HNRS 265-01: The Holocaust in History: Confronting Evil

Sixty-seven years ago (January 20, 1942) officials of the Nazi state gathered in a villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to consider plans for the Final Solution of the Jewish Question. As many historians now see it, this meeting helped organize the last phase in Nazi anti-Jewish policy and thus brought the Holocaust to its horrifying culmination. It is ultimately beyond our grasp to understand how the Holocaust could happen or what it was like for those who experienced it, but as human beings concerned about the nature of human experience, we should confront the Holocaust and seek its meaning as best we can. In doing that we will consider the following topics: the historic and evolving position of Jews in European society; the nature of traditional and racial antisemitism and its particular place in modern Germany, the role of antisemitism in the rise of the Nazis, the nature of the National Socialist state and its racial and social policies, the implementation of the Holocaust with a focus on perpetrators, victims, and bystanders, collaboration and resistance, and the meaning of the Holocaust for us and our contemporary world. The reading material for the course will be challenging but rich, including works of history, autobiography, and fiction. In addition, film resources and the expertise of outside speakers will enhance our attempts at understanding. Discussion (in class as well as in a electronic discussion group), paper writing, reading, and viewing will be the primary modes of learning in the course. The course will also require some out of class commitments, including a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

Term: Fall 2009

Credits: 4

Fulfills: GE Requirement in Humanities (U)

Cross-listed: HIST 310-01

Meeting times: 15:00-16:50 TR

Instructor: Donald G. Schilling