Resistance in Everyday Acts: The 2025 Rieger Speaker Series Explores Lessons from History

March 11, 2025

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences  

Associate Professor of Sociology Michal Kofman believes that creating a sense of unity and human connection is in and of itself a form of resistance – especially when you are not meant to have them. 

“This is where hope and kindness and humanity live,” Kofman said.

These themes and others will be explored next week as Kofman organizes the Sociology Department’s 2025 Jon H. Rieger Speaker Series taking place at 6 PM on Wednesday, March 19 in the Student Activity Center (SAC) Multipurpose Room A/B. This year’s speaker is world-renowned journalist and Columbia research fellow Anne Nelson, whose lecture is entitled, “Dictatorship: Compliance or Resistance? Lessons from Nazi Germany.” This event is free and open to the public, with refreshments following.

Author of The Red Orchestra, Nelson explores in this particular book and upcoming lecture everyday acts of resistance against fascism through the lens of history. The Red Orchestra was a resistance group named by the Gestapo and made up of citizens from all walks of life who were determined to protect humanity and restore democracy during the rise of Nazi Germany. The network primarily passed information to the Soviet Union rather than various world leaders. It was eventually uncovered due to Soviet intelligence missteps, which is why the Gestapo called it the "Red Orchestra,” referring to the tapping involved in Morse code transmissions. One radio operator was called a "pianist," and multiple formed an "orchestra." 

“If we think about how this year’s topic aligns with a series on activism and thinking about social justice and human rights, and how resistance can take various forms, we weren't sure how relevant this would be. Sadly, it's more and more relevant with each passing day," said Kofman.

The late Dr. Jon H. Rieger, a longtime sociology professor, established an endowment to fund the annual Rieger Speaker Series, which began in 2018 and features prominent scholars in sociology and related disciplines. Over the years, speakers have addressed topics such as race, undocumented life, affordable housing, environmental justice, and Black and transgender joy.

Kofman had been personally interested in The Red Orchestra for quite some time and as she was reading about it, discovered that Sociology Department Chair Lauren Heberle’s family members worked with The Red Orchestra. Harro Schulze-Boysen, Heberle’s grandmother’s cousin, was introduced to Arvid Harnack by her grandfather, sociologist, Rudolf Heberle. Fransiska and Rudolf Heberle left Germany in 1938 when it became clear they must do so.

“I learned of my family’s direct connection to the Red Orchestra through Anne Nelson’s book. This was a strange way to learn this given that I knew my grandparents and thought I knew all about their immigration story,” Heberle said. “It has made me re-examine my family story, and puts the current attacks on higher education, research, and science in the U.S. into historical context. It makes me ask, ‘What is my role as an academic in resisting fascism and at what point would I consider moving my family out from under a fascist regime?’”

Kofman states that the theme of resisting under political duress is relevant as we grapple with similar questions both at the national and global levels.

"One of the cool things about The Red Orchestra is that it was a wide network that brought together people who were very, very fundamentally different, both in terms of age and in terms of educational level and even motivations,” Kofman said. 

Members included professors, students, government bureaucrats, soldiers, artists, and factory workers. Some members engaged in major acts of resistance, while others engaged in acts of kindness and smaller but still very impactful acts. A young girl and her sister, members of The Red Orchestra, would pass notes to French prisoners of war, simply encouraging them and showing them kindness. Cato Bontjes van Beek, one of the sisters, was executed for her role in the resistance, while the other, Mietje, was spared. 

"Others were passing on messages to people in other countries, stating clearly, hey, Nazi Germany's going to invade you. You better get ready,” Kofman said. “Messages which, by the way, got dismissed.”

Resistance can exist on a spectrum, and it can take shape in many forms, which will be one of the many takeaways from this year’s event. 

“Think about the significance of civic engagement, and defending democracy, but also think about the role that people can specifically play in doing so. ‘Defending democracy’ - those are huge words, right? And it feels daunting - how can I, a tiny little person, help? This lecture will show that when the stakes were really high - people did it anyway.”