Announcements (old announcements move to bottom, where there are also visitor statistics)

• Jan. 12, 2020: 2020 course documents (pdf): 2020 syllabus, 2020 journal handout, 2020 Research Project option handout. Also 2020 syllabus for 133Q, the parallel reading seminar
• Nov. 20, 2019: The following books are required for W'20 Hist 133D:
1. iClickers: any generation
2. Ronnie Landau, The Nazi Holocaust (Ivan Dee, 2002)--textbook
3. Art Spiegelman, Maus (Random House, 1986 & 1992)--vols. 1 & 2
4. Jean Hatzfield, Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak (Picador, 2006)
5. Daoud Hari, The Translator (Random House, 2009)--Darfur
• For students interested in a more in-depth examination of 20th century genocides, concurrent enrollment in my seminar Hist 133Q (Mondays 4-7pm) is highly recommended.
  Several of the readings in the two courses overlap--see the book list on the 133Q webpage.
• 2017 course documents (pdf): 2017 syllabus, 2017 journal handout, 2017 research option handout
• Aug. 24, 2016: Considering screening a new documentary film about sons of two perpetrators, one who rejects his father, the other who defends his. "What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy" (2015; 1:36). 11/5/2015 NYTimes Review; 11/6/2015 Daily Mail Review
• Aug. 19, 2016: In July 1995 genocidal slaughter was perpetrated by Serbian forces in Bosnian Srebrenica. This Oct. 29, 1995 New York Times article, "Massacre in Bosnia," recounts how much we already knew as the slaughter was unfolding. (1st of 6 parts) What lessons can we draw from this, and what lessons were drawn, as thousands of captured Muslim men in Banja Luka were about to experience the same fate that October?
• Aug. 11, 2015:
  • fallen.io created an excellent 18-min. video clip illustrating the magnitude of deaths in World War II by country and type, as well as over the 20th century:
  • Walter Laqueur updates his 1984 book with an op-ed on the Riegner telegram, by which the West/US was made aware of the systematic genocide of the Jews
  • Jan. 2012 HuffPost article on the word "Holocaust"--how its meaning with regard to genocide has changed since the early 1930s.
• June 8, 2015: Adding from Winter 2015: syllabus, journal assignment handout, research project option handout.
• June 19, 2014: New York Times columnist David Brooks lays out 5 things that happened in post-genocide Rwanda that might point toward policy goals to limit the genocidal situation now transpiring in Syria and Iraq: "In the Land of Mass Graves: Are There Lessons for Iraq in Rwanda?"
• Jan. 13, 2014: working in the book essay assignment project upload page--we never got around to setting up an index page for those 37 book essays, but with this link to the 2010 projects directory google will find and index the files, so that they will be accessible through google searches using terms in those essays (such as the book title). If you click the link you will see the file listing. Scroll down to the html files (the first ones are the book cover images and database text initially used to generate the pages). Clicking on them brings up the page--you can guess what its topic is because the filename starts with the book author's name and year of publication. The second surname in the filename is the student author's.
• March 13, 2013: WAITING LIST. This course filled up in mid-February 2013, and a waitlist was started at https://waitlist.ucsb.edu/. As of March 1, 25 names were on the list, and only one space had opened up. I will be giving seniors who need this for a GE requirement priority (documented by their transcript). For non-seniors, I will be teaching Hist 133B: Germany, 1900-1945 in Fall 2013. This course covers some of the same material.
  • Books for Spring 2013: The textbook by Ronnie Landau and the graphic memoir Maus (both vols.) will be used. See Book section below for purchasing information.
• Apr. 2, 2012: I did curve the final grades slightly in Winter 2012. Here is the distribution:
  93-99: A (5)
  89-90: A- (3)
  87-88: B+ (6)
  82-86: B (11)
  79-81: B- (6)
  77-77: C+ (2)
  73-75: C (6)
  71-71: C- (1)
• Announcements posted on GauchoSpace Course Management System during the quarter:
  • 1/13/12: Hi Hist 133D students,
    This is a reminder that we have a film showing on Tuesday evening, 7pm in HSSB 4020 (1 hour 25 mins). It will be helpful to have done the reading before then, especially the selection by Roseman.
    The reader is now available at GrafikArt: prices, for the 133d and dr versions, respectively, $20.62 and $13.92 before tax (GA is SO much cheaper than Alternative it blows my mind). There is a complication, however: for copyright reasons they couldn't include all of the pages (you'll note in the reader some page nubmers are strikethrough). Those pages are available on Gauchospace. [I see a problem with p. 104-5, and will add that this afternoon.]
    I hope the reading won't spoil your enjoyment of the beautiful weather on this long MLK day weekend! Sincerely, Prof. Marcuse
  • 1/28/12: Dear Hist 133D students,
    As many of you noticed, I forgot to do midterm question 1 in class. It is posted on Gauchospace, due Sunday 8pm. It's pretty simple.
    In reading the selection from The Boy, I noticed how poor the images came out in the photocopied reader, so I re-scanned them and posted a pdf with the page spreads with photos as well. You can also view the Stroop report's album photos online--not the best quality, but still: http://www.deathcamps.info/Stroop/stroop.htm
    Have a good weekend, and see you Monday.
    Prof. Marcuse
  • 2/7/12: Dear Hist 133d students,
    This is just to remind you that we will be watching the film "Escape from Sobibor" this evening (Tue 2/7) from 7-9pm in HSSB 4020. Please do your best to read the Rumkowski & Levi readings (pp. 75-95) in the reader before the film.
    BTW, Q3 will be based on these.
    See you tonight. Prof. Marcuse
  • 2/7/2012
    Those of you at the film screening know that Q3 is now posted on Gauchospace. Note that although the main question, to define "Gray Zone," could fill many pages, I'm jlust asking for a short definition. There is no single "right answer," although good answers will draw from Levi's examples. This is a 10-15 min. assignment (if you've done the reading).
    BTW, the film is available in pieces on youtube, and in WMP video.

