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Texas A&M University – Commerce SPRING, 2015 THE HOLOCAUST: LIFE IN THE JEWISH GHETTOS PSCI 497-01E Tuesday/Thursday 12:30 – 1:45 PM Room: SS150 Donna Gosbee phone: 903-886-5317 email: [email protected] Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 10:00 – noon and 1:00 – 3:00 Course Introduction: Within the Holocaust was the creation of “ghettos” or isolated communities used to hold primarily Jews but sometimes other victims as well until the Nazis could deport them to extermination camps where they became victims of mass murder. This course will explore through lectures, presentations, readings from memoirs and other sources, as well as films, the differences and similarities of some of the thousands of ghettos which were established throughout Nazi-occupied Europe under the Third Reich. Within specific ghettos, the course will look at aspects of “daily life” for inhabitants in the ghetto, Jewish leadership, attempts at resistance and broader philosophical questions. The course will examine several of the larger ghettos in depth: Warsaw, Lodz, Vilna and Theresienstadt. We will also look at the ethical implications of the Judenrat, or Jewish Councils – Jewish men who were appointed by the Nazis to govern the ghettos, as well as the role of the Jewish ghetto police, who were participants in the roundup of Jews for deportation to the killing centers. The ghettoization period has been called “life in the interim.” The Jews and others were abruptly ripped from their normal patterns of daily life, and placed in the holding pens of the ghettos, awaiting almost certain death – either through disease or starvation within the ghetto or extermination at one of the killing centers created to complete the Final Solution. Please be warned: This course is an in-depth exploration of the very heart of human violence and evil – genocide. We will encounter the Jews and others as they experienced life in the ghettos on the eve of their destruction under the Third Reich. Living conditions in the ghetto were horrible and caused death for many even before the transports to the extermination camps began. For some students this class may be an excruciating and often emotionally distressful intellectual experience. Many of the images, readings and films you will experience are graphic in nature and deal with topics that can test the limits of our ability to understand. I have done my best to schedule the readings and assignments in a way that will give you time to process the material. Remaining in this course once you have received the syllabus is thus the academic equivalent of informed consent. Learning Objectives: 1. Students will have better knowledge and understanding of the various types of ghettos which were established by the Nazis. 2. Students will gain a better understanding of cultural, political and economic life of the various ghettos. 3. Students will work with and gain an understanding of various archival material which documents life within some of the ghettos. 4. Students will have a greater understanding of the moral issues and dilemmas that residents of the ghettos found themselves facing – the “choiceless choices” which they were forced to make. Required Texts and Readings: Kruk, Herman (edited and introduced by Benjamin Harshav) 2002. The Last Days of the Jerusalem of Lithuania: Chronicles from the Vilna Ghetto and the Camps, 1939-1944. Yale University Press. ISBN: 978-0-300-04494-2 Sterling, Eric J. (ed). 2005. Life in the Ghettos During the Holocaust. Syracuse University Press. ISBN: 978-0-815-60803-5 Gutman, Israel. 1994. Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Houghton Mifflin ISBN 978-0-395-90130-4 Perechodnik, Calel. (trans. Frank Fox). 1996. Am I a Murderer?: Testament of a Jewish Ghetto Policeman. Westview. ISBN: 978-0-813-32702-0 Sierakowiak, Dawid. 1998. The Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak: Five Notebooks from the Lodz Ghetto. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-195-12285-5 Berkley, George E. 2002. Hitler’s Gift: The Story of Theresienstadt. Branden Pub. Co. ISBN: 978-0-828-32064-1 Assignments and Grades This course is reading and discussion intense – you cannot be a passive participant and expect to do well in this class. Additionally, you are expected to have read the assigned material before coming to class, because you are expected to make a valuable contribution to class discussions. 1. Participation: 10 points. Participation is a combination of attendance, reading the assigned materials prior to class, and your involvement in class discussions. You are expected to come to class prepared and ready to discuss the assigned readings for that day. This is the type of class where you might just end the class with more questions than you had the first day. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS – IN FACT IT IS WELCOMED. 2. Reflection Papers: 5 points each, for a total of 35 points. You are required to complete seven reflection papers throughout the course. See below for further detail regarding how to write your Reflection papers. 3. Research paper on your selected topic: 25 points. You are required to prepare a research paper of 10 - 12 pages in length on a topic related to the ghettos or their occupants. You may pick from the suggested topic list attached, or select one of your own, with my approval. There can only be one topic per student. Please send me an email when you have decided on your topic. You will be instructed to identify a different topic if another student has already chosen that topic. See further instructions below. 4. Power Point or Prezi Presentation on your selected topic: 15 points. Using information you provided in your research paper, you will complete a Power Point or Prezi presentation to be presented in class. Class presentations will occur the last two weeks of class, and are limited to no less than 12 minutes but no more than 15 minutes each. You must have prior approval of the topic to be presented, and the week before presentations start, you must meet with me to discuss progress on your project, as well as your research paper. 5. Exams: 5 points each, for a total of 15 points. There will be up to three scheduled exams during the semester. The exams will cover the most recent readings, therefore it is critical that you stay current on the assigned readings. However, if the instructor feels that assignments are being read and participation in class overall is adequate, there might be fewer exams required. Grading Rubric: 90 - 100 = A 80 - 89 = B 70 - 79 = C 60 - 69 = D <60 = F Attendance Policy: Attendance is mandatory and roll will be taken at every class. Students with Disabilities: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact: Office of Student Disability Resources and Services Texas A&M University-Commerce Gee Library – Room 132 Phone: (903) 886-5150 or (903) 886-5835 [email protected] “All students enrolled at the University shall follow the tents of common decency and acceptable behavior conducive to a positive learning environment.” (See Student’s Guide Handbook, Policies and Procedures, Conduct). Cell phones and iPods must be turned off and put away during class. You may take notes on a laptop or a tablet, but if you are found to be doing other tasks, i.e., Facebook or web-surfing, you will no longer be afforded the luxury of having your laptop on during class. Plagiarism. “What is Plagiarism? Many people think of plagiarism as copying another’s work or borrowing someone else’s original ideas. But terms like “copying” and “borrowing” can disguise the seriousness of the offense: According to the Merriam- Webster Online Dictionary, to “plagiarize” means 1. To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own. 2. To use (another’s production) without crediting the source 3. To commit literary theft 4. To present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source. “In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else’s work and lying about it afterward. But can words and ideas really be stolen? According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyrighted protection as long as they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file). Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to changing the words of an original source is not sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have retained the essential idea of an original source, and have not cited it, then no matter how drastically you may have altered its context or presentation, you have still plagiarized.” (www.plagiarism.org). Academic dishonesty (plagiarism or cheating) will result in a zero grade for that particular assignment or exam. Should further dishonesty be displayed, the student will fail the class. Texas A&M University-Commerce will comply in the classroom, and in online courses, with all federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination and related retaliation on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, genetic information or veteran status. Further, an environment free from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression will be maintained.
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