The Holocaust

PSYC 3225/HRTS 3600

Professor: Dr. Linda M. Woolf

Office Hours:

Texts:

Course Description:

The Holocaust remains an unparalleled instance in human history of industrialized, systematic genocide. As such, the Holocaust has been examined extensively from a historical and political perspective. However, much less has been done to examine the Holocaust from a psychological or sociological perspective. Although there are questions related to the Holocaust that psychology/sociology can not answer, it is important to seek understanding through these questions. This course will use a psychological/sociological perspective to examine the groups of individuals associated with the Holocaust (perpetrators, victims, bystanders, resistance fighters, rescuers) noting that these groups are not always mutually exclusive. Issues to be explored include:

The roles that psychology, psychologists, and psychiatrists played during the Holocaust and the question, "Can it happen again?" also will be examined.

Course Objectives and Outcomes:

  1. Objective: To become more knowledgeable concerning the historical events of the Holocaust including the periods before, during, and after World War II. Outcome: Students will be able to outline the history of anti-Semitism from early Roman times through the Holocaust, the history of the Weimar Republic and the history of the Third Reich.
  2. Objective: To become familiar with the research on topics such as extreme prejudice and propaganda. Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the relationship between the research findings on prejudice/propaganda and the rise of Nazi Germany and the events of the Holocaust.
  3. Objective: To become familiar with the effects of extreme victimization (ie. torture, dehumanization, "choiceless-choice") on individuals and groups. To examine these effects both during and after the Holocaust. Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the research related to the psychological impact of extreme victimization on individuals and groups as it relates to the Holocaust.
  4. Objective: To explore the psychological/sociological nature of evil through an examination of the perpetrators (ie. Hitler, SS officers, einsatzgruppen) of the Holocaust. To explore the question of the "banality of evil". To question what enables individuals both individually and collectively to perpetrate evil/genocide. Outcome: Students will be able to articulate the primary psychological and sociological theories related to the perpetration of genocide. Students will also be able to discuss the research on topics such as obedience, conformity, diffusion of responsibility, bystander behavior. Students will be able to relate these theories and topics to the Holocaust.
  5. Objective: To examine the nature of resistance both active and passive as it occurred in the ghettos, concentration/extermination camp s, and throughout Europe. To question what enables individuals both individually (for example, individual rescuers) and collectively (for example, partisans) to resist genocide. Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the various forms of resistance that occurred during the Holocaust and relate this information to the debate concerning an appropriate definition for resistance during the Holocaust. Students will be able to discuss the research related to altruistic behavior as it relates to the Holocaust.
  6. Objective: To examine the nature of bystander behavior as it occurred in Europe and throughout the world and the impact of bystander behavior on the perpetration of genocide. Outcome: Students will be able to discuss the psychological and sociological research concerning bystander behavior and relate this research to the role of bystander behavior during the Holocaust.
  7. Objective: To examine the role of psychological/sociological theory, psychologists, and psychiatrists during the Holocaust. Outcome: Students will be able to discuss theories such as sociobiology and how these theories were used (misused) as a rationale for genocide. Students will be able to articulate the unique role that psychiatrists played as perpetrators of genocide. Students will also be able to identify several prominent individuals noted for their contributions to psychology/sociology who played an active role in support of Nazi Germany.
  8. Objective: To explore the question of "Can it happen again?". Outcome: Students will be able to address the question of "Can it happen again?" or possibly "Has it happened again?" drawing on all of the material learned in class.
Helen Fein in her introduction to Accounting for Genocide writes:
The demon to record, to cry out, to communicate possessed other Jews throughout Europe who did not have time or the materials with which to tell their story. Abba Kovner, Israeli poet and former resistance leader in Vilna, tells the story of one of these people. In the Vilna ghetto, after a raid by Lithuanian police in which Jews were removed, soon to be murdered in the Ponary forest, he entered what he thought was a deserted room in an empty house. There sat a man pushing the treadle of a sewing machine, under whose empty needle was a piece of white paper, punctuated by the needle's incision of the pattern of stitch-holes.

"What are you doing here?" Kovner asked.

"I am writing the history of the ghetto," the man replied.

"You are writing the history of the ghetto on paper on a sewing machine without thread?"

"When the war is over," the man replied, "there will be time to pull through the thread."