Course Description and Goals (back to top)

There are many reasons to study the Holocaust, which I understand to be the systematic, state-run mass murder of entire groups of people. In this course we will not only study what happened, but also investigate why those events happened. My courses also emphasize historical skills: assessing and interpreting historical sources, and presenting the results of research.

Some useful sites and interesting links (back to top)

• Nazi propaganda documents (originals with English translations), at an excellent site created in 1999 by Randall Bytwerk at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, author of Bending Spines: The Propagandas of Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic (2004; $17 at amazon). There is also a section on pre-1933 Nazi propaganda.
• German History in Documents site: The German Historical Institute in Washington has specially prepared translated documents, maps and images about Nazi Germany online.
• The US Embassy in Germany has History of German-American Relations, 1901-39 and 1939-45 pages with excellent and easily navigable collections of documents.
• ThirdReichRuins.com compares photographs of many historical sites "then" and "now." It was made by Geoff Walden, with many of the "then" photos stemming from his father, who was stationed in Germany in 1945-46.
• ScrapbookPages.com is another private initiative that gives excellent photographs and information about many Holocaust sites, with some then-and-now perspectives as well.
  NOTE: the author of this site has turned into a Holocaust denier. Much content is still good, but some claims clearly slip into Holocaust denial. So, as with anything on the web: beware and verify from multiple other sources.

Materials from Prof. Marcuse's previous Hist 133D & 33D courses (back to top)

• Fall      1996:                  syllabus
• Fall      1998: homepage; syllabus
• Fall      1999: homepage; syllabus
• Winter 2000: homepage; syllabus
• Fall      2001: homepage; syllabus
• Fall      2002: homepage; syllabus (33D)
• Fall      2003: homepage; syllabus (33D)
• Fall      2005: homepage; syllabus (33D)
• Winter 2008: homepage; syllabus
• Winter 2010: homepage; syllabus
• Winter 2012: homepage: syllabus

Grading policies (back to top)

