Holocaust and Memory — HIS

Instructor: Dr. Andrea PETŐ
E mail: petoand@t-online.hu Time: Tuesday 14.15- 17.00

Required Text: Reader available at the administration
Imre Kertesz, Fateless. Northwestern University Press, 1992.
Available at the CEU Bookshop 5th district. Zrinyi 18, Tel: 327 3096, Website: www.ceu.hu, E-mail: bookshop@ceu.hu, Metro: M1 Deák tér/M2 Kossuth tér, Open: Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm.


Course description
The course aims to explain how the Holocaust happened, how "ordinary men" became ruthless killers and how everybody else let it go on, remains one of the most perplexing issues of the twentieth century, if not all of history. The frame of the discussion will be an overview of history of Nazism in Europe and consideration of such issues as the problems of doing Holocaust history, representations of the Holocaust, and Holocaust memory. The course also aims to interrogate the emerging field created by the intersection of Jewish Studies and memory to study the literary and artistic representation of the Holocaust. The course covers the topics of how Memory of Holocaust is inscribed, framed, mediated and performed. The course also consists of field trips to the Jewish monuments of Hungary and to major memorial sites.

COURSE REQUIREMENT:
Classes will consist of lectures and discussions. You are expected to read the readings and check the required websites before the class. The discussions are an integral part of the course and your participation in them and engagement with the material will be factored into final grades. Familiarity with readings and films is crucial for success in the course. Course requirements a photo paper (30%) and one paper from the list of papers (50%) and an active participation in class discussions and in the field trips. (20%) The papers should follow clear structure (introduction, statement, discussion, conclusion, bibliography -min 3. references no wikipedia) and should demonstrate your ability to master the required readings.

Photo exercise (30%)

Bring a one photo print out of to the class with references that you think has got the most meaning for you about Holocaust and connect it with key concept(s) from the readings! Be prepared to share your thoughts with the class! Your paper will be evaluated based on having a clear structure (introduction, statement, description of the empirical base, analyses, conclusion, and bibliography min. 3 titles).

Papers (1500 words total, use MLA style) (50%)

Choose ONE from the list! Discuss with me your choice and submit the draft of your paper!
1. Read the novel by Kertesz and choose one topic for analysing it! For help see the emailed Tottosy-Vasvari volume.
2. After the visit of the Holocaust Memorial Center analyze how the different representations and sources mediate the Holocaust to the visitors!
3. Compare your own experiences with the textbooks: how to teach the Holocaust! How do the national contexts influence the content?
4. Analyse the different forms of representations in the Jewish Museum and Archive and connect it to the politics of memory!
5. Based on the transcript of the Ravensbrueck film: answer to the question: who were the victims of the Nazi regime, what kind of narrative strategies are they using, how do they rationalise what happened to them, what were the form of resistance?
6. Choose one testimony from http://videos.centropa.org/and analyse the narrative strategies! How "facts" are represented in the stories? How personal and "real" history are intertwined?

Guidelines for reading

1. Compare the information in the articles with the novel you have read, would the same argument apply? Why? Why not? What are the differences?
2. How does the reading of these articles change your view of the Holocaust?
3. Whose problems are being addressed in these articles, who is asking questions, who provides the answers and who may profit from the knowledge and insights provided by these historians?
4. How do the historical scholarship and mainstream academia address the issue of experiences?

For basic history and links see http://www2.dsu.nodak.edu/users/dmeier/Holocaust/holocau.html

Timeline http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html