Historical Debates

Germany – Persecution and the Holocaust, 1933-45

In this course, Professor Mary Fulbrook (UCL) examines Nazi Persecution and the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945. In the first module, we look at some of the key historical debates that historians have tackled in relation to Nazi persecution and the Holocaust. After this, we look at the first phase of Nazi persecution from 1933 to 1937. From then, we look at the second phase of Nazi persecution in the period 1938 to 1941. The penultimate module, looks at the third and final phase of Nazi persecution in the period 1942 to 1945. The final module, looks at the impact of Nazi persecution in the years after the war.

Historical Debates

In this module, we look at some of the key historical debates that historians have tackled in relation to Nazi persecution and the Holocaust. In particular, we look at: (i) why the Holocaust began in Germany and not elsewhere?; (ii) is the Holocaust unique? Or is it comparable to other mass genocides in history?; (iii) an examination of the intentionalist vs. structuralist/functionalist debate; (iv) the debates around the nature of German society in the 1930s, including debates over coercion and consent, popular opinion, and the Volksgemeinschaft; and (v) the recent development of perpetrator research which expanded the range of actors who perpetrated the Holocaust, including looking at those who were ideologically motivated and also those that were motivated by other factors.