Research Symposium

BIO

I grew up in Cremona, Italy and immigrated to the South Florida shortly before my first year of high school. I am currently sophomore at Florida State University with a passion for economics, data analysis, and history.

The Rosenstrasse Protest: Interfaith Couples in Nazi Germany

Abstract

Between February and March 1943, a non-violent protest, known as the Rosenstraße (or Rosenstrasse) Protest, took place in Berlin, Germany. In 1943, the Gestapo was set on arresting the remaining ten thousand Jews left in Berlin, but two thousand of those Jews were married to non-Jewish people. In attempt to stop the arrest of their Jewish spouses, non-Jewish wives organized a protest outside of the building of the collection center on Rosenstrasse street, seeking for their husbands release. The demonstration caught the attention of the Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, who in attempt to regain public trust, ordered for the release of protestors’ loved ones. The protest was one of few examples of civil courage and widespread opposition to the Nazi regime during the Holocaust, showing the tenacity and bravery of these individuals. Such protest serves as a reminder of the complicated connections and circumstances that pervaded Jewish homes as well as specific dynamics within the Nazi regime that relied on public approval. We will research the identities of the individuals who took part in the Rosenstrasse protests, consequently allowing us to recognize those impacted by resistance during the Holocaust.

Keywords: Resistance, Rosenstrasse, Holocaust, Protest, Injustice