The
Holocaust in World Literature ~ LIT 217
Dr. Jonathan Alexander
Office,
609-894-9311 or 856-222-9311 (x1123)
E-mail: jalexand@bcc.edu
Online syllabus http://staff.bcc.edu/faculty_websites/jalexand/217syl.htm
(Rev 2013)
Texts:
Images from the Holocaust: A Literature Anthology
(Brown, Stephens, Rubin 1996).
Once the Acacias Bloomed (Spiegel, 2004). (available from instructor for $15)
Course Description: This
course will focus on unique written expressions across various types of
literature, including novellas and short stories, plays for the screen and
stage, non-fiction memoirs and diaries. The world literature to be investigated
constitutes works on the Holocaust by men and women, Jews and non-Jews, private
and public individuals, eyewitnesses, survivors, victims, and second- and
third-generation writers. It’s an opportunity for each in our own way to hear
the voices, feel the experiences, and promote awareness.
Course Expectations:
Attendance: If
the student is to profit from any course, he or she must attend class on a
consistent basis.
Students
must attend all classes for the full duration of each session.
Should you need to miss a class for observance of religious holidays, jury
duty, military duty, bereavement, or illness, you must notify the instructor by
telephone or e-mail prior to or within 24 hours after the class. Without such
communication, students forfeit the right to make up missed work. If such
communication is made, students will be permitted to make up missed work at the
beginning of the following class meeting. It is, therefore, the student’s
responsibility to read the syllabus and be prepared for current as well as
missed assignments.
Entering
class late or leaving class early (without prior
authorization) is considered disrespectful and will not be tolerated.
Academic Etiquette: Students
will respect themselves, their peers and their instructors by considering the
following:
Cell
phones must be kept on silent. No calls are to be made or received
during class. If you are expecting an important call during the class meeting
time, notify me prior to class and quietly excuse yourself if the call is
received. No text-messaging or game-playing will be tolerated.
Students
who wish to use the restrooms may do so by quietly leaving and
re-entering the room. If a student believes he or she will require an absence
of more than a few minutes, it is his responsibility to notify me accordingly.
Communication:
Many means of communication are available to the student including telephone,
e-mail and mailbox.
If
you leave a message on my office voice-mail (x1123), please remember to
speak clearly and provide your name, course information, and phone number if
you request a return call.
If
you contact me via e-mail, it is expected that you use the BCC “Mymail” account provided to you by the College. Messages sent through any other email
account may not be received or responded to.
Students
who send me e-mail and do not receive a reply of any kind within 48
hours should assume it was never received. Such e-mails should be resent. If
your message doesn’t present itself as urgent, I may reply quickly and briefly
and ask to get back to you before long.
Students
who send e-mails containing attachments must save these documents as one
of the following types: DOC, DOCX, TXT, or RTF. Please do not send any MAC “Pages”
files, ODT, or WPS files. You may also choose to copy and paste the text of
your assignment into the e-mail message itself, and always send a copy back to
yourself (or another email account) as a
receipt to verify if the transmission fails to reach me.
Class Assignments:
All
work written and submitted should utilize standard rules of grammar, sentence
organization, paragraph organization, and diction.
All
formal papers are to be typed, titled, double spaced, and carefully
proofread. Documents are not to be held together by paperclips, alligator
clips, or other creative measures. Papers will not be accepted unless they are
stapled prior to arriving to class. Asking me to borrow a stapler will not
place you in a positive light.
All
assignments are due on the date specified on the syllabus. Assignments which
are not submitted during the class session they are due will be penalized. If
you happen to be absent for a particular class session and you wait to submit a
paper until the next class meeting, it will lose 15% for each day it is late.
NOTE: A “day” is a calendar day, not a class meeting. A paper which is received
by email within two hours of the end of the assigned class session will be
considered submitted on time (without a penalty for lateness). A paper which is
received after two hours, but before 10pm, will incur a late penalty of 5%. All
other papers received after 10pm on the assigned day will incur a 15% penalty
per day.