Grading can serve many purposes. Among them are: motivating students to engage with the material (by providing feedback and rewarding effort), assessing how well students have done the assigned work, and ranking students relative to each other.
I personally dislike assigning grades. I'm interested in what you have to say, and want you to put in the effort to develop interesting thoughts and express them well. I hope you will be motivated to learn enough factual material to have a solid basis from which you can develop your thoughts. If you need the prospect of a better grade to do the learning and thinking, fine. For various reasons, I have to grade to assess your work anyway (if I write letters of recommendation, for instance, I need some data on relative strengths and weaknesses, and effort expended). The grade distributions I give my courses are also monitored by the department and the University. (see grade distributions for some of my other lecture courses on my Grading Data & Policies page)
My bottom line: I want the grades I give to be a FAIR reflection of the effort (attendance, doing assignments, meeting deadlines) and learning (content of submitted work) you show, and to give a rough indication of where you stand on those factors relative to others in the class.
To give you an idea of typical grade distributions for my upper division lecture courses, I include two examples here (more are on my Grading Data page)

• March 31, 2008: Here is the distribution of grades for my 2008 Hist 133d course according to the total point scores (see note on grading, below; also my Grading page):

  # students	86-87pts=B+   2	C+   0	D   0
  93-108pts=A  23	84pts     =B      2	69-70pts=C     1	F    0
  89+-92pts=A-  6	81-82pts=B-    3	C-    0	incomplete:     0	total:  37

• Mar. 29, 2006: Here is the distribution of grades for my 2006 Hist 133c course according to the raw point scores (see note on grading, below):

  # students	87-89pts=B+   6	77-78pts=C+   2	62-67pts=D   2
  93-100pts=A    6	83-86pts=B     2	71-76pts=C     3	F    1
  90-91pts=A-    2	79-82pts=B-    5	68-70pts=C-   1	incomplete:     1	total:  31

• Mar. 23, 2004: Here is the distribution of grades for my 2004 Hist 133C course according to the raw point score without the participation grade (95 possible points [well 101, if you count the double extra credit for the outside events]):

  # students	86-85pts=B+     2	75-71pts=C+   4	D   0
  94-90pts=A    5	84-80pts=B      10	70-62pts=C     2	D-  0	graduate student: 1
  89-87pts=A-   5	79-76pts=B-      4	pts=C-   0	F    0	total:   33

If you are think your grade does not reflect your work and effort:

• First, please note that I grade YOUR WORK, not you.
• If you feel that the grade you received on your paper or exam does not correspond to the quality of work that you submitted, or the effort you put into it, you have two options:
  1. Print out, complete, and submit the following Grade Change Application Form ;-),
     OR:
  2. Write a page (or paragraph, whatever it takes) explaining WHY you think your work is better than the grade assigned to it. Please refer to the appropriate assignment sheet (for book essays and web projects), and make sure you did the assignment.
     • Then resubmit the work in question with your explanation, and I will regrade it and get back to you.
     • Be sure to put some contact address on your explanation sheet, so that I can be in touch with you.
     • Note that I reserve the right to lower your grade, if I feel that is warranted by closer examination

Picking up your work

I keep all student work for at least one quarter after the course is over. If you would like to pick up your work, please come to my office. During my office hours is usually best for me, but if you would like your work left in an envelope in the envelope outside my door, or to arrange a different pick-up time, send me an e-mail or leave a note.

Old Announcements (back to top)