Fein continues:
I have tried to pull through the threads as best I can. Others may find a different pattern, and still others may note punctures that I have failed to see and complete the tale.
During our time this semester, let us work to pull through some of these threads together.

Class Meetings:

The class will meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 - 10:50. Classroom attendance and class discussion will greatly enhance your understanding of the material presented in this class. Also, material will be presented that is not in any of the books.

This course will be challenging for several reasons. First, it entails a fair amount of reading. If this is to be a good class, it is essential for everyone to do the reading, come to class, and be prepared to participate in the discussion. Second, this course is difficult because of its almost unrelieved concentration on human suffering and extreme, deliberately inflicted cruelty; the information presented in this class is difficult to read and difficult to discuss. There will be opportunities for class members to discuss thoughts and feelings that arise during the course.

Course Requirements:

Three quizzes, a eugenics project, a class presentation/oral history project, an analysis paper, and class participation/discussion.

All grades will be assigned on a scale of 0 - 10 with:

90 - 100 A-,A Excellent
80 - 89 B-,B,B+ Above Average
70 - 79 C-,C,C+ Average
60 - 69 D-,D,D+ Below Average
Less than 60 F Failing

Percent of Grade:

Quizzes 50%
Eugenics Project 10%
Presentation/Oral History Project 10%
Analysis Paper 20%
Class participation/Discussion 10%
Examinations: Exams will include multiple choice, matching, short answer, and essay. It will cover material presented in lecture, readings, and discussion. Three quizzes will given worth 50 percent of your final grade. All quizzes will be available on Canvas.

Eugenics Project: Students in pairs will work on a project to examine eugenic policies in the US, Germany, and another country of their choice, focusing specifically on the topic of forced sterilization. The results of the comparison will be shared and discussed in class. Additional details will be available on Canvas.

Presentation/Interview Project: Students will explore the the USHMM oral history collection and find an interview to present to the class. Additional details will be available on Canvas.

Analysis Paper: The purpose of the analysis paper is to provide you, the student, with the opportunity to explore the perpetration of the Holocaust from a psychological/sociological perspective in depth. The paper will consist of an evaluation of the autobiography of Rudolph Hoess in relation to material discussed in class and readings. Information concerning the Analysis Paper can be found on Convas.

Class Participation & Discussion: Please realize that your participation in this class is extremely important. As such, class participation will constitute 10 percent of your final grade. The class participation grade will derive from regular attendance and everyday discussion and analysis. Please be aware that missing class (both excused and unexcused absences) will impact your grade in this area.

Policy Statements:

Use of Electronic Devices in the Classroom: Please respect others in the class by turning off all cell phones and pagers before entering the room. Text messaging during class is not acceptable. Laptops may be used in class but are only to be utilized for class related activities (e.g., taking notes). If it becomes apparent you are using the computer for non-class activities (e.g., checking your email, playing games) then you may be asked to turn off your computer and refrain from bringing it into class in the future. Laptop use is restricted to the back or sides of the classroom so that other students are not distracted during lecture.

Plagiarism (attempting to pass off the work of another as one's own) is not acceptable. Plagiarism includes copying all or part of another's writings (even a single sentence), inappropriate paraphrasing, using another student's paper as your own, submitting a paper for more than one class. All papers will be submitted to the university's plagiarism database for review. Plagiarism, either intentional or unintentional, will result in a grade of 0 for that assignment and will be turned over to the appropriate university source for disciplinary action. In addition, cheating on exams will also result in the same fate.

See the Canvas Course writing page for more information about plagiarism, including the dangers of paraphrasing too closely and inappropriate quoting.

It should be noted that, as is common in many university courses, little time will be spent lecturing on topics adequately addressed by the text. Students are expected to arrive at class meetings having already read the material assigned, and to ask questions to clarify any areas that remain unclear. While every attempt will be made to explain or expand upon particularly difficult areas, the primary purpose of classroom lecture is to enhance, rather than to duplicate, the textbook material.

Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact me or the Director of the Academic Resource Center, as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations can be implemented in a timely fashion.

Late withdraws from this class will not be approved by the instructor except in cases of emergency discussed with the instructor. No late withdraws will be approved on the basis of poor class performance.

This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor's discretion. All changes concerning course requirements will be provided in writing. Changes concerning exam dates may be made at the instructor's discretion and communicated verbally to the class.

