The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry

Instructors: Murray Baumgarten

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8 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

192 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

8 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

192 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

3 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

What you'll learn

Describe the origins and development of antisemitism.
Explain the role of emancipation, acculturation, and assimilation on European Jewry.
Describe the political and social environment of 1930s Germany.

Skills you'll gain

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There are 8 modules in this course

The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry is an adaptation of an on-campus course that has been co-taught by Murray Baumgarten, Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature (Literature Department), and Peter Kenez, Professor Emeritus (History Department), for over 20 years at UC Santa Cruz.

In this course, you will explore the Holocaust from the overlapping perspectives of literature and history—through memoirs, historical documents, poetry, documentary footage, filmic representations, and novels. You will expand your knowledge of the literature of the Holocaust, Eastern and Western European Jewish communities, the origins and development of antisemitism, the establishment of labor and extermination camps, resistance movements, and the Holocaust as a problem for world history. There is more than one way to take this course: You can complete all of the activities (and earn a Verified Certificate) or only the activities that are most interesting to you. Whatever you choose to do, we encourage you to find a havruta (a study partner) in your community or in the Coursera community so that you can experience the course in a more interactive and meaningful way.

This module is an introduction to the study of the Holocaust and a prehistory of the Holocaust. Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the roots of modern antisemitism, the culture of European Jews in the 19th century, Nehama Tec’s Dry Tears, and the various genres of Holocaust literature. The module also contains general information about the course.

What's included

13 videos7 readings

13 videos Total 161 minutes

1.1.1 Introductions 14 minutes
1.1.2 Who were the Jews? 7 minutes
1.1.3 Why do we study the Holocaust? 12 minutes
1.1.4 Poetry and perspectives 16 minutes
1.2.1 Western European Jewry in the 19th century 10 minutes
1.2.2 Jewish success and European antisemitism 14 minutes
1.2.3 Jews in French society 14 minutes
1.2.4 Roots of modern antisemitism 7 minutes
1.2.5 Theodor Herzl 11 minutes
1.3.1 Expectations of reality 13 minutes
1.3.2 Hier ist kein warum 11 minutes
1.3.3 Yiddish culture 13 minutes
1.3.4 On Account of a Hat 18 minutes

7 readings Total 70 minutes

Description 10 minutes
Books and films 10 minutes
Writing assignments 10 minutes
Acknowledgements 10 minutes
1.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes
1.1.5 Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car (English translation) 10 minutes
1.3.5 On Account of a Hat (English translation) 10 minutes

In this module Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the changing demographics and political landscape of early 20th century Eastern Europe, Jewish identity, the Bildungsroman, Silvano Arieti’s The Parnas, Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz, Aharon Appelfeld’s Badenheim 1939, and Elie Wiesel’s Night.

What's included

19 videos1 reading

19 videos Total 231 minutes

2.1.1 Eastern Europe in the 20th century 9 minutes
2.1.2 Poland, part 1 10 minutes
2.1.3 Poland, part 2 8 minutes
2.1.4 Hungary, part 1 11 minutes
2.1.5 Hungary, part 2 12 minutes
2.1.6 Fear and hatred 6 minutes
2.2.1 Liberal European culture 10 minutes
2.2.2 Night, part 1 12 minutes
2.2.3 Night, part 2 15 minutes
2.2.4 Life in the Arbeitslager 15 minutes
2.3.1 Jewry of the Russian Empire 18 minutes
2.3.2 The Russian state 16 minutes
2.3.3 Changing demographics 9 minutes
2.3.4 Pogroms in the Russian Empire and the USSR 14 minutes
2.3.5 Jewish identity 7 minutes
2.4.1 The Bildungsroman, part 1 8 minutes
2.4.2 The Bildungsroman, part 2 19 minutes
2.4.3 The Bildungsroman, part 3 20 minutes
2.4.4 The Bildungsroman, part 4 12 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

2.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes

In this module Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the political and social environment of 1930s Germany, the Jewish question, and the treatment of evil in poetry.

