GERM 308-01, Holocaust in text, image and memory

Abstract

This course will examine the Holocaust from various different perspectives. We will look at such topics as the origins and expressions of Anti-Semitism in central Europe, the political events and structures within which the Holocaust took place, the reality of ghettos and concentration camps, and efforts to resist the Nazis both within and outside of Germany. We will also study the period through its art: the bombastic style of official art in the Nazi era and how those individuals tortured and murdered by the Nazis strove courageously to express their suffering and their humanity. Finally, the course will address the world’s varying attempts to remember the Holocaust, to give meaning to life in a post-Holocaust world, to preserve the memories of the Holocaust’s victims and to keep the event and its significance for humanity alive. Our learning objectives for this course will be to develop a thorough sense of the significance of the events for the contemporary world, and for ourselves. We will first try to understand the events as they happened, and then problematize how the Holocaust has shaped our historical present.