Holocaust and Genocide Studies Commons^™

Where Words Cannot Express, Abigale E. Ernst

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

This research paper takes a closer look into art created during the Holocaust, specifically by children and its significance in terms of art therapy, and how expressions through the arts could have help/ provided comfort to children going through such a traumatizing experience.

My Butterfly, Alice G. Pellemoine

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

This poem explores the experience of a father during the Holocaust. It shows the different losses he and his daughter went through during their time in the camps.

From The Eyes Of Art, Lauren E. Anderson

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

No abstract provided.

Starting Anew: Jewish Immigrants And Refugees Sent To America’S Midwest From Nazi And Post Wwii Germany, Quinn Fabish

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

This paper serves to investigate the reasoning as to why Jewish refugees and immigrants were sent to places in the Midwest. Through the analysis of many primary sources, specifically interviews of Jewish refugees and immigrants, this investigation reveals that the general reasons as to why Jewish immigrants and refugees were sent to the rural Midwest were rooted in economics as well as their assimilation into American society. The rural Midwest offered more potential economic opportunities than other urban areas and allowed Jewish immigrants and refugees to more easily assimilate into American life through various means.

Teaching Our Past To Preserve Our Future: Ignorance And The Insurrection, Haleigh Jacocks

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

No abstract provided.

The Last Prisoners Of War: How Nazi-Looted Art Is Displayed In U.S. Museums, Monica May Thompson

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

How art museums approach NLA is important today because much of the public relies on museums for their education. NLA cases are especially controversial because they are not only legal battles, but ethical ones so museums have to be extra careful approaching them. Even if the museum has won the legal battle the public may not see them as winning the ethical one therefore they might want to avoid displaying this information to the public. However, as we can see with the previous websites, it actually looks worse for museums not to be open and honest about their NLA pieces …

From Leaflets To Tweets: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Propaganda Tools Used By The Nazi Party And Donald Trump, Tj Coleman

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

Since the day he announced his campaign for President, people have been comparing Donald Trump to a Nazi. I, like many of us, have long believed that comparison to be overly simplistic, though not completely without merit. In this essay I analyze that comparison through an examination of the rhetoric and tactics of exclusion used by both Donald Trump and his campaign and the Nazi Party. Though there are substantive differences in some rhetorical tactics, there are also some frightening similarities. It is my hope that an honest and even handed understanding of how our current political moment compares to …

The National Socialists And How They Ostracized An Entire Population, Kathryn Weber

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

In this paper, I analyze how the National Socialists ostracized the Jews before the start of World War II. I also discuss the importance of teaching students about this topic in US schools in a way that promotes historical inquiry, historical empathy, and critical thinking skills. There is an attached lesson plan that I did with 6th-grade students to provide an example of one way to teach students about the Holocaust. Here is my thesis for the paper:

"By examining laws passed by the Reichstag, the organization of the ghettos and the camps, the German education system, correspondence between …

The Problem Of Jewish Agency In The Holocaust: 1939-1945, Joseph Knapik

Geifman Prize in Holocaust Studies

This paper discusses the nuance of Jewish agency during the Holocaust. It argues that full genocide was thwarted by individual efforts which can illustrate a picture of collective defiance. Utilizing Berger’s definition of agency as, “the capacity to exert control and even to transform to some extent ‘the social relations in which one is enmeshed.’” Focusing attention to after 1939 in ghettos and camps, it investigates period sources such as ghetto witness accounts, orders, and diary entries. It allows for a comprehensive depiction of Jewish agency as neither entirely heroic or lachrymose, as painted by popular depiction.