Ethnic Cleansing and the German East
Spring 2011
GRC 327E, REE 335, HIS 362G, EUS 346
Unique # 38390, 45195, 39825, 36500
Class meets:
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Office Hours:
T, Th 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p .m. GEA 114
Jan Musekamp
Burdine 368
232-6374
[email protected]
T 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and by appointment
Course Description:
Europe‟s ethnic landscape began to change dramatically after Hitler‟s rise to power in 1933. In
the twelve years to come, virtually all European Jews vanished – either due to the Holocaust,
emigration, or deportation. While according to the Third Reich‟s racist ideology Jews, Sinti and
Roma had to be exterminated, the Slavic speaking population of Poland, the Soviet Union and
Czechoslovakia was to be treated as a slave labor force. In their “Generalplan Ost,” Nazi
planners envisioned a new, German dominated Europe with settlements far in Russia and the
Ukraine. Even during the war, Germans settled in newly conquered territories of Central and
Western Poland, expelling former inhabitants. But by 1944, millions of Germans fled from the
Red Army occupying their homelands in the eastern Germany. Ethnic cleansing, started by
Germany in 1933, had reached its culmination: the outcome of World War II led to a westward
shift of the Soviet Union and Poland, as well as forced migrations. As a result, Poland and
Czechoslovakia reemerged as ethnically homogenous states.
In this course, we will analyze twentieth century changes in the ethnic landscape of East
Central Europe. We will focus on German speaking populations, having settled vast areas in
East Central Europe since the middle ages. The loss of „the German East‟ resulted in a veritable
mass-trauma in Germany: while ignoring their own guilt for the cruelties of World War II, some
German expellees refused to accept the loss of their homelands. The population of expellees
was by no means marginal; they hindered rapprochement with Poland and Czechoslovakia well
into the 1990s. But German expellees were not alone in their refusal to accept responsibility for
former atrocities: the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic only officially apologized
for violence against Germans in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Here, we will explore the important legacy of „the German East‟ on both German and
European cultural history, past and present.
Course Readings:
Course readings are on electronic reserve.
Course Requirements & Grading:
Weekly readings: ca. 40-60 pages of articles from the historical and sociological literature
dealing with Ethnic Cleansing and the German East. The final grade (using plus/minus grading
system) will consist of the following components:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Class participation: 10 %
Text presentation: 10 %
Four essays of five pages each: 30 %
Midterm exam: 20 %
Final exam: 30 %
Grading:
A: 90+
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
D: 60-69
F: 59 or less
RULES
Attendance and active participation:
Class attendance is mandatory. You will be asked to sign in at the beginning of each class.
Unsatisfactory attendance unsupported by medical documentation will preclude a student‟s
receiving a grade higher than C. Active participation means being involved in discussions and
discussion groups, being curious and asking in the event you don‟t understand something,
questioning statements and findings if you disagree, and defending your own findings and
opinions, according to your own capacity to perform in a group. It also means doing your
homework regularly (being prepared for class).
Formatting of papers:
Papers need to be in 11 pt. Arial, single spaced, with 1” margins on top, bottom, left and right.
Please send in your papers (email) prior to the relevant class in the format
“Ethnic.name.essay#.doc”. Formats “.docx” and “.odt” are accepted.
Class and classrooms:
Cell phones must be turned off in class; computers may be used only for note-taking. If a student
uses electronic devices for non-class related activities and creates a disturbance s/he will be
asked to leave for the remainder of that class.
Academic Assistance:
Academic Assistance is provided by the UT Learning Center, in Jester Center, Room A332A. It
offers help with college-level writing, reading, and learning strategies. It is free to all currently
enrolled students.
See: <http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/assistive/policy.html> for requesting help you need in
using the main library (PCL) or the Fine Arts Library (for films).
Students with disabilities
The University of Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for
qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of
Students at 471-6259, 471-6441 TTY. Any student with a documented disability who requires
academic accommodations should contact the Service for Students with Disabilities as soon as
possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. These letters must be
given to your TAs to receive accommodations. See:
<http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/index.php>.
Syllabus and assignments:
All requirements have been given to you in writing, in the package including this sheet. If you
don't read it and miss something, it's not our problem. NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED; see the
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conditions for making up work for medical and other leaves are listed in the next section.
Religious Holidays and other absences
 Students can make up work missed because of a religious holiday as long as they
provide the instructor with documentation at least one week before the holiday occurs.
 The same applies to official university obligations like Club or Varsity sports.
 Documentation from a physician is required for medical absence; arrangements for work
to be made up must be made promptly, and in no case should the work be completed
more than 2 weeks after the absence.
 Other absences (e.g. family events) must be arranged for at least TWO WEEKS IN
ADVANCE and missed work must be turned in at the NEXT CLASS SESSION upon
return.
