The Holocaust and its legacies

Elecitve Course

This course explores one of the most traumatic events of modern European history: the Holocaust. It illustrates the complex interlinkage in the 19th and early 20th centuries between Europe’s rapid socio-economic, demographic, military, and technological development on the one hand, and the gradual emergence of dangerous racial, religious, ethnic, and nationalist cleavages and mindsets on the other. The course examines 1) the political, cultural, and ideological currents that served as enabling factors for the Holocaust, 2) the institutionalized mobilization of resources for mass genocide in the shadows of World War II, and 3) the important political, legal, social, and attitudinal repercussions and legacies of the Holocaust that affect and characterize European politics, philosophy, and culture until today. Particular attention will be paid to the ‘politics of memory’ and its relevance for contemporary European societies.