Bittersweet: How an Ending Becomes a Beginning

By Sarah Brophy

The end of a research project is always bittersweet. The sense of accomplishment and the excitement of finding the answers is overwhelming at first. But, as one sits on a plane back home or spends their final minutes in the archives, a sort of sadness can encroach on an otherwise happy moment. Your work becomes an integral part of your daily routine, and conversations over the year or years spent on your topic and answers mark a certain end. However, a new chapter of your work begins - an exciting one that truly defines your research. Finally, you are able to share your work with the public, add to your field, and use the past to inform the future. The hard work of putting a year of research into an easily digestible poster and engaging the public and other researchers in a larger discussion. Events like the President’s Showcase give researchers the invaluable experience of sharing their research with a wider audience and networking with others interested in similar topics across disciplines. I am extremely excited to share my findings with a broader audience this October and defend my thesis.

Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone to a long, fruitful career as a historian. I hope my research communicates the importance of women and children in society and the importance of looking outside of one's own situation to help those being persecuted. Furthermore, I hope it inspires people to look into the deeper meaning behind legislation and the realities marginalized communities face. It is within a citizen's rights to ask - peacefully - for the reasoning behind decisions and not take no for an answer. It is incredibly important for reasoning to be given in regulations that will monumentally affect people’s lives and for the public to question said reasoning.

My research exposed the Nazi regime’s obsession with preserving every drop of German blood and raising the next generation of Nazis. But it also exposed how when those in positions of power take notice of the persecution of others, it can save lives. The criteria posed by the regime to deport those in mixed marriages included the impact on other members of society. The Rosenstrasse Protest - the largest successful act of civil courage during the Nazi Regime in Germany - only succeeded because Aryan wives and their supporters took notice of their Jewish husband's disappearances and demanded them back. It is up to the citizenry to care about each other and become a community that refuses to back down in the face of tyranny.