Cheating and Plagiarism
Cheating and other forms of scholastic dishonesty, including plagiarism, will be reported to the
Dean of Students. Cheating on tests or plagiarism on papers is an F for the assignment, with no
makeup possible. If you engage in any form of scholastic dishonesty more than once, you will
receive an automatic F for the course.
If you are unsure about the exact definition of scholastic dishonesty, you should consult the
information about academic integrity produced by the Dean of Students Office:
<http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php>.
Plagiarism means using words or ideas that are not your own without citing your sources and
without indicating explicitly what you have taken from those sources. If you are unsure about
what constitutes plagiarism, consult:
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/plagiarism/>
What does "citing your sources" mean? It means providing appropriate footnotes and
bibliographic entries. See
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/learningmodules/citations/>.
To make correct citations, researchers often use bibliographic software like UT's "Noodlebib"
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/noodlebib/> or Zotero <http://www.zotero.com.
Additional information on cheating and plagiarism:
The Student Judicial Services Website provides official definitions of plagiarism and cheating:
 Definitions of plagiarism and other forms of scholastic dishonesty, based on Section
11-802d of UT‟s Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities:
http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_plagiarism.php
 The University‟s Standard of Academic Integrity and Student Honor Code (from
Chapter 11 of the University‟s Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities):
http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php
 Consequences of scholastic dishonesty:
http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_conseq.php
 Types of scholastic dishonesty: unauthorized collaboration, plagiarism, and multiple
submissions: http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/scholdis_whatis.php
Missed tests:
Make-up tests will only be given in cases of a medical emergency (doctor‟s written statement
required) or a serious family emergency.
If you are unclear about anything please ask! Consequently, if something is unclear, no matter
what it is, ask me for clarification. You will find that there are no questions that I won‟t answer. If
you need help with something that you don‟t understand, see me during office hours or send me
an email.
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Class schedule (subject to revision)
Week
Class
Topic
1: Introduction
1/18
Goal and organization of course
1/20
Ethnic cleansing in History: An Overview
Mann, 34-54
1/25
De Zayas
1/27
First World War
The Armenian Genocide
[documentary: The Armenian Genocide,
USA 2006]
Forced migrations in North America
2/1
Bosnia-Herzegowina prior to World War I
Mentzel
2/3
Greeks and Turks in Greece and Asia Minor
Lieberman
2/8
Medieval colonization of Central Europe
Johnson, 27-44
2/10
German-speaking settlers in different parts
of Europe
2/15
Concept of the Nation State
2/17
New borders, new states
2/22
Polish case
Komjathy
Essay 1 due:
Germans in
East Central
Europe
Anderson, 6788
Johnson, 171196
Stachura, 60-86
2/24
Case of Czechoslovakia
King, 153-177
3/1
Jewish population
Strauss, 186210
3/3
Transfers of German population
Kulischer, 7-27
3/8
Nazi plans for a new Europe
Connelly
3/10
Midterm exam
3/15
3/17
no class
Essay 2 due:
Nazi politics
and forced
migration
_
2: History of Ethnic
Cleansing
3: History of Ethnic
Cleansing
4: The German
East
5: Interwar Period
6: Nation States
and Minorities
7: WW II: Forced
migrations prior to
1941
8: General Plan
Ost, part 1
9: Spring Break
Assignments
4
Dreisziger
10: General Plan
3/22
Ost, part 2
Soviet Union 1939- 3/24
1945
11:
3/29
Politics in the General Government (Poland)
Gross, 184-203
Polish population
Lebedeva
Germans in the Wolga region
Pohl, 27-60
Flight and
Expulsion after
1944/45
12:
3/31
Germans in Poland in 1945
Kraft
4/5
Germans in Poland after the Potsdam
Conference
Germans in Czechoslovakia after 1945
Jankowiak
4/7
13: Integration of
German Expellees
4/12
4/19
Federal Republic of Germany
(West Germany)
German Democratic Republic (East
Germany)
Case of Breslau/Wrocław
4/21
Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia
Radvanovský
4/26
Szczecin‟s identity after 1989
Musekamp
4/28
Czech Republic and EU accession
5/3
Ethnic Cleansing in former Yugoslavia
The New York
Times, 19962004, various
articles
Essay 4 due:
Impact of the
forced
migrations
Naimark, 159184
5/5
Final exam
4/14
14: Resettlement
in a “Strange
Country”
15: Ethnic
Cleansing and the
European Union
16:
Glassheim
Essay 3 due:
The German’s
loss of their
homeland
Ahonen
5
Wille
Thum
Bibliography:
-
Pertti Ahonen: The Impact of Distorted Memory: Historical Narratives and Expellee
Integration in West Germany, 1945-1970, in: Karen Schönwälder; Rainer Ohliger und
Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos (Hrsg.): European Encounters. Migrants, Migration, and
European Societies since 1945, Aldershot, Hants, England 2003, 238-256.
