The Differences ‘Racial’ Intermarried History Makes for Understanding Hitler’s Rule

On September 22, the German Department welcomed Dr. Nathan Stoltzfus as part of the German Campus Week “Give Us Our Husbands Back” exhibition focusing on the 1943 Rosenstrasse protests. His visit coincided with the display about the protests, which could be viewed in the ICC Galleria. Dr. Stoltzfus’ talk investigated the significance of the history of ‘racial’ intermarriages for understanding Nazism in several ways, beginning with the everyday practice of defiance among non-Jewish partners he has interviewed. It explored whether the everyday defiance of intermarried Germans represents possibilities which were available to ‘ordinary Germans’ generally. It also considered whether any characteristics of Hitler’s rule of the Reich appear more clearly through the specific study of the history of intermarriages.

Nathan Stoltzfus is Rintels Professor of Holocaust Studies at Florida State University. He is a co-founder of the Rosenstrasse (Civil Courage) Foundation and has published nine books. Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest (WW Norton, 1996) was a Fraenkel Prize winner and a New Statesman Book of the Year. He has appeared in popular publications including The Atlantic Monthly, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, The Daily Beast, and The American Scholar.