About 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course, you will explore the Holocaust from the overlapping perspectives of literature and history—through memoirs, historical documents, poetry, documentary footage, filmic representations, and novels.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.
Created by: University of California, Santa Cruz
Taught by: Murray Baumgarten, Distinguished Professor of English & Comparative Literature
Literature
Taught by: Peter Kenez, Professor Emeritus
History
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Who were the Jews?
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.
13 videos, 7 readings
- Reading: Description
- Reading: Books and films
- Reading: Writing assignments
- Reading: Acknowledgements
- Reading: 1.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 1.1.1 Introductions
- Video: 1.1.2 Who were the Jews?
- Video: 1.1.3 Why do we study the Holocaust?
- Video: 1.1.4 Poetry and perspectives
- Reading: 1.1.5 Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car (English translation)
- Video: 1.2.1 Western European Jewry in the 19th century
- Video: 1.2.2 Jewish success and European antisemitism
- Video: 1.2.3 Jews in French society
- Video: 1.2.4 Roots of modern antisemitism
- Video: 1.2.5 Theodor Herzl
- Video: 1.3.1 Expectations of reality
- Video: 1.3.2 Hier ist kein warum
- Video: 1.3.3 Yiddish culture
- Video: 1.3.4 On Account of a Hat
- Reading: 1.3.5 On Account of a Hat (English translation)
WEEK 2
Prelude to the Holocaust
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.
19 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: 2.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 2.1.1 Eastern Europe in the 20th century
- Video: 2.1.2 Poland, part 1
- Video: 2.1.3 Poland, part 2
- Video: 2.1.4 Hungary, part 1
- Video: 2.1.5 Hungary, part 2
- Video: 2.1.6 Fear and hatred
- Video: 2.2.1 Liberal European culture
- Video: 2.2.2 Night, part 1
- Video: 2.2.3 Night, part 2
- Video: 2.2.4 Life in the Arbeitslager
- Video: 2.3.1 Jewry of the Russian Empire
- Video: 2.3.2 The Russian state
- Video: 2.3.3 Changing demographics
- Video: 2.3.4 Pogroms in the Russian Empire and the USSR
- Video: 2.3.5 Jewish identity
- Video: 2.4.1 The Bildungsroman, part 1
- Video: 2.4.2 The Bildungsroman, part 2
- Video: 2.4.3 The Bildungsroman, part 3
- Video: 2.4.4 The Bildungsroman, part 4
WEEK 3
Rise of the Nazis
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.
14 videos, 7 readings
- Reading: 3.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 3.1.1 Fascism
- Video: 3.1.2 Hitler and the Jews
- Video: 3.1.3 Germans and the Jews
- Video: 3.1.4 The rise of the Nazis
- Video: 3.1.5 Nazism in German culture
- Video: 3.2.1 Poetry and evil, part 1
- Video: 3.2.2 Poetry and evil, part 2
- Video: 3.2.3 Poetry and evil, part 3
- Video: 3.2.4 Todesfugue (Death Fugue)
- Reading: 3.2.5 Kaddish
- Reading: 3.2.6 Nightsong (English translation)
- Reading: 3.2.7 Death Fugue (English translation)
- Reading: 3.2.8 Todesfuge (German)
- Reading: 3.2.9 Memento Mori (English translation)
- Reading: 3.2.10 Memento Mori (Yiddish)
- Video: 3.3.1 Intentionalism and functionalism
- Video: 3.3.2 What do we do with the Jews?
- Video: 3.3.3 Why didn't they leave?
- Video: 3.3.4 The Anschluß and German pogroms
- Video: 3.3.5 Passing and not passing
WEEK 4
Beginnings of war
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.
15 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: 4.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 4.1.1 Questions for the Jews
- Video: 4.1.2 Direct acts of violence
- Video: 4.1.3 Fight for what?
- Video: 4.1.4 Eroticization of violence
- Video: 4.1.5 Resistance and agency
- Video: 4.2.1 Beginnings of war
- Video: 4.2.2 German war aims
- Video: 4.2.3 Ghettoes
- Video: 4.2.4 Jewish leadership
- Video: 4.2.5 What did the neighbors say?
- Video: 4.3.1 Language of trauma
- Video: 4.3.2 Banality of evil
- Video: 4.3.3 Schindler's List, part 1
- Video: 4.3.4 Schindler's List, part 2
- Video: 4.3.5 Guilt and responsibility
Graded: The Holocaust is still with us
WEEK 5
Witness to trauma
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.
