Quakers Responses to the Holocaust
In the 1930s and 1940s, Quakers engaged in a number of remarkableâand controversialâactivities that were intended to provide assistance to people who were being persecuted by the Nazis. Those actions were criticized by some US citizens (who thought that Quakers were giving unwitting aid to the Nazis) and also derided by Nazis such as Joseph Goebbels (who thought that Quakers were demonstrating a complete lack of awareness about how the world really works.) Nevertheless, Quakersâ actions did end up saving some lives. Students in this course will examine what Quakers accomplishedâand failed to accomplishâin the 1930s and 1940s. The course is not designed as a venue in which to decide, once and for all, which of the Quakersâ actions were wise and which were foolish. The course is meant, rather, to offer students an opportunity to reflect on the ethical questions with which Quakers wrestled and an invitation to compare those questions with the ones they face themselves. Special attention will be paid the connections between Quakersâ responses to the Holocaust and Quakersâ religious beliefs and practices.0
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