When she finally moved to Munich to study biology and philosophy in May 1942, her brother Hans, a medical student at the same university, and some of his friends had already begun to actively question the system. A stalemate on the Gustav Line in January 1944 brought about one of the more controversial Allied decisions of Italian campaign. Their sixth—and last—pamphlet reads: “Even the most dull-witted German has had his eyes opened by the terrible bloodbath, which, in the name of the freedom and honour of the German nation, they have unleashed upon Europe, and unleash anew each day. In total, the White Rose authored six leaflets, which were multiplied and spread, in a total of about 15,000 copies. Traute Lafrenz adhered to the concepts of anthroposophy, while Eugen Grimminger considered himself a Buddhist. He met Hans Scholl for the first time in June 1942, was admitted to the activities of the White Rose on 17 December 1942,[21] and became their mentor and the main author of the sixth pamphlet. From end of June until mid of July 1942, they wrote the first four leaflets. The movement aimed at providing free space to develop a healthy life. Other members of their circle joined in the endeavor, writing four pamphlets until the fall of the same year. He had been sent down from Hamburg University in 1940 because of his Jewish ancestry, and had copied and further distributed the White Rose's pamphlets together with his girlfriend Marie-Luise Jahn. Schmaus. Quoting extensively from the Bible, Aristotle and Novalis, as well as Goethe and Schiller, the iconic poets of German bourgeoisie, they appealed to what they considered the German intelligentsia, believing that these people would be easily convinced by the same arguments that also motivated the authors themselves. It is not surprising that all of us, Hans and Sophie and the others, joined the Hitler Youth? The Newsletter of the Center for White Rose Studies: "The White Rose Revolt & Resistance www.HolocaustResearchProject.org", "Nazis Execute 3 Munich Students For Writing Anti-Hitler Pamphlets", Stephen Thursby re Karen Painter's 'symphonic aspirations: German music and politics 1900–1945', https://www.ac-paris.fr/serail/jcms/s2_1064115/fr/accueil, https://www.paris.fr/equipements/jardin-hans-et-sophie-scholl-19654, International Music Score Library Project, "Story of courage amid horrors of holocaust", http://white-rose-studies.org/The_Leaflets.html, A collaborative, student-led translation of the six printed leaflets by students at the University of Oxford, translated by students at the University of Oxford, Court testimony, records and documents (English), Center for White Rose Studies – Making the White Rose relevant to the 21st century, Wittenstein, George. Gestapo and Nazi jurisdiction documented in their files their view of the White Rose members as "traitors and defeatists". Maxwell Brownjohn. The argument was built partially on the work of Eckard Holler, a sociologist specializing in the German Youth Movement,[11] as well as on the Gestapo interrogation transcripts from the 1937–38 arrest, and with reference to historian George Mosse's discussion of the homoerotic aspects of the German "bündische Jugend" Youth Movement. On January 3, 1946, ardent fascist and Nazi propaganda broadcaster William “Lord Haw-Haw” Joyce was executed following his conviction for treason. [23] Some witnessed atrocities of the war on the battlefield and against civilian populations in the East. (DenkStätte Weiße Rose ) The third White Rose trial was scheduled for 20 April 1943, Hitler's birthday, which was a public holiday in Nazi Germany. At its core were siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, their fellow students Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, and a professor of philosophy and musicology at the University of Munich, Kurt Huber. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty! Schmorell and Huber were executed on 13 July 1943. She hated it. White Rose survivor Jürgen Wittenstein described what it was like for ordinary Germans to live in Nazi Germany: The government—or rather, the party—controlled everything: the news media, arms, police, the armed forces, the judiciary system, communications, travel, all levels of education from kindergarten to universities, all cultural and religious institutions. When Hans and Sophie Scholl were discovered and arrested whilst distributing leaflets at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich,[1] the regime reacted brutally. We entered into it with body and soul, and we could not understand why our father did not approve, why he was not happy and proud. Maßlos finden das nicht nur Twitter-User, sondern auch Heiko Maas. [29] For other uses, see, The German Youth Movement and the Hitler Youth, Experience on the World War II Eastern