Bayonet - a blade that may be fixed to the muzzle of a rifle and used to stab an opponent in hand-to-hand fighting.

zloty - polish currency the basic monetary unit of Poland, equal to 100 groszy.

Synagogue - the building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction.

Conflict - Nazi Military Presence, The oppression of the Jewish Community,

This is the place where all of Yanek's family is killed, as well as his uncle. Yanek found a loose floorboard and hiding under these floorboards allowed Yanek to recover and get some of his strength back because he did not have strength left to work.

Yanek is fascinated by “... statues! Dozens of figures all carved out of salt…” There were also chandeliers, kings, queens, trolls, serpents, and gnomes all made out of salt. The former Judenrat policeman named Holtzman who was now a prisoner was found mauled to death with many gashes and wounds and salt poured into those wounds.

Assembly - A group of people gathered together in one place for a common purpose.

Kaddish - An ancient Jewish prayer sequence regularly recited in the synagogue service, including Thanksgiving and praise and concluding with a prayer for universal peace.

Gallows - A structure, typically of two uprights and a crosspiece, for the hanging of criminals.

Kapo - Was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp who was assigned by the SS guards to supervise forced labor or carry out administrative tasks.

Role call - The process of calling out a list of names to establish who is present.

Yanek gets his tattoo on his arm the tattoo reads B-3087. It is written on his arm with an electric pen

Yanek is not allowed to go outside for fear that I would “be taken up in a work gang.”

Many Jews in Yanek's building are taken out of their homes by the Judenrat and Nazi’s

The director ordered the Jews to give 7,000 children to the work/death camps.

Nazis yell “Jews of Krakow! Unless everyone comes to Zgody square for selection, this ghetto will be liquidated!”

Yanek’s suspicions are confirmed that his parents have been taken to be deported by the Nazi’s

Yanek got very lucky when many prisoners tried to escape the guards caught them and got mad and began randomly shooting the prisoners until they ran out of bullets. Yanek was unwounded.

This camp was not so much about getting work done as it was torture. Yanek and others worked all morning to move large rocks from one side of camp to the other once they had finally finished the SS officer told them to move the rocks back to the other side of the camp for no reason

“Wieliczka had been hard but Trzebinia was worse because the Nazis played games they were making us work just to work. This was all a game to them… a soccer match we were the ball to be kicked around for their sport.”

He asks the man next to him what Birkenau is and the man tells him it is a death camp. They then have this conversation: “When they take us to the chambers try to stand right under the exhaust vents.” “Is that how you survive?” “The man laughed… No, you won’t survive none of us will but if you stand under that exhaust vent you won’t suffer as long before you die.”