If
a student presents reasonable justification for an absence, this absence will
not be counted against the student’s course grade; however, such an absence does not allow for more time to complete
assignments. Since students are provided with all assignments and deadlines
on the first day of the semester, excuses such as “crashed computers,”
“misplaced data,” “misplaced flash drives,” or “empty printer ink cartridges”
will not be accepted. There is no excuse for not saving all documents twice
(hard drive and floppy/flash).
Plagiarism
will not be tolerated under any circumstances. Be aware that plagiarism
includes (but is not limited to) copying someone else’s words without crediting
the source; paraphrasing someone else’s words without crediting the source;
using someone else’s ideas without crediting the source (even if rephrased in
your own words); using facts not universally known which are obtained from a
source without crediting the source; asking someone else to write your paper,
either in whole or in part; or obtaining a paper or portion thereof by any
means and submitting it as an original document. The penalty for plagiarism
is failure of the assignment and potentially failure of the course (at the
instructor’s discretion), and it may result in suspension or expulsion from the
College (at the discretion of the Student Affairs Committee). Please refer to
the BCC Student Handbook for additional information regarding College
regulations and the handling of plagiarism.
Questions to be considered: Is
the Holocaust moving so far away from our reality that many individuals
experience merely a mythological understanding? Why do so few people recognize
the immediacy of messages portrayed in Holocaust writings? Can the literature
be seen as purposeful and relevant across cultures? Can the literature be seen
as some means of therapy? Is there a lesson to be learned? Can the story of the
Holocaust even be told? Is there such a thing as “the story” of the Holocaust?
If so, who is authorized to tell it? In what circumstances? To whom?
General Outline: To
achieve the goals in this course, the student will be held responsible for the
following work. (If this syllabus is accessed online, students can click on the
following links for explanations of assignments and reading lists):
- RESPONSE
JOURNALS, EXERCISES, PARTICIPATION (20 pts)
Thoughtful responses (at least 100 words) to all readings and film excerpts assigned. All responses must make reference to at least one remarkable passage from the reading (what quote did you find particularly intriguing, fascinating or interesting, and why). Responses to textbook readings must be completed before class. Worksheets for film excerpts seen in class are provided in this syllabus. They can be completed in class or at home prior to the next meeting. They will be collected at the beginning of the following class meeting. - MIDTERM
EXAM (20 pts)
Objective exam covering the first half of the semester’s material. - FINAL
EXAM (20 pts)
Objective exam covering the second half of the semester’s material. - FILM
ESSAY (20 pts)
1000- to 1250-word interpretation of either Triumph of the Spirit or The Grey Zone (both seen in class). - CRITICAL
ANALYSIS (20 pts)
1000- to 1250-word analyses of Fred Spiegel’s Once the Acacias Bloomed. NOTE: Students should consider that the author, a survivor of three concentration camps, will be visiting the class in April; therefore, students might choose to postpone the writing of their analysis of Mr. Spiegel’s narrative until after his visit.
|
points
earned |
final
grade |
|
88.5 - 100 |
A |
|
87.5 - 88 |
B+ |
|
79.5 - 87 |
B |
|
77.5 - 79 |
C+ |
|
74.5 – 77 |
C |
|
69.5 – 74 |
D |
|
0 - 69 |
F |
Note on assigned readings: Below are
all the scheduled readings listed by author last name and page number.
Following each author is a key question to get you started with interpretation.
As you respond in your journal to the stated question, find a quote or passage
from the selection that you feel is essentially important, compelling, or
provocative. All readings listed in a session will be discussed during that
session. Please have all scheduled
readings and all journal responses completed and brought to each class. As
this class is focusing on items of fiction, film, and memoir, no poetry will be
covered, but please consider taking Poetry of the Holocaust here at
BCC for additional exposure to Holocaust literature.
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS
_1-23____SESSION 1: Course Introduction
Discussion of procedures and selection of assignments
„Historical
background of the Holocaust (PPT part one—to Kristallnacht,
11-9-38)
„FILM
EXCERPTS-1: “The Longest Hatred” 44m
____________________________________________
_1-30____SESSION
2:
Chapter One--Rumblings of Danger (p. 1)
MELTZER (4): Why is it necessary to remember? What makes the Holocaust
unique? What makes it universal? What kinds of “threats” did Jews live under?
