Question

from the diary of morris breitbart day 6 sunday october 10, 1943. \the day is sunny but i am cold.... i am trembling all over. there is no life for me anymore. the only thing left in the world .......and a grave. why has the life of my people been cut down? why have we been tortured so? why have they taken such revenge upon us? why have we paid with our lives if we were innocent? and, why these young, innocent little things who were not yet aware of anything. poor unhappy babies, what did they want from you, what was your crime in this world? and why have those little sisters and brothers without sin, who did not understand anything and did not know that their young lives were demanded from them, lost their lives, why were sacrifices demanded of them as well? this is a dastardly and despicable world- havent the tears of our mothers, the tears of our fathers, the tears of our sisters, the tears of our brothers, and the tears of those young fledglings softened your heart? havent you heard the rivers of our tears? were your hearts, at that time, so hardened that you could not hear to those groans which were so unsettling. were your hearts so hardened that you did not hear the painful sighs. were your ears so deaf that you could not hear the horrifying cries of our mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers? despicable, dastardly representatives of this world- what have you done? what have you done for the defenseless and innocent people? did you react in any way when the innocent jewish people of europe were led to such a heinous annihilation? how did you help the innocent people? what did you do when the jewish people were dying, cruelly tormented by vicious, bestial hitler’s tyrants? what have you done for us? where was the 20th-century civilization? where was culture? where was humanity? where was justice? if justice is no longer alive in the world, if the only creatures are smooth monsters wearing silk gloves- then perish the civilization. perish the culture...\ 1. the author uses repeated rhetorical questions, what is the purpose of these questions? 2. using context clues, what do the words \heinous annihilation\ mean?

Explanation:

Question 1

The repeated rhetorical questions in the diary serve to emphasize the author's anguish, frustration, and outrage over the persecution of the Jewish people. They highlight the injustice, the suffering of innocent lives (including children), and the perceived indifference of others. The questions also aim to provoke reflection on the moral failings of those who allowed or perpetrated such atrocities, and to convey the depth of the author's despair about the state of humanity and civilization during this time.

From the context, "heinous annihilation" refers to the extremely wicked and brutal destruction of the innocent Jewish people. The surrounding text describes the torture, loss of life (including of children), and the cruel treatment by Hitler’s tyrants. Words like "tortured", "paid with our lives", "young lives were demanded", and the description of the Jewish people as "defenseless and innocent" and being "led to" this fate, along with the author’s outrage, indicate that "heinous" (wicked, abhorrent) and "annihilation" (complete destruction, extermination) together mean a morally repugnant and devastating extermination of the Jewish community.

Answer:

The repeated rhetorical questions emphasize the author's anguish over Jewish persecution, highlight injustice/suffering, provoke reflection on moral failings, and convey despair about humanity/civilization.

Question 2