History
Presenter(s): Nathan Huffine
Advisor(s): Dr. Shira Klein, Dr. Thomas Reins, Dr. Alexander Bay
The Japanese committed terrible atrocities against the Chinese following their invasion of China in 1937, which culminated into the Nanjing Massacre. The unfolding of the Massacre, and its lasting impressions upon survivors, affected victims’ views of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its role on the world stage. My research examines the nationalistic perspective held by Massacre survivors despite CCP efforts to suppress nationalism. I further argue that Chinese Massacre victims contributed to the growth of the nationalistic perspective in China through their experiences and memories, and they came to view the CCP as a force for national security and not world liberation for the working class. Revealing the nationalistic perspective underpinning Massacre survivors’ views and analyzing its affects upon the CCP will contribute to the scholarship of the Nanjing Massacre in two ways. Firstly, this research provides analysis of new primary source material, namely video interviews of Massacre survivors. Secondly, while scholars have considered both Chinese Communist efforts to suppress nationalism and the censoring of Massacre survivors, they have yet to consider the causal link between victims’ nationalistic perspectives and the shift in CCP acceptance of nationalism following the 1980s. Indeed, this research makes the case for such a link. This research is conducted using both primary and secondary sources. The primary sources consist of fifteen oral accounts accessed online through the USC Shoah Foundation Archive. Secondary sources include the foundational works, The Making of the ‘Rape of Nanking’ by Takashi Yoshida and The Nanjing Massacre: in History and Historiography edited by Joshua Fogel, as well as recently published scholarly articles.
Silent Stasi: Decades of Repression
Presenter(s): Noelle O'Braitis
Advisor(s): Dr. William Cumiford
Following World War II, Germany and its capital Berlin were split into East and West Germany in which the East emerged as a communist society known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), lasting from 1949 to 1990. The communist party leaders developed Ministry for State Security, a secret police organization more commonly known as the Stasi, which they modeled after the Soviet KBG organization. The Stasi’s purpose was to act as the sword and shield of the Republic whose mission entailed knowing the entirety about everyone and everything. Overtime the Stasi amassed the largest network of agents of its kind compared to its small population. The Stasi, with the help of tens of thousands of informal collaborators, performed atrocities such as psychological torture and round the clock surveillance to prevent suspected persons from spreading anti-communist ideas. They created mass quantities of extensive and detailed files on potential dissidents, prompting a new, though familiar, culture of fear after the reign of the Nazi Party. This paper outlines the depth to which the Stasi repressed its own citizens and how their methodology became so precise, effective, and devastating. The atrocities committed continue to have long-lasting effects on the victims and their mental health due to the years of suppression and treatment. Ultimately, the Stasi violated all ethical and legal guidelines of today to break down dissidents and to root out any insurrection. Their methods of psychological warfare left no scars or traces which continue to be difficult to prove from their files today.