ROGASKY (8):
What were the significant elements prior to World War II which contributed to
discrimination of the Jews?
ADLER (14):
Why were there relatively few protests about the treatment of the Jews inside
and outside of
FRIEDMAN
(22): Why is it poignant that the Nazis labeled people with physical
disabilities as “undesirables”? Comment on the following passage: “You can have
all the fun you want. You don’t have to worry about getting pregnant.” (24).
PLANT (25):
How did the Nazi Party use postwar social unrest to its advantage? Comment on
the following references: “syphilization of our
people” and “the epidemic of homosexuality” (28).
FRIEDMAN
(30): Why is it ironic that Jehovah’s Witnesses were given the opportunity to
denounce their faith while Jews were not given similar opportunities? Comment
on the following passage: “I didn’t feel as brave as I sounded” (33).
WEINBERG
(34): Along with physical terror, what psychological terror could an event like
Kristallnacht produce? Comment on the following
passage: “…I think it is typical for the Nazi mind in which order and chaos
were neatly compartmentalized” (39).
„FILM
EXCERPTS-2: 80m
____________________________________________
_2-6____SESSION
3:
Video Presentation: Triumph
of the Spirit
„Historical background of the Holocaust (PPT part two—to Wannsee, 1-20-42)
____________________________________________
_2-13____SESSION
4:
Chapter Two--In Hiding (43)
KEREN (46): What images does this narrative evoke most strikingly for
you while reading? Comment on the following passage: “I felt like an animal, ruled
by instinct” (48).
ORENSTEIN
(60): How would you characterize the people who helped the Jews compared with
those who refused to help them? Comment on the following passage: “One should
not have children” (62).
„Historical
background of the Holocaust (PPT part three—to
„ACTIVITY-1:
Ethics
„FILM
EXCERPTS-3: 12m
____________________________________________
_2-20____SESSION
5:
Chapter Three--Fleeing for Their Lives (73)
LUSTIG (88): Did Hynek Tausig see himself as
a brave man or a coward? How do you view him? Why do you think he took the
action he did? Comment on the following passage: “That is how things are: some
men are human beings and some are beasts. And some a little of both, and that’s
me” (91).
JOFFO (94):
What motivated the doctor to give the diagnosis that saved the boys? Comment on
the following passage: “Well done!” (98).
RASHKE (109): What qualities did
Esther have that made her the leader of the group? What role did faith play in
her decisions? Comment on the following passage: “It was irrational to stake
her life on a dream, Esther knew. But this was no time for logic” (111).
„ACTIVITY-2:
What would I save?
„FILM
EXCERPTS-4: 25m
____________________________________________
_2-27____SESSION
6:
Chapter Four--Surrounded by Ghetto Walls (115)
WIESENTHAL (136): How were adults and children treated differently in the
ghetto? Were you left with a sense of hope or despair after reading the
selection? Comment on the following passage: “…in time they developed a sort of
sixth sense for danger, no matter how small they were” (137).
GORDON
(139): Why did the Nazis establish a Jewish government in the ghetto? Comment
on the following passage: “Everyone would tell you what you wanted to hear.
Each was trying to cheer you up and to cheer himself up” (139).
GORDON
(142): What role did the Jewish police play? Should the Jews have given up
their valuables? Comment on the following passage: “I could tell that the
uncles felt sorry and that they knew they had made a mistake” (144).
MEED (145):
What were the ghetto conditions that led some Jews to “voluntarily surrender”
for deportation? Comment on the following passage: “The temptation, even for
once, to still that gnawing hunger eclipsed all other considerations….” (146).
BUSH (174):
What conflict does the narrator feel with his father? How does he act on this
conflict? Comment on the following passage: “Maybe the faith that I thought I
had when I was little was just a way of consoling myself, like sucking my
thumb” (175).
„FILM
EXCERPTS-5: 28m
„ACTIVITY-3:
Judenrat
_3-6____SESSION
7:
Chapter Five--Imprisoned in the Camps (201)
ROMANO
(203): How would you answer the narrator’s sister’s question, “What is a
concentration camp?” Comment on the following passage: “All we could do was
talk about politics and survival” (206).
