About this course: The Holocaust was an inconceivable historical event, which forever robbed Western culture of its innocence. As civilized human beings, we fail to understand how events of such horror could have taken place, and how an idea so inhumanly warped could have spread like wildfire through an entire continent, instigating the systematic annihilation of millions of Jews. This free online course was produced jointly by Tel Aviv University and Yad Vashem – the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. This course is the second of the two courses and covers three themes in its three weeks: Week 1: The Final Solution We’ll look at the cultural and mental processes that paved the way to the comprehensive and systematic mass murder of Jews in Europe – that is, the Final Solution. As part of this hard lesson we will discuss the various characteristics of the murder sites and death camps, and reveal selected aspects of the horror that occurred in them. Week 2: Jewish and Non-Jewish Responses to the Holocaust We will try to explore questions regarding knowledge about the application of the Final Solution, as well as a variety of responses and annihilation of victims, local populations and perpetrators. Week 3: The End of the War We will dedicate this lesson to the events that occurred in the last years of the Holocaust, as well as questions of memory, commemoration and future research. We strongly recommend that you register for "The Holocaust - An Introduction (I): Nazi Germany: Ideology, The Jews and the World" as well. Taking both parts of the course would enable you to obtain a fuller and more comprehensive knowledge about The Holocaust. This online course is offered in an innovative, multi-level format, comprising: Comprehensive lectures by leading researchers from Tel Aviv University and Yad Vashem. A wealth of voices and viewpoints presented by guest lecturers Numerous documents, photos, testimonies and works of art from the time of the Holocaust. Novel learning experience: Crowdsourcing – involving the learners themselves in the act of collecting and shaping information, via unique, exciting online assignments.
Created by: Tel Aviv University, Yad Vashem
Taught by: Professor Havi Dreifuss, PhD, Professor
Havi Dreifuss is a historian of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe; senior lecturer in the Department of Jewish History at TAU; heads the Center for Research of Holocaust History in Poland, Yad Vashem.
Taught by: Dr Na'ama Bela Shik, PhD, Director, Educational Technology Department, The International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem
The International School for Holocaust Studies, Yad Vashem
| Commitment | 3 weeks of study, 1-2 hours/week |
| Language | English, Subtitles: Hebrew, Spanish |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
The Final Solution and the Drive for Eliminating All Jews and All Perceived Jewish "Influences"
This lesson will be devoted to the cultural and mental processes which paved the way to the comprehensive and systematic mass murder of Jews. We will deal with the specific decision-making process regarding the murder of the entire European Jewry, the implementation of the initial murder, the broadening circle of killing, and the early Jewish reactions to the "Final Solution".
7 videos, 2 readings
- Неоцениваемый плагин: Opening survey
- Video: Introduction
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Ian Kershaw, “Hitler’s Role in the ‘Final Solution’”
- Video: Early “solutions” of the Jewish problem
- Video: The final solution: who decided, when and how?
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Christopher Browning, "Initiating the Final Solution: The Fateful Months of September-October 1941"
- Video: Killing Sites
- Video: Camp Universe
- Video: Last Unit
- Вопрос для обсуждения: Dehumanization
WEEK 2
Jewish and Non-Jewish Responses to the Holocaust
We will look at a broad spectrum of questions, including: "As Lambs to the Slaughter"? Choiceless choices? Did the world remain silent? Why were Auschwitz and Birkenau not bombed? And more. Discussion of the various issues and frameworks will challenge the existing definitions regarding resistance and rescue, and examine patterns of cooperation with persecutors alongside rebellious acts by Jews and non-Jews alike. As part of this important discussion, we will return to our previous examination of the Jewish leadership and re-evaluate the responses of various Jewish leaders to the annihilation campaign, while pointing out the complexities of the subject matter.
