This course covers the history of the German Society from 1918-1945, in try to better understand the context of the numerous mass crimes committed in Germany and in Europe under German occupation. Why were almost six million Jews murdered and six to seven million from other victim groups? How are these mass crimes linked to the German society? We use a broad approach, taking political, social, cultural and economic aspects into consideration. We situate the German development in a European context starting with World War I, 1918 and interwar Europe. The second half of the course includes a close look at the development of warfare and its repercussions in Germany and Europe. Thus, we see many challenging interconnections between antisemitism, racism and warfare. Throughout we discuss and implore methodological issues, sharpen our tools for our craftsmenship as historians. During each of the 12 sessions we study sources, concepts and narratives from multiple perspectives. Only the combination of multiple perspectives might give us varying insights into the experiences of people at the time. Even though our emphasis is on the non-Jewish perspectives, we include Jewish experiences as well.

Course Syllabus