LEVI (213):
How does Levi describe and interpret how people act when they are condemned to
death? Which incident or scene in the selection had the strongest impact on
you? Comment on the following passage: “…man is bound to pursue his own ends by
all possible means, while he who errs but once pays dearly” (214).
ELIACH
(247): How did Michael and his cousin “beat the system?” Comment on the
significance of the “washboard” criterion Mengele
used for selection (248).
DELBO (251):
Describe the gypsy mother’s fierce emotions and how Delbo
uses language to create a mood of despair and hopelessness. Comment on the
following passage: “You see nothing, each one is enclosed in the shroud of her
own skin” (253).
FRANKL
(267): How did Frankl transcend the conditions of the
concentration camp to find a way to survive spiritually? What impact did nature
seem to have on the author? Comment on the following passage: “Whether or not
he is actually present, whether or not he is still alive at all, ceases somehow
to be of importance” (269).
„FILM
EXCERPTS-6: 69m
„ACTIVITY-4:
Morality in the Camps
____________________________________________ SPRING BREAK 3-11 to 3-15
_3-20____SESSION 8:
►MIDTERM EXAM; Video Presentation: The
Grey Zone
____________________________________________
_3-27____SESSION
9:
Chapter Six--Resisting Evil (293)
VAN MANSUM (295): What factors influenced van Mansum
to help Jews and work for the resistance? Which of the author’s deeds was the
most heroic and why? Comment on the following passage: “But I still say there
was nothing special about what I did” (298).
ELIACH
(307): What can you infer about the kind of person Zvi
was? Why is it significant that the role he played was able to convince the
widow? Comment on the following passage: “He reserved for himself the privilege
of shooting the town’s notables…” (308).
LEVI (310):
What is significant about calling the village a “republic of the marshes”?
(310). Comment on the following passage:
“Despair is worse than disease” (315).
MEED (326):
How did the attitudes of the local Polish population change the longer the
uprising continued? What do you think is the most poignant statement made by
Mordecai Anielewicz on pages 332-333? Comment on the
following passage: “They had never expected the miserable Jews to put up a
fight” (327).
„FILM
EXCERPTS-7: 63m
„ACTIVITY-5:
The Rescuers’ Dilemma
____________________________________________
_4-3____SESSION
10:
Chapter Seven--Liberation (335)
WIESEL (337): What is the author’s emotional state at the time of
liberation? What is the significance of the title, “Death Against Life”?
Comment on the following passage: “I spent my days in a state of total
idleness” (338).
LEVI (345):
What emotions did Levi experience during the first few hours and days of
liberation? How did shame affect various people during the Holocaust? Comment
on the following passage: “But I was aware of what was going on around me in
only a disconnected and hazy manner” (349).
SELZER
(358): How did former prisoners react to Germans? Did their reactions influence
American soldiers? Comment on the following passage: “I’d like to kill ’em with my bare hands” (365).
BOROWSKI
(372): What was life like for the former prisoners? Do you think the actions of
the former prisoners were justified? Comment on the following passage: “…please
pass the sons of bitches over to the camp guards” (373).
„FILM
EXCERPTS-8: 28m
„ACTIVITY-6:
Best Forms of Resistance
____________________________________________
_4-10____SESSION
11:
Special Guest Speaker: Fred Spiegel (LAU
320)
►Film Essay Due (Triumph of the Spirit or The Grey Zone)
____________________________________________
_4-17____SESSION
12:
Chapter Eight--The Days After (375)
EICHENGREEN (397): How does this selection portray life in a displaced
persons’ camp? What factors complicated the author’s quest to leave
GOTFRYD
(403): What does the protagonist learn when he and his brother are reunited?
Comment on the following passage: “Slowly I was coming to terms with the fact
that, at the age of twenty, I was alone in the world” (404).
LEITNER
(410): How does the author describe dangers survivors continued to face after
liberation? Comment on the following passage: “There is no common language
between us, yet we speak the same tongue” (414).
