History 200 Everyday Life in the Third Reich

Palmer 233

Block 5, 2012

Cartoon by the exiled caricaturist Fulk, 1934

Professor Kris Pangburn Office: 215F Palmer Hall Email: kris.pangburn@coloradocollege.edu Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 12:15-1:45 pm and by appointment This course examines everyday life in Hitler’s Germany by focusing in large part on the testimonials of ordinary German men and women. Questions to be considered include: Who voted for the National Socialists and why? Did the masses genuinely support the regime, or were they coerced into doing so? How deeply ingrained were anti-Semitic attitudes among the German people? What did the average German know about the Holocaust? Why didn’t many Jews leave before it was too late? Should ordinary German soldiers be regarded as criminals? How did the Germans experience the transition to a world without National Socialism? Readings  Whittock, A Brief History of the Third Reich (Running Press) 9780762441211 Johnson and Reuband, What We Knew (Basic Books) 9780465085729 Gay, My German Question (Yale University Press) 9780300080704 Hunt, On Hitler’s Mountain (Harper Perennial) 9780060532185 Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin (Picador) 9780312426118 * All other readings listed on the syllabus will be distributed in a course packet. Grading Participation/Attendance 15% Journal 35% Paper #1 30% Paper #2 20%

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Instructions for the journal and the two papers will be given in class. Please make sure that you follow the honor code while writing your essays and confirm your adherence by writing “Honor Code Upheld” and signing your name at the end of each assignment. Students taking the course pass/fail must complete all assignments. For our course to succeed, it is vital that everyone attend class every day. Please be on time, and make sure that you have turned off cell phones and computers. In addition, you should take advantage of “official” breaks for personal needs. Reading assignments are due on the day they are assigned. Be sure to come to class prepared to discuss the day’s assignment. Students are expected to read with care and imagination, annotating their texts thoughtfully and sharing their perspectives generously. If you have a disability and require accommodations for this course, please speak with me privately as soon as possible. If you have not already done so, you will need to register with Disability Services (Learning Commons at Tutt Library, Room 152, 227-8285). Lecture and Reading Schedule – Class meetings will begin at 9:30 AM unless otherwise noted. Mon, 1/23: Introduction Tues, 1/24: The Nazi Rise to Power, 1919-1933

Whittock, Intro; Chs. 1-4 Benz, A Concise History of the Third Reich – Excerpt #1 Noakes, “The Rise of the Nazis” in History Today Johnson and Reuband, What We Knew, 325-345

Wed, 1/25: Germany Under the Swastika, 1933-1939 Whittock, Chs. 5-8, 13, 15-16 Benz, A Concise History of the Third Reich – Excerpt #2 Johnson and Reuband, What We Knew, 346-360 Kershaw, “The Hitler Myth” in History Today Kershaw, “Hitler and the Uniqueness of Nazism” in Journal of Contemporary History

Thurs, 1/26: Nazi Racial Policies Whittock, Chs. 9-10, 17-18 * Gay, My German Question, Preface, 1-91 Fri, 1/27: A Jew Who Emigrated – Peter Gay * Gay, My German Question, 92-206 Mon, 1/30: A Jew Who Stayed – Victor Klemperer * Excerpts from Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness Heim, “The German-Jewish Relationship in the Diaries of Victor Klemperer” in Probing the Depths of German Antisemitism

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Tues, 1/31: What Did Ordinary Germans Know About the Holocaust? * Johnson and Reuband, What We Knew, 141-225; 367-75 Moorehouse, “Beyond Belief” in History Today Wed, 2/1: Women and Children in the Third Reich

Whittock, Chs. 11-12 Pine, “Nazism in the Classroom” in History Today Pine, “Girls in Uniform” in History Today von Saldern, “Victims or Perpetrators? Controversies About the Role of Women in the

Nazi State” in Nazism and German Society Excerpt from Kühne, Belonging and Genocide

~ FILM: Heil Hitler! Confessions of a Hitler Youth (1991) ~ Thurs, 2/2: Growing Up Nazi – Irmgard Hunt * Hunt, On Hitler’s Mountain, 1-133 Fri, 2/3: Growing Up Nazi – Irmgard Hunt, cont’d * Hunt, On Hitler’s Mountain, 134-275 Mon, 2/6: Artists and Intellectuals: Protest and Collaboration * Class meets from 1:00-3:00 PM * PAPER #1 DUE IN CLASS Whittock, Ch. 14 Excerpts from Evans’ The Coming of the Third Reich and The Third Reich in Power

~ FILM: Scenes from Triumph of the Will (1935) and The Wonderful, Horrible

Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) ~ Tues, 2/7: Humor in the Third Reich

Excerpts from Herzog, Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler’s Germany Excerpts from Hillenbrand, Underground Humour in Nazi Germany Coupe, “Adolf Hitler and the Cartoonists” in History Today

Wed, 2/8: The View From the Frontline: Soldiers’ Letters Excerpt from Fritz, Frontsoldaten: The German Soldier in World War II * Excerpt from Tubach, German Voices: Memories of Life During Hitler’s Third Reich Karsten, “Confessions of a German Soldier” in History Today

~ FILM: Confessions of a German Soldier (2008) ~

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Thurs, 2/9: The Wehrmacht Controversy

Excerpts from Wette, The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality Friedländer, “The Wehrmacht, German Society, and the Knowledge of the Mass

Extermination of the Jews” in Crimes of War * Johnson and Reuband, What We Knew, 226-259

~ FILM: The Unknown Soldier (2006) ~ Fri, 2/10: Life Under the Bombs Whittock, Chs. 19, 21-22 Excerpts from Moorehouse, Berlin At War * Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin, Forward; Intro; 1-61 Mon, 2/13: Survival in the Ruins

* Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin, 61-261 Tues, 2/14: Voices of Dissent

Whittock, Ch. 20 Benz, A Concise History of the Third Reich – Excerpt #3 Peukert, “Young People: Mobilization and Refusal” in Inside Nazi Germany

~ FILM: Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (2005) ~

Wed, 2/15: PAPER #2 DUE BY 5:00 PM

The Fate by Paul Weber (1932)