The Holocaust and Other Genocides: History, Representation, Ethics [Paperback]

Helmut Walser Smith (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0826514030 | ISBN-13: 978-0826514035 | Publication Date: June 14, 2002 | Edition: 1

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

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

About the Author

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).

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press; 1 edition (June 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826514030
• ISBN-13: 978-0826514035
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #666,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A seminal and invaluable contribution to Holocaust Studies, July 12, 2002

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Holocaust and Other Genocides: History, Representation, Ethics (Paperback)

A the result of a special project of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, Inc., and in association with the Vanderbilt University based Zimmerman Foundation and Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, Helmut Smith (Associate Professor of History, Vanderbilt University) has compiled The Holocaust And Other Genocides: History, Representation, Ethics, a compendium of scholarly researches. The scholarly commentary ranges from the history of the Holocaust (including the creation of a racist society and the evolution of a regimented and industrialized killing process, as well as the phenomena of resistance and rescue), to the representations of the Holocaust in the arts, language, literature, photography, film, monuments and memorials), to other examples of genocide (the Armenian genocide, the "ethnic cleansing of Bosnia and Kosovo, tribal warfare of Rwanda's Tutsis and Hutus); to considerations of ethics and ethical questioning. The Holocaust And Other Genocides is a seminal and invaluable contribution to Holocaust Studies supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.