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The Holocaust and Other Genocides

The Holocaust and Other Genocides

History, Representation, Ethics

Edited by Helmut Walser Smith

288 Pages, 6in x 9in

Paperback
9780826514035
Published: June 2002

$39.95

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Hardcover
9780826514028
Published: June 2002

$79.95

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Description
Author
Praise

The Nazi genocide of the Jews, while unique in some ways, was not the only genocide of the twentieth century. This innovative book, the product of a year-long collaboration of scholars from many disciplines, is the first curriculum to systematically tie the teaching of the Holocaust to an analysis of the genocides in Armenia, Bosnia and Kosovo, and Rwanda.

The book consists of five parts: introduction; history of the Holocaust; representations of the Holocaust in literature, film, and the arts; other genocides; and ethics. The curriculum, shaped with feedback from those who teach Holocaust studies, consists mainly of primary documents and their analysis. Each section includes a general introduction to a body of knowledge that reflects current research and detailed introductions to particular documents. Throughout the book, there are provocative discussion questions and suggestions for further reading and other resources. Each section features "links" to other parts to encourage interdisciplinary reflection. The final section on ethics addresses the difficult questions raised by genocide.

The Holocaust and Other Genocides is designed as a model for flexible, innovative teaching about this complex subject. It is also a sophisticated, interdisciplinary effort to create the conditions for discussing and understanding the genocides of the twentieth century.

Helmut Walser Smith is associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of German Nationalism and Religious Conflict (1995), The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town (August 2002), and co-editor of Exclusionary Violence: Antisemitic Riots in Modern German History (2001) and Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Germany, 1800-1914 (2001).

Thoughtful questions are at the heart of the educational process. The Holocaust and Other Genocides, an unusually fine and creative curriculum about the Holocaust and other genocides, is filled with questions that will stimulate continuing inquiry on the part of teachers and students alike. And it will keep them in dialogue with one another.
--Carol Rittner, Distinguished Professor of Holocaust Studies, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Much-needed, well-informed, distinctive and comprehensive-these are only a few of the recommending words deserved by The Holocaust and Other Genocides, a book that will be immensely valuable to teachers and students alike.
--John K. Roth, Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College

In an age when violence seems to surround us, studying the Holocaust and other genocides is more critical in understanding the modern human experience. This volume represents a unique collaboration of scholars and teachers to provide a flexible curriculum that can help tell the story of genocides, of which the Holocaust looms as most significant.
--Stephen Feinstein, Director, Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, University of Minnesota