Holocaust History and Historiography

Education facts

Code: 5HG016

The course provides you with in-depth knowledge of the Holocaust, including its immediate prehistory and implementation in different political and social contexts throughout the European continent. Topics discussed include European antisemitism, fascism and national socialist racism and the persecution in the Third Reich and its collaborationist states or occupied territories. Particular emphasis will be placed on the issues of deportations, the establishment of ghettos and camps, and the mass extermination of the Jewish community. We will analyse key events, actors and contexts using primary sources and scholarly literature. In so doing, you will learn how to identify regional differences in the carrying out of the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question". Particular attention is paid to Eastern Europe (including the Balkans), where the majority of ghettos and camps were located, and where mass exterminations mainly took place. Comparisons to other victim groups will also be made, with a particular focus on minorities and civilian populations in the occupied territories. Moreover, we will discuss different conceptual frameworks which scholars have developed to describe and explain the Holocaust. This will be done through critical assessments of the historiography in various parts of Europe over time, as well as through comparisons with the historiography in the United States and Israel.

Entry requirements

120 credits including 90 credits in a subject in the humanities or the social sciences. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Education offerings

Each offering has its own dates and conditions. Closed offerings are retained as history and do not mean that a new application is open.

• Holocaust History and Historiography

  Uppsala University

  Start date: 1 October 2026

  End date: 3 November 2026

  Pace of study: 100 %