Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany

by Nathan Stoltzfus

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In February 1943, the Nazis began a final roundup of German Jews. The Gestapo swiftly arrested approximately 10,000 Jews remaining in Berlin. Most of them died within days in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Two thousand of those Jews, however, were locked into a temporary collection center on a street called Rosenstrasse, in the heart of Berlin. These two thousand had non-Jewish, German husbands, wives, and children. As news of the huge arrest spread throughout the city, Hundreds of Gentile show more spouses, mostly women, hurried to the Rosenstrasse in protest. A chant broke out, "Give us back our husbands." The protest lasted a week. Repeatedly, the Berlin police and uniformed SS scattered the women with threats to shoot them down. Again and again, the women regrouped and advanced in solidarity until the Gestapo backed down and freed their loved ones. Who were these intermarried Germans who dared to disobey history's most ruthless regime? Why. Did they choose to suffer the stigmas of intermarriage? What motivated them to risk their lives? And why did Hitler and Goebbels give in to the protesters and release two thousand Jews? If more Germans had protested, might the Holocaust have been slowed or even stopped? Resistance of the Heart is a powerful response to these questions and events. While charting the lives of intermarried couples in the context of Nazi persecution and social harassment, the history of the. Rosenstrasse protest demonstrates the courage - and compromise - of self-protective resistance. Using interviews with survivors and thousands of Nazi records never before examined in detail, Nathan Stoltzfus has reconstructed a precise, intelligent, and inspiring story. show less

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ThingScore 100
Stoltzfus vertritt mit seinem Buch Thesen, die nicht weniger provozieren als die Goldhagens. Daß seine Untersuchung nicht ebenso intensiv besprochen, diskutiert und umstritten ist, liegt vielleicht daran, daß sie außer ihrer herausragenden historischen Qualitäten mit persönlichen Fragen aufwartet, die viel unangenehmer sind als die recht pauschale Verurteilung der deutschen Bevölkerung show more als traditionell antisemitisch. Denn Stoltzfus geht es grundsätzlich um die erschreckend bereitwillige Aufgabe von Werten und Traditionen, um die freiwillige Preisgabe von nachbarlicher und kollegialer Solidiarität, von christlicher Brüderlichkeit, von amtlicher Gesetzestreue; und um die Menschen, welche allen Anfechtungen zum Trotz festhielten an der Ehe, an ihrem Partner, deshalb sogar öffentlich demonstrierten und das Regime zum Rückzug zwangen. show less
Rolf-Bernhard Essig, literaturkritik.de
Feb 1, 2000
added by Indy133

Lists

Women in War
148 works; 29 members
History: Holocaust
106 works; 1 member

Author Information

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8 Works 187 Members
Nathan Stoltzfus teaches history at Florida State University

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title*
La résistance des coeurs. Berlin, 1943, la révolte des femmes allemandes mariées à des Juifs
Original title
Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany
Original publication date
1996
Important events*
Rosenstrasseprotesten
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, History, Anthropology, General Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality
DDC/MDS
305.8Society, government, & cultureSocial sciences, sociology & anthropologySocial group - Age, Gender, EthnicityEthnic and national groups
LCC
DS135 .G4 .B476History of Europe, Asia, Africa and OceaniaAsiaHistory of AsiaIsrael (Palestine). The JewsJews outside of Palestine
BISAC

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88
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355,182
Reviews
1
Rating
½ (4.50)
Languages
English, French, German, Swedish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
7
ASINs
1