The course is an excellent introduction to the Nazi Ideology specially wrt their ideas about racial superiority and the attempt to convert traditional Anti-Antisemitism to Modern Antisemitism by giving it a racial, secular and scientific grab. Learners get exposed to a variety of historical documents many of which are otherwise not in public domain. The course is taught with great passion and you can almost feel the anguish and pain of the people who witnessed the holocaust first hand. Highly recommended for everyone so that people are sensitized not to repeat this genocide and discrimination, no matter where they live.

The interested participant should know that this is part 1 of 2, covering the years up to 1940. The main presenter is well articulated, but the delivery is too rapid, too weaving back-and-forth between years. The presentation style is so scripted that the learner does not have time to assimilate the complex subjects and new language (German) being used in visual displays. Speaking of, the displays are flashed on screen rather than being used with purpose and pointer. There is a lack of basic visuals to help understand the structure of the German government, military, and police i

My college sponsored the Coursera courses and i stumbled upon this course on the Coursera website. The topic itself greatly interested me. But as i began to learn the course, i was actually hooked to it. This course actually cleared a lot of misconceptions about Holocaust. I have noticed that a general view of Holocaust is that Jews were captured and massacred in the Ghettos and camps. But the actual various versions of the Holocaust in various European countries was an eye-opener for me. This course was very systematic and even a person who is absolutely new to be introduced to Holocaust can very well understand it.

This course, The Holocaust - An Introduction (l).... was an in depth study of the situation the Jews were facing in most of Europe after the Nazis came into power. The instructors were knowledgeable and came across as having personal feelings about the plight of the Jews during that time. I am very impressed with them and their ability to pass on the information that they did in such a way that it was very understandable while demonstrating their indepth knowledge of the material. Thank you. I come away from the course with a deeper understanding of the problems and horrible life style the Jews had to face.

Not having studied much about the Holocaust, but knowing about it, I had questions I've wondered about. This course answers many of those questions, corrects misinformation I've heard or read over the last few decades, and then adds additional questions to my unanswered questions just in time, i.e., at the starting of "The Holocaust - An Introduction (II): The Final Solution." Certainly, after knowing many, many, people in many countries across the world have devoted their life to studying the Holocaust, no one realistically expects quality, nor a simplistic "answer" to the Holocaust in a three week course?

Ótimo curso introdutório!

An excellent course. Very hard and really heart-breaking, like everything related to the Holocaust, but crucial. I read a lot about the Holocaust and I learnt a lot of new things in this course. This course should be compulsory in High School (racism and antisemitism are rampant today). All sufferings are terrible, but never was in the History of Mankind a killing machine so well planned and so supported by the common population that brought millions of men, women, and children to die in gas chambers like in the Holocaust. The Holocaust is an event that has no precedent in History. The genocide was not carried our for reason of territory or even religion. But because of the most irrational antisemitism (that combined Christian antisemitism, racial antisemitism, "conspiracy-paranoia" antisemitism, and redemptive antisemitism). Yehuda Bauer writes: "The Holocaust … is a unique genocide, with unprecedented –and, so far, unrepeated– characteristics (…) The Holocaust has … become the symbol for genocide, racism, for hatred of foreigners, and, of course, for antisemitism”, pp. x–xi / “I think that the planned total murder of a people was an unprecedented catastrophe in human civilization. It happened because it could happen; if it could not have happened, it would not have done so. And because it happened once, it can happen again”, p. 2 (Rethinking the Holocaust). WE REMEMBER.

Should have talked about how German and other European industries used forced labour for their benefit. Siemens is still involved in lawsuits about this and is on the news now.

Please also talk about IBM's involvement in helping Nazi's with punch cards to help organise the millions of jews and other races they murdered

Art theft is something thats really interesting that was not touched upon. THe german govt is now providing subsidies to art owners who wish to examine the provenance of the art they own so that it can be returned to the heirs of the rightful owners

Involvement of Swiss (while being neutral) in banking and financial support to Nazis and exploitation of Jews is something that missing here. Numbered accounts were created to help jews send their money abroad without being detected, but their heirs could never get the money back

I have since a long time now been keen on studying about the Holocaust and the Nazi Ideology that led to it. Up until now i had been self educating myself by reading various books, publications, watching videos etc. However the system did not look very cohesively. The information i was getting was in a disorganised fashion. Then i came across this course and knew i had to take it. And for the first time since i have strived to know more about this subject was i able to get information in a well-integrated and structured format. The course starts exactly from a point and time in history which is relevant to studying the holocaust. The course was immensely eye opening and the content truly compelling. I can't wait to start the 2nd part of the course.

This is an excellent class. Professor Dreifuss' lectures were well organized and presented. Being able to hear the lecture and then read the transcript is an excellent learning approach, especially for a poor note taker like me. The topic sequence was logical and led me from the rise of Hitler to the preparation for his final solution. I have read a small number of books on the Holocaust but I found much information that I didn't know I didn't know. I am enrolled in Part II and looking forward to the class. I must also mention the mentor Lilian Zihni. Her critiques of our writing assignments were in many cases detailed additional relevant information.

