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

• Jan. 13, 2014: posting my W'2014 94qw syllabus: "The Environmental Movement in Germany"
• April 7, 2009: 11 of us watched the Hitler biography yesterday; 4 more have arranged to see it later. That leaves 5 students who need to figure out how to get a copy to watch by next Wed...
• May 29, 2008: Yesterday I completely forgot that I wanted to announce that a very unique Holocaust survivor will be speaking in one of my other classes in Campbell Hall today (Thursday, 5/29), at 12:30. I wasn't able to find a survivor who could speak to our seminar, and this presenter wanted to speak to the larger audience.
  • There was only one uprising in a concentration camp that led to a mass escape and the closure of a camp: the one in the Sobibor extermination center in eastern Poland on October 14, 1943.
  • About 700 prisoners were forced to run the machinery of murder in the camp; of several hundred who escaped that day, about 100 were able to escape the dragnet and Polish vigilantes and survive until the end of the war in May 1945. In 1944 the Nazis dug up the mass graves, burned the corpses that had been buried, demolished the camp buildings, plowed the site over and planted trees there.
  • Thomas Toivi Blatt, at 15 one of the youngest survivors, moved to the US after the war, and ultimately settled in Santa Barbara. He will be telling his story today, and showing clips from the 1987 film made about the uprising (which is, in my opinion, one of the very best films about the Holocaust ever made). (It will be shown in the MCC theater tomorrow at noon.)
  • For more information:
    Blatt's website about the uprising: <http://www.sobibor.info/index.html>
  • The Wikipedia page about the Sobibor camp.
  • Even if you can only come for part of it (enter/exit through the doors on the far sides), I think it will be worth your while to sit in.
• May 4, 2008: This is a reminder that we've rescheduled the 1940 Chaplin film *The Great Dictator* from this Monday to two weeks later: It will be on Monday, May 19, at 6:30pm in HSSB 4041 (same room as last time).
  • Last week we finally got some discussion going. For this Wednesday, please think up some questions you're interested in talking about.
• April 14, 2008: The books hadn't arrived as of this morning, so I've scanned the reading for this week as well: Chaps 8-15 as pdf [4/16: 2 page spreads missing, also notes]. I'll let you know as soon as they arrive. *Please think of questions while you're reading--we have the whole hour to spend discussing this material.* You might also want to peruse some of Mein Kampf--the unexpurgated English translation is available as an ebook at gutenberg.net.
  • Please make a note of the two movie dates:
    Mon. 4/21, 6:30, HSSB 4041: Hitler, A Career (1978, 2 hrs 30 min., imdb page)
    Mon. 5/5, 6:30, HSSB 4041: Charlie Chaplin's Great Dictator (1940, imdb, wikip.)
• April 10, 2008 (Thursday): note that tonight at 7:30pm in Campbell there will be a free screening of the film Conspiracy, about the meeting in 1942 at which top Nazi gov't officials coordinated the Holocaust. The director will introduce the film, and there will be a dialog with Prof. Marcuse and others afterwards. See event page for more details.
• April 6, 2008: Reading for Wed. 4/2 as pdf; 2008 syllabus.
• Jan. 4, 2007:
  • MUST SEE! YouTube has a hilarious 3 minute film by comic artist Walter Moers, 'Adolf - I'm sitting in my Bunker' (If you know German, the original is even better: "Adolf - Ich hocke in meinem Bonker" also English & German subtitles. It's even in French.) German channel 2 news discussion on July 6, 2006. [note 2/15/08: my Hist 133D class was shocked into speachlessness by it--I wonder why?]
  • On Jan. 7 a new comedy film by Dany Levi was released in Germany, Mein Führer. Listen to this Jan. 13, 2007 NPR report, " Hitler Comedy No Laughing Matter for Germans"
  • See also this Dec 17, 2006 Los Angeles Times article by Jeffrey Fleishman: "A Farcical Attack on Hitler Taboos / A video hit on YouTube 'destroys the myth of the cult figure,' reflecting a new mind-set about the Fuehrer, says one of its creators," p. A12. (screen-width scan; hi-res 2M)

Course Description and Goals (back to top)

• What do Hitler and Nazism stand for today? When are they mentioned, and why?
  After investigating these questions, this seminar will look back to see how Hitler and Nazism were portrayed in the US media since the mid-1920s.
• We will examine newspaper reports, books and films from the entire 80-year period.
• For a taste of the topic, I have a few suggestions:
  • "U.S. Student Perceptions of Adolf Hitler, 1933-1939," a UCSB history senior honors thesis by Melissa Kravetz, 2004. It is based on reports in the student newspapers of UC Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard and Yale.
  • "The Munich Post: Its Undiscovered Effects on Hitler," a UCSB proseminar paper by Sara Twogood, 2002.
  • My on-line essay "Experiencing the Jewish Holocaust in Los Angeles," which describes and analyzes the effects of a visit to the LA Museum of Tolerance
• Course Goals: UCSB's, Mine, Yours
• Freshman seminars (UCSB freshman seminar program website) give students an opportunity to get acquainted with a professor and the professor's research in a small group setting. I teach German history, and my particular specialty is the different ways Germans have reacted to and thought about the Nazi period since the end of World War II. This includes how the Nazism is currently taught in German and US schools.
• My goals for this course are to learn more about what you have learned and what how you about Hitler and German history. I am writing a book about what people today think about Nazism and the Holocaust. I hope to learn about your experiences and interests, but also from your research projects for this course.
• As for your goals, I am very eager to hear about them! If you haven't done so already, please give it some thought and let me know!

