1. Talmudic - The collection of Jewish writings; Basis for Jewish law and tradition

2. Hasidic - Jewish sect that observes a form of strict Orthodox Judaism

3. Nazis - German political party joined by Adolf Hitler, emphasizing nationalism, racism, and war.

4. Jews - Followers of Judaism

5. Einsatzgruppen - 4 mobile death squads that killed about 1.5 million Jews.

6. Final Solution - German goal of killing all European Jews.

7. Hitler - German Nazi dictator during World War II ( ); Nazi leader and founder; Had over 6 million Jews assassinated during the Holocaust

8. Auschwitz - Nazi extermination camp in Poland; The largest center of mass murder during the Holocaust; Close to a million Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and others were killed there,

9. Birkenau - A segment of the Auschwitz concentration camp where most of the prisoners were housed; Reception/ welcome center

10. Yiddish - Jewish language; A dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words

11. SS - Schutzstaffel; special police force in Nazi Germany founded as a personal bodyguard for Adolf Hitler in 1925

12. Buchenwald - nazi concentration camp in germany; camp for slave labor near weimar, germany

13. Anti-Semites - Hostility or prejudice against Jews; Anti-Jewish

14. Holocaust - Nazi program of exterminating Jews under Hitler; During World War II to kill people they considered undesirable: 6 million Jews; millions of Poles, Gypsies, Communists, Socialists, and others.

Chapter 1 1. Encumbered – (adj.) held back; hindered; weighted down by something heavy 2. Mysticism – (n.) vague, obscure thinking or belief; doctrine that states it’s possible to achieve communion with God through contemplation and love 3. Anecdotes – (n.) short, entertaining, personal stories 4. Expound – (v.) explain or interpret; clarify 5. Farce – (n.) exaggerated comedy; something ridiculous

Chapter 2 1. Hermetically – (adv.) sealed in a completely airtight way 2. Monotonous – (adj.) tiresome (because of little or no variation) 3. Pestilence – (n.) fatally contagious or infectious disease 4. Stench – (n.) offensive smell or odor 5. Abominable – (adj.) nasty and disgusting; highly unpleasant; very bad

Chapter 3 1. Unremittingly – (adv.) persistently not stopping or relaxing 2. Lucidity – (n.) clarify; clearness; purity 3. Leprous – (adj.) having a progressive infectious disease 4. Congealing – (v.) thickening; solidifying 5. Blandishments – (n.) flattering statements

Chapter 4 1. Emigrate – (v.) to leave one country or region to settle in another 2. Immigrate – (v.) to come into a new country or region 3. Sanctity – (n.) saintliness or holiness 4. Reprieve – (n.) postponement of a penalty; temporary relief from 5. Imperceptibly – (adv.) slightly; gradually; subtly; difficult to understand; obscure

Chapter 5 1. Stricken – (adj.) struck down; having pain or suffering 2. Afflicted – (adj.) affected with something painful or distressing 3. Din – (n.) a loud, continuous noise 4. Balm – (n.) something healing or soothing to the mind or temper 5. Summarily – (adv.) hastily; arbitrarily; quickly

Chapter 6 1. Automatons – (n.) something that operates automatically in response to instructions 2. Entities – (n.) beings 3. Stifled – (adj. or v.) suffocated or smothered 4. Famished – (adj.) weakened from hunger 5. Encumbrance – (n.) hindrance; obstruction

Chapter 7 1. Indifference – (n,) lack of concern, interest, or feeling; apathy 2. Livid - (adj.) discolored as from a bruise 3. Avidly – (adv.) eagerly and enthusiastically 4. Grimace – (n.) a twisting or distortion of the face expressing pain, contempt, disgust, etc. 5. Tether – (v. or n.) a rope or chain fastened to something so as to keep it in certain bounds; to fasten or confine with a tether.

Chapter 8 1. Hillock – (n.) a small hill; mound 2. Plaintive – (adj.) sad; mournful 3. Beseeching – (v.) earnestly, eagerly asking someone for something 4. Riveted – (adj. or v.) secured or fastened firmly; also can mean fixed or held (eyes, attention, etc.) 5. Spasmodically – (adv.) violently; fitfully; intermittently

Chapter 9 1. Idleness – (n.) inactivity; laziness 2. Truncheon – (n.) a short; thick club; like a policeman’s stick 3. Liquidated – (v.) eliminated, disposed of, as by killing 4. Innumerable – (adj.) too numerous to be counted; very many 5. Deportees – (n.) person sentenced to be banished