Milkweed

Chapters 1-9

Reading Check

1. “Running” (Chapter 1)

2. “A Jew is an animal. A Jew is a bug. A Jew is less than a bug.” (Chapter 3)

3. “Take only what you need.” (Chapter 4)

4. He “had not known bread could be given.” (Chapter 6)

5. Doctor Korczak, for the orphans (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. Uri says he is lucky that it is his himself, and not the “Jackboots,” who caught him stealing bread. (Chapter 2)

2. Stopthief and Uri jump on a streetcar and the other passengers tell them to get off. As a nearby explosion stops the streetcar and everyone gets off, Uri takes the opportunity to drive the streetcar out of the city and off the tracks. (Chapter 4)

3. Stopthief and Uri see Jackboot soldiers forcing an old man to clean the sidewalk with his beard, while another man has his hair cut off by the soldiers. At first, Stopthief does not understand who the people are, and offers them the chance to come to the barber shop. Later, he realizes they were Jews. (Chapter 6)

4. Since Stopthief does not know his background or family history, Uri invents an identity for him: Misha Pilsudski, a Romani boy who was separated from his family by the Jackboots before he came to Warsaw. Misha loves his story and wants to share it with others. (Chapter 7)

5. Misha meets Janina, a young girl Jewish girl with a tomato garden. He introduces himself as Misha, and she invites him to her birthday party. (Chapter 8)

Chapters 10-18

Reading Check

1. His earlobe (Chapter 10)

2. “Black pearls” (Chapter 11)

3. That “Jews were interchangeable” (Chapter 14)

4. “Where the damned live” (Chapter 15)

5. Corpses covered with newspapers (Chapter 18)

Short Answer

1. After stealing a cake from Janina’s birthday party, Misha begins to bring her a loaf of stolen bread that he leaves on her doorstep, and in return, she leaves various trinkets for him as well. While visiting Janina’s family in the ghetto, Misha learns that she is Jewish, and her father is a pharmacist. (Chapters 9-10, 16)

2. Prior to the Jackboots, Misha could steal food from customers or the shops. However, food has become scarce, and Misha now sneaks into people’s homes for food. (Chapter 11)

3. Misha brings “black pearls” to Doctor Korczak and the orphans, and Doctor Korczak gives Misha new clothes and a bath. (Chapter 11)

4. Misha becomes fascinated by a merry-go-around, only to learn that he is not allowed to ride the rides without a ticket. After one of the hooves is missing from the ride’s horses, Misha witnesses the Jackboots torture “a Jew” for the crime. (Chapter 14)

5. Misha and Uri witness Jackboots forcing Jews to march with their belongings. Misha follows the group for some time and sees Doctor Korczak along with the orphans, as well as Janina and her family. He tries to learn about the ghettos from strangers, but they ignore his inquiries. (Chapter 15)

Chapters 19-27

Reading Check

1. “[T]rading lice” (Chapter 19)

2. Jews who were hired by Jackboots to guard the ghettos (Chapter 21)

3. That his father gave him the yellow necklace (Chapter 22)

4. A cow (Chapter 24)

5. Janina’s father wishing him a good night (Chapter 24)

Short Answer

1. Gesia Street is where vendors sell food in the ghetto. As food has become scarce, they often kill domestic animals for meat or sell scraps of food for a small profit; in fact, many vendors begin to sell rat carcasses as “squirrels.” (Chapter 19)

2. Misha, Janina, her family, and all those living in the ghetto are forced to stand in the snow for an entire night. Misha is proud that he is able to stand still and pay attention, and after the night is over, Janina’s father calls him one of the family. (Chapter 20)

3. Misha learns that Herr Himmler will be visiting the ghetto. He runs out into the streets to find him, excited with the opportunity of seeing an important Jackboot official. In the end, all he sees is a man with “half a little black mustache—it seemed to be dripping out of his nostril—a scrawny neck, a head that seemed more dumpling than stone.” (Chapter 23)

4. Janina follows Misha as he sneaks out of the ghetto to find food. The two of them enter into a restaurant’s food cellar, where they steal food for both Doctor Korczak and the orphans, and Janina and her family. (Chapter 26)

Chapters 28-36

Reading Check

1. People (Chapter 28)

2. So Janina will have “one less part of [him] to copy” (Chapter 30)

3. “I was a smuggler.” (Chapter 32)

4. Because he is getting too big to fit through the hole in the ghetto wall (Chapter 33)

Short Answer

1. After Mrs. Milgrom passes from her illness, Mr. Milgrom arranges a funeral for her in the cemetery by bribing the guard and undertaker with medicine. Bombs start exploding as they lower her corpse into the ground, and Mr. Milgrom lowers the children into the plot with the body to keep them safe. (Chapter 32)

2. Misha notices that Janina is not her usual, talkative self. To cheer her up, he finds an egg and a pickle in “Heaven” (i.e., outside the ghetto) and brings them back for her. (Chapter 34)

3. Misha sees Uri working at the blue camel hotel, but when he calls Uri’s name, he does not respond. Later, Uri secretly warns Misha about the Jackboots’ plans to deport the Jews, urging Misha to leave and not get on the train. (Chapter 36)

Chapters 37-45

Reading Check

1. Candy mountain (Chapter 37)

2. By urging them to convert to Lutheranism (Chapter 37)

3. Uri (Chapter 39)

Short Answer

1. The old man shares the truth about the destination of the trains as well as the condition and purpose of the concentration camps. The ghetto residents mock him, as they believe the trains will lead them to a “resettlement.” (Chapters 37-38)

2. Mr. Milgrom urges Misha to make sure that he escapes with Janina from the deportations. Misha tries to take her away; however, she breaks free from Misha and runs into the throngs of people pushed into the train cars. (Chapter 39)

3. For three years until the war ends, Misha works on a farm. After the end of the war, he begins to resell items that he has stolen. Eventually, he earns enough money to buy a ticket to America, where he works various jobs. (Chapters 42-44)