HISTORY 323: THE
HOLOCAUST
Spring 2003
Tu Th 2-3:15 pm Professor
Jeremy Popkin
301 Dickey Hall Dept.
of History
1725 POT Tel.: 257-1415
Email: popkin@uky.edu Off.
hrs. Tu 3:30-5 pm, W 3:30-4:30 or by
appt.
All course materials
(syllabus, handouts, assignments) will be posted on Professor Popkin’s personal
Web site, www.uky.edu/~popkin.
Course Syllabus
I. Course Description: This course will attempt to help students
understand the events that resulted in the virtual destruction of Europe's Jews
during the Second World War. Readings,
discussion, and audio-visual materials will cover topics including the history
of anti-semitism, the ways in which Nazi policy against the Jews was
implemented, the various Jewish reactions to Nazi policy, including Jewish
resistance, and the response of non-Jews and of other governments to the
Holocaust.
II. Course Aims and Objectives: The purpose of this course is to introduce
students to the issues involved in the study of one of the largest projects of
mass murder in recorded human history.
Although it occurred little more than half a century ago, the
Holocaust has already become a major
reference point in our culture's understanding of itself. One has only to look at a daily newspaper to
see the many different contexts in which the Holocaust is referred to. An understanding of the events of the
Holocaust is important not only for students of modern European and Jewish history,
but for many students interested in psychology, religious studies, literature,
sociology, education, and a number of
other disciplines. This course is
intended to prepare participants to transmit what they learn about the subject
to others.
III. Course Requirements
A. The emphasis in this course will be on
understanding the material and on acquiring the capability to discuss it orally
and in writing. Active participation
in course discussions will be strongly emphasized; this implies regular
attendance and timely completion of the reading assignments.
B. Required Readings (to be
purchased by all students)
Wiesel, Night
ISBN 0-553-27253-5
M. Kaplan, Between
Dignity and Despair ISBN 0195-130-928
Sereny, Into That
Darkness ISBN 0394-710-355
Dawidowicz, Holocaust
Reader ISBN 0-874412366*
Blatt, From the Ashes
of Sobibor ISBN 0-8101-1302-3
Schlink, The Reader
ISBN 0-375-707-972
Niewyk, The Holocaust,
3rd. ed. ISBN 0618-214-623
C. Written Assignments: (1) Four
essay papers based on assigned readings (4-6 pp double-spaced, typed); (2)
short ungraded assignments based on readings (counted as part of class-participation
grade); (3) an individual or joint project related to the course. Such projects may take the form of a longer
research paper on a subject of special interest, preparation of a dramatic
presentation, a presentation for a public audience (church or synagogue, Sunday
school, public school, general audience), or an original creative work inspired
by the subject. Course participants
are encouraged to propose joint projects, in which two or more class members
work together.
D. Grading: Participation in class meetings and
discussion, 35%, essay papers 40%, project 25%. There are no mid-term or final exams in this course.
