Americans and the Holocaust: A Difficult History

A. Americans and the Holocaust: A Difficult History

Daniel Greene, Adjunct Professor, History

Holocaust history raises difficult questions about what could have been done to stop the rise of Nazism. This course examines Americans’ responses to Nazism: What did Americans know about the persecution and murder of European Jewry as it occurred? What more could have been done? Why didn’t rescue of Europe’s Jews become a priority for the U.S. government or the American people? How have Americans remembered the Holocaust since the end of World War II? We will explore these questions by taking a broad look at how all of American society – including the U.S. government, the media, popular culture and film, faith leaders, and refugee organizations – responded to the dangers posed by Nazi Germany.