I apologize that the images and descriptions are not coordinated, but you should easily be able to put them together.
map of concentration camps; please note location of Auschwitz, where the characters in the book have been sent.
Passover: The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan. It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover, the Jewish people have the ability to relive and experience the true freedom that their ancestors gained.
Seder meal / Passover supper: note the following. Remember the novel is framed around the celebration, the interior being Hannah / Chaya's time travel to the schtetl in Poland and her being taken to Auschwitz witht the others. The Seder is an intergenerational family ritual prescribed according to Jewish law and based on the interpretation of the Biblical verse commanding Jews to retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
The rituals and symbolic foods
associated with the Seder evoke the twin themes of the evening:
slavery and freedom
The six symbolic items on the Seder Plate are:
1. Maror and 2. Cnazeret : Two types of bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery which the Jews endured in Ancient Egypt.
3. Charoset; A sweet, brown, pebbly mixture, representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt.
4. Karpas; A vegetable other than bitter herbs, usually parsley but sometimes something such as celery or cooked potato.
5. Z’roa; A roasted shankbone, symbolizing sacrifice.
6. Beitzah; A roasted egg.
entrance to the gas chamber: this is the last image that Hannah / Chaya sees. Why is she able to cheer up her two companions, knowing that only darkness awaits?
camp identification tattoo- note how Hannah's grandfather reacts when she inks one on herself; how does her attitude eventually change?
The characters in the novel speak Yiddish. Note the following and the words that commonly show up in English that come from this language.
schtetl- a small village in Eastern Europe
bagel - ring shaped bread product
blinz - a thin pancake often filled with fruit or cheese
kvetch- to complain
maven- an expert
putz- a foolish person
schlep- to walk heavily, to trudge
tchochke - little knickknaks
chutzpah - the quality of stepping over the bounds of good behavior
gelt- money
meshuga- crazy
nosh- snacks
schnoz - nose
tush- buttocks
glitch- a problem
klutz - clumsy
kosher- proper or correct
mench - literally a man, but someone who displays upstanding qualities
schmooze- to converse casually so as to take advantage of a social connection
zaftig- full figured
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