• Mar. 6, 2008 [Mar 11 update]: Midterm Survey Results, conducted Feb. 18-Mar. 3. The original questionnaire was on surveymonkey.com; 29/37 students had taken it when I downloaded the results on Monday, March 3.
  1. Attendance: 47% always attend, 53% missed one or two classes
  2. Readings: 28% did all, 56% most, 12% some, 3% little/none
     22% did them on time, 28% on time if Q, 3% random (=53%--did I miss an option?)
  3. Textbook: 41% found it excellent, 56% good, 19% ok (=116%, what's going on?)
  4. Anticipated grade: 72% A/A-, 28% B+/B
  5. Compared to other lecture classes, I learn: more 55%, same 39%, less 6%
  6. What would improve lectures? slower 6%, more images 24%,
     more in-depth stories 33%, more broad context 33% (is that the opposite?)
     more videos 22%, more class discussion 18%
  7. I found my book for essay: 44% great, 41% satisfied, 16% ok
     I picked it from: 52% prof's list, 24% amazon, 12% library, 12% prof's suggestion
  • comments: please put in e-mail when you send e-mail your web option
  8. Biggest gripe? (27 responses):
     • classroom: 7 (Why, specifically? What can we change?)
       arrange tables facing front; use chairs with desks around walls
     • too much analysis and theory: 5
     • e-mailing of Questions: 3
     • too little discussion: 2; too much discussion: 2
     • more focus on readings: 2
  9. Best Features:
     • Qs/no midterm: 6 (but another: Qs detract from enjoying reading)
     • guest speakers/outside events, images/video, readings, lecture style
• Sept. 26, 2009: Some links that might be useful when I make pages for lecture topics:
  • Der Spiegel Sept. 2009 series "The Road to World War II"
  • Yad Vashem has online courses, e.g. Germany 1918-1943
• Jan. 10, 2010
  • An anonymous intro surveyI mentioned in class is ready. Please take it asap, by Tuesday at noon preferably. There are 5 questions, plus an optional comment box. I really appreciate your participation in this. It is VERY simple. The URL is:
    http://www.feedbackfarm.com/Site has folded
  • Finally, a student said that the textbook (Landau) is sold out in the campus bookstore. There are a number of new and used ones available online. I could also put in a group order on amazon, where I get free 2-day shipping. The price there is about $13. If you are interested in having me order one for you, email me by Monday at 4pm and there is a chance I'll have them by Thursday's class.
• Jan. 13, 2010:
  • Also, there are 3 copies of the textbook available for checkout in the SB public library system. One is in Goleta on Fairview, the others can be ordered "ILL" for $.50 and come within a few days. All you need for a library card is proof of a local address (driver's license or utility bill, bank statement, etc). See info at: http://www.blackgold.org/polaris/search/default.aspx
• Jan. 23, 2010:
  • A web page with the 2010 Introductory Survey Results is now available
• Feb. 3, 2010: Please don't forget the film showing this evening, 6:30-9:45 in Phelps 1160.
• Feb. 7, 2010: Guest lecture on Tuesday, 2/9
  
• Feb. 18, 2010: Lecture by Prof. Mahlendorf:
  • "Hauntings: Ghosts from a Nazi Childhood," will be about a reader of her book who also knew her Hitler Youth teacher Lotte Treptow/Turnow (a pseudonym).
    Pay attention to mentions of this teacher.
  • Before the talk you should read at least 3 chapters from her book:
    • The introduction, chaps. 5 and "8" (9 in the book) can be accessed on the web from this page on my website.
• Oct. 31, 2010: New Genocide textbook: Adam Jones (ed.), Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2nd ed., 2010), 644 pages. (textbook website, with excerpts, topical bibliography, annotated filmography organized by country, excellent syllabus, etc.)
• Jan. 3, 2012: See books, immediately below for the Winter 2012 course books (you can save a good bit by ordering them online before the course starts, BUT TAKE NOTE: you will need these books before the second week of classes--by Jan. 14, 2012--in order to prepare for class.
• Jan. 9, 2012: Today is the first day of class, here some announcements:
  1. There are over 20 names on the waiting list, and only 2 spaces available. NO CHANCE OF CRASHING anymore.
  2. The course reader (296 pages) is very important--it contains most of the readings for this class. It will be available at GrafikArt on Pardall in IV, but not until later this week--stay tuned for more information.
     • There will NOT be a copy on reserve at the library.
     • Hist 133DR students also in Hist 133D should NOT buy this reader, but a shorter one without the selections from the books we're reading in the seminar.
  3. The readings for THIS week are: Browning, "One Day in Jozefow" (1991) and Goldhagen, "Police Battalions: Agents of Genocide" (1996). They are only available here and on GauchoSp.