Most Sincerely, Phil Hawkes Ph.D

This course exceeded all my expectations. I was most impressed by the relevant historical analyses and contexts provided as well as the depth and breadth of sources considered. It was illuminating to learn more about how Jews in the other, Nazi-occupied countries were treated and why this differed. I have a much better understanding now, of what happened. I am very thankful for the disciplined methodology of analysis and understanding that the historians from the University of Tel Aviv demonstrated in this course. I am greatly looking forward to part 2! And now, maybe, I'll have the courage to finally visit the Holocaust Memorial Center here in Cape Town...

This was a very educational course with incredible amounts of photos and videos that truly brought the facts to life in regard to those horrible years of the Holocaust. Going into this course, one of my questions was: Why? Why did this happen? How could people sink to such a level of deprivation and evil mindset to destroy so many lives? These questions were answered very thoroughly in this course.

I would recommend this course for anyone who wants an overview of what took place around the world before and during the Holocaust. This class is a great pairing with The History of Israel.

The course was presented without. any prejudice.

The wrong doers were not blamed but the humanity as a whole is responsible for the holocaust. The course has very sublimely indicated that the humanity must protect itself from such a holocaust n the future.. One should be cautitous that our fellow human being is not treated inhumanly. the fellowhumanbeing may be yourself!

I am very grateful to educate me to be a good human being to one and all. Dont be discriminative. Respect one's own religion, culture, language, customs and belief. T.Jagalal Ram Sait

This is an excellent course, which provides the students with interesting and profound analysis of Jewish life before, during and after the Holocaust. What I liked the most, is that each part of the course is viewed in a unique perspective, so it provides a wide range of possibilities of how to approach the different aspects of this terrible time in human history. The discussion prompts encourage the exchange of ideas and are guided by excellent mentors with deep knowledge of the Jewish life, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.

Une excellente première introduction à la Shoah. C'est une occasion de reprendre ce que l'on croyait savoir sur le sujet, connaissances souvent passablement partielles en raison de la masse de ce que l'on est supposé étudier en première/terminale. Les vidéos sont courtes, chaque sujet abordé en profondeur, des compléments sont fournis. Les mentors sont très réactifs ce qui se comprend étant donné le sujet et les individus qui pourraient profiter de failles pour se lancer dans une surenchère dans l'abject. Là, rien de tel.

This course should be taken by anyone who's interesting in learning about history and cultural beliefs as well as the Holocaust. This is a captivating subject and there's so much to learn about it that one course most definitely wont cover all aspects, but this gives you a lot of insight about how it all started and why it might have taken so long to be stopped. Hopefully, this helps us realize that things like this cannot ever happen again, we need to learn from out past.

Thanks. This is a heartwarming course, with detailed history of the tragic events of The Holocaust. If you're interested about the Holocaust this is course is a essential course to take. We often and briefly touch upon the horror of the holocaust and the anti-Semitism of our world history. To touch upon the history is not enough the we need to see human experience and suffering at experiential level, and as I see it this course does this. Thanks, for your eloquent research.

Excellent and in depth introduction to the Holocaust, explaining much of the background, history, and events of the first part of WWII for European Jews and the years just prior to it. If you have ever asked yourself "How could this horrific event have happened? What were people doing that it wasn't stopped?" then this course is for you. This is a course I think everyone should take so that we truly learn from history.

This is a great course to take to get a small look into the bigger picture of the Holocaust. I like very much what I study here and ready to learn more along with American History. Anyone that is looking to study what had happened in WW2 between 1938 to 1945 this is a start. Videos like this one also help to better understand the question of WHY it started https://youtu.be/zUW9RsZwgAE

Thank You very much

LaRoy Graham

I give this course the highest rating because it was presented in an easy to understand format, included great resources and offered new ways of researching certain materials that can be used to identify with the victims of the Holocaust directly such as their art and their diaries. Photos are also a very important aspect of the truth of what actually went on during the Holocaust, not just public official views.

I found this to be a fascinating course and definitely will help you understand the factors that led to the Holocaust. For me, it was more about trying to understand how we - as humanity - could enable such a thing to happen. While it does not answer that question specifically, it does allow for you to understand the conditions which lead up to it and how it impacts the question of Jewish Identity today.

I finished this course so fast... I just wanted to continue learning more and more. I had heard so much about the Holocaust, but I was never told nor learned the context, the reasons, the actual events. I've discovered and understood so much thanks to this course. Thank you so much to everyone who worked on this MOOC. Looking forward to the second part and other courses from this university!

A very good course to understand Nazi Germany, Jews lives under Hitler rule and the outlook of the Europian world towards the Jews. I absolutely loved the professor's teaching style, the course content was good and concise and very informative. Reading session further helped me in understanding the whole scenario better, quizzes between the lessons helped me in retaining most of the lesson.

This is the first online course I took and I absolutely love it! I learned a lot of new information and ideas about a topic which I am interested in but am not so familiar with. Lessons are well-paced, discussion prompts encourage you to think about specific topics, and supplementary materials provide additional information and insights on the lessons. Good thing this course has a Part II!

Muchas gracias por darme la oportunidad de tan fabuloso curso. En verdad aprendí nuevas cosas. Espero que pronto puedan abrir el curso con subtitulos en español. Será muy reconfortante para los hispanoparlantes que no dominamos muy bien el inglés. Felicidades!!!! Ah, y abran más cursos sobre la cultura judía, en verdad es muy interesante. Quizá podría haber un curso para aprender algo de