6 videos, 4 readings
- Video: Jewish Reactions in the face of death - Leadership
- Video: Jewish Reactions in the face of death - Resistance
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Nechama Tec, "Jewish Resistance: Facts, Omissions and Distortions"
- Video: Jewish Reactions in the face of death - Rescue
- Вопрос для обсуждения: Caught in the Nazi Trap
- Video: Reactions of non Jews to the Holocaust
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Jan Grabowski, “Rural Society and the Jews in Hiding: Elders, Night Watches, Firefighters, Hostages and Manhunts”
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Jan Grabowski, "Rescue for Money: Paid Helpers in Poland, 1939-1945"
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Alina Skibińska and Jakub Petelewicz, “The Participation of Poles in Crimes against Jews in the Świętokrzyskie Region”
- Video: How was it humanly possible?
- Вопрос для обсуждения: The Humanity of Human Reactions
Graded: Mid-course quiz
WEEK 3
The Free World, the last months, the Aftermath and the Implications
This lesson will describe the steps taken by Nazi Germany, with the Allied advance across Europe, to increase efforts to exterminate the Jews and to destroy all evidence of their crimes. We will deal with questions of memory and commemoration, examine the significance of the Holocaust for different audiences, and present the latest research in the field of Holocaust studies.
6 videos, 2 readings
- Вопрос для обсуждения: Could the World Have Done More?
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: David Silberklang, " The Allies and the Holocaust: A Reappraisal"
- Video: The End: Year 1944
- Video: The Anguish of Liberation
- Вопрос для обсуждения: Where was the Basic Urge for Revenge?
- Материал для самостоятельного изучения: David Bankier, "The Germans and The Holocaust: What Did They Know?"
- Video: Memory, commemoration and long term effects
- Вопрос для обсуждения: The Holocaust in our Daily Lives
- Video: Holocaust research - what is still unknown + facing the future
- Video: The Holocaust - An Introduction
- Вопрос для обсуждения: End of Course Discussion
- Неоцениваемый плагин: Post Course Survey
Graded: What have you learnt in this course?
FAQs
How It Works
Задания курса
Каждый курс — это интерактивный учебник, который содержит видеоматериалы, тесты и проекты.
Помощь сокурсников
Общайтесь с тысячами других учащихся: обсуждайте идеи, материалы курса и помогайте друг другу осваивать новые понятия.
Сертификаты
Получите документы о прохождении курсов и поделитесь своим успехом с друзьями, коллегами и работодателями.
Creators
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) is Israel's largest institution of higher learning – with over 30,000 students and more than 125 schools and departments in nine faculties. Global in outlook and impact, it is consistently ranked among the world's top 100 universities, as well as the top 20 institutions in terms of scientific citations. A spirit of openness and innovation is evident in all of TAU's teaching and research activities, breaking down barriers between disciplines, and boldly striving to address the twenty-first century's most pressing challenges.
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem, the world Holocaust remembrance center, stands resolute in its dedication to Holocaust education, remembrance, documentation and research. Located on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem continues to develop advanced educational tools and utilize cutting-edge technology in order to bring its world-class research facilities, flourishing archives, groundbreaking educational initiatives and steadfast commitment to Shoah remembrance to an ever-growing global audience.
Ratings and Reviews
Excellent! Incredibly enriching.
the course offered a very good insight into the general themes of the holocaust with personal testimonies from victims, expert analyse from historians and scholars, all put into a very interesting and intriguing course that shows the deepest darkest days of humanity from a perspective of many angles. despite having pasted several courses of holocaust historiography i found this course very informative and would be great for a beginner without great knowledge of the period.
Excellent course. Really well taught. Encourages participation and thought by the student. Wide range of very good resources in both part 1 and part 2. Thank you very much!
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Two amazing, devastating and heartbreaking courses (Part I and Part II). The Holocaust is the most horrific event in the History of Humankind. The Holocaust was a crime against humanity. The biggest ever. Everybody should denounce it. I wish everybody would do this course. I have read a lot about the Holocaust and I still wonder: how is possible that the Holocaust happened? My view about both the humankind and "God" (between brackets because I do not believe in God -God died in Auschwitz) is absolutely pessimistic. Why? Because of the Holocaust. Thank you so much for this amazign and interesting course. Let's never forget the millions of innocent men, women and children who died in the gas chambers, the ghettos and in the bloody hands of the Einsatzgruppen / Antonia Tejeda Barros