Holocaust and Genocide Literature

Syllabus

D.Maller

dmaller@rahway.net

Course readings:

The reading materials chosen for this course have been selected in order to delve into personal stories and historical accounts of genocides throughout the world. The readings offer excellent details and are primary sources reflections. The readings are not meant to shock but to inform and enlighten.

Course work:

Throughout the course, we will explore many different activities, projects and writing assignments. There will be a large emphasis placed on personal responsibility and independent work. Each student will be asked to work both independently as well as cooperatively with peers depending on the specific assignment.

As in ALL classes- there will be no excuses for late or missed assignments. An assignment may be to read and be prepared to discuss in class or to write an analysis of a selected reading.

Course Materials: In addition to teacher-distributed readings, students will be assigned books to read. The following materials are needed for this course:

Folder for papers and handouts

Small Journal (students may also type an on-going journal)

Pen and pencil

Journals: You are required to keep a journal in which you record your response to each new reading assignment. The readings are powerful and you are likely to ‘struggle’ to find appropriate words to express yourself. Record your struggles, your reactions and how you are ‘working through’ your obstacles. Date each entry and identify the assigned reading. Your journal will become part of your final assessment.

Response Papers: Two response papers will be assigned; the specifics will be distributed in class along with a rubric for each of these assignments.

Group Project: A group assignment will be presented at the conclusion of the course. There will be several choices of projects or groups may submit ideas of their own. Projects may take the form of Power Points, Research projects, Film, Photography, etc.

Unit One: Historical Background

elements of World War I and II as well as their effect on Germany

the basis for Nazi Ideology

the far-reaching history of Anti Semitism

life before the Holocaust

create/learn working definitions of Genocide and the Holocaust

Unit Two: Ghettos and Camps

life in the Ghettos as seen through the writings of various people

Writings, poems, diaries, and narratives of victims sent to concentration camps, ghettos and those in hiding.

Unit Three: Role of Resistance and Rescue

Various forms of resistance :

armed resistance

spiritual resistance

cultural resistance

non-Jewish resistance and rescue

The arts

Unit Four: Modern Genocide

Armenian genocide

Darfur

Rwanda

Unit Five: The role of the individual today – Remembering, learning, continuing…

Suggested texts

(We will be reading some of the following texts but all are recommended)

Ordinary Men - Christopher Browning

Salvaged Pages : Young Writers’ Diaries of the Holocaust – Alexandra Zapruder

Survival in Auschwitz – Primo Levi

The Sunflower- Simon Wiesenthal

Other Victims – Ina Friedman

Anthology of Holocaust Literature

Darfur Diaries – Nation Books

Maus I and II – Art Spiegleman

Led by Faith- Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide- Libagiza

Fear- Jan Gross

(Selections from Journal publications and other anthologies will be used as well)

Voices and Views – JFR

Selections from other related sources

Visuals ( not limited to the following sources)

Various survivor testimonies

Broken Silence

Getto- Warsaw Ghetto

Auschwitz- PBS documentary

Defiance and History Channel Bielski brothers

Darfur Diaries

We will utilize various websites

All websites will be easily accessed by students on their own or in the technology center.

www.ushmm.org

www.yadvashem.org

www.jfr.org

Grading Policy

Homework /classwork 40%

Participation/behavior 10%

Assessment (Tests and quizzes, projects   50%          

Course assignments are subject to change