Rosenstraße

My agency is in Mitte, on Rosenstrasse a street with a notable Jewish history. This is the street where over 6,000 women (not Jewish) protested the deportation of their Jewish husbands to the concentration camps of eastern Europe.

Before, Jews married to non Jews had been exempted from the death camps. But in 1943, the Gestapo conducted what it called 'The Final Roundup' and drove through the streets picking up anyone Jewish, or who even looked Jewish, and brought them to Rosenstrasse 2-4.

Over the course of the week, 6,000 woman came to Rosenstrasse to protest outside of the pre-deportation collection center, crying 'give us our husbands back!'

Avoiding a violent clash with the women, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda leader who was also the Nazi Party leader, ordered the release of the Jews with German spouses. Nearly 2,000 Jewish men were freed and were able to escape permanent deportation.

Apparently, Goebbels released the Jews to avoid attention and protest from the rest of the world. The Gestapo did not arrest the protesting spouses in order to avoid the risk of further unrest from the wives' German relatives.

Today Rosenstrasse 2-4 is the site of the Alexander Plaza Hotel. The original building and the magnificent Alte Synagogue on adjoining Heidereutergasse both were destroyed by bombs towards the end of the war.

The Hotel has many photos and information documenting the protest in their reception entrance. There is also a park next door, 2 information kiosks, and many photographs recognizing the heroic protest of these women.

Oddly, I was in the park, throwing a ball to Diego the other day and talking with a colleague who I believe has an amazing critical mind and head for strategy. When some German students came by and asked us (him) what the memorial was for, I could understand (his German) and see that he was struggling with the history; he gave them the wrong info saying that 'there was some sort of battle here or something.' I explained the real story in English and pointed them to the kiosks on either side of the street with the historical facts.

There is a documentary called Rosenstrasse: Resistance of the Heart which captures this important protest.

It is pretty amazing to come to work here everyday on this street.