Course Materials (back to top)

• Previous course materials
  • 2000 syllabus, 2005 syllabus, 2007 syllabus, 2008 syllabus
  • Fall 2005 course description
  • Spring 2007 seminar listings
• Weekly topics

Suggested research topics (back to top)

• Eyewitness accounts by people who knew Hitler personally
  • His best friend in Vienna, August Kubizek, published a series of articles in The New Republic, April 5, 12, 19, 1939, pp. 239-42, 270-72, 297-300.
• Newspapers and Newsmagazines:
  Find articles in a certain periodical during a certain period of time, for example
  • Los Angeles Times (CDs in library)
  • Santa Barbara News-Press (CDs in library)
  • Time magazine (covers free, costs for on-line archive)
  • Nation magazine (costs for on-line archive)
  • Journals in the library database JSTOR.
  • Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
• Books
  • many scholarly books have been written about books about Hitler: review them
  • e.g. Lukacs, Kershaw, Rosenfeld
  • search Melvyl for books on Hitler published in the 1920s
  • Hitler's 12 apostles, by Oswald Dutch.
    Published London, E. Arnold & Co. [1940]
    Description 271 p. pl., ports. 22 cm.
    Call Number Main Library DD253 .D87 [Regular Loan]
    Notes "First published November 1939. Reprinted March 1940."
    Contents The frame. -- Herrmann Goering. -- Dr. Josef Goebbels. --Alfred Rosenberg. -- Rudolf Hess. -- Heinrich Himmler. -- Dr. Robert Ley. -- Joachim von Ribbentrop. -- Julius Streicher. -- General Walther von Brauchitsch. -- Dr. Walther Funk. -- Dr. Wilhelm Frick. -- Baldur von Schirach. -- The martyrs. -- The "would be" apostles. -- Twelve faces and a world philosophy. -- Chronological summary of the National socialist movement.
• Films
  • review & assess films on Hitler found in the Internet Movie Database (imdb)
  • review catalog of portraits of actors
  • The Hitler filmography : worldwide feature film and television miniseries portrayals, 1940 through 2000 / by Charles P. Mitchell.
    Published Jefferson, NC : McFarland & Co., 2002.
    Description ix, 293 p. : ill. ; 27 cm.
    Call Number Main Library PN1995.9.H514 M58 2002 [Regular Loan]
• Annotated links pages
• Translations: tweak computer translations made by babelfish or other engines
• of articles such as this one on the "8 burials of Adolf Hitler"
• Internet Resources to help with your work:
  • German-English dictionaries: LEO and TU-Chemnitz; babelfish gives rough translations
  • The German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin has lots of images and documents in its collection.
  • Nazi propaganda documents, at an excellent site created in 1999 by Randall Bytwerk at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
  • The US Embassy in Germany has a "History of German-American Relations" site with great documents from 1683 to the present, easily navigable with great e-texts and links.
  • The US State Department publishes documents from the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), which include Germany (see the Europe volumes under FDR; list of print volumes).

Links (back to top)

• UC Davis Freshman Seminar Program: description of program; links to quarter listings
• UC Irvine Freshman Seminar Program: click on a quarter to pull up descriptions
• UC Berkeley Freshman Seminar Program: links to listings, sortable by field
• Rudolf Binion, Hitler among the Germans (reprint ed. 1984) ($6 used on amazon)

Old Announcements (back to top)

