Women and the Holocaust

Catalog description

Analysis of women's experience in the Holocaust and exploration of the role of gender in Holocaust Studies. J ST (HIST/WMNST) 439 Women and the Holocaust (3) Most of the early study of the Holocaust focused almost exclusively on the experiences of Jewish men. It was men who wrote the first and most widely read Holocaust memoirs and men who produced the first studies of the Holocaust. The first question motivating this class is thus what we can learn from examining women's experiences. Is it possible that the ghetto, the camp, and the forest look different from women's perspectives? Are there factors we miss when we read primary documents written by only half of the participants in these historical events? Beyond this, however, our exploration will also lead us to look more broadly at gender as a category of analysis. What do we gain by bringing questions of gender to bear on our study of the Holocaust? Are there any ethical concerns that should inform our approach?