Suggestions for papers, etc.

What should I write about? All students now this tricky question. Here you will find suggestions for subjects for papers, questions, and links that can serve as inspiration.

Remember: It is important to discuss with your teacher the exact demands of the paper or presentation, e.g. any limit to the number of pages, etc.

The background to the Holocaust

- The history of anti-Semitism (perhaps in combination with religious studies)
- Different types of anti-Semitism (religious, racist, political, etc.)
- Anti-Semitism in different countries (for instance in Eastern Europe, France, or Austria)
- Anti-Semitic propaganda

National Socialism (Nazism)

- Hitler’s policy (the Party Programme from 1920, Mein Kampf)
- Hitler and the Nazi Party’s take-over of power in 1933
- The Nuremberg Race Laws
- The Night of Broken Glass, 1938

Holocaust – the attempt to exterminate the European Jews

- The Final Solution
- The mass murder in the Soviet Union
- Ghettos
– Camps and extermination camps (Auschwitz and others)

Aftermath

- Responsibility and guilt (the showdown after World War II)
– Holocaust denial
- Neo-Nazism
- Holocaust and other genocides

The three groups of people

The perpetrators/tormentors (Who were they? Why did they act the way they did?)

The victims (Who were they? You could discuss the fate of one single victim)

The bystanders (Why did so few react against the crimes committed?)

The Holocaust in individual countries

- Germany and Austria (rich in source material)

- France

– Denmark (the unique fate of the Danish Jews)

Examples of questions worth asking:

- What is the Holocaust?
– How did the Holocaust begin?
– Why were the Jews persecuted?
– What role did anti-Semitism play?
– Was the Holocaust a ‘German project’? Could other nations or nationalities have done the same?
– What role did Hitler play?

How can I use this web site?