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Home , History of Germany, Nikolaus Wachsmann, Timothy Mason

HIS456 Nazi

University of Southern Mississippi, Fall 2009 MWF 1:00-1:50, LAB 101

Professor Jeff Bowersox Office: LAB 454 Email: [email protected] Phone: 601 266 4519 Office Hours: M-W 10:30-12:00 or by appointment

Course website: http://ocean.otr.usm.edu/~w783828/Jeff_Bowersox/Nazi_Germany.html

Course Description: In this seminar course, students will grapple with the significance of the Nazi era for modern German . The course‘s topics will include the origins of the movement, its growth and rise to power in the unstable environment of the Republic, the National Socialists‘ utopian vision and their various efforts to implement it, and the relationship between state and society. Students will also consider the of everyday life in the Third , the persecution of Jews and other minorities, the uses of terror, the horrific culmination of the regime‘s ideological goals in the Second World War and , and, finally, the memory of the period. Class meetings will focus on intensive discussion of assigned readings and various primary sources, including texts, images, films, and a graphic novel.

Course objectives Upon completion of this course, students will be able to  explain the rise of Hitler‘s Nazi party to power, the basis of its legitimacy as a government, the relationship between state and society, and the various and murderous efforts to purify and strengthen the Volksgemeinschaft.  discuss, with sophistication and in public, major debates surrounding the Nazi era.  carry out analytical research projects based on both primary and secondary sources.

Course materials Required course materials can be found at Campus Book Mart (2906 Hardy – next to Javawerks) and the Barnes & Noble on campus. You can also find used copies at very affordable prices from such sites as www.addallbooks.com, www.half.com, www.choosebooks.com, www.alibris.com, www.abebooks.com, and www.amazon.com.

Required: Caplan, Jane. (Short Oxford History of Germany). New York: , 2008. ISBN: 9780199276875. Available online from $20.00. (Ca) Crew, David, ed. Nazism and German Society 1933-1945. New York: Routledge, 1994. ISBN: 9780415082402. Available on-line from $18.00. (Cr) Gellately, Robert and Nathan Stoltzfus. Social Outsiders in Nazi Germany. Princeton, N.j.: Princeton University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780691086842. Available online from $12.00. (SO)

1 Spiegelman, Art. The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. New York: Pantheon, 1996. ISBN: 9780679406419. Available online from $10.00 and in various versions (make sure you get volumes 1 and 2). Stackelberg, Roderick and Sally A. Winkle, eds. The Nazi Germany Sourcebook: An Anthology of Texts. New York: Routledge, 2002. ISBN: 9780415222141. Available online from $15.00. Selected materials available through Reserves and e-journals (R), which will be accessible through the library website, and elsewhere online as indicated.

Recommended: Taylor, James and Warren Shaw. The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich (New York: Penguin, 1997).

Assessment

In-class participation 20% Informal responses 20% Mini-research essays (5 pages, x4, 15% each) 60% Total 100%

Assignments

In-class participation (20%) This is a discussion seminar and not a lecture class. That means that students must actively engage with the ideas presented in the readings as well as with the ideas and interpretations expressed by their colleagues and professor. Speaking out is thus required to succeed in this class. Participating can take many forms: answering specific questions, raising new questions, responding to statements made by others, even asking for clarification. Regardless, participation must be relevant to the course materials, which means that students must keep up with the readings. Shyness will not excuse a lack of participation, but if students with concerns come to me, I have a variety of strategies to help.

Because in-class discussion is so important to the success of the class as a whole, students are allowed four absences over the course of the semester, for whatever reason (although unexcused absences may still count against the participation grade). Do not use them frivolously, as each absence beyond the fourth will result in a penalty of 2% off of the student’s final grade.

Informal responses (20%) The class will be broken up into a number of groups (probably 5, but this will depend ultimately on the number of students in the class), each of which will be responsible (in rotation) for providing written responses to the class readings. For each of their assigned days, students will write a think piece of at least 150 words that will serve as a starting point for the class‘s discussion. Do not summarize the reading, but rather provide a thoughtful response to the reading. Questions that you may consider include: What is the author‘s argument? Is the evidence convincing? What remained unclear to you after reading the piece? What questions does this raise in your mind? How do the readings relate readings from previous classes? At the end of each response, you must pose 2 questions to ask the rest of the class. You will be graded less on your style and more on the thoughtfulness of your response.

