ROSENSTRASSE FOUNDATION – February 27 to March 6 is the 80th anniversary of the historic Rosenstrasse Protest in the heart of Nazi Berlin. Jewish men wearing the star faced immediate deportation until their wives came to show that they were still loyal and would put their lives on the line. The wives defied the regime with a weeklong protest, and won the release of their family members. This protest was the emblematic act of their resistance which began when Hitler took power. As a result, almost all German Jews who survived—around 11,000-- other than those in hiding, survived in mixed marriages. The Gestapo’s practice was to deport intermarried Jews when their partners divorced or died.
Demonstrating undaunted moral courage, these non-Jewish women defied social norms and Gestapo terror, choosing to entwine their fate with Jewish partners rather than with Hitler’s Third Reich. They rescued Jews openly only by risking their lives, most obviously during their street protest as they faced repeated threats to “clear the streets or be shot.” Their protest was emblematic of their continuous, public defiance which began ten years earlier when Hitler took power. They showed how ordinary persons can become heroic by building up their capacity for defiance and risk, day by day. The Rosenstrasse Foundation commemorates them as an ongoing primary example of civil courage.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the historic Rosenstrasse Protest, the Rosenstrasse Foundation has initiated a series of events in Berlin, Washington DC, and New York.
On February 26th, the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City will be hosting a virtual commemoration event with a live panel that includes, Dr. Nathan Stoltzfus, Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, Dr. Jessica Hammer, Moyra Turkington of Unnruly Designs, as well as Board member and descendant Ruth Wiseman.
On March 6 at 5pm, we will commemorate the Rosenstrasse Protest at Berlin's Marienkirche, located around the corner from Rosenstrasse in the heart of Berlin, and the location of the protest 80 years ago. March 6 was the day most Jews imprisoned at Rosenstrasse 2-4 were released in 1943. March 6 is also the European Day of the Righteous established by the European Parliament to commemorate the moral courage of those who defied tyranny to stand up for those targeted for persecution and murder. Speakers will include distinguished diplomat and scholar Amy Gutmann, United States Ambassador to Germany and former University of Pennsylvania President, as well as Eva Menasse, an outstanding journalist and writer who has received, among other prizes, the Corine Literature Prize, the Heinrich Böll Prize, the Austrian Book Prize, and the Ludwig Börne Prize. Descendants will also be represented and Gregorij von Leitis will hold a dramatic reading from “Widerstand des Herzens” by Nathan Stoltzfus. You can find more details about the event using the following link: https://lahrvonleitisacademy.eu/events/current-upcoming/
The Foundation is also pleased to announce that on March 8th at 6:30pm, International Women’s Day, the German Embassy is sponsoring a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Rosenstrasse Protest to be held at the Goethe Institute in Washington, DC. Her Excellency Emily Haber, German Ambassador to the United States, will open the meeting with remarks, followed by the moral philosopher, cultural commentator, and author Susan Neiman, who is the director of the Einstein Forum in Berlin. Dr. Edna Friedberg, a historian and senior program curator at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum will also speak. A panel will follow moderated by Michael Brenner, Distinguished Professor of History and Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies at American University with author and descendant Ruth Wiseman and Nathan Stoltzfus, Rintels Professor of Holocaust Studies at Florida State University. An exhibit curated by the Goethe Institute will be presented by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, former director of Yad Vashem’s Department of the Righteous & co-founder with Nathan Stoltzfus of the Rosenstrasse Foundation. Dr. Jessica Hammer (Carnegie Mellon University) and Moyra Turkington (Unruly Designs) have arranged a display of their Holocaust education game Rosenstrasse, which is based on the protest. Moyra Turkington will be on hand to present posters and demonstrate the game.
Event Registration:
-February 26th: https://rb.gy/kcfucg
-March 6th: RSVP by March 2, 2023 via email to elysiumbtc@aol.com
-March 8th: https://rb.gy/kbksqo (In Person) |
https://rb.gy/uaqe9i (Online)
The venue addresses for the commemoration events are listed here:
- Marienkirche: [Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 8, 10178 Berlin, Germany]
- Goethe Institut: [1377 R St NW Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009]
More information on the 80th anniversary Commemoration events will follow, but please email Rosenstrassefoundation@gmail.com if you have any specific questions that we can address.