It is understood that remaining in this course (not dropping or withdrawing from this course) constitutes an agreement to abide by the terms outlined in this syllabus and an acceptance of the requirements outlined in this document.




Course Outline

The schedule below provides a general guideline to the semester and is flexible based on any need for additional discussion of a particular topic.

Week Ending Topic and Readings
January 21 Introduction to the Class
Scope of the Holocaust

January 28 A Psychosocial Model of Genocide

Readings:

  • Psychosocial roots of genocide: Risk, prevention, and intervention, by L. Woolf & M. Hulsizer in Journal of Genocide Research, 7, 101-128.

February 4, 11 Roots of the Holocaust:
  • Anti-Semitism and other Historic Prejudices
  • Theories of Stereotyping, Prejudice, & Discrimination
  • Nationalism

Readings:

  • Chapter 1 War & Genocide

  • Moral exclusion and injustice: An introduction, by S. Opotow in Journal of Social Issues, 46, 1-20. (Optional)

  • Social circumstances and factors that incite the upsurge of nationalism, in The Mass Psychology of Ethnonationalism, by D. Kecmanovic (Optional)

    • February 18A Culture in Crisis: Weimar Republic
    Rise of Nazism: A Monolithic Culture
    Anti-Jewish Policies: First Steps down the Path to Genocide

    Readings:

    • Chapters 2 - 3, War & Genocide

    Exam I -February 18 Due
    February 25 Hitler's Eugenics Theory - A Rationale for Genocide
    Non-Jewish Groups Targeted

    Readings:

    • Chapters 4 - 5, War & Genocide

    • Eugenics and Nazi race theory in practice, by George Mosse in The History and Sociology of Genocide, edited by F. Chalk & K. Jonassohn.
    Eugenics Project Due

    March 4, 11
    • The Mosaic of Victims

    Readings:

  • A mosaic of victims: Non-Jewish victims of Nazism, in Witness to the Holocaust, edited by M. Berenbaum pp. 102 - 111

  • "Mastering the past": Germans and Gypsies, by G. Tyrnauer in The History and Sociology of Genocide, edited by F. Chalk & K. Jonassohn (Optional)

    Oral History Presentations

    • Please make sure you have read Death Dealer: Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz over Spring Break.

    March 25, April 1 The Path Towards Genocide: Ghettoization, Concentration Camps, Slave Labor
    • Einsatzgruppen
    • Operation Reinhard Camps
    • Auschwitz

    Readings:

    • Chapter 6, 7, 8 War & Genocide

    • One day in Jozefow: Initiation to mass murder, by C. Browning in Lessons and Legacies, edited by P. Hayes

    • Babi Yar, in Witness to the Holocaust, edited by M. Berenbaum

    • Hitler's plan to exterminate the Jews, in Witness to the Holocaust, edited by M. Berenbaum

    Oral History Presentations
    April 8 Life on the Path to Genocide

    Readings:

    • Chapters 9, War & Genocide

    • Torture, in At the Mind's Limit, by J. Amery

    • Choiceless choices, in Witness to the Holocaust, edited by M. Berenbaum

    • The will to witness, in The Survivor, by T. Des Pres

    • Excremental assault, in The Survivor by T. Des Pres

    • At the mind's limit, in At the Mind's Limit, by J. Amery (Optional)

    Exam II - April 8 Due
    April 15, 22 Perpetrators, Rescuers, and Bystanders

    Readings:

    • Chapter 9, War & Genocide

    • Forms of Jewish resistance, by Y. Bauer in The Holocaust, edited by D. Niewyk

    • Victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers in the face of genocide and its aftermath, by E. Fogelman in Genocide, War, and Human Survival, edited by C. Strozier & M. Flynn.

    • The abandonment of the Jews, by D. Wyman in The Holocaust, edited by D. Niewyk

    • In pursuit of Sugihara: The banality of good, by H. Levine in Genocide, War, and Human Survival, edited by C. Strozier & M. Flynn. (Optional)

    • The call to arms, in Witness to the Holocaust, edited by M. Berenbaum

    • The Warsaw Ghetto uprising, in Witness to the Holocaust, edited by M. Berenbaum

    • The personality of the perpetrator in Mass Hate, by N. Kressel (Optional)

    April 29, May 6 Liberation and Beyond
    Final Thoughts

    Readings:

    • Chapter: Conclusion, War & Genocide

    Final Exam Week Final Exam


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