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Full-Text Articles in Public History

Wikipedia’S Intentional Distortion Of The History Of The Holocaust, Jan Grabowski, Shira Klein Feb 2023

Wikipedia’S Intentional Distortion Of The History Of The Holocaust, Jan Grabowski, Shira Klein

History Faculty Articles and Research

This essay uncovers the systematic, intentional distortion of Holocaust history on the English-language Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia. In the last decade, a group of committed Wikipedia editors have been promoting a skewed version of history on Wikipedia, one touted by right-wing Polish nationalists, which whitewashes the role of Polish society in the Holocaust and bolsters stereotypes about Jews. Due to this group’s zealous handiwork, Wikipedia’s articles on the Holocaust in Poland minimize Polish antisemitism, exaggerate the Poles’ role in saving Jews, insinuate that most Jews supported Communism and conspired with Communists to betray Poles (Żydokomuna or Judeo–Bolshevism), blame …


The History Of Teaching The Holocaust In Public Secondary Schools In The United States, From The 1960s To The Present, Julia Highbury Spenser Jan 2023

The History Of Teaching The Holocaust In Public Secondary Schools In The United States, From The 1960s To The Present, Julia Highbury Spenser

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.


Bibliography For Charlotte Salomon Display, Ruby Blakesleay Sep 2022

Bibliography For Charlotte Salomon Display, Ruby Blakesleay

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to accompany a display about Charlotte Salomon in September 2022 at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University. This display was created in partnership with the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library and the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education.


Life Is Beautiful, Or Not: The Myth Of The Good Italian, Shira Klein Jun 2021

Life Is Beautiful, Or Not: The Myth Of The Good Italian, Shira Klein

History Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"Life is Beautiful illustrates a popular misconception about Italy's role in the Holocaust. The film features the good Italian and the warped view that Italy treated Jews kindly in the late 1930s and during World War II. Historians have proven this claim to be grossly exaggerated, arguing that Italians persecuted Jews vigorously. Yet popular representations of the past-films, novels, museum exhibits, and websites-continue to give credence to the notion that Italians were overwhelmingly good to Jews. Although France and Germany cultivated similar self-acquitting myths in the decades immediately after the war, they eventually moved on to accept the more …


The Last Prisoners Of War: How Nazi-Looted Art Is Displayed In U.S. Museums, Monica May Thompson Jan 2021

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 …


Hashtag Holocaust: Negotiating Memory In The Age Of Social Media, Erica Fagen Jul 2019

Hashtag Holocaust: Negotiating Memory In The Age Of Social Media, Erica Fagen

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the representation of Holocaust memory through photographs on the social media platforms of Flickr and Instagram. It looks at how visitors – armed with digital cameras and smartphones – depicted their experiences at the former concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dachau, Sachsenhausen, and Neuengamme. The study’s arguments are twofold: firstly, social media posts about visits to former concentration camps are a form of Holocaust memory, and secondly, social media allows people from all backgrounds the opportunity to share their memories online. Holocaust memory on social media introduces a new, digital kind of memory called “filtered memory.” This study …


Book Review: Representing Genocide: The Holocaust As Paradigm?, Emily Sample Oct 2017

Book Review: Representing Genocide: The Holocaust As Paradigm?, Emily Sample

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.


Genocide Museums And Memorials: How The Politics Of Victimization And The Entertainment Factor Of Certain Institutions Cause Misinterpretations Of Genocide, Shauna Lachendro Jan 2017

Genocide Museums And Memorials: How The Politics Of Victimization And The Entertainment Factor Of Certain Institutions Cause Misinterpretations Of Genocide, Shauna Lachendro

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This piece analyzes the mission statements of four institutions that commemorate Genocide: The United states Holocaust Memorial Museum, Kaligi Genocide memorial, Tsitsernakaberd, and S-21. The paper first plays out serious topics, such as dark tourism, the politicization of museums, the entertainment factor of museums, the definitions of genocide, and the Americanization of the Holocaust. Each institution is critically examined independently following the definitions of terms in the introduction.