Exhibition- Rosenstrasse Protest
The Rosenstraße protest, one of the few demonstrations carried out by German civilians against the Nazi regime, is known as the only instance of such a protest achieving its goal. Over the course of a week, from February 27 to March 6, 1943, German women held a vigil outside the Jewish community office on Rosenstraße, where their Jewish husbands were being held. In a rare and remarkable turn of events, their protest ultimately led to their husbands’ release.
Hundreds of women took part in the Rosenstraße protest, and the Nazis' attempt to quietly deport intermarried Jews ultimately failed. The events brought public attention to the existence of thousands of intermarried couples in the capital, and news of the protest spread throughout Germany and beyond.
Although most of the men released from Rosenstraße were later rearrested and sent to forced labor camps, this rare instance in which non-Jewish women insisted on their Jewish husbands' safety, in the face of real danger, remains a powerful image and an important narrative of resistance in the Third Reich.
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