Front, Reactions in Germany and abroad during World War II, Primary source materials in English translation. Die Weiße Rose ist heute wohl die bekannteste Widerstandsgruppe des Dritten Reiches. Dann schritt ein junger Mann ein. Wilhelm Geyer taught Alexander Schmorell how to make the tin templates used in the graffiti campaign. Deze pagina is voor het laatst bewerkt op 20 jan 2021 om 09:07. ZC13267, Volumes 1–16. They came from various religious backgrounds. The square where the central hall of Munich University is located has been named "Geschwister-Scholl-Platz" after Hans and Sophie Scholl; the square opposite to it is "Professor-Huber-Platz". Kommilitonen! In addition, a group of students in the city of Ulm distributed a number of the group's leaflets and were arrested and tried. The draft for the seventh pamphlet was still in Hans’ bag, which led to Christoph Probst’s arrest the same day. She was a key member of the Weiße Rose (White Rose)—a resistance group run by students at the University of Munich who distributed leaflets and used graffiti to decry Nazi crimes and the political system, while calling for resistance to the Nazi state and the war. Alexander Schmorell and Christoph Probst had already been friends since their school days. On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and two days later, France and Britain declared war on Germany. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, "1942/43: The White Rose Resistance Group". The report expressed particular concern about the fact that leaflets were not handed in to the Nazi authorities by their finders as promptly as they used to be in the past.[34]. Here, they were kept secret in a special archive. Hans Scholl and Alex Schmorell had read this novel. The group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi regime. Alexander Schmorell was recognized, denounced and arrested on 24 February 1943, after his return to Munich following an unsuccessful effort to travel to Switzerland. We know that already, I hear you object, and we don’t need you to reproach us for it yet again. "Weiße Rose Stiftung", FJ Müller et al., 1943–2009, This page was last edited on 22 January 2021, at 23:20. Kurt Huber was taken into custody on 26 February, and only then did the Gestapo learn about his role within the White Rose group. It was argued that the experience of being persecuted may have led both Hans and Sophie to identify with the victims of the Nazi state, providing another explanation for why Hans and Sophie Scholl made their way from ardent "Hitler Youth" leaders to passionate opponents of the Nazi regime. Since Freisler did not preside over the third trial, the judge acquitted for lack of evidence all but Söhngen, who was sentenced to a six months' term in prison. While their deaths were only barely mentioned in German newspapers, they received attention abroad. She did not want to stay passive anymore. They were supported by other people, including: Otto Aicher, Theodor Haecker, Anneliese Graf, Traute Lafrenz, Katharina Schüddekopf, Lieselotte "Lilo" Ramdohr, Jürgen Wittenstein, Falk Harnack, Marie-Luise Jahn, Hubert Furtwängler, Wilhelm Geyer, Manfred Eickemeyer, Josef Söhngen, Heinrich Guter, Heinrich Bollinger, Wilhelm Bollinger, Helmut Bauer, Harald Dohrn, Hans Conrad Leipelt, Gisela Schertling, Rudi Alt, Michael Brink, Lilo Dreyfeldt, Josef Furtmeier, Günter Ammon, Fred Thieler, and Wolfgang Jaeger. Eleven others were sentenced to prison, and Falk Harnack was acquitted of the accusations. In April, The New York Times wrote about student opposition in Munich. This German offensive was initially very successful, but came to a standstill in the autumn of 1942. In reading the group’s leaflets today, one cannot help but think of how chillingly accurate they were in their accusations and calls to action, and the powerful insights they provide about Nazi Germany: The third pamphlet reads: “Our current ‘state’ is the dictatorship of evil. Why are you so cowardly that you won't admit it? The White Rose (German: Weiße Rose) was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in the Third Reich led by a group of students including Hans and Alexander Schmorell. The German people look to us! General George S. Patton, Jr., one of America’s greatest battlefield commanders, died on December 21, 1945 in an Army hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. A draft of a seventh pamphlet, written by Christoph Probst, was found in the possession of Hans Scholl at the time of his arrest by the Gestapo. By the end of January 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad ended with the capitulation and near-total loss of the Wehrmacht's Sixth Army. Sophie flung the last remaining leaflets from the top floor down into the atrium. Their activism seemed to be working, rattling the authorities and sparking discussions amongst their peers. In that trial, Gisela Schertling—who had betrayed most of the friends, even fringe members like Gerhard Feuerle—changed her mind and recanted her testimony against all of them. After her acquittal on 19 April, Traute Lafrenz was placed under arrest again. Because he did not want to issue too many death sentences in a single trial, he therefore wanted to postpone his judgment against those four until the next day. – Long live freedom! Soviet Army propaganda issued a leaflet, wrongly attributed by later researchers to the National Committee for a Free Germany, in honour of the White Rose's fight for freedom.