The Holocaust and Other Genocides

by Smith, Helmut Walser

• ISBN13: 9780826514035
• ISBN10: 0826514030
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-05-01
• Publisher: Vanderbilt Univ Pr

Summary

The Nazi genocide of the Jews, while unique in some ways, was not the only genocide of the twentieth century. This innovative book, the product of a year-long collaboration of scholars from many disciplines, is the first curriculum to systematically tie the teaching of the Holocaust to an analysis of the genocides in Armenia, Bosnia and Kosovo, and Rwanda.The book consists of five parts: introduction; history of the Holocaust; representations of the Holocaust in literature, film, and the arts; other genocides; and ethics. The curriculum, shaped with feedback from those who teach Holocaust studies, consists mainly of primary documents and their analysis. Each section includes a general introduction to a body of knowledge that reflects current research and detailed introductions to particular documents. Throughout the book, there are provocative discussion questions and suggestions for further reading and other resources. Each section features "links" to other parts to encourage interdisciplinary reflection. The final section on ethics addresses the difficult questions raised by genocide.The Holocaust and Other Genocidesis designed as a model for flexible, innovative teaching about this complex subject. It is also a sophisticated, interdisciplinary effort to create the conditions for discussing and understanding the genocides of the twentieth century.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xv
Preface	xvii
Contributors	xxi
Part I History of the Holocaust	1	(90)
From Religious Prejudice to Racism	3	(10)
Images of Jews in the Medieval Period	7	(1)
The Jews and Their Lies by Martin Luther 1543	8	(2)
Political Statement by Adolf Hitler, September 16, 1919	10	(3)
Questions	11	(1)
Further Reading	12	(1)
The Creation of a Racist Society	13	(17)
Signs of Racism, Symbols of Segregation	18	(2)
Excerpts from the Texts of the Nuremberg Laws	20	(4)
Combating the Gypsy Nuisance by Heinrich Himmler, December 8, 1938	24	(1)
Report on Crystal Night from Berlin	25	(1)
Public Reactions to the Yellow Star and Deportations	26	(4)
Questions	27	(2)
Further Reading	29	(1)
The Killing Process	30	(41)
Protocol of the Wannsee Conference, January 20, 1942	38	(9)
Images of the Warsaw Ghetto	47	(1)
Excerpt from the Warsaw Ghetto Diary of Avraham Levin, Friday, June 5, 1942	48	(1)
Chaim Rumkowski's Address on the Deportation of the Children from the Lodz Ghetto, September 4, 1942	48	(2)
The Jager Report	50	(8)
Testimony of Hermann Graebe, November 10, 1945	58	(1)
Excerpts from There Once Was a World	59	(2)
Yaffa Eliach
German Railway Schedule, January 16, 1943	61	(3)
Abraham Kszepicki on Treblinka	64	(7)
Questions	66	(4)
Further Reading	70	(1)
Resistance and Rescue	71	(20)
Olga Lengyel, Resister in Auschwitz	78	(2)
From Page 12 of the Nashville Tennessean, June 30, 1942: 1,000,000 Jews Said Killed by Germans	80	(1)
Bishop of Munster, Clemens August Count von Galen, Protests ``Euthanasia'' Killings, August 3, 1941	81	(1)
Magda Trocme (of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon) in The Courage to Care	82	(9)
Questions	84	(2)
Further Reading	86	(1)
Timeline	87	(2)
Glossary	89	(2)
Part II Representations of the Holocaust in the Arts	91	(56)
Language and the Holocaust	93	(7)
A Comparison of Names	94	(6)
Questions	98	(2)
Literature and the Holocaust	100	(21)
Prose	100	(1)
Discussion of Elie Wiesel's Night	101	(3)
Discussion of Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale	104	(6)
Discussion of Tadeusz Borowski's This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen	110	(1)
