RELS 232-02, Holocaust, Fall 1998

Abstract

This class will focus on the Nazi campaign to annihilate European Jewry between 1939 and 1945, and on the context, precedents and implications of this chapter in history. After an introduction to the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, the first section of the class will deal with historical questions: What happened? When? Where? Who was involved? The second section will explore the Holocaust in human perspective: What can we ascertain about the experiences and motivations of the victims, perpetrators, bystanders, resistors and rescuers? The third section of the course will highlight religious roots of, and religious responses to, the Holocaust. We will consider questions such as: Is Christianity inherently anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic? What challenges does the Holocaust represent for Jewish thought and faith? How does the Holocaust affect questions of forgiveness? Finally, we will explore the phenomenon of Holocaust denial and the issue of the Holocaust’s uniqueness.