FVP:USESEA025 Comparative Analysis of Politi - Course Information

USESEA025 Comparative Analysis of Political Persecusions in Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th Century I

Extent and Intensity

1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

prof. PhDr. Mečislav Borák, CSc. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Mečislav Borák, CSc. (seminar tutor)

Guaranteed by

prof. PhDr. Mečislav Borák, CSc.
Institute of Central European Studies – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava

Prerequisites

Expert Knowledge:
Students are able to orient themselves in the methods of research of political repressions, and in the specializations of institutions and organizations that deal with this kind of research in the Czech Republic and abroad. Students know the literature and sources related to this issue including more recent research projects. They are able to characterize criminal law and the system of justice in totalitarian regimes, to discern between war crimes and genocides, to compare the crimes of Nazism and Communism. Students will acquire knowledge on court and out-of-court forms of persecution, will be able to characterize the categories of the victims of political repressions, will know the historical context of the process of rehabilitation and compensation of the victims and the present results of this proces.
Expert Skills:
Stuents are able independently to use the acquired knowledge when they search for information about the victims of persecution, identify, classify and interpret acquired data and evaluate them. They are able to choose adequate methodological procedures for critical assessment of all circumstances related to the research procedure, and to suggest optimal solution, eg when comparing the camp systems or categorizing the victims of repressions. They are also able independently to characterize the position and to proces the lives of political prisoners, interned persons and prisoners of war, and to find out practical possibilities of their rehabilitation and compensation.
General Competency:
Subject graduate is able to utilize his expert knowledge and skills, for example, in the projects of History and Memory, as he or she has mastered the methodological and formal principles of creating the records of victims of political repressions, ranging from the way of selection, sorting out and recording comparable data, through their verification in various sources up to the creation of electronic database. Thus he or she is able to get involved in the programmes that aim to honour the memory and the heritage of victims and their rehabilitation and compensation. Due to necessary coordination of partial activities in the research process, the graduate has adopted the skills useful in team work and other research areas that require collection, identification, verification, comparison, cataloguing and interpretation of data files.

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Central European Studies (programme FVP, N6702-MTS)

Course objectives

The aim of the subject is to familiarize students with the role of political persecutions and repressions in non-democratic forms of government, with their typology and periodization. Students will be familiarized with the forms and methods of research of political repressions, the principles of keeping records of victims of persecution, and with the methods of comparative analysis of political repression mechanisms in non-democratic regimes. The emphasis is put on capturing historical context of the beginning, operation and the task of internment and POW camps, and the structure of their victims. Further, the subject deals with the comparison of repressive character of court and out-of-court persecutions including politically motivated executions; the process of rehabilitation of the victims of persecution in particular regimes, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, with reference to both published and unpublished results of long-term investigation. Thus, with the use of concrete materials, students will be presented with the possibilities of comparative analysis and typology of political persecutions with the emphasis put on their specific features, extent and signifikance. On the completion of the subject, students will be able to orient themselves in the issue of political persecutions in non-democratic regimes of Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th century and will be able independently to assess their causes, development and consequences for society.

Syllabus

• 1. The forms and methods of researching mechanisms of political repressions and their victims; literature; research projects.
  2. Basic terms, chronology and typology of political repressions in Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th century.
  3. Characteristics of criminal law and justice in totalitarian regimes.
  4. Court and out-of-court forms of persecution.
  5. The victims of Nazi justice and the Great Terror in the USSR.
  6. The war crimes of European totalitarian regimes.
  7. The comparison of the camp systems for prisoners of war and the interned prisoners.
  8. The position and fortunes of the World War II prisoners of war in Europe.
  9. The comparison of Nazi and Communist crimes in the 20th century.
  10. The process of rehabilitation of the victims of political repressions and its results.
  11. Compensating the victims of political repressions.
  12. The history and memory - the evidence, remembrance and legacy of the victims of repressions.
  

Literature

required literature
• BORÁK, M. Popravy jako součást politických represí v SSSR a dosud zjištěné oběti z řad Čechů a československých. Opava: Slezská univerzita a Slezské zemské muzeu. ISBN 978-80-86224-64-0. info
• BORÁK, M. (ed.). Výzkum perzekuce československých občanů v Sovětském svazu (1918-1 945). Opava: Slezské zemské muzeum, 2007. ISBN 978-80-86224-63-3. info
• BULLOCK, A. Hitler a Stalin. Paralelní životopisy. Plzeň: Mustang, 1995. ISBN 8085831511. info

recommended literature
• ROGUT, D., ADAMCZYK, A. (eds.). Represje sowieckie wobec narodów Europy 1944-1956. info
• JAKOVLEV, A. Rusko plné křížů. Od vpádu do pádu bolševismu. Brno: Doplněk, 2008. ISBN 978-80-7239-211-7. info
• SELIGMANN, M., DAVISON, J. a McDONALD, J. Ve stínu hákového kříže. Život v Německu za nacismu 1933-1945. Praha, 2008. ISBN 978-80-7309-565. info
• STANĚK, T. Českoslovenští občané v systému GUPVI NKVD-MVD v SSSR v letech 1945-1960 a němečtí váleční zajatci v Československu. In Perzekuce československých občanů v Sovětském svazu (1918-1956). Část II - Váleční zajatci a internovaní. Opava: Slezská univerzita a Slezské zemské muzeu, 2007. ISBN 978-80-86224-64-0. info
• HOCKERTS, H. G., MOISEL, C. a WINSTEL, T. (eds.). Grenzen der Wiedergutmachung. Die Entschädigung für NS- Verfolgte in West- und Osteuropa 1945-2000. Göttingen, Wallstein Verlag, 2006. ISBN 978-3-8353-0005-7. info
• DAVIES, N., MOORHOUSE, R. Mikrokosmos. Portrét jednoho středoevropského města. Praha: BB/art, 2006. ISBN 80-7341-799-5. info
• BYSTROV, V. Průvodce říší zla. Praha: Academia, 2006. ISBN 80-200-1482-9. info
• APPLEBAUM, A. Gulag. Dějiny. Praha-Plzeň: BETA Dobrovský - Ševčík, 2004. ISBN 80-7306-152-X. info
• ŠESTÁK, M. a VORÁČEK, E. (eds.). Evropa mezi Německem a Ruskem. Praha: Historický ústav AV ČR, 2000. ISBN 80-7286-021-6. info
• POLJAN, P. Žertvy dvuch diktatur. Ostarbajtery i vojennoplennyje v Treťem Rejche i ich repatriacija. Moskva, 1996. info

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course can also be completed outside the examination period.

Teacher's information

Written exam - the first part of the exam is a test with close questions to verify theoretical and practical knowledge of the problem issues, the second part is a comparative exposition (comparing two phenomena).

• Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2015, recent)
  
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