What was Shmuel's father supposedly doing?

• A. Working
• B. Eating
• C. Sleeping
• D. Guarding

Answer: (A)

In this story, life inside the camp is defined by the work that prisoners are forced to do, so characters are often described by what they are doing rather than by other activities. Shmuel's father is a prisoner who is described as “working” inside the camp, which is why adults talk about his whereabouts in terms of labor rather than in more personal terms. This usage reflects the reality of how life in the camp is framed by the authorities and how families understand why someone is absent. The idea that he is “working” fits the setting and the way the narrative presents his absence. It wouldn’t fit that he’s guarding, since guards are separate German soldiers, and it wouldn’t align with trying to explain his absence as eating or sleeping.