Schedule of Topics and
Reading Assignments
16 Jan.: Introduction to the course
21 Jan.: A Survivor=s Testimony: Wiesel, Night
(all)
23 Jan.: Christian
origins of antisemitism (handout)
28 Jan.: Antisemitism in a secular world
(Niewyk, 9-24; Dawidowicz, 28-30)
30
Jan.: Hitler and Nazism: (handouts, Dawidowicz, 30-3)
4 Feb.: Fate of the German Jews: Kaplan, 3-49; Dawidowicz, 35-54
*6
Feb.: Public and Private Responses of the German Jewish community: Kaplan,
50-118; Dawidowicz, 143-70
Term
Project Proposals due
11
Feb.: Kristallnacht and Wartime:
Kaplan, 119-172
*13 Feb.: Moving Toward Genocide:
Niewyk, 24-55
18
Feb.: Wartime Experience of the German Jews: Kaplan, 173-237
20 Feb.: Jewish life in eastern Europe
(handout)
25 Feb.: The Occupation of Poland: Blatt,
1-19; Dawidowicz, 55-83
27 Feb.: The East European Ghettoes:
Dawidowicz, 171-97
4 Mar.: The Killing Campaign in
Russia: Dawidowicz, 197-234
*6 Mar.: The Death Camps: Dawidowicz, 97-119; selection from Primo
Levi (handout)
2nd essay due
11 Mar.: Recruiting Killers: the
debate: Niewyk, 57-103
13 Mar.:
The Story of a Killer: Sereny, 21-90
18 Mar.: Spring Break, no class
20 Mar.: Spring Break, no class
25 Mar.: A Perpetrator Speaks: Sereny, 93-171
*27 Mar.: Perpetrators and Victims: Sereny, 171-250
1 Apr.: A Jew in occupied Poland: Blatt,
19-93
3 Apr.: NO CLASS
*8 Apr.: Jewish communities and Jewish
Councils: Dawidowicz, 235-88; Niewyk, 163-176
progress report on term
project due
10 Apr.:Jewish Responses to Annihilation:
Dawidowicz, 289-328; Niewyk, 139-163
15 Apr.: Jewish Resistance: an
example: Blatt, 93-153; Dawidowicz,
329-80
*17 Apr.: Jews and Gentiles: Blatt,
154-225, Niewyk 179-207
4th essay
assignment due
22 Apr..: The Holocaust in Western
Europe: Niewyk, 207-231
24 Apr.:
The Rescue Debate: Niewyk, 233-274
29 Apr.: Facing the memory of the
Holocaust (Schlink, The Reader, all)
1 May.: Concluding discussion
Term projects due by
Fri., May 2.
THERE IS NO FINAL EXAM FOR THIS COURSE
COURSE ASSIGNMENTS
Comment Cards Come to each class with
a filled-out 4" x 6" >comment card=. In addition to
your name and the date, write down on the card (1) a one- or two-sentence
summary of the subject and central thesis of the assigned reading and (2) at
least two comments about the reading.
Comments may include points you did not understand, points that struck
you as especially noteworthy, issues in these readings that relate to other
course readings, etc. Please try to
keep comments on one side of card, and write legibly. We may use cards as bases for discussion. Completion of comment cards will be counted
as part of your participation grade for the course.
Graded Written
Assignments
Each student will write 4 short (4-6pp, double-spaced typed) papers during the
semester. Of these, three will be
responses to questions I give out about the assigned reading, one will be a
review of book of your choice on some topic about the Holocaust, or a review of
a film, play, monument, artwork, museum or some other non-written medium
dealing with the Holocaust. You may
also review some of the Web sites devoted to the Holocaust - consult me about
selection.
(a) Response essays: there will be 4
opportunities for response essays during the semester. You may choose to do any 3 of the
assignments based on the assigned readings.
You substitute your book/media review essay for the one of the 4
assignments based on the assigned readings that you do not do. All four of your essays must be completed by
the due date of the last essay based on the assigned readings.
(b) Book review/media essay: you may
review any of the books listed in the accompanying bibliography, or any other
book that I have approved. Your review should explain the content of the book,
the author=s main thesis or point
of view, how effectively that thesis or viewpoint is supported, and what the
book contributes to our knowledge of the Holocaust. If you review a film, play, artwork, or Web site, your essay
should explain the theme and content of the work under review. How does it strive to communicate its
message about the Holocaust, and how effective is it at doing so? Precise questions will vary depending on
what sort of work you are reviewing.
TERM PROJECT
Each student will be
required to complete a term project, which may be either individual or
collective. The following list of
suggestions is not intended to limit your imagination, but to give you some
ideas; you are strongly encouraged to work out your own project (in
consultation with the instructor, of course!).
I. Types of projects
A. Research paper: you may propose a research paper on some
aspect of the Holocaust about which you would like to learn more. The project would culminate in a paper of
12--15 pp, with bibliography and
notes. A collective project would be
expected to be somewhat longer (exact length subject to agreement between
authors and instructor). Suitable
topics might include: the history of antisemitism in Germany, the role of the
German army in the Holocaust, German doctors and the Holocaust, the SS and the
Holocaust, the Warsaw ghetto, Jewish resistance, how the news of the Holocaust
reached the outside world, the experience of Jews in one particular part of
Europe, the motivations of people who helped rescue Jews, comparison of the
fate of the Jews with that of other groups persecuted by the Nazis, the debate
about American policy during the Holocaust, etc. Students doing a research paper will agree with instructor on a
schedule for completing bibliography, submitting rough draft, etc.