Responses will be posted to www.turnitin.com (see below for instructions on how to register) at least 24 hours in advance of the class (i.e. 1:00pm on the day before the class meeting) so that the professor and other students can have time to review them before discussion. Late responses will not be accepted.

Short research essays (choose 4 of 5, 5 pages, 15% each) Students will write 4 essays of 5 pages apiece. Each will provide a thoughtful, well-supported argument that specifically addresses a question posed by the professor. These are essentially mini-

2 research essays that will require reference to both secondary and primary sources. While the assigned course materials should form the basis of your answer, you are required to use at least two primary sources (from Stackelberg and Winkle, for example). You are, of course, encouraged to use appropriately scholarly outside resources as well. Students will cite properly according to Turabian.

Questions: 1. 4 Sep. Ultimately, who was responsible for the National Socialists‘ rise to power? 2. 2 Oct. What was the ―People‘s Community,‖ and how successful were the Nazis in building it? 3. 28 Oct. Was pre-war Nazi Germany a society built on consent or terror? 4. 20 Nov. Were ―Jews‖ unique among the groups persecuted by the Nazis? Explain why or why not. 5. 7 Dec. Why has the memory of National been so contentious in postwar Germany, even up to the present day? In addition to the circumstances of the postwar era, consider different efforts to ―explain‖ the Nazi era and the implications of those efforts.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: You are welcome to respond to all five of the questions, and I will use your four best grades.

All essays are due in class (i.e. not by 5:00pm), and due dates are firm. No extensions will be given except for certified medical or humanitarian reasons. Failure to schedule your time appropriately over the course of the semester does not constitute a valid reason for an extension.

*************************************************************************************** You are required to turn in a hard copy of all written assignments to me – do not email them to me – and also upload your essays to www.turnitin.com (see below). An assignment is not considered complete until BOTH conditions have been met. LATE ASSIGNMENTS NOT ACCEPTED. ***************************************************************************************

Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. The terms that apply to the university‘s use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com website.

Turnitin.com  Go to www.turnitin.com, register as a student, and join the class. o Class ID: 2721077 Class password: racialstate  Upload papers under the ―Assignments‖ tab. o You may upload papers as an attachment, or copy and paste it into the website. o You may submit the essay early if you wish.  Post informal responses under the ―Discussions‖ tab. o Type your response directly into the post, or copy and paste it.

For any written assignment, you have the right to request explanation or even review of your mark. However, I ask that you wait at least 24 hours to consider my comments before contacting me. If you do wish to challenge your mark, please provide an explanation in writing as to why you feel your mark is unfair. Address my comments specifically and submit this at least 24 hours before meeting so that I may consider your points.

Office for Disability Accommodations

3 If a student has a disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office for Disability Accommodations (ODA) for information on appropriate policies and procedures. Disabilities covered by ADA may include learning, psychiatric, physical disabilities, or chronic health disorders. Students can contact ODA if they are not certain whether a medical condition/disability qualifies. Address: The University of Southern Mississippi (t): 601-266-5024/228-214-3232 Office for Disability Accommodations (f): 601-266-6035 118 College Drive #8586 Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001 Individuals with hearing impairments can contact ODA using the Mississippi Relay Service at 1-800- 582-2233 (TTY) or email Suzy Hebert at [email protected].