[37]. After the Nazis came to power in January 1933, Sophie, along with most of her siblings, was an excited and happy follower of the National Socialist cult of youth. The text of the sixth leaflet was smuggled into the United Kingdom where they were reprinted and dropped over Germany by Allied planes in July of the same year. On 15 March 1943, a report by the Sicherheitsdienst of the Schutzstaffel stated that rumors about the leaflets spread "considerable unrest" amongst the German population. [12] As Mosse indicated, idealized romantic attachments among male youths were not uncommon in Germany, especially among members of the "Bündische Jugend" associations. The responsibility is ours: just as the power of the spirit broke the Napoleonic terror in 1813, so too will it break the terror of the National Socialists in 1943.”. Die Parallelen zu Sophie Scholl seien verantwortungslos, die Gleichsetzung mit dem Mitglied der studentischen Widerstandsgruppe "Weiße Rose" zur NS-Zeit … „Jana aus Kassel“ vergleicht sich bei einer Corona-Demo mit Sophie Scholl - die Kritik ist enorm. Mit einer App will die Weiße Rose Stiftung über die gleichnamige Widerstandsgruppe rund um die Geschwister Hans und Sophie Scholl aufklären. Hans remained active in one such group, however, and was arrested in 1937 along with several of the Scholl siblings. Shortly after the arrest of the Scholl siblings and Christoph Probst, newspapers published all-points bulletins in search of Alexander Schmorell. La Rosa Bianca (Weiße Rose in tedesco) fu un gruppo di resistenza tedesco contro la dittatura del nazionalsocialismo formato da studenti e basato essenzialmente su valori cristiani.Fece ricorso ad azioni non violente nella Germania nazista dal giugno 1942 al febbraio 1943, quando i principali componenti del gruppo vennero arrestati, processati e condannati a morte mediante decapitazione. [9], In summer 1942, several members of the White Rose had to serve for three months on the Russian front alongside many other male medical students from the University of Munich. Sophie Scholl stated during her Gestapo interrogation that from summer 1942 on, the aim of the White Rose was to address a broader range of the population. Eckard Holler, "Hans Scholl zwischen Hitlerjugend und dj.1.11 – Die Ulmer Trabanten", Puls 22, Scholl, Hans, and Sophia Scholl. When she found out about her brother’s involvement, she demanded to join the group. Conscience gives us the capacity to distinguish between good and evil." On 13 January 1943, a student riot broke out at Munich University after a speech by the Nazi Gauleiter of Munich and Upper Bavaria, in which he had denounced male students not serving in the army as skulkers and had also made obscene remarks to female students. Söhngen kept a stash of banned books hidden in his store, and had also hidden the pamphlets when they had been printed. The text of the sixth leaflet of the White Rose was smuggled out of Germany through Scandinavia to the United Kingdom by the German lawyer and member of the Kreisau Circle, Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. info@nationalww2museum.org [4] Willi Graf, Kurt Huber, and Alexander Schmorell were sentenced to death. "The dead of Stalingrad adjure us! Sophia Magdalena „Sophie“ Scholl (* 9.Mai 1921 in Forchtenberg; † 22. With the German reunification, the documents were transferred to the Federal Archive of Germany in Berlin, and finally published. On 18 February 1943, the Scholls brought a suitcase full of leaflets to the university main building. "[15], In 1941, Hans Scholl read a copy of a sermon by an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime, Catholic Bishop August von Galen, decrying the euthanasia policies expressed in Action T4 (and extended that same year to the Nazi concentration camps by Action 14f13)[16] which the Nazis maintained would protect the German gene pool. Further prosecutions took place until the end of World War II, and German newspapers continued to report, mostly in brief notes, that more people had been arrested and punished. During this time, the authors of the pamphlets could neither be discovered, nor could the campaign be