Dickinson College - Spring 2008
History 376/Judaic Studies 316

The Holocaust


TF 1:30  Denny 211
Prof. Karl D. Qualls   -   Denny 307  -  (717) 245-1774  -  Office hours: - TW 3-4:30

quallsk@dickinson.edu - http://www.dickinson.edu/~quallsk

I reserve the right to adjust any part of this syllabus, with reasonable prior notice, in order to accommodate the needs of students.

Scope and Objectives 

The scope of the course will focus mainly on the late-1930s to 1945. However, we will explore the causes of the Holocaust as far back as early Christianity and discuss the continued relevance of Holocaust studies to the present by looking at issues of reparations for victims and commemoration/representation in museums, monuments, literature, and films. We will balance between dispassionate historical study and recognizing the emotional and psychological dimensions of the Shoah/Holocaust. By its very nature, this course will contain graphic material. The intent is not to shock, because that serves no meaningful pedagogical purpose, but rather the material I have selected serves to prompt deeper thought, discussion, and understanding. My hope is that after this course you can think about and discuss the Holocaust more intelligently and move beyond the layperson's understanding of the Holocaust as an amalgam of Anne Frank and Oskar Schindler. You should also gain a lifelong skill in assessing human rights violations, the problems of states limiting the rights and freedoms of their citizens, and the horror of state violence that was at the center of most of the previous century and which continues in the twenty-first century. In order to achieve this, much of our time will be spent on concepts rather "facts." In any history course, there are too many "facts" for a semester's study, so we will approach the Holocaust thematically and conceptually, which will equip you to interpret facts as you encounter them through further study. Although Jews were central to the Holocaust, we will spend just as much time trying to understand killers, bystanders, and the many diverse victims of the Holocaust.

Our content objectives can be summarized and generalized as: 
--to gain a basic familiarity with the major events and people that shaped the Holocaust and the historiography of it
--to understand what life was like for the average German, Jew, Roma (Gypsies), and others during the Holocaust 
--to address the question of the causes for and results of the Holocaust and whether it was a unique event or part of a long century of genocide and ethnic cleansing 

Our skill objectives are: 
--to practice deep thought and critical reflection
--to learn how to write and communicate more effectively (see my grading criteria for written assignments)

Requirements

Our course will be weighted heavily toward reading, understanding and communicating. The latter includes not only focused expository writing, but also oral presentations and discussions. Much of the course is discussion based; therefore, your preparation and participation each and every day is essential; the distribution of grades reflects this. If you are not willing to engage in critical analysis and discussion with me and your peers, then you will not succeed in this course. You cannot and may not merely sit and listen in this class. I will take daily attendance and make notes on participation. If it is not in your nature to be verbose, your journal should be your chief outlet, but I will still require you to make some daily contribution from which we can all benefit.

All assignments are due at the beginning of class, and no late submissions will be accepted once class has started. Late work will receive an "F." Although this sounds harsh and unyielding, it is designed to give me the opportunity to evaluate all work equally. Even a minute more editing gives the late student an unfair advantage over the students who submit their work on time. Likewise, your timely attendance at all classes, except when absences are excusable (which is my determination) and documented, is expected and mandatory and WILL affect your participation grade.

Out of respect for me and your peers, please turn off cell phones. I will answer the calls and ask you to leave the classroom for the rest of the period.

Disability Statement

If you have a disability, please notify me immediately so that I can make the necessary accommodations. Likewise, any conflicts with religious holidays must be pointed out to me by the end of the second week.
Academic Honesty

This course follows the College's policy on plagiarism as defined in Students Records, Rights, and Responsibilities and Proscriptions on Conduct. Please ask any questions in advance in order to avoid potential problems. Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a college. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult the Student Handbook or ask me.

Grades:
Participation 15
Journal 15
2 Reviews ( film and web) 10 each
Final Exam 15
Final Paper 30
Miscellaneous writings (all or nothing) 5
All assignments must be completed on time and passed with a "C" or above to opt out of a final exam. All writing tasks, including papers (except the final paper), must be rewritten until they represent "C" quality work.  The final grade for each task will be an average of all attempts, but not higher than a "C".  This, hopefully, will encourage the best possible work on the first attempt and reward students accordingly.  It should also ensure that by the end of the class each student should be well on her/his way to becoming a successful and effective writer. Rewrites are due one week after the original papers have been returned. You will need to submit originals with subsequent drafts.

Important Dates

  • Last Day to Add/Drop: January 25
  • Spring Break: March 10-14. No class
  • Roll Call Grades Due: March 6
  • Last Day to Withdraw: March 28
  • Classes End: May 2

Reading list

The following books are available for purchase in the bookstore:

  • Cole, Tim.Selling the Holocaust: From Auschwitz to Schindler, How History is Bought, Packaged, and Sold REQUIRED
  • Niewyk, Donald J., ed. The Holocaust: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation 3d ed.REQUIRED
  • Crowe, The Holocaust: Roots, History, Aftermath. REQUIRED

Other readings will be available to you in other forms.

