Research Symposium

BIO

I'm Nicole Shaked, a first-year student majoring in Criminology at Florida State University. I began my involvement with the Rosenstrasse Foundation in Fall 2021 through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. My passion for the work the foundation is doing comes from my desire to honor and commemorate acts of civil courage that have formed our society.

Rosenstrasse Foundation: Building an Association to Honor Defiance and Rescue in Hitler’s Germany

Abstract

Civil courage is taking action against injustice and human rights violations that defend the values of a pluralistic society. Civil courage has been exhibited throughout history, especially in Nazi Germany. A display of civil courage in Nazi Germany is the actions of intermarried women in the Rosenstrasse Protest. Identifying these acts of bravery in an oppressive government helps discover that the compliance within Nazi Germany was not as unwavering as many believed. The misconception that societal defiance was unfound in Nazi Germany led to many drawbacks when identifying heroes that saved many lives. Research has been done to identify victims and how they were affected but has failed in many parts to honor the heroes in Nazi Germany that protested to save loved ones. The Rosenstrassee Foundation uses data from specific databases that to identify individuals with remarkable stories and how the impact of government oppression brought out heroism among ordinary citizens. Using databases like Ancestry, Jewish Gen, and many more, we identify names connected to the protest.
Contrary to what many assume, we have found vast information, the German citizens did have some semblance of outcry. Hitler’s Germany was not as compliant as many have believed. Gathering testimonies of actual witnesses, we find that acts of defiance against threats of the Nazi State were prevalent under Germany’s fascist rule. 

Keywords: Political Violence, Resistance, the Holocaust