LEVI (431):
How did the author react to being on German soil? What is the significance of
his dream? Comment on the following passage: “I feel a deep and subtle anguish,
the definite sensation of an impending threat” (434).
WIESEL (437): What does the author
seek from God? What does he get? How does it make him feel? Comment on the
following passage: “You must look at them carefully. Their appearance is
deceptive. They are smugglers” (443).
„FILM EXCERPTS-9: 46m
„ACTIVITY-7:
Assessing and Defining Responsibility
____________________________________________
_4-24____SESSION
13:
; Chapter Nine--A Mosaic of Courage (445)
OPDYKE (446): Why do you think the author felt compelled to share her
story with others? Which of the author’s experiences had the biggest impact on
you? Comment on the following passage: “I myself realize that when I came to
the
ELIACH
(454): Why did Jacob’s mother push him away? How does irony play an important
role in this piece? Comment on the following passage: “Jacob’s face was burning
with insult and shame” (455).
NOMBERG-PRZYTYK
(456): Why do you think Dr. Mengele kept Natasha
alive just to listen to her tirades day after day? Who had the advantage,
Natasha or Mengele, and why? Comment on the following
passage: “Why should they suffer? I am sending them to the gas for their own
good” (457).
BRECHER
(460): What motives might have Schindler had for what he did? Do you see
Schindler more as a hero or a self-serving opportunist? Comment on the
following passage: “In the shower, they waited ten minutes to panic people”
(462).
„FILM EXCERPTS-10: 26m
„ACTIVITY-8:
Last Written Message
____________________________________________
_5-1____SESSION
14:
Chapter Ten--Echoing Reflections (513)
►Journal Responses Due
PAPANEK (514): Why does the unanswerable question “why me?” have such an
impact on many survivors? What does the concept of “survivor’s guilt” mean to
you? Comment on the following passage: “She manages. She copes. She functions”
(516).
ADLER (520):
What lessons can be learned from the experiences of the survivors? Comment on the following passage: “’Where was
God?’ Is a difficult, perhaps impossible, question to answer. Some feel it is
not even a proper question to ask. But ‘Where was man?’” (523).
ZABLE (526):
Why does the German man feel he must atone for his father’s actions? What does
he do? Comment on the following passage: “I grew up in a house of denials and
secrets” (527).
„FILM EXCERPTS-11: 43m
____________________________________________
_5-8____SESSION 15:
►FINAL EXAM
►Critical Analysis
Due (Once the Acacias Bloomed)
FILM EXCERPTS #1—44m The
Longest Hatred
NAME_________________________________________
1. What
accusation was widely accepted by Christians against Jews which gave rise to
initial feelings of
anti-Semitism at the dawn of Christianity? _________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What
fraction of European Jews were killed by Nazism during the
Holocaust?___________________________________
3. What
Jewish approach to religion brought them into conflict with Pagan Romans? _______________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What New
testament source professed the notion that the Jews were responsible for the
death of Christ?_______________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. In what
year occurred the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple of Jerusalem by the
6. When did
Christianity become the official religion of the
7. Who
called the Jews the “common disgrace and infection of the whole
world”?__________________________________
8. In 1095,
who led the first Christian Crusade against the Moslems and
Jews?_____________________________________
9. Which
British king was responsible for a massacre of several thousand Jews at
10.
In what year did Pope Innocent III decree that Jews would wear yellow badges to
distinguish them from other people?____________
11. What
public display of intolerance was encouraged by Christian clergy against Jews
each Easter?___________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. What
term correlated to the myth that Jews used the blood of Christian children
during Jewish rituals?_______________
13.
What term means the act of lending money with interest (the only income Jews
were permitted by the Romans)?_______________
14. In what
year were more than 100,000 Jews tortured in and expelled from
15. Who
established Protestantism in 1519 and denounced Jews with the suggestion of
violence and intolerance?_________
16. In what
year did Wilhelm Mahr first use “Anti-Semitism” as a
derogatory term against Jews?______________________
17. What
composer wrote anti-Semitic and racist pamphlets which were embraced by
Hitler?_________________________
18. Who was
Hitler’s Enlightenment and Propaganda
Minister?_________________________________________________
FILM EXCERPT #2—80m NAME______________________________________
Fateless
1. Explain how the characters
exhibit different concepts of what it means to be Jewish.
