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Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Judaism has a rich, extensive history in Europe. Before World War II (WWII), many people identifying as Jewish lived in countries such as Germany, Poland, and Hungary. What do you know about the Jewish faith and traditions? Were Jewish people traditionally accepted by their non-Jewish counterparts? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: This question asks students to think critically about what they might already know concerning the history of Jewish communities. This question may work best as an in-class discussion, where students can both consider the prompt and learn from each other by sharing information. The links below are resources to help start the dialogue, as well as potentially introduce the term anti-Semitism.

• This article from the Anti-Defamation League is a brief history of antisemitism.
• This overview from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website outlines the population of Jewish communities in Europe prior to WWII.

2. From 1933 to 1945, the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party was the ruling government regime of Germany. With Adolf Hitler as the political leader, the Nazis introduced a series of ethnically and racially targeted reforms that ultimately led to violence, destruction, attempted ethnic cleansing, and WWII. Consider what you know about the Nazis. Which groups did they target for ethnic cleansing? What was their motivation? What were the effects of this targeting?

Teaching Suggestion: This question encourages students to think about the devastating effect that the Nazi regime had on European populations. Nazi strategies included establishing concentration camps; introducing policies that were “othering,” such as wearing a yellow star; and the Holocaust. Students should be aware that not all the Nazis’ targets were ethnic or racial groups; they also persecuted and killed people who were identified as being Communists, people with disabilities, people in the LGBTQ+ community, Jehovah’s Witness, Roma populations, and others.

• The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website shares a plethora of resources regarding persecuted peoples under the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945.
• The Museum of Tolerance website provides detailed questions and answers exploring essential facts about the Holocaust.

Short Activity

Although the term “concentration camp” is widely associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime in Germany, these kinds of camps were used by other political regimes throughout history to segregate and exploit specific groups of people. Working in small groups, select a country other than Nazi Germany and research how this specific government/political regime used concentration camps as a form of punishment and exploitation. Which people were targeted? How long were the camps in existence? What was the effect of these camps on the interned?

Teaching Suggestion: This activity allows students to broaden their understanding of concentration camps throughout history by researching this subject in small groups. Specifically, students should understand the detrimental effects that the poor treatment in these camps had on the overall well-being of the interned. The first source below provides a broad overview with some suggestions; however, other examples include the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and the gulags of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. It should be noted that there is a significant difference between these camps, the latter of which were working and/or internment camps, and Nazi extermination camps. Finally, encourage students to present their findings to the class.

• This article from Smithsonian magazine shares a brief history of concentration camps prior to WWII.
• This source from History.com provides a brief overview of gulags in the Soviet Union.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who may struggle with written exercises and/or prefer audio or visual approaches to learning, this project could be done with visuals from the concentration camps. Please note that if this route is taken, teachers should prepare students for the graphic content of some of the photos before students begin their research and before they present to the class.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the memoir.

Have you ever told yourself a lie or a half-truth to avoid accepting the reality of a situation? If so, consider the context. What were the circumstances? Why was the truth difficult to accept? Did your approach help the situation? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: This question links with the theme of The Power of Illusion. As students will see in the memoir, many of Wiesel’s family and friends in the village of Sighet avoid accepting the truth of the Nazi invasion of Hungary, assuming that the situation will pass and circumstances will improve. This theme of The Power of Illusion is woven throughout the text. You might encourage students to reflect upon their feelings in the situation from their own experience and consider what specific feelings can cloud people’s logic.

Differentiation Suggestion: For more advanced classes, this question can be altered to instead focus on identifying a text in which the main figure(s) lie(s) to avoid the truth of a situation. This prompt can then segue into a class discussion, perhaps with a Venn diagram, to compare and contrast the chosen figure with Wiesel and the people of Sighet.