• June 5, 2005: I'm just starting this website as I draft the syllabus, so NOTHING is FINAL yet.
  • Meeting time & Location: Thursdays 2-3, HSSB 4041.
  • This seminar will be coordinated somewhat with my Hist 33d lecture course on the Holocaust (esp. the trip to Los Angeles and the evening film screenings). For maximum learning, you may consider enrolling in that course as well (T-Th 9:30-11, W 6-9pm).
    Since it is already full, you will need to contact me and I will place you on the waiting list.
  • Each week we will have short readings and small "research project" homework. I am planning to pool all of this work on a "Hitler reception" website. For more details on this, see the "research topics" section, below.
• July 7, 2005: See the UCSB freshman seminar announcement of this course.
  • The field trip to LA (Museum of Tolerance and LA Museum of the Holocaust) will be on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2005.
• Sept. 8, 2005: One product of this seminar will be a "Hitler in History" website that will include primary sources and their interpretations. I've started making the homepage already.
• Dec. 21 , 2006: See also my "Hitler in History" website, whichl includes primary sources and a bibliography of books about Hitler.
• Dec. 21, 2006: For Spring 2007 there will be one required book: Thomas Fuchs's A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler (New York: Berkley Books, 2000), $3 used, $8 new on amazon. (it will also be available at the UCen)
• Dec. 22, 2006: The Spring 2007 seminar will meet Tuesdays, 1:00- 1:50pm, HSSB 3201. The enrollment code is 50237.
• Jan. 4, 2007: Spring 07 course description (registrar's page):
  Representing Hitler, 1925-2007
  Who was Adolf Hitler, and why do we see him the ways that we do? Was he a madman, a genius? Can we picture him as a "normal" person? Was he part Jewish? Homosexual? And in any case, does any of this matter? We will investigate these questions and look back in films and texts to see how Hitler has been portrayed since the mid-1920s.
• Feb. 4, 2007: The Spring 2007 seminar will meet Tuesdays, 1-1:50, in HSSB 3201.
• Apr. 8, 2007: Those students who e-mailed me have received codes. We are very full at 24 students, but we'll make it work. The 2007 syllabus is now available online.
• May17, 2007: On May 21 we will have the following presentations:
1. Hitler's sexuality (Amanda G., Amanda W., Rachel, Edith)
2. Hitler as an artist (Morgan, Marc, Robby, Tricia)
3. Hitler and the A-bomb (Lauren, Brett, Giselle)
• May 23, 2007: On June 5 Prof. Ursula Mahlendorf will speak to our class about her memoir about growing up in Hitler's Germany. Be sure to read at least Chap. 4 about her time in the Hitler Youth, 1940-42, and Chap. 8, about the end of the war, in which she describes how she learned about Hitler's death/suicide, and how it affected her. Please start reading these this week, so we can begin discussion on May 29 and formulate questions we want to ask her.
  • On May 29 we will also have the following presentations:
1. Hitler's Health (Robert, Riccardo, Clayton, Bebe)
2. Hitler and the euthanasia program (Andrew, Brittany, Maris, Allison)
• Jan. 24, 2008: The UCSB Int94il website is now available, as is the list of all Spr08 freshman seminars. The course will meet Wed., 2-3pm. I am hoping to get a room that will allow us internet access, but for now the class meets in HSSB 2201.
  • See the 2007 Int94il syllabus for an idea of what we will do.
  • For Spring 2008 there will be one required book: Thomas Fuchs's A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler (New York: Berkley Books, 2000), $5 used, $8 new on amazon. (it will also be available at the UCen bookstore)
• Feb. 15, 2008: I've asked that the enrollment be closed on GOLD, and I've started a waiting list, which now has two names on it. If you would like to be added, please send me an e-mail.
• May 4, 2008: This is a reminder that we've rescheduled the 1940 Chaplin film *The Great Dictator* from this Monday to two weeks later: It will be on Monday, May 19, at 6:30pm in HSSB 4041 (same room as last time).
  • Last week we finally got some discussion going. For this Wednesday, please think up some questions you're interested in talking about.
• April 5, 2008: I sent this e-mail to the class today:
  One of you noticed that the book wasn't available at the campus bookstore. I just checked, and indeed the staff member never placed my order. You can get a used copy on amazon for pretty cheap (even after postage), and/or we can place a group order on Wednesday, so shipping prices won't play a role.
  I'll try to scan the first chapters and have a pdf available soon.
  Sorry for the mix-up.
  Prof. Marcuse
• May 29, 2008: Yesterday I completely forgot that I wanted to announce that a very unique Holocaust survivor will be speaking in one of my other classes in Campbell Hall today (Thursday, 5/29), at 12:30. I wasn't able to find a survivor who could speak to our seminar, and this presenter wanted to speak to the larger audience.
  • There was only one uprising in a concentration camp that led to a mass escape and the closure of a camp: the one in the Sobibor extermination center in eastern Poland on October 14, 1943.
  • About 700 prisoners were forced to run the machinery of murder in the camp; of several hundred who escaped that day, about 100 were able to escape the dragnet and Polish vigilantes and survive until the end of the war in May 1945. In 1944 the Nazis dug up the mass graves, burned the corpses that had been buried, demolished the camp buildings, plowed the site over and planted trees there.
  • Thomas Toivi Blatt, at 15 one of the youngest survivors, moved to the US after the war, and ultimately settled in Santa Barbara. He will be telling his story today, and showing clips from the 1987 film made about the uprising (which is, in my opinion, one of the very best films about the Holocaust ever made). (It will be shown in the MCC theater tomorrow at noon.)
  • For more information:
    Blatt's website about the uprising: <http://www.sobibor.info/index.html>
  • The Wikipedia page about the Sobibor camp.
  • Even if you can only come for part of it (enter/exit through the doors on the far sides), I think it will be worth your while to sit in.