Introduction

1. Wed., 19 Aug. Introduction to course themes and expectations

2. Fri., 21 Aug. Contexts and interpretations Jane Caplan, ―Introduction.‖ (Ca) David F. Crew, ―General Introduction.‖ (Cr)

The Rise to Power

3. Mon., 24 Aug. Origins of Nazi ideology Richard Evans, ―The Emergence of Nazi Ideology.‖ (Ca) Richard Evans, ―Social Outsiders in German History.‖ (SO)

4. Wed., 26 Aug. Weimar: Cauldron of modernity , ―.‖ (R) Richard Evans, ―Culture Wars‖ and ―The Fit and the Unfit.‖ (R)

5. Fri., 28 Aug. Weimar and early Nazi ideology Stackelberg and Winkle, 58-67, 92-96. From The Blue Angel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bi5K0ZVoTc&feature=related)

6. Mon. 31 Aug The end of democracy and the rise of the Nazis Peter Fritzsche, ―The NSDAP 1919-1934: From Fringe Politics to the Seizure of Power.‖ (Ca) Richard Bessel, ―The Nazi Capture of Power,‖ Journal of Contemporary History 39(2) (Apr. 2004): 169-88. (R – available online through the library catalogue)

7. Wed., 2 Sep. Hitler’s voters Jürgen W. Falter, ―How Likely Were Workers to Vote for the NSDAP?‖ (R) Helen L. Boak, ―‗Our Last Hope‘; Women's Votes for Hitler: A Reappraisal,‖ Review 12(2) (May, 1989): 289-310. (R – available online through the library catalogue) ―The Electoral Performance of the NSDAP, 1924-1932‖ (map linked from course website). Campaign posters (linked from course website)

8. Fri., 4 Sep. Consolidating power ESSAY 1 DUE Albrecht Tyrell, ―Towards Dictatorship: Germany 1930-1934.‖ (R) Larry Eugene Jones, ―Nazis, Conservatives, and the Establishment of the Third Reich, 1932-34.‖ (R)

** Mon., 7 Sep. Labor Day – NO CLASS **

9. Wed., 9 Sep. I WILL BE OUT OF TOWN – NO CLASS

10. Fri., 11 Sep. Who’s in charge around here? Führer, Party, and State Jeremy Noakes, ―Hitler and the Nazi State: Leadership, Hierarchy, and Power.‖ (Ca) 4 Michael Geyer, ―The Nazi State: Machine or Morass,‖ History Today 36(1) (Jan. 1986): 35-39. (R – available online through Historical Abstracts) , ―‘Working toward the Führer: Reflections on the Nature of the Hitler Dictatorship.‖ (R)

11. Mon., 14 Sep. The “Hitler Myth” Ian Kershaw, ―The ―Hitler Myth‘: Image and Reality in the Third Reich‖ (Cr) Ian Kershaw, ―The Hitler Myth,‖ History Today 35(11) (Nov. 1985): 23-29. (R – available online through Historical Abstracts) Clip from Triumph of the Will (will watch in class)

Building the “People’s Community”

12. Wed., 16 Sep. Re-ordering society Stephenson, ―Inclusion: Building the National Community in Propaganda and Practice.‖ (Ca) Gerhard Wilke, ―Village Life in Nazi Germany,‖ History Today 35(10) (Oct. 1985): 23-26. (R – available through Historical Abstracts) Panikos Panayi, ―Everyday Life in a German Town,‖ History Today 52(9) (2002): 31-37. (R – available through Historical Abstracts)

13. Fri., 18 Sep. Mobilizing the spirit: Culture and propaganda Steinweis, ―The Nazi Purge of German Artistic and Cultural Life.‖ (SO) David Welch, ―Nazi Propaganda and the Volksgemeinschaft,‖ Journal of Contemporary History 39(2) (Apr. 2004): 213-38. (R – available through the library catalogue)

14. Mon., 21 Sep. Propaganda and the “People’s Community” Clips from Triumph of the Will (will watch and analyze in class) ―Comrades‖ http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=2030 ―The Aryan Family‖ http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=2040

15. Wed., 23 Sep. Labor and class Alf Lüdtke, ―The ‗Honor of Labor‘: Industrial Workers and the Power of Symbols under National Socialism.‖ (Cr) Timothy Mason, ―The Workers‘ Opposition in Nazi Germany,‖ History Workshop 11 (1981): 120-37. (R – available online through library catalog)

16. Fri., 25 Sep. Women and family Gisela Bock, ―Antinatalism, Maternity and Paternity in National Socialist Racism.‖ (C) Adelheid von Saldern, ―Victims or Perpetrators? Controversies about the Role of Women in the Nazi State.‖ (C)

