Professor Paul Hanebrink
Proposed AY 2011-2012
Office: Van Dyck 002D
Office Hours: TBA and by appointment
History 3xx:
Between Inclusion and Exclusion: The History of Jews in Central Europe, 1780-2010
Draft Syllabus
Course Description
The history of Jews in modern Central Europe– a region and time defined in this course as: Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia) from the late 1700s until the present day – is full of dramatic contradictions. For much of the nineteenth century, the history of Jews in this part of Europe reads like a success story. Jewish artists, writers, entrepreneurs, and professionals, especially those in the great cities of Berlin, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest, made tremendous contributions to the societies around them out of all proportion to their numbers. However, Central Europe also saw the rise in these years of an ideology – modern political antisemitism –that aimed at the exclusion of Jews from the society around them. In the middle of the twentieth century, this ideology fuelled the near total annihilation of Jewish communities in the region and across Europe. Yet, the history of Central European Jews did not end with the Holocaust. Especially in those parts of the region under Soviet control, the role and status of Jews remained an important social and political issue until 1989. Today – despite the painful past – there has been a remarkable revival of Jewish culture in Central Europe.
Throughout the course, we will pay particular attention to the construction of Jewish identities. As Jews adapted to the political, social, and cultural changes taking place around them, and as they confronted forces of inclusion and exclusion, they wrestled with the question of Jewish identity, creating and expressing new forms, changing or rejecting old traditions, sometimes even denying “Jewish-ness” altogether. This dynamic continues today, as Jews in Central Europe are finding new ways to express Jewish identity that embrace (but are not limited to) memories of the Holocaust.
Learning Goals
- Analyze the degree to which forms of human difference shape a person’s experiences of and perspectives on the world. (21C.a)
- Explain the development of some aspect of a society or culture over time. (HST.k) In this course, we will examine the particular forms of Jewish culture and society in a specific place – Central Europe – at a specific historical time.
Mechanics
This course is a hybrid of a lecture course and a seminar. This means that in-class discussion of assigned readings is an important aspect of the class. To help our discussion, you will complete very short (ca. 200 word) reflections on the assigned readings. There are also twelve scheduled discussion classes; you can miss three without penalty. You will also write three 5-7pp. essays throughout the semester; due dates are listed below. Your assessment will be based on:
Attendance and participation (10%)
Reflections (15%)
Essay #1 (25%)
Essay #2 (25%)
Essay #3 (25%)
Assignment Policy
I will take attendance. You can miss up to three classes without penalty. Reflections cannot be submitted late. You can miss three without penalty. You must hand in essays in hard-copy format and also upload them to turnitin.com; I will give you instructions for how to do this with the first essay assignment. Late essays will be graded down one letter grade per calendar day. I will entertain requests for deadline extensions, but requests must be made more than 24 hours before the due date. (Requests made after this time will not be considered.) If an extension is granted, the revised due date is final, and the one letter/day policy will be applied if the deadline is missed. No extensions will be granted for essay #3 for any reason.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is unacceptable. Plagiarism on an essay will result in an F for the entire course. When I hand out the paper topic, we will discuss what constitutes plagiarism. In the meantime, go to for more information.
Assigned Readings
Readings for each class session are given on the course schedule. You are expected to have read and thought about each reading when you come to class. Many readings are shorter texts. These are available through our course website. Other readings come from required course books which you will purchase. These are listed below.
The following have all been ordered through Rutgers University Bookstore. They can also be purchased on-line, through sites such as Amazon. I have also placed a copy of each text on 24-hour reserve at Alexander Library.
Arthur Schnitzler, The Road into the Open (University of California Press, 1991). ISBN-10 0520077741; ISBN-13 978-0520077744)
Joseph Roth, The Wandering Jews (W. W. Norton & Company, 2001). ISBN-10 039332270X; ISBN-13 978-0393322705
Jiří Weil, Life with a Star (Northwestern University Press, 1998). ISBN-10 0810116855; ISBN-13 978-0810116856
All other readings, which have been marked with a *, will be made available on the class Sakai site.
Schedule of Classes
September 1 (Thursday) – Introduction
I. Emancipation
September 6 Lecture: Central European Jews at the Dawn of the Modern Age
September 8 – MONDAY CLASSES; NO CLASS
September 13 Lecture: Enlightenment and Emancipation
September 15 Discussion: *G. E. Lessing, Nathan the Wise, and Moses Mendelssohn, Jerusalem, excerpts
II. The German Jewish Bourgeoisie (Bürgertum)
September 20 Lecture: Modernization, Social Mobility, and Bourgeois Respectability
September 22 Discussion: *Selected Letters of Dorothea Schlegel and Rahel Varnhagen and excerpts from Henriette Herz, Memoirs of a Jewish Girlhood
September 27 Lecture: Judaism in Germany between Tradition and Adaptation
September 29 ROSH HASHANAH. No Class.
October 4 Discussion: *Karl Marx, “On the Jewish Question”; Richard Wagner, “Judaism in Music;” Wilhelm Marr, “The Victory of Judaism over Germandom.”
III. Jewish Life in the Habsburg Lands: Vienna
October 6 Lecture: Jews in the Habsburg Lands ESSAY #1 DUE
October 11 Discussion I: Arthur Schnitzler, Road into the Open
October 13 Lecture: Fin-de-Siècle Vienna
October 18 Discussion II: Arthur Schnitzler, Road into the Open
IV. Jewish Life in the Habsburg Lands: Budapest and Prague
October 20 Lecture: Hungary – The Promise of Magyarization
October 25 Discussion of Film: “Memories of a River (Tutajosok),” if I can get a copy; otherwise, “Sunshine.”
October 27 Lecture: Prague – Jews between Germans and Czechs
November 1 Discussion: *Franz Kafka, “Letter to His Father,” and “The Metamorphosis”
V. War, Revolution, and Interwar Central Europe
November 3 Lecture: Revolution, Counter-Revolution, and the Collapse of Empire
November 8 Discussion: *Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, excerpts and Cecile Tormay, Diary of an Outlaw, excerpts
November 10 Lecture: Jewish Life in Weimar Germany
November 15 Discussion: Joseph Roth, The Wandering Jews. ESSAY #2 DUE
VI. Shoah
November 17 Lecture: Nazi Germany and the Holocaust in Central Europe
November 22 Discussion: Jiří Weil, Life with a Star
November 24 – THANKSGIVING; NO CLASS
November 29: Lecture: Memory in a Divided Germany
VII. Jews in Communist Regimes
December 1: Lecture: Jews and Communism
December 6 Discussion: *Péter Nádas, “The Lamb,” and György Dalos, excerpts from Circumcision
VIII. 1989 and Renewal
December 8 Lecture: The Renewal of Jewish Life in Central Europe
December 13 – Discussion: *The Case of Imre Kertész, Nobel Prize Winner, selected readings (excerpts from Fatelessness, interviews, and critical reception in Hungary and Germany)
December xx – ESSAY #3 DUE IN MY OFFICE, BY 12 NOON.
Essay # 3 will be due in my office by noon on the day scheduled by the university to be the exam day for this class.