Nazi
Medicine
2. What did the July 1933
Sterilization Law attempt to accomplish?
3. Who were considered the
“lives unworthy of living”?
4. What were the goals of the
T-4 program?
Conspiracy
5. Explain how Reynard Heydrich (Kenneth Branagh) exhibits
uncompromising authority.
6. What did Heydrich think was ineffective about the Nuremberg Race
Laws?
7. How do the characters
illustrate the value and problems of euphemistic (symbolic) language?
8. How were the first
experiments with gassing victims carried out?
Bent
9. What did the speaker mean
by saying, “pink is as low as you can get”?
10. How is the concept of
self-preservation at any cost illustrated in this excerpt?
Purple
Triangles
11. How was the persecution
of Jehovah’s Witnesses different from that of other ethnicities or religions?
Into
the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
12. What is the most
striking, noteworthy, or remarkable concept expressed in this excerpt?
FILM EXCERPT #3—13m NAME______________________________________
Schindler’s
List
1. What concept of self-preservation does the soldier propose to the victims?
2. How is the resourcefulness of the
child displayed in this excerpt?
Swing
Kids
3. What message of personal
responsibility does Arvid express?
4. What concept of collective guilt
is expressed?
5. How is it suggested that people
don’t feel guilt about that which they don’t see?
Pink
Floyd, “Another
Brick in the Wall”
6. Considering the issues of
education and relationships, explain how this piece illustrates the different
concepts of authority in our lives?
7. How is resistance to authority
illustrated?
8. How are weaknesses exposed?
9. How does the oppressed individual
become the oppressor?
FILM EXCERPT #4—25m NAME______________________________________
Escape
from Sobibor
1. How do the soldiers attempt to
prevent future escape attempts?
2. What does the commanding officer
mean by “simple mathematics”?
3. Choose three of the
escapees being executed and describe how their “selection of a partner”
expresses a unique visual gesture of compassion, sorrow or fellowship.
4. What is the overall tone of the
discussion of escape?
5. What message of “bearing witness”
does this excerpt suggest?
6. When the escape begins, what is
suggested by the few prisoners who simply stand idly by in the courtyard?
7. Considering the percentage of the
prisoners who escaped the camp that day, do you consider this a success?
FILM EXCERPT #5—30m NAME______________________________________
The
Pianist
1.
How do the characters illustrate different views on the events that are
unfolding?
2.
Why does Vladek (Adrian Brody) appear to
believe it is unfortunate that his family has been reunited prior to
deportation?
3.
What message is illustrated by the parable of the woman who smothered
her baby while in hiding?
Life
is Beautiful
4. What do you imagine the soldier
is thinking of the woman just moments before stepping aside to allow her to
board train?
5. Explain whether you think the
father’s lies and exaggerations to his son about the events are a good or bad
idea.
The
Pianist
6. What does this excerpt say about
randomness and chance?
Schindler’s
List
7. What is ironic about Goeth’s shooting of the engineer?
8. What does the dying engineer mean
by saying, “It will take more than that”?
Bent
9. What does this excerpt say about
the meaningless of tasks and the barbaric working conditions?
The
Believer
10. What do you think is both good
and bad about “young” Daniel’s views of God (presented during flashback)?
11. In “young” Daniel’s opinion,
what does the parable of the Jews’ Covenant with God suggest about the
relationship between intention and action?
FILM EXCERPT #6—71m NAME______________________________________
Auschwitz: Inside the
1. What was
the daily killing capacity at Treblinka, and how many were killed at Treblinka
before it was dismantled?
Nazi Medicine
2. How do
you feel about human experiments which might have resulted in valuable
information for human well-being?
The Death Camps
3. What were
the predominant emotions felt by the survivors who experienced their arrival at
Fateless
4. Describe
the emotions portrayed by different individuals while in line for initial
selection at
The Last Days
5. How do
you define the tone being used by the war criminal while describing the
atmosphere of human experimentation?
