History of the Holocaust

Catalog description

Envisioned as a multi-disciplinary class, this course examines the complex history of the Holocaust during the Second World War. It discusses such important topics as the life of Jewish communities in Germany and Eastern Europe before 1933; Jewish emancipation; the rise of political anti-Semitism; Hitler and the creation of the Third Reich; discrimination against racial outsiders and “asocials”; the life of Jews in Nazi Germany; the “twisted road to Auschwitz”; the historical debates on the origins of the genocide; the social and psychological make-up of the perpetrators; the role of bystanders both in Germany and other parts of Europe; Jewish resistance and finally the memory of the Holocaust in Germany, Israel, United States and Eastern Europe. May be taught concurrently with HST 664. Cannot receive credit for both HST 564 and HST 664. Prerequisite: 50 hours.