Research Symposium

BIO

Hello, my name is Alyson Martinez and I am a second year Psychology student here at Florida State University. I am from Boca Raton, Florida. My research interests include different aspects of social psychology such as attitudes, relationships, group interactions and stereotyping and prejudice. My career goals include becoming a lawyer, either in criminal or family law.

Civil Courage in Action: Identifying the Courageous Women in the Rosenstrasse Protest

Abstract

During the time of the Nazi regime, interfaith marriages, especially between Jewish men and non-Jewish women, were outlawed. As the Gestapo increased their power in the city of Berlin, over 7000 Jewish men were arrested. At the end of February and beginning of March of 1943, hundreds of non-Jewish wives initiated the Rosenstrasse Protest, in an act of civil courage to save their Jewish husbands from being deported and killed. This protest continued for several weeks as women to fought for their husbands’ release. Because of the overwhelming growth and power of the protest, the detained Jewish men were eventually released. The courageous acts of their wives and family members have often gone unspoken about and their genealogical pasts are forgotten. To commemorate these courageous acts and bring to light the familial connections, our research team has assembled a genealogical database accompanied by a series of biographies. This database begins with protesters from the Rosenstrasse Protest, cases of intermarriage, civil courage, and women’s resistance. Their connections are built as the rest of their genealogy and family history are compiled. Once completed, the comprehensive database and the accompanying biographies will (a) be used to further contribute to the historical studies of Germany during the Nazi regime and (b) serve as an online resource for descendants to find lost family records and build their own genealogical history.

Keywords: Resistance, Rosenstrasse Protest, Civil Courage, Women, Hitler and Nazi Germany.