Themes and Selections from the Harry W.Mazal Holocaust Collection
A Thematic View of the Harry W. Mazal Collection
In 1993, Harry W. Mazal started The Mazal Holocaust Libraryto provide resources for combatingHolocaust denial and anti-Semitism. Of the collection’s over 25,000 books and other sources, there are many themes that run throughout the entire collection.The following expandable options elaborate on some of these themes and list several items you can find in the Harry W. Mazal Holocaust Collection at ŷڱƵ Boulder.Thethemes selected here generally relate to theJewish experience and perspectives about different cultural, religious, and ethnic groupsboth pre- and post-Holocaust.
Conversion Practice and Persecution
Manyof those touched bythe repercussions of theHolocaust were forced to makethedecision between religion and survival. Somesaw the racism and unrest early in the processand converted to avoid persecution, but, as some of these texts discuss, it was too late for others. AfterKristallnacht, it was increasingly difficult for conversions to go through if desired.Other texts cover the manner in which people, not just Jews, were treated after the liberation of the concentration camps - as if they were still dangerous or a risk to society after their torment.
Anti-Semitism
A majorfuel for growing support in Germany during the Third Reichwas the notion that Jewish people were inherently bad and harming the community. Many citizens of Eastern Europe fell into the notion that if the Jews were contained or Germany was rid of them, the economy and quality of life would improve. This was seen particularly in propaganda and campaigns to contain, intern, and eventually kill eastern European Jews during the early 1940’s. Part of the success of these campaigns came from years of tension and blame, wherein Jewish people were blamed for events such as children going missing eventually leading toJudaism being associated with degree with Satanic practice. Even after the Holocaust, there was and is still is rampant anti-Semitism in some areas for similar supposed reasons. Mazal has collected texts from many facets of Anti-Semitism, to help bring awareness to the problem.
Holocaust Denial
In an effort to fight Holocaust denial, or "Revisionism," Harry Mazal collected materials from both sides of discussion. Many selections in the collection go in depth on why some people refuse to accept that the Holocaust was a real eventand do not believe that 6 million people, specifically Jews, died in the concentration camps across Europe. Other deniers believe that camps may have existed, but they were never death camps. These texts go into detail about multiple aspects of denial, including works that explain why denial helped to fuel the genocide, works that cover post-Holocaust thought and why the author believe it’s impossible that the atrocity occurred, and even some that discuss the experience of interned people just after liberation, and the manner in which they were treated by the immediate communities who had not been aware or had refused to believe that the camp was actuallykilling so many people.
Social, Cultural, and Religious Jewishness
Every social and cultural group has a unique and distinct experience, but the Jewish experience is particularly unique. Portions of the Mazal collection focusonthe Jewish experience, both in World War II Germany and beyond, including biographies describing the tension felt immediately before and after the war, experience during the Holocaust, and works analyzing what it must be like to exist in a socio-ethnic group that has been an outlet for tension for so long.
Themes compiled by ŷڱƵ Boulder student Ellen Gostling in Spring2018. Ellen's research was supported by a Post-Holocaust American Judaism Collections Undergraduate Scholarship from the Program in Jewish Studies.