B. Performance
project: you may propose a project to
express something about the Holocaust through any creative medium (poetry,
drama, fiction, artwork, etc.). The
nature and extent of the project and the standards of evaluation will be agreed
upon with the instructor. It would be
expected that your commitment of time would be approximately equal to what
would be expected if you did a research paper.
The purpose would be to express some significant insight about the
course material and/or your reaction to it through art.
C. Communication
project: you may propose a project
aiming at communicating knowledge about some aspect of the Holocaust to
others. The object would be to create
an effective presentation or informational resource, such as a teaching
guide. Presentations do not necessarily
have to be delivered to an audience, although this would certainly be a
worthwhile objective and many students in this course have done so in the
past. Projects could include a
presentation intended for a school or Sunday-school audience, general public,
church group, professional audience (e.g., presentation intended for teachers,
psychological counselors, etc.) or any other group you may define, and means of
presentation could include lecture, preparation of discussion materials,
audio-visual materials, preparation of exhibit, etc. Evaluation would include judgment of effectiveness of materials
and presentation, and appropriateness for intended audience (e.g., what would
be appropriate for middle-school age children, or for senior citizens?).
Bibliography
Almost any project you
will undertake will involve some further reading. The following suggestions are not a complete bibliography of the
subject, but may give you some ideas about where to start.
General Reference Works: I. Gutman, ed., Encyclopedia of the
Holocaust, 4 vs.; Rozett and Spector, Encyclopedia of the Holocaust;
W. Laqueur, Holocaust Encyclopedia; Niewyk and Nicosia, Columbia
Guide to the Holocaust; M. Gilbert, Atlas of the Holocaust.
Materials on the Web: The best starting point is the web site of
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (www.ushmm.org). This site contains both source materials,
such as a large collection of photographs, and resource guides, including a
valuable guide to other Holocaust-related Web sites. Be aware that a significant number of Holocaust-related Web sites
are in fact set up by neo-Nazi organizations trying to encourage Holocaust
denial. Refutations of neo-Nazi claims
can be found at www.nizkor.org.
Overview of Holocaust
historiography:
M. Marrus, The Holocaust in History
General histories of the
Holocaust:
L. Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews; M. Gilbert, The Holocaust;
L. Yahil, The Holocaust, Y. Bauer, A History of the Holocaust
History of Antisemitism: J. Katz, From Prejudice to Destruction
(covers 1700-1945); J. Parkes, Conflict
of Church and Synagogue (on Christian origins); N. Cohn, Warrant for Genocide (about Protocols of the
Elders of Zion); A. Lindemann, Esau=s Tears (controversial
re-examination of history of anti-semitism); James Carroll, Constantine’s
Sword (the Catholic Church and the Jews over the centuries)
German attitudes,
Hitler, Nazism:
S. Friedlander, Nazi Germany and the Jews (treatment of German Jews,
1933-1939); G. Mosse, Crisis of the German Ideology (intellectual
attitudes) and Toward the Final Solution (development of racist ideas);
A. Bullock, Hitler (reliable biography); I. Kershaw, Hitler (most recent full biography);
W. Allen, Nazi Seizure of Power (study of Nazi rule in a single town);
S. Gordon, Hitler, the Germans and the Jewish Question (how important
was antisemitism in bringing Hitler to power?), F. Henry, Victims and
Neighbors (relations between Jews and other Germans in one town), S.
Haffner, Defying Hitler (a non-Jewish German’s memoir of Hitler’s rise
to power), V. Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness (Jewish survivor’s diary)
Pre-War Jewish Life in
Eastern Europe: Herzog and Zborowski, Life is with People
(classic anthropological study); I. B. Singer, Family Moskat (novel set
in Warsaw just prior to war); E. Mendelsohn, Jews of East Central Europe
(historian=s study of the Jewish
communities in the interwar period); C. Heller, On the Edge of Destruction
(the pre-war Polish Jewish community).
