Photo: Burning of the synagogue in Hanover, Germany, night of 9 November 1938 As historians Debórah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt have observed about Kristallnacht, “The pogrom of 9 November 1938 was the end of the beginning; the 10th of November was the beginning of the end” (Holocaust: A History, p. 102). Nazi Germany
The first scenes of Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993) show a man lay out his fine clothing, carefully select a tie, and embellish his suit with a Nazi Party lapel pin. The viewer soon discovers that this is Oskar Schindler, not only a Nazi but an opportunist, a businessman with questionable ethics, and a notorious
During the Holocaust, non-Jews faced a choice: to collaborate with or to resist Nazi rule. Many European gentiles living under German occupation adopted an indirect but still morally compromising course, choosing partial accommodation to Nazi policies rather than total collaboration. Others joined resistance movements only after it was clear that the Allies were winning the war. Jews encountered a far narrower set of options, but some took the difficult path to confront Nazi oppression with armed opposition. Two recently-published books reexamine aspects of resistance and collaboration in light of new research.
Today marks the release of The Boy on the Wooden Box , the memoir of our dear friend Leon Leyson. Leon was a guiding spirit of our program, always excited about new facets of our program in Holocaust history and education at Chapman University. It seems only appropriate that we initiate our blog today. I