RS 386 Voices of the Holocaust
HSS 111
TR 11:10-12:25 PM
Spring 2015
Graduate Assistant: Ashley Combest
Email: acombest@utk.edu
Office Hours: same as professor’s
Gilya G. Schmidt, Ph.D.
1113 McClung Tower
974-2466
Office hours: TR 1-2 PM
and by appointment
Email: gschmidt@utk.edu
SYLLABUS
Learning Objectives:
Sadly, extremism and hatred have been growing in the United States since 9/11, making
the ultimate action of such attitudes more relevant than ever before in our country. The
objectives of this course are to familiarize students with the ideas of ethnic cleansing and
genocide, and the economic, religious, social and philosophical trends that contributed to
the genocide known as the Holocaust, to learn about the different aspects of the
Holocaust and the different populations affected by it. After taking this class, students
will be able to demonstrate an appreciation for the intersections with other academic
disciplines, as well as with broader social, cultural, and political phenomena. Students
will also have the methodological and theoretical skills to study genocide critically, and
the ability to construct clear written and oral arguments when discussing genocidal
activities.
Course Outcomes:
“Voices of the Holocaust” focuses on the historical event known as the Holocaust.
During the semester, we will examine the structure of genocide, various aspects of the
Holocaust, and other genocides. After completing this course, students will have
knowledge of the eight stages of genocide, the Holocaust, and several other genocides.
Course Requirements:
Required texts are: Mira Kimmelman, Echoes from the Holocaust: A Memoir; Michael
Berenbaum, The World Must Know; and Helmut Walser Smith, The Holocaust and Other
Genocides, as well as supplementary materials on Blackboard.
Students will keep a journal throughout the semester. One thoughtful entry per class
reading is required as well as entries on in-class videos and visitors.
Students are also required to 1) observe one of the religious services offered in the Jewish
community and to write a one-page reflection paper; 2) watch one out-of-class video
(either Hotel Rwanda or The Pianist) and write a two-page review; and 3) attend one of
the lectures offered by the Judaic Studies Program and write a two-page report.
There will be a comprehensive final exam.
Grading will be based on the following criteria:
1. Attendance and class participation 20%. Two unexcused absences are allowed, any
illnesses must be documented with a written doctor’s excuse. Additional unexcused
absences will subtract 3 points each from the attendance grade. Participation is defined
as contributing to the class discussion on the assigned readings.
2. Journal entries 40%.
3. Service reflection paper, video review, and lecture report will be combined for 20%.
Late submissions will subtract one half point from the assignment grade (a B will become
a B-).
4. Final exam 20%.
Make-up policy: If a student has three exams in one day, he/she may choose to move one
of the exams to a different day. This need as well as any other irregularities must be
discussed with the professor in advance of the scheduled exam date.
For table of grades and conversion from numerical to letter grades, see Blackboard.
Please check your email regularly for any messages sent via Blackboard.
For study aids, academic integrity, and disability information, please see the campus
syllabus on the Blackboard site.
Discrimination is not permitted:
The University of Tennessee prohibits discrimination against employees and students “on
the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual harassment, sexual orientation,
gender identity, marital status, parental status), national origin, age, disability, or
protected veteran status.”
Week I:
1/8
Introduction, books, Blackboard, journal.
Watch in-class video The Clinton 12. Journal entry #1 (Ashley).
Reminder: Attend synagogue or temple service before March
31.
Week II:
1/13
Watch in-class video, Paper Clips (Whitwell, TN).
Journal entry #2 (Ashley). Consider: What is the connection
between racism and anti-semitism?
1/15
Requirements. Overview of Judaism. Read “Chronology of
Jewish History” (Blackboard), and David J. Goldberg and John D.
Rayner, The Jewish People: Their History and Their Religion,
335-382 on the holidays and life cycle events (Blackboard). See
reserve copy of David J. Goldberg and John D. Rayner, The Jewish
People: Their History and Their Religion, in library as reference
work. Calendar (handout). Journal entry #3.
Reminder: Out of class, watch either Hotel Rwanda before
February 3, or The Pianist, before February 26.
Week III:
Week IV:
Week V:
Week VI:
Week VII:
Week VIII:
1/20
Overview of Judaism continued. Journal entry #4.
1/22
Holocaust and other Genocides. Read about the eight stages of
genocide in pamphlet, “1900-2000: A Genocidal Century,” 2629, on Blackboard. Journal entry #5.
1/27
Holocaust and other Genocides.
Read “Other Genocides,” and “Armenian Genocide,” 147-178 in
Smith, Holocaust. Journal entry #6.
Today is the 70th anniversary of the Auschwitz death march.
1/29
Holocaust and other Genocides cont’d.
In-class video on Armenian Genocide. Journal entry #7.
2/3
Read “Other Genocides” on Rwanda in Helmut Walser Smith, The
Holocaust and Other Genocides, 201-222. Journal entry #8.
