UROP Project

History, Holocaust, Women, Jewish, Intermarriage

Research Mentor: Dr. Nathan Stoltzfus, He/Him/His
Department, College, Affiliation: History, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: nstoltzfus@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Mr. Liam Wirsansky He/Him/His
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: ljw16d@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators: Dr. George Williamson
Faculty Collaborators Email: gwilliamson@fsu.edu

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 4
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 7,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, September 4th from 5-5:30pm and 5:30-6pm.

https://us05web.zoom.us/j/9089375618?pwd=S0IxYWQ4MkFIalhaSWcvT3lXcUlydz09

Project Description

Imagine standing up against an oppressive regime, not with weapons, but with sheer courage and conviction. This project is all about celebrating those who dared to defy Hitler’s Germany in the most profound way—through acts of civil and humanitarian courage.
At the heart of this research lies the story of the Rosenstrasse Protest, where the non-Jewish partners of German Jews refused to divorce their loved ones despite immense pressure from the Nazi regime, propaganda, and even their own families. These brave individuals showed the world that everyday civilians could make an extraordinary difference simply by choosing to live according to their conscience.
Our mission, through the Rosenstrasse Foundation, is to shift the focus from the perpetrators of evil to the heroes of defiance. We aim to honor and amplify the voices of those who risked everything to save lives, especially the women whose courageous acts of defiance in Nazi Germany serve as timeless inspirations. By joining this project, you'll help to document and preserve these remarkable stories, build a network of descendants, and contribute to an archive that ensures these acts of bravery are never forgotten.
As a research assistant, you will not only dive into the incredible history of resistance during the Holocaust but also play a key role in building an association that connects descendants and relatives of those who participated in the Rosenstrasse Protest. You will work on gathering personal narratives, translating important German and French documents, and developing an archive that brings these powerful stories to light.
This project is more than just research—it's a chance to honor the past and empower the present by reminding the world of the incredible impact that ordinary people can have when they choose to stand up for what's right.

Research Tasks: Student researchers help support the foundation through their contributions, with the UROP objectives including the facilitation of the maintenance of a webpage for each family of descendants and relatives of those who experienced the Rosenstrasse Protest, or the rescue of a German Jew through intermarriage. Relatives and descendants will be engaged to build their family pages, using photos, stories, documents that relate their experiences.

Student tasks include any or all of the following, depending upon student interests:

Identify survivors and descendants and help them establish a family webpage of stories, photos, documents.
Locate organizations, persons, or media commemorating Rosenstrasse, civil courage, and intermarriage.
Maintain and develop/design the Rosenstrasse Foundation website in all aspects.
Genealogical research to identify persons who are descended from German intermarriages who wish to document their family history on the foundation website; contact organizations for the same purpose.
Identify and announce relevant events, link articles and archives, write or edit Wikipedia articles on related topics such as intermarriages in Nazi Germany and the survival of German Jews in intermarriages.
Write articles to publish or broadcast in outlets identified by the Foundation and supported with ideas for stories from it.
Identify the ways that Germans have responded to the request from the Schroeder-Fischer government (1998-2005) to honor acts of civic courage (Zivilcourage) to build civil society, and how we could initiate forms of honoring of the Rosenstrasse Protesters.

We are thrilled that our student research assistants are the ones conducting the research and doing the related work that supports these goals!

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Some knowledge of web design and/or German welcomed but not required.