Where should the 'not' be placed in the sentence?

Consider the following two:

To whom is the cruelty of Hitler not known?

To whom is not the cruelty of Hitler known?

Which one is correct? The second sentence seems very odd to me, and I can guarantee that if others use similar sentence to this, I would be unable to understand the meaning or have to struggle with that. But I want to know the opinion of a native.

And what about the following, contracted, sentence:

To whom isn't the cruelty of Hitler known?

And what does that form represent - is...not or is not?

Thanks

The adverb "not" can often be placed a variety of places in a sentence without changing the meaning and have it remaing grammatical and natural. In your sentence, you can say:

• To whom is not the cruelty of Hitler known?

• To whom is the cruelty of Hitler not known?

• To whom is the cruelty of Hitler known not?

All of the above mean the same thing and are perfectly acceptable.

Regarding the use of a contraction in the following:

• To whom isn't the cruelty of Hitler known?

The use of "isn't" is perfectly grammatical and acceptable in the above sentence. However, when writing formally, like for a college paper, using contractions is generally frowned upon as being too informal. In a doctoral thesis, for example, you won't see contractions. You also won't see them in formal letters. If you are to adhere to a style guide for this writing, you should consult that guide to find out what it prescribes in regards to contractions before deciding to use them.