Description
The persecution and systematic mass murder of Europe's Jews during World War II, the Holocaust, is ever-present in contemporary political debates and modern consciousness in the most general sense. Key questions to be addressed include:
- How was it possible for a modern state to initiate and carry out the destruction of European Jewry?
- What comprised the Jews' experiences of life and death in the Holocaust?
- How did the policies toward the Jews fit into the context of Jewish history, German history, and the history of the Second World War?
The cultural underpinnings of Hitler's Germany, and the aspects of the western world that assisted, acquiesced, or opposed the "Final Solution" will be emphasized. Special attention will be devoted to the intersection of culture and politics, as it relates to European Jewish history, Nazi antisemitism and racism, and how media has been used to transmit and modify the legacy of the Holocaust.
The central purpose of the course is to provide a narrative of the principle circumstances and events leading to and comprising the Holocaust, and to have students think more analytically, critically, and historically about the Jewish people and the conditions that made possible the Holocaust.
Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year
Last updated
This module description was last updated on 19th August 2024.
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