Anthony Anderson

In German occupied western Europe nowhere did the Nazis pursue their genocidal policies against the Jews with more zeal and devastating results than in the Netherlands. By the end of World War II more than 75% of the Jews living in Holland had perished in the Holocaust. This, in a nation which has been and is one of the world's most tolerant and least anti-Semitic societies.

This course will explore this enormous tragedy which befall Dutch Jewry. Particular emphasis will be given to examining the agonizing ethical choices which confronted the Dutch, both Jewish and Gentile, during the German occupation. The class will follow a lecture/discussion format, with readings, film clips, and guest speakers. There will be also involvement with the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.

Note: students are advised that during the course of this class they will be subjected to images of the Holocaust, which will be at times graphic and may be distinctly unsettling.

Anthony Anderson is the International Documents Librarian at the VKC Library. Previously he served as the Client Services Librarian at Doheny Library and as a reference librarian in the Government Documents Dept. He has taught two other Freshman Seminars: "He Said, She Said, They Said: Making Sense of the Opinion Makers And Making Up You Own Mind" and "'Can't We All Just Get Along?': Ethnic Conflicts in the World and the Media."

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