Sophie’s Choice
6. What is
Sophie’s immediate reaction to being told that she would have the “privilege”
of choosing to save one of her children?
Schindler’s List
7. How would
you describe this scene of “selection” to someone who’s never seen these
images?
The Death Camps
8. Why would
the Nazis reduce the killing of people to an “industrial process”?
Apt Pupil
9. With what
tone does the Nazi soldier tell of the gas chamber process? Does he seem
regretful and compassionate or cold and heartless?
The
10. How did
the sonderkommando (“special squads”) assist the Nazis by furthering the deception
played onto the prisoners?
11. While
the Nazi soldier hands the watch back to the sonderkommando
(David Arquette) after the fight, what do you imagine
the smiling soldier is thinking?
12. What do
you think Arquette is thinking when he finally
reaches up to take the watch?
Fateless
13. How do some prisoners come to the aid of
others in dire moments of grief and exhaustion?
The Shawshank Redemption
14. How does
Andy (Tim Robbins) feel about the role of hope during times of peril? How does
Red (Morgan Freeman) feel differently?
Fateless
15. What
sense of hope does the rabbi portray in this scene, and would you be encouraged
to hear this if you were one of the prisoners?
FILM EXCERPT #7—65m NAME______________________________________
Uprising
1. How would
you describe Janusz Korczak
to someone who’s never read about him or his actions during the Holocaust?
2. How did
the Warsaw Ghetto “underground” manage to make progress while maintaining
nearly absolute secrecy?
3. How is
the concept of German collective responsibility suggested in these scenes?
4. Interpret
Korczak’s saying, “We cannot take another child, but
then, we have no choice, do we?”
5. How did Korczak manage to keep the children calm (and possibly unaware
of) their imminent destruction?
6. What does
the suicide of Judenrat Leader Adam Czerniakow (Donald Sutherland) mean or signify to you?
7. Describe
the significance of Mordechai Anielewicz
(Hank Azaria) saying, “If you can’t fight, run. If
you can’t run, then hide, but you must resist.”
8. If the
resistors within
9. What role
(or lack of role) did the Polish Underground play in the Warsaw Uprising?
10. What is
the lasting impression left on you after witnessing these dramatic events?
Population of
Boundaries of
Population of
Ratio of Ghetto “size” to
Township size 1:6
Ratio of Ghetto population to
comparable Township population 10:1
FILM EXCERPT #8—28m NAME______________________________________
Liberation:
1. Why were the local townspeople
brought in after liberation to view the devastation of
The Last Days
2. What impressions are relayed to
you by the American liberators while retelling of their first encounter at
Band of Brothers, “Why We
Fight”
3. How are the impressions of these
dramatized scenes similar to or different from the archival footage and the
witness testimonies from the previous excerpts?
FILM EXCERPT#9—47m NAME______________________________________
Fateless
1. What images of liberation
are portrayed in this excerpt?
2. How does the
survivor react to the passerby on the trolley differently through the excerpt?
The Shawshank Redemption
3.
How might Morgan Freeman’s concept of being “institutionalized” apply to
victims of the concentration camps?
4.
What does Brooks express in his voiced-over “suicide note” which relates
to issues raised by authors of Holocaust experiences?
5.
What does Freeman mean by saying that Brooks “should have died in here”?
For each of the three episodes which
follow, explain how they relate the difficulties of dealing with traumatic
experiences and repression of painful memories:
6. M¬A¬S¬H
7. I-Robot
8. Reign Over Me
FILM EXCERPT #10—27m NAME______________________________________
Protocols of
1. How is a Jewish “conspiracy to
destroy/control the world” proposed through the Protocols of the Elders of Zion?
2. What is the relationship between Jewish
concentration camps and the persecution of people of color?
3.
How do you interpret the claim that “the world begins to believe what it wants
to believe”?
4.
How/why does the Neo-Nazi entrepreneur try to distinguish himself from more
iconic Skinheads?
5.
Why do you think he makes a point to say that he “bought beer in
6.
What relationship between Israelis and Palestinians is portrayed in these
excerpts?
