Buna, he is sentenced to death for being involved in sabotage. Described as having the face of an angel, he struggles in the gallows for more than have an hour before he dies. Elie deeply affected by his death.
What is Rosh Hashanah?
The Jewish New Year. Even though they were in a bad situation, the Jews still came together to pray and praise God’s name. Elie has a religious rebellion.
What is Zionism?
A movement for the re-establishment and the development and protection of a Jewish in what is now Israel
