Summer 2006

E f370W • Women's Narratives of the Holocaust and WWII

Course Description

This course is meant to serve as an introduction to the history of Jewish and German women during WW II and the Holocaust and to women's narratives and self-representations of this period. The focus in this class is twofold:

1. We will examine the historical role of German and Jewish women during WWII and the Holocaust from different positions (bystander, perpetrator, victim, resister, rescuer) through autobiographical texts, film, and historical analyses.

2. We will examine autobiographical texts of these different women as self-representations that attempt to negotiate the different (and shifting) discourses on femininity and masculinity, and the role of women in the public and private sphere available during the war years.

Grading Policy

Class attendance and participation 25%
Four 1-page response papers 20%
Class presentation 15%
4-5 pp presentation paper 15%
8-10 pp final paper 25%

Texts

Carol Rittner and John K. Roth, eds. Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust
Bernhard Schlinck, The Reader
Erica Fischer, Aimee and Jaguar
A course packet, available from Speedway Copies in the Dobie mall

Films:
Documentary on Aimee and Jaguar
Documentary on Lenie Riefenstahl
Excerpts from Helke Sander, BeFreiers, Befreite

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