17. Mon., 28 Sep. Youth and education , ―Youth: For or against the Nazis?‖ History Today 35(10) (Oct. 1985): 15-22. (R – available through Historical Abstracts) Lisa Pine, ―Girls in Uniform,‖ History Today 49(3) (1999): 24-29 (R – available through Historical Abstracts) Lisa Pine, ―Nazism in the Classroom,‖ History Today 47(4) (1997): 22-27 (R – available through Historical Abstracts) Geoffrey J. Giles, ―Popular Education and New Media: The Cigarette Card in Germany,‖ Paedagogica Historica 36(1) (2000): 449-69. (R)

** 30 Sep. Last day to drop without academic penalty **

5 18. Wed., 30 Sep. Rewarding good Hasso Spode, ―Fordism, Mass Tourism, and the Third Reich: The ‗Strength through Joy‘ Seaside Resort as an Index Fossil,‖ Journal of Social History 38(1) (2004): 127-55. (R – available online through the library catalogue)

19. Fri., 2 Oct. Becoming Nazis ESSAY 2 DUE Joe Perry, ―Nazifying : Political Culture and Popular Celebration in the Third Reich,‖ Central European History 38(4) (2005): 572-605 (R – available online through the library catalogue)

Toward the Racial Utopia

20. Mon., 5 Oct. Principles of exclusion Nikolaus Wachsmann, ―The Policy of Exclusion: Repression in the Nazi State, 1933-1939.‖ (Ca) Robert Gellately and Nathan Stoltzfus, ―Social Outsiders and the Construction of the Community of the People.‖ (SO)

21. Wed., 7 Oct. Purifying the racial body Detlev J. K. Peukert, ―The Genesis of the ‗‘ from the Spirit of Science.‖ (Cr) Robert N. Proctor, ―From The Nazi War on Cancer.‖ (R)

** Fri., 9 Oct. Fall Break – NO CLASS **

22. Mon., 12 Oct. Defining “Jews” Stackelberg and Winkle, 143-44, 186-90, 222-29 List of selected anti-Jewish measures (linked from class website). . http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=1525 ―Trust No Fox on His Green Heath…‖ http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/fuchs.htm David Culbert, ―The Impact of Anti-Semitic Film Propaganda on German Audiences: Jew Süss and The Wandering Jew (1940),‖ in Art, Culture and Media under the Third Reich, ed. Richard A. Etlin (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002), 139-57. (R)

23. Wed., 14 Oct. “Germans” and “Jews” Frank Bajohr, ―No ‗Volksgenossen‘: Jewish Entrepreneurs in the Third Reich.‖ (SO) Susanne Heim, ―The German-Jewish Relationship in the Diaries of Viktor Klemperer,‖ in Probing the Depths of German , ed. David Bankier (New York: Berghahn Books, 2000), 312-25. (R)

24. Fri., 16 Oct. German-Jewish responses Marion A. Kaplan, ―When the Ordinary Became Extraordinary: German Jews Reacting to Nazi Persecution, 1933-1939.‖ (SO) Nathan Stoltzfus, ―The Limits of Policy: Social Protection of Intermarried German Jews in Nazi Germany.‖ (SO)

25. Mon., 19 Oct. Sexual criminals Annette F. Timm, ―The Ambivalent Outsider: Prostitution, Promiscuity, and VD Control in Nazi .‖ (SO) Geoffrey J. Giles, ―The Institutionalization of Homosexual Panic in the Third Reich.‖ (SO)

26. Wed., 21 Oct. Asocials and the handicapped Nikolaus Wachsmann, ―From Indefinite Confinement to Extermination: ‗Habitual Criminals‘ in the Third Reich.‖ (SO)

6 Henry Friedlander, ―The Exclusion and Murder of the Disabled.‖ (SO)

27. Fri., 23 Oct. The roles of religions Richard Steigmann-Gall, ―Religion and the Churches.‖ (Ca) Lena Carsten, ―Confessions of a German Soldier,‖ History Today 57(12) (2007): 20-28. (R – available online through Historical Abstracts)