Implementation of the
Holocaust: R. Hilberg, Destruction of the European
Jews (fundamental study of the killing process); Y. Arad, Belzec,
Sobibor, Treblinka (the killing camps in eastern Poland); C. Browning, Ordinary
Men (study of one group of Germans involved in killing); D. Goldhagen, Hitler=s Willing Executioners (what was perpetrators= motivation?); R.
Lifton, Nazi Doctors (how did medical doctors come to play major role in
killing?); K. Schleunes, Twisted Road to Auschwitz (how did Nazi policy
evolve toward extermination?); R. Breitman, Official Secrets (what
Allied intelligence records tell about the start of the extermination process)
Jewish Experience: E. Ringelblum, Notes
from the Warsaw Ghetto (documentation kept at the time); H. Fein, Accounting
for Genocide (sociological study of factors that explain chances of
survival in different countries); I. Trunk, Judenrat (fundamental study
of Jewish community leaders); R. Ainsztein, Jewish Resistance in
Nazi-Occupied Eastern Europe (most thorough study of the subject); L.
Dobroszycki, ed., Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto (data from 2nd-largest
ghetto); I. Trunk, Jewish Responses to Nazi Persecution (excerpts from
memoirs); J. Bauman, Winter in the Morning (young woman in Warsaw
ghetto); J. David, A Square of Sky/A Touch of Earth (young woman in
Warsaw ghetto); B. Ferencz, Less than Slaves (documentation about
slave-labor camp); Y. Gutman, The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943 (historian=s account of the largest
ghetto); C. Kaplan, Warsaw Diary (eloquent account of life in ghetto);
V. Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness (German Jew=s day-by-day diary of
life from 1933 to 1945); Bob Moore, Victims and Survivors (Jewish fate
in the Netherlands).
The Death Camps: T. Des Pres, The
Survivor (how did anyone survive?); E. Kogon, The Theory and Practice of
Hell (non-Jewish survivor=s memoir of Buchenwald - one of the basic sources on camp
life); Y. Gutman and Michael Berenbaum, Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp
(most recent research); see also the survivors= memoirs, esp. Primo Levi
Jewish-Christian
Relations:
P. Hallie, Lest Innocent Blood be Shed (rescuers in France); N. Tec, When
Light Pierced the Darkness (rescuers in Poland); M. Gies, Anne Frank
(by the woman who organized help for the Frank family); S. and P. Oliner, The
Altruistic Personality (social and pyschological characteristics of
rescuers); Y. Gutman and S. Krakowski, Unequal Victims: Poles and Jews
during WWII (emphasizes Polish antisemitism); J. Gross, Neighbors
(Polish historian’s account of Polish role in killing of Jews)
Role of Non-German
Governments and communities: M. Marrus and R. Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews;
B. Wasserstein, Britain and the Jews of Europe; J. Morley, Vatican
Diplomacy and the Jews; D. Wyman, The Abandonment of the Jews (U.S.
government policy); I. Abella and H. Troper, None is Too Many (Canada);
D. Porat, The Blue and the Yellow Stars of David (Jewish community in
Palestine); Y. Bauer, American Jewry and the Holocaust (American Jews’
efforts at rescue)
Survivors' Memoirs: O. Lengyel, Five Chimneys; P. Levi, Survival
in Auschwitz; A. Donat, The Holocaust Kingdom; there are hundreds
more in English
Women in the Holocaust: C. Rittner and J.
Roth, eds., Different Voices (selections from memoirs and scholarship);
Marlene Heineman, Gender and Destiny: Women Writers and the Holocaust
(study of memoir literature); Ofer and Weitzman, Women in the Holocaust
(collection of recent scholarship)
Memory and the Holocaust: L. Langer, Holocaust
Testimonies (analysis of survivors= testimony); J. Young, The Texture of Memory
(issues in designing Holocaust memorials); E. Linenthal, Preserving Memory
(how the U.S. Holocaust Museum came to be); S. Friedlander, When Memory
Comes (memoir centered on problem of memory); P. Novick, The Holocaust
in American Life (how Americans have understood the Holocaust); J. Herf, Divided
Memory (memory of the Holocaust in post-war Germany)
Fiction Related to the
Holocaust:
