Classwork

A Girl with an Apple

(by: Herman Rosenblat)
Activity and Vocabulary

Activity: Futilities of War

Make Circle Map

 Vocabulary

(Write the word-meanings)

Classwork
A Girl with an Apple
(by: Herman Rosenblat)
Textual Questions
Q.1 Why did Herman’s brother ask him to lie about his age?
Ans. Herman’s ’s brother Isidore asked him to lie about his age and say that
he was 16 years old when German soldiers were sorting out the mob into two
groups because only then he would be deemed valuable as a worker and
would be allowed to go with the brothers. If Herman had confessed his actual
age, he would have been directed to stand with women, children and sick and
might have been killed.
Q.2 What do you know about a concentration camp and a Jewish ghetto?
Ans. A concentration camp is a type of prison with extremely bad conditions
where too many people are crammed into and are made to do all kinds of
difficult and dirty works like shifting of corpses, killing and fighting.
Jewish ghetto is a place with bad and unhygienic living conditions where Jews
lived during World War II to protect themselves from Hitler and the Nazi’s
assault.
Q.3 How was Herman supposed to be put to death? What saved him?
Ans. Herman was supposed to die in a gas chamber on May 10, 1945 at 10:00
AM. But, just two hours before that, Russian troops liberated the camp and
set all the prisoners free. This is how Herman escaped death.
Q.4 Whom did the author hold responsible for his survival and why?
Ans. The author Herman held the girl with apples i.e. Roma responsible for
his survival because she gave him food everyday for 7 months and kept him
away from starving. More importantly, she gave him hope to continue living
in a place where everything was dark and hopeless. It was her steadfastness
which kept him alive in the most difficult times. Thus, he regarded her as an
angel sent by his mother as promised in his dream.

Classwork
A Girl with an Apple
(by: Herman Rosenblat)
Reference to the Context & HOTS
1. “There was a camp next to the farm, I saw a boy there and I would
throw him apples every day.”
Q.A Who said this and to whom?
Ans. Roma said this to Herman.
Q.B Why did the speaker throw apples to the boy everyday?
Ans. The speaker, Roma, threw apples to the boy everyday because he was
hungry most of the time as he was living in a concentration camp where he
was not given enough food to eat but was made to do a lot of difficult work.
When he met the girl for the first time, he asked for something to eat. She
understood that he wasn’t getting enough food to eat. So, out of kindness she
gave him something to eat everyday.
Q.C What does this reveal about the speaker?
This reveals that the speaker i.e. Roma was a kind person. She was caring,
compassionate, sympathetic and large hearted. She was also brave as she
risked her life to give food to Herman everyday.

2. “Don’t call me Herman anymore, call me 94983.”

Q.A Who was Herman speaking to?

Ans. Herman was speaking to his brothers.
Q.B Why did he ask the listener not to call him by name anymore?
Ans. Herman asked his brothers not to call him by name anymore as they
were now shifted to the Buchenwald’s Concentration camp, where they were
issued uniforms and identification numbers. The situation there was harsh
and strict and there was no room for feelings. So, they were now called by
their numbers. Moreover, Harman wanted to break all his ties with the past
as that would cause him pain.
Q.C What kind of life did he lead in the camp?
Ans. Herman lead a dark and miserable life after being shifted to the
Buchenwald’s concentration camp. He was made to work in the camps
crematorium, loading corpses into a hand cranked elevator. He was not given
enough food and was living in a fear of being killed any day. After just a few
days there, he felt physically and emotionally drained and felt there was only
work, hunger and fear.
 HOTS
Imagine you are Harman. Write a diary entry on your experience as a
prisoner of the war in about 120 words. You may start your diary in the
following manner.
29 December 1945
10:30 PM
I am free, I can’t believe it. My liberty, my freedom is given back to me.
There is no limit to my happiness. I was set free by the Russian troops from a
place where evil seemed triumphant……