Two-page review of Hotel Rwanda is due today.
2/5
Read “From Religious Prejudice to Racism,” 3-29 and 223-53,
in Smith, Holocaust, and Michael Berenbaum, The World Must
Know, 5-12.
In-class, viewing of video The Wave and discussion. Two journal
entries, #9 (on reading) and #10 (on video).
Collecting first half of journals today (A-L).
2/10
1933-35. Hitler comes to power, Nuremberg Laws, and Jewish
exclusion from German society. Read the “Timeline” in Smith,
Holocaust, 87-88 (Blackboard), and “The Takeover of Power,
1933” in Berenbaum, World, 12-39. Journal entry #11.
2/12
Evian Conference, Kristallnacht, and “St. Louis. Read “Expansion
Without War,” 39-46, and 49-56, in Berenbaum, World. Journal
entry #12.
2/17
Visitor: Trudy Dreyer. Journal entry #13.
2/19
Euthanasia Program. World War II. Poland and the Establishment
of Ghettoes, Concentration Camps and Slave Labor.
Read “The War Begins,” 56-92, and “Children,” 192-200;
“Resettlement in the East,” 116-7 and 128-131 in Berenbaum,
World. Journal entry #14.
2/24
Invasion of the Soviet Union. Einsatzgruppen and Forced Labor.
Read “Invasion of the Soviet Union,” 92-100, and “The Final Days
of a Shtetl,” 153-155, in Berenbaum, World. Read “The German
Occupation Regime on Occupied Territory in the USSR (1941-
1944),”128-41 in Berenbaum, Mosaic (Blackboard). Journal entry
#15.
2/26
Visitor: Dr. William Berez. Journal entry #16.
Two-page review of The Pianist is due today.
Tonight, 6 PM, showing of Searching for Baghdad: A
Daughter’s Journey in the Hodges Library Auditorium.
Sunday, March 1, showing of The Last Jews of Baghdad, at
12:30 PM at the AJCC.
One of these is required for lecture assignment, due March 26.
Week IX:
Week X:
Week XI:
Week XII:
Week XIII:
3/3
Wannsee Conference. Read “Wannsee Conference Protocol,”
38-46 in Smith, Holocaust, and “Wannsee Conference,” in
Berenbaum, World, 100-105. Journal entry #17.
3/5
Read Mira Kimmelman, Echoes from the Holocaust, 1-51. Journal
entry #18.
Collecting second half of journals today (M-Z).
3/10
Read Kimmelman, Echoes, 52-86. Journal entry #19.
3/12
Read Kimmelman, Echoes, 87-165. Journal entry #20.
3/17
Spring Break. No class.
3/19
Spring Break. No class.
3/24
Visitor: Mira Kimmelman. Journal entry #21.
3/26
Preparation for Murder, Soviet POWs, Death Camps.
Read “The Fate of the Soviet Prisoners of War,” 142-149, in
Berenbaum, Mosaic (Blackboard). Read “Implementing the Final
Solution,” 118-125, 132-143, and “Face-to-Face with Death, pp.
147-153, and see flow chart for mass murder on 124 in
Berenbaum, World. Journal entry #22.
Today two-page Carole Basri (Baghdad) lecture paper is due.
3/31
Resistance, Partisans, Nazi retaliation.
Read “The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising,” 105-109, and “Resistance
and Reprisal,” 171-181 in Berenbaum, World; also read about
resistance in Smith, Holocaust, pp. 71-86. Journal entry #23.
One-page synagogue reflection paper is due today.
Week XIV:
Week XV:
Week XVI:
4/2
Visitor: Art Pais. Journal entry #24.
4/7
Other Victims. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Gays. Read “Enemies of
the State,” 46-49, and Prisoners of the Camps,” 125-128 in
Berenbaum, World, and “Gay Prisoners in Concentration Camps,”
200-206, in Berenbaum, Mosaic (Blackboard). In-class video on
Jehova’s Witnesses. Two journal entries: #25 (on Gays) and #26,
on in-class video on JWs.
4/9
Sinti and Roma. In-class video on Sinti and Roma
genocide, Parroimos. On Sinti and Roma and medical
experiments, read Turner/Schmidt, National Socialism and Gypsies
in Austria, 106-127 on Blackboard. Two journal entries: #27, on
in-class video on Roma and Sinti, and #28, on medical
experiments.
4/14
Righteous Gentiles.
Read “Rescue,” in Berenbaum, World, 158-171.
All journals are due today.
4/16
Death marches and liberation.
Read “Death Marches” in Berenbaum, World, 181-192.
Today is Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day).
4/21
Liberation, DP camps, and return to life. Read “Displaced
Persons,” 207-222, and 2-5 in Berenbaum, World.
4/23
Last class. Review for final.
Final: Monday, May 4, 2015, 10:15-12:15 pm, in the
classroom.
Have a great summer!