Rosenstrasse protest
Encyclopedia
The Rosenstrasse protest was a nonviolent
protest
in Rosenstraße ("Rose street") in Berlin
in February and March 1943, carried out by the non-Jewish ("Aryan
") wives and relatives of Jewish men who had been arrested for deportation. The protests escalated until the men were released. It was a significant instance of opposition to the events of the Holocaust
.
, Gestapo
had arrested the last of the Jews in Berlin
during the Fabrikaktion
. Around 1,800 Jewish men, almost all of them married to non-Jewish women (others being the so-called Geltungsjude
n), were separated from the other 6,000 of the arrested, and housed temporarily at Rosenstraße 2–4, a welfare office for the Jewish community located in Central Berlin
.
According to the German historian Wolf Gruner (in his book Der geschlossene Arbeitseinsatz deutscher Juden : zur Zwangsarbeit als Element der Verfolgung 1938-1943, Berlin : Metropol, c1997), the reason for the separation of these men was that they were not to be deported, since they were exempt from deportation because of their privileged status as spouses of Germans. Rather, they were being held for a period of time so that new officials of the various legal Jewish organizations could be selected from among them, to replace those of the existing officials who were not married to Germans had been dismissed from their posts prior to deportation. However, the purpose of their confinement was not publicly known, and the rumor spread that they were to be deported, along with the unprivileged Jews who had been arrested; because of that rumor, the wives and other close relatives of many of them turned up on the street near the building. For a week, the protesters, mainly women, demanded their husbands back by holding a peaceful protest
. The protesters appeared first in ones and twos; afterwards their number grew rapidly, and perhaps a total of 6000 participated at one time or another.
Once the process of selecting new officials for the Jewish organizations had been completed, the men confined were released, giving rise to the incorrect impression that their release had been due to the women's protest. 25 of the men had been sent to Auschwitz by mistake, but due to their privileged status they had been kept separate from the camp inmate population, pending a decision on their treatment; all were sent back to Germany. Almost all the released men survived the war.
However for another evaluation of this event see Richard J. Evans' The Third Reich at War,Penguin Press, NY, 2009 pp. 271f. Evans argues that the interpretation of the incident as a "protest" is an error.
, in which the men were held was destroyed during an Allied bombing of Berlin at the end of the war. The original Rosenstraße location is now marked by a rose
colored Litfaß column
2–3 meters high, dedicated to the demonstration. Information about this event is posted on the Litfaß column.
In the mid-1980s, Ingeborg Hunzinger
, an East German sculptor, created a memorial to those women who took part in the Rosenstraße Protest. The memorial, named "Block der Frauen" (Block of Women), was erected in 1995 in a park not far from the site of the protest. The sculpture shows protesting and mourning women, and an inscription on the back reads: "The strength of civil disobedience
, the vigor of love overcomes the violence of dictatorship; Give us our men back; Women were standing here, defeating death; Jewish men were free."
The events of the Rosenstraße protests were made into a film in 2003 by Margarethe von Trotta under the title Rosenstraße.
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
protest
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
in Rosenstraße ("Rose street") in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in February and March 1943, carried out by the non-Jewish ("Aryan
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
") wives and relatives of Jewish men who had been arrested for deportation. The protests escalated until the men were released. It was a significant instance of opposition to the events of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
Events
Just after the German defeat in the Battle of StalingradBattle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
had arrested the last of the Jews in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
during the Fabrikaktion
Fabrikaktion
The Fabrikaktion is the term for the roundup of the last Jews to be deported starting 27 February 1943. Most of these remaining Jews were working Berlin plants or they were working for the Jewish welfare organisation...