stopped by the Nazi authorities. The older Scholl brothers were sent off to fight on the front. Eine Rednerin hatte sich bei einer »Querdenken«-Demo mit Sophie Scholl verglichen. [9], Willi Graf had already been arrested on 18 February 1943; in his interrogations, which continued until his execution in October 1943, he successfully covered other members of the group. Students from the University of Munich comprised the core of the White Rose: Hans Scholl, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, and Kurt Huber, a professor of philosophy and musicology. She joined the BDM, the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) and quickly rose in their ranks. He drew the Scholl siblings' attention to the persecution of the Jews, which he considered sinful and anti-Christian.[20]. These networks were also activated to distribute the pamphlets, attempting to trick the Gestapo into believing the White Rose had locations all across the country. For many years the primary sources for research were limited to those provided by White Rose members and their supporters. But there was something else that drew us with mysterious power and swept us along: the closed ranks of marching youth with banners waving, eyes fixed straight ahead, keeping time to drumbeat and song. Obstruction of the smooth functioning of the war machine….Try to convince all your acquaintances…of the senselessness of continuing, of the hopelessness of this war; of our spiritual and economic enslavement at the hands of the National Socialists; of the destruction of all moral and religious values; and urge them to passive resistance!”, In January 1943, the group felt empowered and hopeful. Acquiring such large amounts of paper, envelopes, and stamps at a time of strict rationing without raising suspicion was problematic, but the students managed by engaging a wide-ranging network of supporters in cities and towns as far north as Hamburg, and as far south as Vienna. Many schools, streets, and other places across Germany are named in memory of the members of the White Rose. Thus, the execution of the White Rose group members, among many others, is considered as judicial murder. Each wants to be exonerated of guilt, each one continues on his way with the most placid, calm conscience. 34.1k Followers, 0 Following, 2,969 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Street One (@mystreetone) [7][42] With the end of communism in the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic in the early 1990s, the Gestapo interrogation protocols and other documents from Nazi authorities became publicly available. Otl in turn introduced Hans Scholl to Muth in 1941. The first was a film financed by the Bavarian state government entitled, In February 1993, the Long Island newspaper, In an extended German national TV competition held in the autumn of 2003 to choose "the ten greatest Germans of all time" (. Februar 1943 in München) war eine deutsche Studentin und Widerstandskämpferin gegen den Nationalsozialismus.Sie wurde aufgrund ihres Engagements in der Widerstandsgruppe Weiße Rose gemeinsam mit ihrem Bruder Hans Scholl von nationalsozialistischen Richtern zum Tode verurteilt und am selben Tag hingerichtet The group wrote, printed and initially distributed their pamphlets in the greater Munich region. Februar 1943 wurden Sophie und Hans Scholl geköpft. [33] However, the network of friends and supporters proved to be too large, so that the rumors about the White Rose could not be suppressed any more by Nazi German officials. Was not this sense of fellowship overpowering? The parents, especially her father, did not like their children’s’ involvement in the Nazi youth groups and made no secret about it. RGWA I361K-I-8808. Willi Graf and Katharina Schüddekopf were devout Catholics. Sophia Magdalena Scholl war eine Widerstandskämpferin gegen die Diktatur des Nationalsozialismus und Mitglied der Gruppe „Weiße Rose“, die mit Flugblättern zum Sturz der Nationalsozialisten aufrief und nach ihrer Enttarnung verhaftet und mit der Guillotine enthauptet wurde. [9], The ideas and thoughts of the German Youth Movement, founded in 1896, had a major impact on the German youth at the beginning of the twentieth century. Isn't it true that every honest German is ashamed of his government these days? Der Hans und Sophie Scholl-Pfad zeigt die Schönheiten von Forchtenberg. "[24] Gradually, detachment gave way to the conviction that something had to be done. The White Rose group (die Weiße Rose) was formed by students at Munich University in 1943. On January 20, 1942, a group of Nazi leaders met to coordinate a continent-wide genocide. Headed "Fellow students!" Why do you tolerate these rulers gradually robbing you, in public and in private, of one right after another, until one day nothing, absolutely nothing, remains