Chapter 1

Questions

1. Who is Ginger and why is he shocked when the men return from battle?
2. Who is Kantorek? Why do the soldiers wish he was there with them?
3. What happened to Josef Behm?
4. What is working through Kemmerich?
5. What does Kantorek call his students in his letter?

Answers

1. Ginger is the cook, and he is shocked because he made enough food for the 150 men that went out to battle, but only 80 men returned.
2. Kantorek is the boys’ schoolteacher and he is the one who convinced them to enlist, despite the fact that he has not enlisted.
3. Josef Behm was one of Kantorek students, but he resisted Kantorek's propaganda. However, in the end he was convinced to enlist, and died a gruesome death upon entering the war.
4. Death is working through Kemmerich.
5. He calls them “The Iron Youth.”