. Around 1,800 Jewish men, almost all of them married to non-Jewish women (others being the so-called Geltungsjude
Geltungsjude
Geltungsjude was the term for persons that were considered Jews by the first supplementary decree to the Nuremberg Laws from November 14, 1935. The term wasn't used officially, but was coined because the persons were considered Jews rather than exactly belonging to any of the categories of the...
n), were separated from the other 6,000 of the arrested, and housed temporarily at Rosenstraße 2–4, a welfare office for the Jewish community located in Central Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
According to the German historian Wolf Gruner (in his book Der geschlossene Arbeitseinsatz deutscher Juden : zur Zwangsarbeit als Element der Verfolgung 1938-1943, Berlin : Metropol, c1997), the reason for the separation of these men was that they were not to be deported, since they were exempt from deportation because of their privileged status as spouses of Germans. Rather, they were being held for a period of time so that new officials of the various legal Jewish organizations could be selected from among them, to replace those of the existing officials who were not married to Germans had been dismissed from their posts prior to deportation. However, the purpose of their confinement was not publicly known, and the rumor spread that they were to be deported, along with the unprivileged Jews who had been arrested; because of that rumor, the wives and other close relatives of many of them turned up on the street near the building. For a week, the protesters, mainly women, demanded their husbands back by holding a peaceful protest
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
. The protesters appeared first in ones and twos; afterwards their number grew rapidly, and perhaps a total of 6000 participated at one time or another.
Once the process of selecting new officials for the Jewish organizations had been completed, the men confined were released, giving rise to the incorrect impression that their release had been due to the women's protest. 25 of the men had been sent to Auschwitz by mistake, but due to their privileged status they had been kept separate from the camp inmate population, pending a decision on their treatment; all were sent back to Germany. Almost all the released men survived the war.
However for another evaluation of this event see Richard J. Evans' The Third Reich at War,Penguin Press, NY, 2009 pp. 271f. Evans argues that the interpretation of the incident as a "protest" is an error.
Remembrance
The building on Rosenstraße, near AlexanderplatzAlexanderplatz
Alexanderplatz is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin, near the Fernsehturm. Berliners often call it simply Alex, referring to a larger neighborhood stretching from Mollstraße in the northeast to Spandauer Straße and the City Hall in the southwest.-Early...
, in which the men were held was destroyed during an Allied bombing of Berlin at the end of the war. The original Rosenstraße location is now marked by a rose
Rose (color)
Rose is the color halfway between red and magenta on the HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel, on which it is at hue angle of 330 degrees.Rose is one of the tertiary colors on the HSV color wheel...
colored Litfaß column
Ernst Litfaß
Ernst Amandus Theodor Litfaß , was a German printer and publisher. His claim to fame rests on the invention of the free-standing cylindrical advertising column which bears his name....
2–3 meters high, dedicated to the demonstration. Information about this event is posted on the Litfaß column.
In the mid-1980s, Ingeborg Hunzinger
Ingeborg Hunzinger
Ingeborg Hunzinger was a German sculptor.Hunzinger was born Ingeborg Franck to a Jewish mother. In 1932 Ingeborg joined the Communist Party. She began her studies in arts in 1935 and was master pupil of Ludwig Kasper in 1938/39. In 1939 the Nazis prevented her from studying further and she...
, an East German sculptor, created a memorial to those women who took part in the Rosenstraße Protest. The memorial, named "Block der Frauen" (Block of Women), was erected in 1995 in a park not far from the site of the protest. The sculpture shows protesting and mourning women, and an inscription on the back reads: "The strength of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
, the vigor of love overcomes the violence of dictatorship; Give us our men back; Women were standing here, defeating death; Jewish men were free."
The events of the Rosenstraße protests were made into a film in 2003 by Margarethe von Trotta under the title Rosenstraße.
External links
- The Women's Rosenstraße Protest in Nazi Berlin, Nathan Stoltzfus
- Resistance by Berlin women against Goebbels
- Encyclopedia of jewish Suffering, Book review of Jews in Nazi Berlin: From Kristallnacht to Liberation. Edited by Beate Meyer, Hermann Simon and Chana Schuetz, The University of Chicago Press. Book review By Alexander Zvielli, Jerusalem Post, 4/9/2010. An evocative profile of wartime Berlin reveals the shame, humiliation and destruction that befell the city’s Jews.