J. Hersey, The Wall; A. Schwarz-Bart, Last of the Just; J.
Becker, Jacob the Liar; J. Kosinski, The Painted Bird; there are
hundreds of other titles
Philosophical and
Theological Reflections: R. Rubenstein, After Auschwitz; E. Fackenheim, God=s Presence in History (two Jewish
perspectives); F. Littell and H. Locke, The German Church Stuggle and the
Holocaust (German churches= reactions, and reflections on them); Millen, New
Perspectives on the Holocaust (includes a number of articles on approaches
to teaching the Holocaust)
Course Policies
1. Late Work: Late papers are not accepted unless students
requesting them can produce documented evidence of illness, accident or
other cause beyond their control accounting for absence. Students who will miss an assignment because
of a scheduled university activity must make arrangements to make up the work before
the scheduled due date.
2. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is
defined in the UK Student Handbook.
Students submitting work which is not their own will receive an 'E' for
that assignment and will not be allowed to make it up.
3. Star Wars Technology: Recording
devices are not permitted during lectures and discussions, except for students
who have a valid physical reason for needing them (e.g., inability to take
written notes). Students wearing
earphones during class will be asked to go be bored somewhere else. Cell phones,
PDAs, beeping alarm watches must be turned off during class.
4. Written Assignments: Written assignments must be typed or done on
a word-processor. If you work on a
computer, be sure to keep a copy of your assignments until they have been
returned with a grade.
HISTORY
323: THE HOLOCAUST S2003 PROF. J.
POPKIN
Calendar and Check Sheet for Graded Assignments
What=s the Deal?
Each student in this
course needs to complete a total of four short essays (4-6 pp.,
double-spaced, typed) before the end of the semester. Three of these will be Aresponse essays,@ based on questions related to the
assigned readings. One will be a review
of a book or media creation (film, play, memorial, museum) of your choice
related to the course theme. Details
about these assignments are on the 4-page handout titled AAssignments@ that you have already
received. In addition, each student
must complete a term project.
What=s the Schedule?
6 Feb.: turn in term-project prospectus
13 Feb.: turn in first essay (either response
essay or book review/media essay)
6 Mar.: turn in second essay (either
response essay or book review/media essay)
27 Mar.: turn in third essay (either
response essay or book review/media essay)
8 Apr.: turn in term-project progress
report
17 Apr.: turn in fourth essay (either
response essay or book review/media essay)
May 2: deadline for completion of term
projects (may be turned in earlier)
Checklist (for your records)
Response Essay turned in:
_____________________________
Response Essay turned in:
_____________________________
Response Essay turned in:
_______________________________
Book Review/Media Essay turned in:
________________________________
Project Proposal turned in:
_____________________________
Term Project completed: _______________________________
Guidelines for book
review and >media= essays
If reviewing a book:
Explain the content of the book, the author=s main thesis or point of view, how effectively
that thesis or viewpoint is supported, and what the book contributes to our
knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust.
Is it well written? What sorts
of readers would you recommend it to?
If appropriate, you may want to compare the book with others you have
read on the subject, including the assigned readings for the course. If you are reviewing a work of fiction,
explain how the plot reflects the author=s understanding or point of view on the
subject. Book reviews should include a
bibliographic citation for the book and source citations for quotes.
If reviewing a film or
play: explain the plot (or, for documentary, the content). What aspects of the Holocaust does the
film/play emphasize, and how does it help us understand them? Is the film/play effective as drama? What sort of audience would it be
appropriate for? You may want to
compare it with other films/plays/books on the subject that you have seen.
If reviewing a Web site:
What information does it contain? How
reliable is this information? How is
the site accessed and used? For whom
would it be useful?
If reviewing a work of
art: what message about the Holocaust does the work convey? How is this message communicated? How effective is it? What audience does it strive to reach? our essay should indicate where you found
the work of art under review, when it was done, and other relevant
information. If you use books and
articles in your research on a work of art, you should give citations for them.
* Check your copy of the Holocaust Reader carefully to make sure it has all pages. Many of the used copies the bookstores sold in 2001 were missing large sections. Your book should have 397 pp.