What's included

14 videos7 readings

14 videos Total 173 minutes

3.1.1 Fascism 13 minutes
3.1.2 Hitler and the Jews 15 minutes
3.1.3 Germans and the Jews 13 minutes
3.1.4 The rise of the Nazis 12 minutes
3.1.5 Nazism in German culture 5 minutes
3.2.1 Poetry and evil, part 1 14 minutes
3.2.2 Poetry and evil, part 2 16 minutes
3.2.3 Poetry and evil, part 3 7 minutes
3.2.4 Todesfugue (Death Fugue) 17 minutes
3.3.1 Intentionalism and functionalism 20 minutes
3.3.2 What do we do with the Jews? 15 minutes
3.3.3 Why didn't they leave? 13 minutes
3.3.4 The Anschluß and German pogroms 6 minutes
3.3.5 Passing and not passing 8 minutes

7 readings Total 70 minutes

3.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes
3.2.5 Kaddish 10 minutes
3.2.6 Nightsong (English translation) 10 minutes
3.2.7 Death Fugue (English translation) 10 minutes
3.2.8 Todesfuge (German) 10 minutes
3.2.9 Memento Mori (English translation) 10 minutes
3.2.10 Memento Mori (Yiddish) 10 minutes

In this module Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the conditions that were necessary for the Holocaust to occur, the early events of World War II, Thomas Kenneally’s Schindlers List, Andres Schwartz-Bart’s The Last of the Just, and questions of guilt and responsibility.

What's included

15 videos1 reading1 peer review

15 videos Total 188 minutes

4.1.1 Questions for the Jews 14 minutes
4.1.2 Direct acts of violence 15 minutes
4.1.3 Fight for what? 13 minutes
4.1.4 Eroticization of violence 13 minutes
4.1.5 Resistance and agency 5 minutes
4.2.1 Beginnings of war 10 minutes
4.2.2 German war aims 11 minutes
4.2.3 Ghettoes 16 minutes
4.2.4 Jewish leadership 14 minutes
4.2.5 What did the neighbors say? 12 minutes
4.3.1 Language of trauma 15 minutes
4.3.2 Banality of evil 16 minutes
4.3.3 Schindler's List, part 1 10 minutes
4.3.4 Schindler's List, part 2 17 minutes
4.3.5 Guilt and responsibility 5 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

4.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes

1 peer review Total 120 minutes

The Holocaust is still with us 120 minutes

In this module Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the invasion of the Soviet Union, Thomas Kenneally’s Schindler’s List, and questions of witnessing. Guest speaker Dora Sorell shares her own experience of the Holocaust.

What's included

16 videos1 reading

16 videos Total 185 minutes

5.1.1 Wartime lunacy 7 minutes
5.1.2 Einsatzgruppen, part 1 14 minutes
5.1.3 Einsatzgruppen, part 2 15 minutes
5.1.4 Pogroms in the east 7 minutes
5.1.5 Forms of resistance 18 minutes
5.2.1 Witness to trauma, part 1 13 minutes
5.2.2 Witness to trauma, part 2 15 minutes
5.2.3 Witness to trauma, part 3 18 minutes
5.2.4 Witness to trauma, part 4 12 minutes
5.3.1 Dora Sorell, part 1 9 minutes
5.3.2 Dora Sorell, part 2 7 minutes
5.3.3 Dora Sorell, part 3 8 minutes
5.3.4 Dora Sorell, part 4 9 minutes
5.3.5 Dora Sorell, part 5 9 minutes
5.3.6 Dora Sorell, part 6 13 minutes
5.3.7 Dora Sorell, part 7 11 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

5.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes

In this module Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the establishment of labor and extermination camps, memorialization, Tadeusz Borowski’s This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Christopher Browning’s Ordinary Men.