28. Mon., 26 Oct. The all-powerful police state? Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Gerhard Paul, ―Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent? , Society and Resistance.‖ (Cr) Heide Gerstenberg, ―Acquiescence?‖ in Probing the Depths of German Antisemitism: German Society and the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1941, ed. David Bankier (New York: Berghahn Books, 2000), 19-35. (R – available through http://books.google.com as a limited preview)

29. Wed., 28 Oct. Resistance ESSAY 3 DUE , ―German Society and Resistance against Hitler, 1933-1945.‖ (R) Konrad Kwiet, ―Resistance and Opposition: The Example of the German Jews.‖ (R)

Marching toward destruction

30. Fri., 30 Oct. Economics and foreign policy, 1933-1939 , ―The Economic History of the Nazi Regime‖ and Gerhard L. Weinberg, ―Foreign Policy in Peace and War.‖ (Ca)

31. Mon., 2 Nov. Nazi expansionism Stackelberg and Winkle, 213-21, 231-35, 240-50.

32. Wed., 4 Nov. The Nazi Doris L. , ―Occupation, , and , 1939-1945.‖ (Ca)

33. Fri., 6 Nov. The spoils of war Ulrich Herbert, ―Labor as Spoils of Conquest, 1933-1945.‖ (Cr)

34. Mon., 9 Nov. Outsiders in wartime Robert Gellately, ―Police Justice, Popular Justice, and Social Outsiders in Nazi Germany: The Example of Polish Foreign Workers.‖ (SO) Doris L. Bergen, ―Sex, Blood, and Vulnerability: Women Outsiders in German-Occupied Europe.‖ (SO)

35. Wed., 11 Nov. The road to the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” Jan M. Piskorski, ―From through Wannsee to Auschwitz: The Road to the Holocaust,‖ The Journal of the Historical Society 7(2) (June 2007): 155-75. (R—available online through Historical Abstracts) Christopher R. Browning, ―One Day in Jozefow: Initiation to Mass Murder.‖ (Cr) ―The Dark Continent: Hitler‘s European Holocaust Helpers,‖ Spiegel Online International (20 May 2009), http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,625824,00.html#ref=nlint

36. Fri., 13 Nov. Narrating the Holocaust: Part I Maus, vol. 1.

37. Mon., 16 Nov. Narrating the Holocaust: Part II Maus, vol. 2.

38. Wed., 18 Nov. Contextualizing war and genocide

7 Omer Bartov, ―Social Outcasts in War and Genocide: A Comparative Perspective‖ (SO).

39. Fri., 20 Nov. Total war and German society ESSAY 4 DUE Omer Bartov, ―From Blitzkrieg to Total War: Controversial Links between Image and Reality.‖ (R) Mark Roseman, ―World War II and Social Change in Germany.‖ (R)

40. Mon., 23 Nov. Reaping the whirlwind Mary Nolan, ―Germans as Victims during the Second World War: Air Wars, Memory Wars,‖ Central European History 38(1) (2005): 7-40. (R – available online through the library catalogue) Alexander Orlov, ―The Price of Victory, the Cost of Aggression,‖ History Today 55(4) (2005): 24-26. (R – available online through Historical Abstracts) Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin: Diary 20 April 1945 to 22 June 1945 (: Virago, 2005), 64-92. (R)

** Wed. – Fri., 25-27 Nov. Thanksgiving – NO CLASS **

41. Mon., 30 Nov. The memory of the Third Reich Robert G. Moeller, ―The Third Reich in Post-War German Memory‖ (Ca). Petra Bornhöft, ―Commemoration Saturation‖ Spiegel Online International (5 Nov. 2007), http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,515733,00.html. David Crossland, ―Resisting the NPD,‖ Spiegel Online International (31 Oct. 2007), http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,514610,00.html.

42. Wed., 2 Dec. Summing up Ian Kershaw, ―Hitler and the Uniqueness of Nazism,‖ Journal of Contemporary History 39(2) (2004): 239- 54. (R – available online through the library catalogue)

Final Mon., 7 Dec. ESSAY 5 DUE (in my office by 4:00 pm)

Please note: The professor reserves the right to change the syllabus at any time.

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