Soviet Union during World War II: History and Memory - Detailseite

World War II was a pivotal chapter in the history of the Soviet Union and continues to hold profound significance for many of its former republics. Even today, the war remains a central reference point in collective memory and national identity across the post-Soviet space, shaping political discourse and cultural narratives.

This course explores new sources and methodologies for studying the Soviet Union during World War II. It seeks to move beyond traditional, often state-centric narratives by engaging with a wide range of personal and collective experiences of the war, including those that have been marginalized or overlooked.

Throughout the course, we will investigate the diverse realities faced by Soviet citizens during the war. Some lived under occupation, enduring brutal repression, or were deported as forced laborers to Nazi Germany. Others were mobilized into the Red Army or joined partisan detachments, actively participating in the military struggle on the frontlines and behind enemy lines. Some experienced the siege of Leningrad, enduring starvation and bombardment, while many others were evacuated to the Soviet rear, confronting hardship and uncertainty far from their homes.

In addition to examining these lived experiences, the course will analyze the formation and evolution of memory politics surrounding World War II in the Soviet Union and its successor states. We will explore how wartime narratives were constructed, contested, and instrumentalized over time – particularly in light of recent developments such as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. By doing so, the course aims to foster critical reflection on the ways history is mobilized to shape political agendas, legitimize power, and construct national identities within the post-Soviet context.

• Berkhoff, Karel. Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.]: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2004.
• Bernstein, Seth. Return to the Motherland: Displaced Soviets in World War II and the Cold War. Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press, 2023.
• Brandon, Ray, and Wendy Lower, eds. The Shoah in Ukraine: History, Testimony, Memorialization. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008.
• Dallin, Alexander. German Rule in Russia 1941–1945: A Study of Occupation Policies. London: Macmillan, 1957.
• Hellbeck, Jochen. Stalingrad: the City that Defeated the Third Reich. New York: PublicAffairs: 2015.
• Kay, Alex J., Jeff Rutherford, and David Stahel, eds. Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization. New York: University of Rochester Press, 2014.
• Lower, Wendy. Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005.
• Merridale, Catherine. Ivan’s War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006.
• Peri, Alexis. The War Within: Diaries from the Siege of Leningrad. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2017.
• Schechter, Brandon. The Stuff of Soldiers: A History of the Red Army in World War II through Objects. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019.
• Zeltser, Arkadi. Unwelcome Memory: Holocaust Monuments in the Soviet Union. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 2018.  

Ausgleichsberechtigte Studierende wenden sich zur bevorzugten Platzvergabe per E-Mail mit einem Nachweis der Ausgleichsberechtigung an die Studienkoordinationsstelle Geschichte. Ausschlussfrist für die Geltendmachung von Ausgleichsberechtigungen ist der letzte Tag der zentralen Frist, 16 Uhr. Textnachrichten in AGNES werden hingegen nicht gelesen!