Women's Resistance: Forgotten Heroines of National Socialism!

Women's Resistance: Forgotten Heroines of National Socialism!

On July 9, 2025, an important event on the subject of resistance and deportation of women under National Socialism will take place in Saarbrücken. The event, organized by the France Center at Saarland University, the Institut d’Etudes Françaises, the Goethe-Institut Nancy and the Université de Lorraine, will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Villa Europa, Kohlweg 7, 66123 Saarbrücken. This is the next edition of the Tête-à-tête events, which promote dialogue between speakers from Germany and France. Professor Anne-Sophie Donnarieix from Saarland University will moderate the event.

The panel includes Caroline François, historian and head of the program at the “Office national des combattants et des victims de guerre”, and Mechtild Gilzmer, professor of Romance studies in Saarbrücken. The event will be held in both French and German. Those interested have the opportunity to register until July 7th using an online form on the France Center website. For more information about this event and other France Center offerings, visit the website here be visited.

Women in resistance

The role of women in the resistance against National Socialism was complex and often underrepresented. Many of these women came from socialist homes or were active in communist youth groups. Despite their significant contributions, they remained in the shadows in the Federal Republic of Germany's remembrance policy for a long time. Their commitment contradicted the image of women at the time, propagated by Adolf Hitler, according to which women should above all be beautiful and give birth to children. This worldview did not disappear with the end of National Socialism and had a lasting influence on the perception of the resistance fighters.

An exemplary example is Hedwig Porschütz, who saved persecuted Jewish people through black market food transactions. Despite her actions, her application for recognition as a politically persecuted person was rejected and she had to serve a prison sentence for so-called “war economic crimes”. Other notable women such as Maria Terwiel, Mildred Harnack and Libertas Schulze-Boysen testify to the important but often unrecognized role that women played in the resistance.

The legacy of resistance

In Berlin, for example, the “Red Chapel” was a loose group of resisters, which also included many women. This group documented Nazi crimes and helped those being persecuted by providing ration cards. However, after their discovery, their efforts were reinterpreted by the Nazis, who vilified them as spies for the Soviet Union. Of the approximately 150 members of the “Red Band,” over 50, including 19 women, were murdered.

In the GDR, resistance fighters experienced a different kind of appreciation, while in the Federal Republic they were often stigmatized as “traitors”. Manfred Roeder described them as “common traitors and spies”. In recent years, however, a change in thinking has been observed. Many of these women are now being recognized publicly, whether by naming schools, streets or squares. Their stories are increasingly documented on CVs online and on stumbling blocks, providing a fitting reminder of their courage.

The upcoming event on resistance and deportation of women under National Socialism represents an important step in raising awareness of these crucial contributions and keeping the memory of the often forgotten heroines of the Nazi era alive. The discourse surrounding the role of women in resistance continues to be relevant and necessary to understand the full extent of resistance to a totalitarian regime.