but the machinery of the state, under the command of criminals and drunkards?”, In their attempt to gain traction for the resistance and to stop the war effort, they gave clear advice and advocated sabotage of Hitler’s war machine. Both Hans Scholl and Willi Graf were arrested in 1937–38 because of their membership in forbidden Youth Movement organizations. Sophie and Hans' sister Inge Scholl reported about the initial enthusiasm of the young people for the Nazi youth organization, to their parents' dismay:[9]. (Let Freedom live!). Sie ist ein Symbol für beispielhafte Zivilcourage und Widerstand gegen die Hitler-Diktatur - nicht nur im politischen, sondern auch im alltäglichen Leben. On 29 January 1945, Hans Konrad Leipelt was executed. Zum Hintergrund: Sophie Scholl steht symbolisch für den Kampf gegen den Nationalsozialismus im Dritten Reich, sie war Mitglied der studentischen Widerstandsgruppe "Weiße Rose". Die "Weiße Rose" kämpfte gegen die Nazi-Tyrannei. Inge Jens. These associations shared and propagated a love for nature, outdoor adventures, as well as the music, art and literature of German Romanticism. [22] Alexander Schmorell, who was born in Orenburg and raised by Russian nurses, spoke perfect Russian, which allowed him to have direct contact and communication with the local Russian population and their plight. Alexander Schmorell was an Orthodox Christian. Christoph Probst was baptized a Catholic only shortly before his execution. Kurt Huber was known amongst his students for the political innuendos which he used to include in his university lectures, by which he criticized Nazi ideology by talking about classical philosophers like Leibniz. In a letter to his sister Anneliese, Willi Graf wrote: "I wish I had been spared the view of all this which I had to witness. Their experience during this time had a major impact on their thinking, and it also motivated their resistance, because it led to their disillusionment with the Nazi regime. All three were noted for the courage with which they faced their deaths, particularly Sophie, who remained firm despite intense interrogation, and intimidation by Freisler during the trial. The Scholls and Probst were scheduled to stand trial before the Volksgerichtshof—the Nazi "People's Court" infamous for its unfair political trials, which more often than not ended with a death sentence—on 22 February 1943. Under Gestapo interrogation, Hans Scholl gave several explanations for the origin of the name "The White Rose", and suggested he may have chosen it while he was under the emotional influence of a 19th-century poem with the same name by German poet Clemens Brentano. Youth organizations other than those led by the Nazi party were dissolved and officially forbidden in 1936. Coincidentally, on 18 February 1943, the same day that saw the arrests of Sophie and Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst, Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels delivered his Sportpalast speech, and he was enthusiastically applauded by his audience. Sophie’s story looms especially large in the history of Ulm, my hometown. [6], Lilo Ramdohr at the registry office with Carl G. Fürst in Munich, February 1944. The Death of a General: George S. Patton, Jr. Chuck Yeager: WWII Fighter Ace and Record Breaking Test Pilot. Their studies were regularly interrupted by terms of compulsory service as student soldiers in the Wehrmacht medical corps on the Eastern Front. Sophie Scholl and the White Rose movement, while less known to Americans, is a powerful example of youthful resistance to the Nazi Regime. No defendants were given any opportunity to speak. Their activities started in Munich on 27 June 1942, and ended with the arrest of the core group by the Gestapo on 18 February 1943. [9] The Scholls read sermons by John Henry Newman, and Sophie gave two volumes of Newman's sermons to her boyfriend, Fritz Hartnagel, when he was assigned to the Eastern Front; he wrote to her: "[W]e know by whom we are created, and that we stand in a relationship of moral obligation to our creator. Today, the White Rose is well known both within Germany and worldwide. highly praised the White Rose members' courage. The White Rose was a small endeavor with large consequences. Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes—crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure—reach the light of day? Their fifth pamphlet stated: “And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present ‘state’ in the most effective way….We cannot provide each man with the blueprint for his acts, we can only suggest them in general terms, and he alone will find the way of achieving this end: Sabotage in armament plants and war industries, sabotage at all gatherings, rallies, public ceremonies, and organizations of the National Socialist Party.