OSPBER 88: Religion & the Third Reich
This course attempts to grapple with this complex and troubling chapter of Central Europe¿s history--one whose effects continue to be felt today and whose marks are visible in Berlin--by exploring the Nazi leadership¿s various attitudes and policies toward the Protestant and Catholic churches; the fascination on the part of some Nazis toward new religious movements anchored in occult practices, pseudo-scientific theories, and Nordic religious mythologies; the responses of religious actors and organizations to government attempts to coopt them via ¿Gleichschaltung¿ (coordination)--ranging from reluctant accommodation to enthusiastic cooperation to resistance; the so-called ¿Kirchenkampf¿ (church struggle) within the Protestant regional and national churches; the distinct response of German Roman Catholic bishops and the Pope (Pacelli) to National Socialism; the predicament and sometimes tragic decisions of Jewish Councils and other victims to manage the catastrophe; and the attempts of
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This course attempts to grapple with this complex and troubling chapter of Central Europe¿s history--one whose effects continue to be felt today and whose marks are visible in Berlin--by exploring the Nazi leadership¿s various attitudes and policies toward the Protestant and Catholic churches; the fascination on the part of some Nazis toward new religious movements anchored in occult practices, pseudo-scientific theories, and Nordic religious mythologies; the responses of religious actors and organizations to government attempts to coopt them via ¿Gleichschaltung¿ (coordination)--ranging from reluctant accommodation to enthusiastic cooperation to resistance; the so-called ¿Kirchenkampf¿ (church struggle) within the Protestant regional and national churches; the distinct response of German Roman Catholic bishops and the Pope (Pacelli) to National Socialism; the predicament and sometimes tragic decisions of Jewish Councils and other victims to manage the catastrophe; and the attempts of a handful of resistors, who out of religious conviction and/or reasons of conscience, attempted to ¿drive a spoke into the wheel itself¿ of National Socialism. The course is designed to take maximum advantage of those sites and museums in Berlin that were a part of the history and people we will be studying.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Pitkin, B. (PI)
;
Sockness, B. (PI)
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