16 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: 5.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 5.1.1 Wartime lunacy
- Video: 5.1.2 Einsatzgruppen, part 1
- Video: 5.1.3 Einsatzgruppen, part 2
- Video: 5.1.4 Pogroms in the east
- Video: 5.1.5 Forms of resistance
- Video: 5.2.1 Witness to trauma, part 1
- Video: 5.2.2 Witness to trauma, part 2
- Video: 5.2.3 Witness to trauma, part 3
- Video: 5.2.4 Witness to trauma, part 4
- Video: 5.3.1 Dora Sorell, part 1
- Video: 5.3.2 Dora Sorell, part 2
- Video: 5.3.3 Dora Sorell, part 3
- Video: 5.3.4 Dora Sorell, part 4
- Video: 5.3.5 Dora Sorell, part 5
- Video: 5.3.6 Dora Sorell, part 6
- Video: 5.3.7 Dora Sorell, part 7
WEEK 6
Establishment of the camps
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.
11 videos, 1 reading
- Reading: 6.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 6.1.1 The heart of the matter
- Video: 6.1.2 From labor to extermination
- Video: 6.1.3 Bełżec, Sobibór and Treblinka
- Video: 6.1.4 The task of killing
- Video: 6.1.5 Auschwitz
- Video: 6.1.6 Who knew about the murders?
- Video: 6.2.1 This Way for the Gas, part 1
- Video: 6.2.2 This Way for the Gas, part 2
- Video: 6.2.3 This Way for the Gas, part 3
- Video: 6.2.4 This Way for the Gas, part 4
- Video: 6.2.5 Memorials and understanding
Graded: Analysis of a Holocaust text or film
WEEK 7
Deportation and extermination
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.
20 videos, 3 readings
- Reading: 7.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 7.1.1 The Wansee Conference
- Video: 7.1.2 Denmark and Norway
- Video: 7.1.3 Belgium and Holland
- Video: 7.1.4 France and Italy
- Video: 7.1.5 Nazi looting
- Video: 7.2.1 Fatelessness, part 1
- Video: 7.2.2 Fatelessness, part 2
- Video: 7.2.3 Fatelessness, part 3
- Video: 7.2.4 Fatelessness, part 4
- Video: 7.2.5 Fatelessness, part 5
- Reading: 7.2.6 Never Say/Partisan Song (English translation)
- Reading: 7.2.7 Zog Nit Keyn Mol/Partizaner Lid (Yiddish)
- Video: 7.3.1 Deportation and extermination
- Video: 7.3.2 Antisemitic laws
- Video: 7.3.3 Germany and Hungary
- Video: 7.3.4 Separate peace
- Video: 7.3.5 Ambiguities
- Video: 7.4.1 A Scrap of Time, part 1
- Video: 7.4.2 A Scrap of Time, part 2
- Video: 7.4.3 A Scrap of Time, part 3
- Video: 7.4.4 A Scrap of Time, part 4
- Video: 7.4.5 A Scrap of Time, part 5
WEEK 8
The perpetrators, the neighbors, and the outside world
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.
11 videos, 2 readings
- Reading: 8.0.1 Topics, readings, and films
- Video: 8.1.1 Romania, part 1
- Video: 8.1.2 Romania, part 2
- Video: 8.1.3 Romania, part 3
- Video: 8.1.4 Romania, part 4
- Video: 8.1.5 A gigantic biological and social experiment
- Video: 8.2.1 The perpetrators
- Video: 8.2.2 Other types of madness
- Video: 8.2.3 The surrounding population
- Video: 8.2.4 The outside world
- Video: 8.2.5 Isolation
- Video: 8.2.6 Last testament
- Reading: 8.2.7 My Political Testament
Graded: Explore your ideas from the discussion forum
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Help from Your Peers
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Certificates
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
Creators
University of California, Santa Cruz
UC Santa Cruz is an outstanding public research university with a deep commitment to undergraduate education. It’s a place that connects people and programs in unexpected ways while providing unparalleled opportunities for students to learn through hands-on experience.
Ratings and Reviews
Absolutely adored this class and the instructors!! So much valuable information and first-hand experience, delightfully delivered in these special lectures.
This course really helped me to understand more about the Holocaust. I found the professors really engaging and really seemed to know what they were talking about. The peer review assignments were very good. Thank you so much, Coursera!
Took this course for job purposes. It is great for everyone, although I believe that people with some background in comparative literature will benefit from it the most,
Coursera provides universal access to the world’s best education, partnering with top universities and organizations to offer courses online.
© 2017 Coursera Inc. All rights reserved.
AT
A really interesting course which was packed with information. The focus on the Eastern European Jewry was particularly useful as it is not usually foregrounded on other courses. The session with Dora Sorrell was really fascinating and she is a wonderful speaker.