Prof. Marcuse, HSSB 4221, 893-2635
UCSB Hist 133Q, Winter 1998
NOTE: SOME CHANGES WILL BE MADE FOR WINTER 1999
HSSB 2202, Wed. 2-4:50
marcuse@humanitas.ucsb.edu

http://humanitas.ucsb.edu/depts/history/133d/index.html

COURSE GOALS

This course is designed to accompany Hist. 133D, my lecture course on "The Holocaust in German History." Students are expected to enroll concurrently or be very familiar with that course material. We will read a number of books and articles in order to probe in greater depth some of the moral and historiographical issues raised by the Holocaust. I also want you to learn and practice some skills used in history: interpreting primary sources, assessing secondary works, and reporting orally and in writing about your findings.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Regular, active participation in class discussion.
2. Submission of eight papers, about 500 words (2 double-spaced, typed pages) in length, on aspects of the readings. These papers are due on Tuesdays, by 2pm, in my office.
3. An oral report, about 10-15 minutes long, on one of the weekly topics, and 5-10 questions to guide class discussion on that reading, which you will facilitate. Some of these reports may be done in small groups. You should prepare a written version of your presentation (it takes about 2 minutes to read a double-spaced page aloud), due on Monday by 2pm, which you discuss with the professor on the next day (the day before class).

COMPONENTS OF GRADE: discussion: 40%; papers: 8x5%=40%; oral report: 20%.

REQUIRED BOOKS (on reserve at the library)

some essays in the Reader for 133D, available at GraphikArt in Isla Vista, 90pp., $6.75.

Thomas Keneally, Schindler's List (1982), $12/9; PR9619.3.K46 S3 1982.

Sebastian Haffner, The Meaning of Hitler (1979), $12/9; DD247.H5 H26513 1979.

Michael Burleigh, Death and Deliverance: Euthanasia in Germany, 1900-45, $20/15. R726.B87 1994.

Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, $13/10; D804.3.B77 1992.

Rudolf Höss, Death Dealer: The Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz (1992 ed.), $16/12; D805.P7 H6713 1992.

Judith Magyar Isaacson, Seed of Sarah: Memoirs of a Survivor, $13/10; DS135.H92 K375 1990.

Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor's Tale (2 vols., 1986, 1991), $22.80soft-/$25 hardcover at amazon, also at bookstores. D810.J4 S643 1986; D804.3.S66 1991.

Mel Mermelstein, By Bread Alone: The Story of A-4685 (1993), $20/15; D810.J4 M426 1993.

Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition (1995), [not ordered for Univ. bookstore; $10.76 at www.amazon.com; also available at local bookstores]

a) are the primary readings for the week
b) are supplementary readings for the presenters for that week. They should be incorporated into the presentations and discussion questions. I expect you also to follow up on some leads you find in the footnotes of the recommended works, and perhaps also to look up and read reviews of the recommended titles.
c) are the questions about which all non-presenters will write their 2-page essays, due Tuesday.

Week 1. Jan. 7 Introduction

Week 2. Jan. 14 a) Keneally, Schindler's List
(watch also the film, which will be screened Tuesday night!)
b) Reader: Sklar (1997); Elinor Brecher, Schindler's Legacy;
R. Gellately, review in Central European History 26(1993), 475-489.
c) Comparing the book and the film, how has Spielberg has emphasized certain
aspects of the story and omitted others?

Week 3. Jan. 21 a) Haffner, The Meaning of Hitler
b) A. Rosenfeld, Imagining Hitler; M. Marrus, Holocaust in History 13-18, 31-40.
c) In what ways does this German portrayal of Hitler differ from US views?

Week 4. Jan. 28 a) Burleigh, Death and Deliverance, parts 1-3
b) Henry Friedlander, The Origins of Nazi Genocide; Sereny, Into, pt. I
c) What role did science (or "scientific thinking") play in the Holocaust?

Week 5. Feb. 4 a) Browning, Ordinary Men
b) Daniel Goldhagen, Hitler's Willing Executioners, chaps. 6-9
c) What factors were essential to most "shooters'" ability to murder hundreds of
people on a daily basis?

Week 6. Feb. 11 a) Höss, Death Dealer
b) Gitta Sereny, Into that Darkness, pts. I, II; T. Segev, Soldiers of Evil
c) Which character traits enabled Höss to do what he did the way he did it?

Week 7. Feb. 18 a) Isaacson, Seed of Sarah
b) Reader: Wieviorka; C. Rittner, J. Roth, Different Voices
c) Why did Isaacson write about these particular experiences she had in
Auschwitz?

Week 8. Feb. 25 a) Spiegelman, Maus
b) M. Staub in Melos 20:3(Fall 1995), 33-46.
c) How do memories of the Holocaust get passed on from generation to
generation?

Week 9. Mar. 4 a) Mermelstein, By Bread Alone
b) Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust
c) Is it important to counter the arguments of Holocaust deniers? Why (not)?

Week 10. Mar. 11 a) The Diary of Anne Frank, definitive edition
b) Cynthia Ozick, "Who owns Anne Frank?," New Yorker (6 Oct. 1997), 76-87
c) Is it appropriate to adapt a historical document to make it more effective
in reaching a particular audience?