670 Prejudice, Propaganda and Power: The Holocaust for Beginners
Class | Registration opens 8/4/2025 12:00 AM
This six-session seminar will offer a thoughtful introduction to the history of antisemitism, the rise of Hitler and the Nazi regime, and the systematic destruction of European Jewry during the Holocaust. Using historian Raul Hilberg's six-stage model of the destruction process: definition, expropriation, concentration, mobile killing units, deportaton and killing centers - we will build a clear and structured understanding of how these events unfolded.
Our sessions will include historical background, open discussions, survivor testimony and selected visual excerpts from "Schlinder's List" and Claude Lanzman's "Shoah". Prior expertise is not required - this seminar is intended for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Holocaust in a relaxed, welcoming environment. Participants will be encouraged to ask questions, reflect together, and partcipate, without the expectation of prior academic study.
Participants will be expected to read and reflect on handouts provided by the instructor. Short written observations and refections may be requested.
Other expecations: Computer literacy/access and email.
Ann Beaver
ANN BEAVER has been a member of the Pennsylvania Holocaust Education Council for over 12 years. A longtime educator of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, German, and English at the high school level, Ann has also facilitated numerous school assemblies featuring Holocaust survivor Hilda Mantelmacher, designed and led numerous workshops and classes throughout Pennsylvania. She has visited Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buchenwald, Dachau, and Nuremberg.