-
Benedict Anderson: Imagined Communities, London 2002.
-
John Connelly: Nazis and Slavs: From Racial Theory to Racist Practice, in: Central
European History, 32(1999), 1-33.
-
T. David Curp: A Clean Sweep? The Politics of Ethnic Cleansing in Western Poland,
1945 - 1960, Rochester, NY 2006.
-
N.F. Dreisziger: Redrawing the Ethnic Map in North America: The Experience of France,
Britain and Canada. 1536-1946, in: Vardý, 45-62.
-
Matthew James Frank: Expelling the Germans. British Opinion and post-1945 Population
Transfer in Context, Oxford 2007.
-
Benjamin Frommer: National Cleansing. Retribution against Nazi Collaborators in
Postwar Czechoslovakia, Cambridge 2004.
-
Eagle Glassheim: The Mechanics of Ethnic Cleansing: The Expulsion of Germans from
Czechoslovakia, 1945-1947, in: Ther/Siljak, 197-219.
-
Günter Grass: The Tin Drum, Boston and New York 2009.
-
Jan Tomasz Gross: Polish Society under German Occupation. The
Generalgouvernement, 1939-1944, Princeton, N.J. 1979.
-
Thomas Grosser: The Integration of Deportees into the Society of the Federal Republic
of Germany, in: Rieber, 125-147.
-
Stanisław Jankowiak: “Cleansing“ Poland of Germans: The Province of Pomerania,
1945-1949, in: Ther/Siljak, 87-105.
-
Lonnie Johnson: Central Europe. Enemies, Neighbors, Friends, New York, Oxford ²1996.
-
Stuart J. Kaufman: Modern Hatreds. The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War, New York [et
al.] 2001.
-
Jeremy King: Budweisers into Czechs and Germans. A local History of Bohemian
Politics, 1848 - 1948, Princeton [et al.] 2002.
-
Anthony Tihamer Komjathy und Rebecca Stockwell: German Minorities and the Third
Reich. Ethnic Germans of East Central Europe between the Wars, New York 1980.
-
Claudia Kraft: Who Is a Pole, and Who Is a German? The Province of Olsztyn in 1945, in:
Ther/Siljak, 107-120.
-
Eugene M. Kulischer: The Displacement of Population in Europe, Montreal 1943.
-
N. S. Lebedeva: The Deportation of the Polish Population to the USSR, 1939-41, in:
Rieber, 28-45.
-
Ben Lieberman: Ethnic Cleansing in the Greek-Turkish Conflicts from the Balkan Wars
through the Treaty of Lausanne: Identifying and Defining Ethnic Cleansing, in: Várdy,
181-197.
-
Vejas G. Liulevicius: The German Myth of the East. 1800 to the Present, Oxford 2009.
6
-
Michael Mann: The Dark Side of Democracy. Explaining Ethnic Cleansing, New York
2005.
-
Peter Mentzel: “Ethnic Cleansing”, Emigration, and Identity: The Case of Habsburg
Bosnia-Hercegovina, in: Várdy, 99-112.
-
Jan Musekamp: Szczecin's Identity after 1989: A Local Turn, in: Cities after the Fall of
Communism. Reshaping cultural Landscapes and European Identity, Washington, DC [et
al.] 2009, 305-334.
-
Norman M. Naimark: Fires of Hatred. Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe,
Cambridge, Mass. 2001.
-
J. Otto Pohl: Ethnic Cleansing in the USSR, 1937 - 1949, Westport, Conn. 1999.
-
Zdeněk Radvanovský: The Social and Economic Consequences of Resettling Czechs
into Northwestern Bohemia, 1945-1947, in: Ther/Siljak, 241-260.
-
Alfred J. Rieber (ed.): Forced Migration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1939-1950,
Portland, OR 2000.
-
Peter D. Stachura: Poland between the Wars, 1918-1939, New York 1998.
-
Herbert Arthur Strauss (ed.): Jewish Immigrants of the Nazi Period in the USA, Bd. 6:
Essays on the History, Persecution, and Emigration of German Jews, New York 1987.
-
Philipp Ther and Ana Siljak (eds.): Redrawing Nations. Ethnic Cleansing in East-Central
Europe, 1944 - 1948, Lanham 2001.
-
Gregor Thum: Cleansed Memory: The New Polish Wrocław/Breslau and the Expulsion of
the Germans, in: Várdy, 333-357.
-
Steven Béla Várdy (ed.): Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe, New York 2003.
-
Manfred Wille: Compelling the Assimilation of Expellees in the Soviet Zone of Occupation
and the GDR, in: Ther/Siljak, 263-283.
-
Alfred de Zayas: The Twentieth Century‟s First Genocide: International Law, Impunity,
the Right to Reparations, and the Ethnic Cleansing Against the Armenians, 1915-16, in:
Várdy, 157-180.
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