This course will examine the final days of occupation and war in Europe, and will focus on the lives of Jews and other survivors of persecution in the newly 'liberated' territories. What did 'liberation' mean for the 'Surviving Remnant' - hundreds of thousands who had survived concentration camps, slave labor, death marches, and life in hiding? What choices did Jews and other survivors have in the immediate aftermath of the war, and how did they cope with the tremendous loss? From whence did help come, and how did survivors' paths reveal the transnational impact of the war and the Holocaust? The course will analyze the complexities of post-war relief by military and international relief organizations, the Displaced Persons camps and their operation, as well as the attempts by Jewish survivors to recover and begin anew, including through post-war documentation efforts to record the history of their own suffering. It will also examine the legacy of migration and loss and recovery, including restitution and compensation, and will briefly consider post-war justice.

Note: Master's students should register for HGS 633. Doctoral students should register for HGS 733.