Posted 8/31/20 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, DARTMOUTH Syllabus Seminar: European History: HST 521/402 Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust FALL 2020 Time/Location: ONLINE (LIVE ON ZOOOM via MyCourses) Mondays: 5:00-7:30PM (Two Tuesdays: 9/29; 10/13) Instructor: Dr. Ilana F. Offenberger Office Hours: By appointment online via MyCourses Telephone – 978 590 9961/ Email:
[email protected] Course Description: Did Jews resist during the Holocaust? When, where, why, and/or why not? This seminar will deepen our understanding of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust and explore what it meant for Jews to resist. We will begin with an overview of resistance and then turn to three focus points, followed by students’ individual research and presentations. Both armed and unarmed resistance will be discussed and analyzed throughout this course. As a class we will investigate: 1. Non-Confrontational Resistance and Confrontational Non-Violence (also referred to as spiritual or cultural resistance) in the Ghettos (with a focus on the Warsaw Ghetto, documentation through the Oneg Shabbos Archive, and artwork/literature produced in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in former Czechoslovakia); 2. Armed/Violent Resistance in the form of a planned attack, focused on the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943; and 3. Armed/Violent Resistance in the form of partisan action, concentrated on the Bielski Group in Belarus. Philosophy, Course Goals,and Objectives This is not a lecture course. Beyond an introductory lecture or two, the (online) classroom experience will revolve around the discussion and analysis of assigned reading materials. You must come to class prepared by doing the readings and taking notes; the instructor will direct as much as participate in the discussion sessions but it is expected that you, individually and collectively with others, will drive the dialogue.