What is the Holocaust?

Catalog description

This course examines the history of the Holocaust by addressing a set of troubling questions that are commonly connected with the murder of six million Jews and members of other ethnic groups during World War II. Why did antisemitism become so prominent in Germany? Why were Jews a target in the first place? How could ordinary people be turned into ruthless mass murderers, and why was it not possible to stop this unspeakable crime from the outside? This class will follow recent research on both perpetrators and victims, discuss the complicated story of collaboration and resistance, and explore how the memory of the Holocaust has influenced post-war developments from 1945 till today. What, ultimately, then is the Holocaust? While nobody might be able to fully answer this question, students taking this course will gain a detailed understanding of the Holocaust in its time, and what it means to live in a world in which such crimes were (are?) possible.