In this course, we examine how the Holocaust is remembered in contemporary Europe, and the ways it is invoked in relation to antisemitism as well as to other, contested major issues in the European public discourse, such as immigration, treatment of refugees, attitudes towards LGBTQ communities and women's rights, responses to other mass atrocities and crises like Covid-19. More broadly, we explore the way Holocaust memory has become a "site of tension" between Western and Eastern Europe, as well as between the different sides on the political spectrum from the far left to the far right across Europe.

Course syllabus

In this course, we will focus on the study of the long-term psychological effects of the Holocaust on the survivors and their families (the 'second' and 'third' generations). Topics: Intergenerational transmission of the Holocaust trauma, intergenerational familial communication about the Holocaust, remembering and memory of the Holocaust across the generations, interpersonal relationship patterns in survivor families, vulnerability and resilience, coping patterns, the trip to Poland and Righteous Among the Nations. Students will interview survivors and/or survivors' children and/or grandchildren and will choose a research question to focus on for their final course paper or seminar paper. Course Syllabus

The commemoration of the past plays a central role in the personal-private and collective public work of culture. Traumatic memory has especially attracted attention in academic discourse as well as in everyday popular culture and mental health settings. Despite this growing interest, there have been few anthropological and ethnographic studies undertaken to explore the processes and practices of personal and collective trauma-related memory work. In order to explore underlying themes relating to the anthropology of memory, traumatic memory and commemoration, the course will examine the following key concepts: representation, history, genocidal trauma, personal and collective memory, testimony and witness, and survivor-hood. Holocaust memory and commemoration will be explored as a contemporary case study of Israeli trauma-related memory work.

Course Syllabus