What's included

11 videos1 reading1 peer review

11 videos Total 121 minutes

6.1.1 The heart of the matter 11 minutes
6.1.2 From labor to extermination 13 minutes
6.1.3 Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka 11 minutes
6.1.4 The task of killing 6 minutes
6.1.5 Auschwitz 11 minutes
6.1.6 Who knew about the murders? 9 minutes
6.2.1 This Way for the Gas, part 1 13 minutes
6.2.2 This Way for the Gas, part 2 7 minutes
6.2.3 This Way for the Gas, part 3 21 minutes
6.2.4 This Way for the Gas, part 4 11 minutes
6.2.5 Memorials and understanding 8 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

6.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes

1 peer review Total 120 minutes

Analysis of a Holocaust text or film 120 minutes

In this module Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the Holocaust in Western Europe, the complex history of Hungary, Imre Kertész’s Fatelessness, and Ida Fink’s A Scrap of Time.

What's included

20 videos3 readings

20 videos Total 233 minutes

7.1.1 The Wansee Conference 16 minutes
7.1.2 Denmark and Norway 18 minutes
7.1.3 Belgium and Holland 8 minutes
7.1.4 France and Italy 17 minutes
7.1.5 Nazi looting 8 minutes
7.2.1 Fatelessness, part 1 8 minutes
7.2.2 Fatelessness, part 2 7 minutes
7.2.3 Fatelessness, part 3 13 minutes
7.2.4 Fatelessness, part 4 13 minutes
7.2.5 Fatelessness, part 5 7 minutes
7.3.1 Deportation and extermination 17 minutes
7.3.2 Antisemitic laws 7 minutes
7.3.3 Germany and Hungary 19 minutes
7.3.4 Separate peace 11 minutes
7.3.5 Ambiguities 8 minutes
7.4.1 A Scrap of Time, part 1 9 minutes
7.4.2 A Scrap of Time, part 2 15 minutes
7.4.3 A Scrap of Time, part 3 11 minutes
7.4.4 A Scrap of Time, part 4 10 minutes
7.4.5 A Scrap of Time, part 5 11 minutes

3 readings Total 30 minutes

7.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes
7.2.6 Never Say/Partisan Song (English translation) 10 minutes
7.2.7 Zog Nit Keyn Mol/Partizaner Lid (Yiddish) 10 minutes

In this module Profs. Baumgarten and Kenez discuss the unique case of Romania, the culpability of the outside world, and the end of World War II. The text of Adolf Hitler’s last testament is provided.

What's included

11 videos2 readings1 peer review

11 videos Total 107 minutes

8.1.1 Romania, part 1 15 minutes
8.1.2 Romania, part 2 8 minutes
8.1.3 Romania, part 3 11 minutes
8.1.4 Romania, part 4 13 minutes
8.1.5 A gigantic biological and social experiment 8 minutes
8.2.1 The perpetrators 8 minutes
8.2.2 Other types of madness 8 minutes
8.2.3 The surrounding population 8 minutes
8.2.4 The outside world 5 minutes
8.2.5 Isolation 13 minutes
8.2.6 Last testament 11 minutes

2 readings Total 20 minutes

8.0.1 Topics, readings, and films 10 minutes
8.2.7 My Political Testament 10 minutes

1 peer review Total 120 minutes

Explore your ideas from the discussion forum 120 minutes

Instructors

Instructor ratings

(27 ratings)

Murray Baumgarten

University of California, Santa Cruz

2 Courses 22,656 learners

Peter Kenez

University of California, Santa Cruz

3 Courses 77,754 learners

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University of California, Santa Cruz

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Reviewed on Aug 5, 2021

If I did not cite when rating this course, THANK YOU to both professors, Coursera, and all involved in making this valuable course available!! Rick

Reviewed on Aug 27, 2019

Lots of work, only 3 short papers, but lots of reading. Very interesting and enjoyable. Really went into depth with lots of history and literature discussed. Informative lectures.

Reviewed on Nov 25, 2015

This was very interesting, I had to keep listening, it made it so personal. (I had relatives who perished in Minsk) Excellent course and fascinating tutors.

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