Word List 3 - Groups 5-6

Question 1

alleviate

Answer 1

Make less severe

The concentration camps obviously did not alleviate the Jews’ welfare and lives.

Question 2

cacophony

Answer 2

Discordant loud noises

A cacophony of fatal gunshots aimed at Jews could be heard from the camps.

Question 3

denounce

Answer 3

Condemn; speak out against

The Nazis forced the Jews to denounce their own faith.

Question 4

exasperated

Answer 4

Frustrated; annoyed

The Jews were exasperated by the Nazis’ abuse and cruelty to them.

Question 5

ignominy

Answer 5

Shame

Practicing Judaism was seen by the Nazis as an ignominy, since the Nazis saw the Jews as inferior.

Question 6

lithe

Answer 6

Flexible; supple

Many prisoners who were lithe were chosen to live and not die in the camps, due to their physical strength that they showed off.

Question 7

omniscient

Answer 7

All-knowing

If a Jew made the Nazis appear as anything but omniscient, then he or she would be punished severely.

Question 8

pragmatist

Answer 8

Practical person; one who is concerned with usefulness

Hitler was definitely not a pragmatist, because he acted out of racism and superiority toward the Jewish people.

Question 9

saccharin

Answer 9

Falsely sweet

The sign at the camps which read “Work will set you free” were quite saccharin and deceptive as to why the Jews were in the camps.

Question 10

transient

Answer 10

Short-lived; ephemeral

Most Jews’ lives in the concentration camps were transient, since many were killed at the camps cruelly.

Question 11

aloof

Answer 11

Distant; detached; cold

Elie’s faith in God became aloof during his time at the concentration camps, wondering about why God allowed the Holocaust to occur.

Question 12

cajole

Answer 12

Coax

The Jews were not cajoled in custody, instead, they were handled unfairly and forced to do hard labor.

Question 13

deplete

Answer 13

Use up; lessen

As the Jews spent more time in the camps, their will to live depleted gradually.

Question 14

exceptionable

Answer 14

Very bad (something which we should object to)

The Holocaust was an exceptionable act of homicide, since many Jews were burned and gassed to death in gruesome ways.

Question 15

illuminate

Answer 15

To light up or make clear

The smoke and flames of the burnt Jewish corpses from the camps’ chimneys illuminated the dark night sky.

Question 16

livid

Answer 16

Very angry

Some Jews felt livid toward their God, wondering why God decided to “punish” the Jewish people in the Holocaust.

Question 17

onerous

Answer 17

Burdensome; hard to undertake

The work which the Jews did in the concentration camps were exceedingly onerous.

Question 18

preamble

Answer 18

Introductory material

Elie Wiesel’s preamble to Night mentions his teacher in the Kabbalah, Moishe the Beadle.

Question 19

sacrosanct

Answer 19

Very holy; inviolable

The Kabbalah and the Torah were very sacrosanct to the Jews.

Question 20

traverse

Answer 20

To move across

The Jews from Sighet, like the Wiesels, were forced to traverse by train from their homeland to different camps, like Auschwitz and Buna.