Tag: world war ii

+

The Role of Education in Indoctrination in Anna Seghers’ “A Man Becomes a Nazi”

We know the power of education. We know of its power to expand one’s worldview and to teach students how to become members of a collective society. However, we also know about the controlling nature of education, the way it becomes an extension of those in power and used as a means of control, to gain and maintain power over a populace. Nazi Germany … Read More The Role of Education in Indoctrination in Anna Seghers’ “A Man Becomes a Nazi”

+

The Internal Psychosis of Nazism in Hans Massaquoi’s “Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany”

Ian Kershaw’s The “Hitler Myth”: Image and Reality in the Third Reich, traces the image of Hitler in Germany from the failed putsch in 1923 all the way to the regime’s demise in 1945. Kershaw points out that the historical priming for a myth in an all-powerful Führer who would save the nation, dating back to the nineteenth century. While many groups ebbed and flowed … Read More The Internal Psychosis of Nazism in Hans Massaquoi’s “Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany”

+

History and the American Dream in James McBride “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store”

Cover illustration by David Cooper for The Washington Post When Nana Nkweit asked James McBride how much discovering his Jewish background impacted his latest novel The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, McBride said that he discovered himself becoming “much more sensitized to the events of World War II than ever before.” He stated that his mother had cousins who died in he Holocaust, and he mentioned that … Read More History and the American Dream in James McBride “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store”

+

Resistance and Survival in World War II Poland Syllabus

A couple of years ago, I proposed a study travel trip to Poland focused on the intersections between Jim Crow and the Holocaust. Unfortunately, the trip didn’t make, so we didn’t get to go. However, one student wanted to take the course, and we did a directed study which led to a co-written essay. I have thought about trying to get this trip make again, but I … Read More Resistance and Survival in World War II Poland Syllabus

+

The Construction of Enemies in Ron Rash’s “Return”

All of us, no matter how hard we try, succumb to preconceived stereotypes and the construction of others who may disagree with us enemies. Salman Rushdie discusses this extensively in his memoir Knife as he writes about his stabbing in August 2022 at the Chautauqua Institute. During a fictionalized interview with his would be assassin, Rushdie tells the man, “I know that it is possible to … Read More The Construction of Enemies in Ron Rash’s “Return”