FILM EXCERPT #11—41m NAME______________________________________
School Ties
1. What does the schoolmaster mean by saying, “you people
are very determined”?
2. How is anti-Semitism exhibited by those who do not
necessarily mean harm, but also do not know they are in the presence of a Jew?
3. What does Chris
O’Donnell mean by saying that “Jews are different. It’s not like the difference
between Methodists and Lutherans”?
American
History X
4. To what degree do you believe Derek’s father is
influencing Derek’s attitudes about race?
5. How was Derek influenced by the circumstances of his
father’s death, and how have these forms his attitudes about race?
6. What attitudes about race
relations are shared and what are in conflict among members in the “dinner”
scene?
The Believer
7. What does Danny mean by a “hierarchy of races”?
8. How would you interpret Danny’s claim that “we hate them
… cause we hate them”?
9. How do you interpret the claim that “religion’s not about
making sense”?
|
[1923]: Der Stürmer |
|
[March 1923]: Schutzstaffel |
|
[April 26,
1925]: Paul von Hindenburg |
|
[March 22,
1933]: |
|
[April 1,
1933]: Boycott |
|
[April 26,
1933]: Gestapo |
[May 10, 1933]:
Book burnings |
|
[July 1933]:
Forced sterilization |
|
[November 24,
1933]: Habitual and Dangerous Criminals |
|
[June 30,
1934]: Homosexuals |
|
[June 26,
1935]: Compulsory abortion |
|
[September 15,
1935]: |
|
[November 14,
1935]: Law of Citizenship |
|
[June 26,
1936]: Reinhard Heydrich |
|
[July 15,
1937]: |
|
[March 12/13,
1938]: Anschluss |
|
[April 26,
1938]: Wealth and property |
|
[July 1938]:
Evian Conference |
|
[July 23,
1938]: Identity cards |
|
[August 8,
1938]: Mauthausen |
|
[August 17,
1938]: Sarah and |
|
[September
29-30, 1938]: |
|
[November 7,
1938]: Herschel Grynszpan |
|
[November 9 and 10, 1938]: Kristallnacht |
|
[November 12,
1938]: One billion marks |
|
[December
1938]: Kindertransport |
|
[May 15, 1939]:
S.S. St. Louis |
|
[May 15, 1939]:
Ravensbrück |
|
[September 1,
1939]: |
|
[September 21,
1939]: Einsatzgruppen |
|
[October]:
Action T-4 |
[October 26,
1939]: Forced labor |
|
[November
1939]: Judenrat |
|
[November 23,
1939]: Yellow Star |
|
[January 1940]:
Euthanasia |
|
[January 25,
1940]: |
|
[October 1940]:
|
|
[March 1,
1941]: Birkenau |
|
[September 29
and 30, 1941]: |
|
[October 1941]:
Zyklon B |
|
[November 24,
1941]: Theresienstadt |
|
[December 7,
1941]: Chelmno |
|
[January 20, 1942]: Wannsee Conference |
|
[May]: Sobibor |
|
[June 1, 1942]:
Buna-Monowitz |
|
[July 22,
1942]: Treblinka |
|
[July 23,
1942]: Adam Czerniaków |
|
[August 5,
1942]: Janusz Korczak |
|
[1943]: Sonderkommando |
|
[January 18,
1943]: Resistance |
|
[February 22,
1943]: White Rose |
|
[April 19-30]: |
|
[April 19,
1943]: Uprising |
|
[May 30, 1943]:
Dr. Josef Mengele |
|
[August 2,
1943]: Treblinka revolt |
|
[October 2,
1943]: King Christian X |
|
[October 14,
1943]: Escape from Sobibór |
|
[1944]:
“Genocide” |
|
[June 23,
1944]: Red Cross |
|
[July 9, 1944]:
Raoul Wallenberg |
|
[October 1944]:
Jehovah's Witness |
|
[October 6-7,
1944]: |
|
[October 18,
1944]: Oskar Schindler |
|
[November 8,
1944]: Death march |
|
[January 27,
1945]: Liberation of |
|
[May 7, 1945]:
Surrender |
|
[November 20,
1945]: |
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