Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2018 - HIST 401 E100

Problems in Modern German History (4)

Daily Life in 3rd Reich

Class Number: 3313

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 3 – Apr 10, 2018: Wed, 5:30–9:20 p.m.
    Vancouver

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units, including nine units of lower division history and one of HIST 224, 225, 332 or permission of the department.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An examination of major debates concerning the history of late-nineteenth and twentieth century Germany. Themes may include the nature of German modernity, interpretations of the Third Reich, or German memory after the Second World War. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 401 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught.

COURSE DETAILS:

Problems in German History: Daily Life in the Third Reich

The struggle to understand the Third Reich’s state-sanctioned campaign of mass murder and genocide, including mass shootings and death camps, has preoccupied historians since 1945. The role of the German population, those “ordinary Germans” who had no direct connection either to the state or to the killing apparatus, persistently raises questions about the idea of “daily life” in a dictatorship; issues of awareness, consent, complicity, and resistance; the categories of bystander, eye-witness, and onlooker; and to what extent indifference was as essential as hatred for the Holocaust to occur.

This course considers state policy and social behavior to examine what daily life looked like for Germans and Jews in the Third Reich; how Nazi Jewish policy evolved over time and in response to specific contexts; and how Germans understood and came to terms with the persecution and destruction of European Jews.

Grading

  • Participation 20%
  • Book Reviews (two x 20%) 40%
  • Final Research Project - Annotated Bibliography -10%, Final Paper – 30% 40%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Saul Friedländer, Nazi Germany and the Jews (abridged)

Peter Fritzsche, Life and Death in the Third Reich (2008)

Ian Kershaw, The “Hitler Myth”: Image and Reality in the Third Reich (2011)

The Third Reich Sourcebook, edited by Anson Rabinbach and Sander L. Gilman (2013) (available online via SFU library)

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS