In this new online video course produced by EHRI, the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure, we will explore diaries, photographs, official Nazi documents, postwar survivor testimonies and much more - all together with leading scholars in the field. We will become acquainted with original documents and gain hands-on experience in using them while learning about their importance, and the unique perspectives they provide us into this cataclysmic event.
Yad Vashem is one of EHRI's 26 partners, tasked with creating and operating the course.
The Holocaust through the Perspective of Primary Sources
Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center via Coursera
Overview
Syllabus
- Introduction to the Course
- Welcome to the online course "'It Must All Be Recorded Without a Single Fact Left Out': The Holocaust through the Perspective of Primary Sources" for EHRI, the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure. Yad Vashem is one of 26 EHRI partners, and tasked with creating and operating the course. In this first short week, we will introduce the subject of Holocaust research and study using primary sources, including some of the main issues within this domain.
- The Warsaw Ghetto Through the Lens of Diaries
- This week, we will learn about researching and studying the Holocaust using diaries as unique historical sources. We will demonstrate these through the diaries of Adam Czerniakow and Emanuel Ringelblum, among others.
- The Lodz Ghetto through the Perspective of Photographs
- This week, we will learn about the use of photographs and images as tools in documenting and commemorating the Holocaust, and as historical sources, through the photographs of two photographers active in the Lodz Ghetto: Walter Genevein, a Nazi official, and Mendel Grossman, a Jew incarcerated in the ghetto.
- The Holocaust Through German Bureaucratic Sources
- This week, we will learn about researching and studying the Holocaust using German bureaucratic sources. We will focus on four German bureaucratic source types relating to specific aspects and stages of the Holocaust: Situation Reports; documents on the confiscation of Jewish property; Einsatzgruppen reports; and documents on the deportation process.
- Personal Letters Written Immediately After Liberation
- This week, we will learn about researching and studying the Holocaust using personal letters written immediately after liberation. We will examine such letters' significance in Holocaust research and studies, the motives of their writers, and their main themes.
- Testimonies of Survivors as Primary Sources
- This week, we will learn about researching and studying the Holocaust using testimonies of survivors. These testimonies include early accounts submitted closer to the time of the events themselves, as well as later ones. We will explore questions and arguments regarding the use of testimonies as historical sources, their significance, and the invaluable perspective they offer, especially concerning topics where other source types are lacking.
Taught by
Jonathan Clapsaddle
