Author: Courtney Ebersohl

This painting memorializes the victims of a massacre during World War II that the world had forgotten for decades. The Nanking (Nanjing) Massacre, or also known as the Rape of Nanking, occurred over a period of six weeks when the Japanese Imperial Army captured Nanking. The International Military Tribunal of the Far East (IMTFE) estimated that more than…

  Modernization describes the transition from traditional to modern societies. These modern societies are associated with urbanisation and industrialization. Westernization refers to the adoption of “Western” values in areas like cultural choices, industry, and economics. By demanding full participation in legislation and more social equality while modernizing, African nations refused to fully Westernize and forgo their cultural…

“Palestine is a country without a people; the Jews are a people without a country,” – Israel Zangwill, a prominent British Zionist, in the New Liberal Review in 1901. This argument for a Jewish state appealed to many of the 250,000 Jewish DPs living in camps in Germany, Austria, and Italy after World War II [1]. They…

Mass displacement and immigration after World War II generated expanded racial tensions in Europe. In Britain, increased immigration led to the creation of a political group called the White Defense League. The group stressed British identity based on race, and emphasized strong anti-immigration rhetoric. The White Defense League brought to light the anti-immigration sentiment in Britain based on…

  http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2007/spanish_posters/ This poster is for ¡Bienvenido, Mister Marshall!, which is a Spanish film that emphasizes the question of European (specifically Spanish) identity in the face of American consumerism. The film was directed by Luis Garcia Berlanga and released in 1953. In the movie, a Spanish town prepares itself for the arrival of American diplomats, hoping…

http://danhurlin.com/performance_work/recent/hiroshima_maiden.html This puppet is part of Dan Hurlin’s theatrical piece, entitled Hiroshima Maiden. The Japanese art form of puppetry, called Bunraku, inspired the piece. It tells of the experiences of the Hiroshima Maidens, a group of twenty-five women who were… Continue Reading →

  As if the constant fear and visual atrocities of war were not enough, many World War II veterans arrived home to face another battle against their own society, the same society they fought to preserve and protect. After reading three… Continue Reading →

  http://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa25807 Reisele Kirkel was only two months old when Germany invaded Lithuania. Her mother and siblings died in concentration camps, but she survived due to her mother’s efforts to hide her. In this photograph, she posed with her doll… Continue Reading →