Week 1

  • Course Introduction . The Holocaust and Genocides. Crowe, Introduction.
  • Background: Overview of Jewish History and Anti-Semitism (Crowe, ch. 1-2)

Week 2 

  • Imperial and Weimar Germany (lecture)
  • Library Session: Meet at the Alden Room, ground floor of the library

Week 3

  • Background II: Hitler, the Nazis, and Eugenics (Crowe, ch. 3-4)
  • Guest lecture by Prof. Sandra Alfers Paper topic proposal and initial bibliography due

Week 4 

  • Individual meetings with me about paper topics

Week 5 

  • "Euthenasia" and the War Years (Crowe, chs. 5-6) ( Niewyk, chapter 1. Hitler's Order on Euthanasia)
  • Holocaust Sources and Source Criticism: Historiographical Issues of the Holocaust (Eberhard Jäckel, Hitler's World View, ch. 3; Martin Broszat, "Hitler and the Genesis of the 'Final Solution'," in Aspects of the Third Reich, ed., H.W. Koch)

Week 6 

  • Nazi Decision Making (in class viewing and discussion: clips from Nazis: A Warning From History, part II "Chaos and Consent: Nazi Rule in Germany")
  • The Development of Anti-Jewish Policy and the Final Solution (Crowe, ch. 7). Web reviews due (submit both a hard copy and electronic version)

Week 7

  • Perpetrators: What happened? What does it mean? Why does it matter? (Niewyk, chapter. 2; Hochstadt, chapters 5-6 (selections); "The Willing Executioners/Ordinary Men Debate"
  • Perpetrators: Bureaucrats and Bureaucratic Language (Aly, Final Solution, ch. 10)

Enjoy Spring Break (but not too much)

Week 8

  • Viewing clips on Einsatzgruppen killers, and discussion.
  • Victims: Jews (Niewyk, chapter 3; Hochstadt, chapters 7-8; begin selected readings from Gallately and Stoltzfus, Social Outsiders in Nazi Germany

Week 9 

  • Resistance and Rescue (Niewyk, chapters. 4, 6)
  • Bystanders, Collaboration and Indifference (Crowe, ch. 8-9; Niewyk, chapter 5)

Week 10

  • Postwar Trials (Crowe, ch. 10; Hochstadt, chapter 9)
  • View clips from Eyal Sivan's, The Specialist: Portrait of a Modern Criminal (DVD 0655) and discussion of Eichmann. (Cole, 47-72)

Week 11 Film reviews due

  • Portraying the Holocaust in Music with Prof. Amy Wlodarski (April 8)
  • USHMM visit?

Week 12 

Week 13 

  • Student presentations
  • Student presentations

Week 14 FINAL PAPERS DUE TUESDAY

  • Student presentations
  • Student presentations and final discussion

FINAL EXAM: Monday, 12 May, 9 AM

Assignment Guide

Journal
The journal is our place to think and express ourselves. Anything and everything is fair game in the journals. I'm not looking for right answers, rather I'm looking to see that you understand the problems and issues under investigation in the class and that you can think about them beyond the boundaries of the class. Is there anything in the study of the Holocaust that will help us to understand the present? Are peaceful citizens still being marginalized, deprived of rights and slaughtered? Have lessons been learned from the Holocaust? Is another mass genocide still possible? Why do we still study the Holocaust? Can an understanding of the Holocaust inform our understanding of the Middle East today? How has Germany changed? These and many like questions can be can and should be addressed in the journal. Beyond your thoughts, you should also address the readings and discussions. Are they useful? What was good and bad about them? Did they make you think and if so about what? Where does each reading fit in the larger historiography on the Holocaust?
 
These writings should take place before class as preparation for our discussions, but also after class to reflect on the discussion and any new ideas that emerge. I will pick these up at random from you, so they must be with you during every class. You will post your journals on our Gateway course site. If there is something that you don't want the rest of the class to see, you may send it directly to me.
Reviews
We will complete two reviews this term: one on web resources, the other on a film or documentary. I'll provide more details as the due dates near.
Paper
Our paper project will be divided into steps which will lead to a final 10-12 page essay. The first step will be to fill out a proposal form.
 
Final Exam Study Guide
The final exam will consist of several parts designed to evaluate your ability to analyze/critique, categorize and synthesize arguments, think chronologically, and recall basic historical knowledge. For one part of the essay I will ask you to repsond to the following: http://www.newsweek.com/id/134318. You may bring a copy of the article with you to the exam, but there must be no marks on it. You will also be asked questions about several of our secondary sources. You should be able to tell me the thesis or main idea of each secondary source we have read this year and/or be able to link the author to her/his thesis. There will also be a timeline section in which you will have to place a set of people/events/ideas in chronological order. Lastly, I will ask you to define (e.g. who, what, why, when, where) a number of terms and explain their historical significance. They will come from the following list: structuralist, intentionalist, Knight of the Long Knives, Kristallnacht, Wannsee, Nuremburg Laws, Nuremburg Trials, Lebensraum, Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Mein Kampf, Eichmann, Himmler, Buna, T-4, Einsatzgruppen, Heydrich, Hans Frank, "genocide," Yad Vashem