Discussion of Ida Fink's ``The Shelter''	111	(2)
Poetry	112	(1)
The Butterfly	113	(1)
Pavel Friedmann
For My Child	114	(1)
Abraham Sutzkever
Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car	115	(1)
Dan Pagis
You Onlookers	116	(5)
Nelly Sachs
Questions	117	(3)
Further Reading	120	(1)
Monuments and Memorials	121	(10)
Warsaw Ghetto Monument	125	(3)
Treblinka	128	(3)
Questions	130	(1)
Photographs	131	(6)
Selection of Hungarian Jews for Extermination	132	(1)
Tower of Faces, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.	133	(2)
General Dwight Eisenhower and Other Officers Examine Corpses at Ohrdruf, April 12, 1945	135	(2)
Questions	136	(1)
Further Reading	136	(1)
Film	137	(10)
Discussion of Au revoir les enfants (Good-bye Children)	138	(4)
Discussion of Night and Fog (Nuit et brouilliard)	142	(5)
Questions	144	(1)
Other Films	145	(2)
Part III Other Genocides	147	(76)
The Armenian Genocide	149	(30)
The Armenians in the Ottoman Empire	150	(1)
The Armenians Under the Young Turks	151	(2)
Genocide	153	(1)
Perpetrators, Bystanders, Rescuers	154	(1)
International Response	155	(4)
Pan-Turkism: Excerpt from Ambassador Morgenthau's Story	159	(1)
Henry Morgenthau
The Deportations: Excerpt from the Report of Lieutenant Sayied Ahmed Moukhtar Baas, December 26, 1916	160	(2)
Talaat: Excerpt from Ambassador Morgenihau's Story	162	(4)
Henry Morgenthau
An Ambiguous Rescue Story: Excerpt from the Testimony of Aram Kilichjian	166	(1)
Report to the German Government: Letter from Ambassador Wolff-Metternich to Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg, July 10, 1916	167	(1)
Germany's Interests: Meeting of the Imperial Budget Committee, September 29, 1916, Notes of the State Secretary	168	(1)
Starting Over? Excerpt from Black Dog of Fare: An American Son Uncovers His Armenian Past	169	(10)
Peter Balakian
Questions	171	(4)
Timeline	175	(2)
Glossary	177	(1)
Further Reading	178	(1)
Bosnia and Kosovo	179	(22)
Background	180	(1)
Genocide	181	(3)
Perpetrators, Bystanders, Rescuers	184	(1)
International Response	184	(4)
Peter Maass in Conversation with a Serbian Woman	188	(1)
Chronology of ``Ethnic Cleansing''	189	(1)
Images of War by Children of Former Yugoslavia	190	(3)
The Mind of the Perpetrators	193	(1)
Days in the Life of Bosnian Inmates 1992	193	(8)
Questions	194	(2)
Timeline	196	(2)
Glossary	198	(2)
Further Reading	200	(1)
Rwanda	201	(22)
Tutsis and Hutus	202	(1)
Ideology and Propaganda	203	(1)
The Killing Begins	204	(1)
Perpetrators, Bystanders, Rescuers	205	(1)
International Response	206	(1)
Aftermath	206	(2)
Excerpt from Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda	208	(2)
Alison Des Forges
The Hutu Ten Commandments 1990	210	(1)
The Interahamwe: Excerpt from an Interview with Gloriose Mukakanimba, May 21, 1994	211	(1)
The Corruption of Language: Common Euphemisms of the Holocaust and the Genocide in Rwanda	212	(1)
Initial Response of the U.S. Government: Excerpt from a PBS Frontline Interview with Tony Marley, a Former Official of the U.S. State Department	213	(3)
Excerpt from President Bill Clinton's Address to the People of Rwanda, March 25, 1998	216	(7)
Questions	218	(3)
Timeline	221	(1)
Glossary	222	(1)
Further Reading	222	(1)
Part IV Ethics	223	(34)
Ethical Questioning	225	(32)
Is Prejudice a Prelude to Annihilation?	229	(3)
Is Genocide More Than Mass Murder?	232	(3)
What Is a Choiceless Choice and the Extent of Moral Blame?	235	(4)
How Does Good Happen?	239	(2)
What Are the Limits of Forgiveness and Reconciliation?	241	(3)
How Have Christians Responded to the Holocaust?	244	(4)
What Is the Relationship Between Ethics and Remembrance?	248	(9)
Questions	249	(5)
Further Reading	254	(3)
Index	257