The End, or WWII final exam...

History 386
Fall ’11
Second exam, due DECEMBER 14, 2011. Please bring your test to me here in hard copy between 4 and 6 pm on the l4th.

Two caveats: First, DON’T FORGET, THIS IS A TAKE-HOME EXAM. This means you have time, (and will be expected to) proofread/spellcheck, organize and think clearly. If you’re smart, you will have someone read, give you honest criticism and proofread, because you’ll have a better final product if you do. Second, it’s fine to consult online sources in the preparation of these answers, but be discriminating—avoid Wikipedia, for starters—and make sure the answers you compose are distinctly your own.

Directions Part I(60%): Answer the following question, taking care to support the points you make wherever possible with specific names, dates, events, from the readings, lectures, videos, and any outside research you have done.

With the successful completion of the Normandy invasion and the Soviet successes in the east, the Nazis must have known that the war was lost. The noose was tightening. Yet Nazi Germany, from the top military leadership through residents of small towns, supported Adolf Hitler to the bitter end, showing few signs of defeatism even with the Russians at the approaches to Berlin. Why did they “go down in flames” with Hitler, even though he had brought total apocalyptic disaster to them and their country? You should use aspects of Hans Fallada’s Every Man Dies Alone as part of your answer to this question, since this is a work of fiction that addresses the concept of resistance and/or non-resistance and draws heavily on actual people and events.


Directions Part II(40%): YOUR CHOICE. Answer ONE of the following questions, doing the same careful work as on Part I:


1)On its way to Berlin, the Red Army was the first to liberate Majdanek, Sobibor, Treblinka and Auschwitz. It was praised by the world’s press and hailed by surviving camp inmates as liberators. Yet its commander-in-chief, Joseph Stalin, had distinctly less altruistic plans for Poland and the other states bordering the Soviet Union. What were those plans, and what did they portend for the post-war world?


2) The placard above the text on this exam hangs in Auschwitz today. It refers to two specific incidents but hints at a wider truth. Write an essay in which you explain its micro and macro meanings for Poland in World War II.