The White Rose was a group of college students at the University of Munich who, along with one professor, undertook a campaign of nonviolent resistance against the Nazi regime. They authored a series of six anonymous leaflets between June 1942 and February 1943, encouraging acts of resistance and paid for it with their lives.
The main group consisted of Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, Alex Schmorell, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, Traute Lafrenz, Katharina Schueddekopf, Lilo Berndl, Jurgen Wittenstein, Marie-Luise Jahn, and Falk Harnack. Their philosophy professor, Kurt Huber, was also a major player.
Several other students participated in the group's debates and graffiti campaigns: Wilhelm Geyer, Manfred Eickmeyer, Josef Soehngen, and Harold Dohrn. They were funded by Eugen Grimminger, and his secretary Tilly Hahn. Tilly not only contributed to the group, she acted as a liaison between the students and her boss and smuggled printing supplies and machinery from Stuttgart to Munich.
None of the members of the group were Jewish. To me, that's one of the things that makes their story so extraordinary. They were Catholic, Lutheran, even Buddhist and anthroposophists. They were not risking their lives to fight for their "own people." Had they just kept their mouths shut, they would likely never have been bothered by the Gestapo at all. They acted out of respect for all human life. Some had seen the Polish ghettos and were haunted by the brutalities committed there. Others were certain that Germany would not win the war, especially after the devastating defeat at Stalingrad. They dreamt of a united Europe and wanted to make it a reality as quickly as possible.
The group's unofficial beginning was in 1941. Hans read a sermon by an anti-Nazi bishop about the evils of euthanasia and eugenics. Sophie got permission to reprint the sermon and post it all over campus.
While being interrogated by the Gestapo, Hans told his captors that the name "The White Rose" came from an obscure old poem of the same name. However, some have argued that Hans lied to protect a bookseller who gave them a meeting place and kept banned books hidden in his shop. "The White Rose" was also the title of a 1929 novel banned by the Nazis in '33.
Hans and Sophie were the leaders of the group, and it has been argued that the siblings were readily able to identify with the persecuted because of an incident that had occurred some years earlier, in 1937, when Hans was arrested and tried for being a member of a banned youth organization. He had joined it in '34, two years before it was banned, and was a member of the Hitler Youth at the same time. Hans was also accused of being involved in a non-serious same-sex relationship in 1934, when he was 16. (From what I understand, this was not uncommon for young German men at the time.)
Alex wrote most of the first four leaflets, and he drew inspiration from classic philosophy, the Bible, and German authors like Goethe. At first, the leaflets were mailed out to homes in southern Germany, as that area had a higher concentration of intellectuals and was generally less militaristic.
In the summer of '42, some of the men in the group were sent to the Eastern front as medics, and when they came back in late fall, the group printed almost 9000 copies of their fifth pamphlet on a hand-crank mimeograph machine. Hans and Kurt wrote the fifth leaflet and copies turned up in cities all over Germany. Around the same time, the students began stenciling phrases like "Freedom" and "Down with Hitler!" on buildings around campus. This fifth leaflet was so widespread that it caught the attention of the Gestapo, and they began actively searching for the responsible parties.
For their sixth leaflet, the group got some help from the Allies. It was dropped by Allied airplanes.
It was the distribution of their seventh leaflet that led to the downfall of the group. Hans and Sophie brought copies of the pamphlet to the University in between classes. When they finished dropping off their stacks, they had a few extras left in their suitcases. They threw the rest of the leaflets over the landing into the atrium of the building. Unfortunately, they were seen by a custodian, who called the Gestapo. Hans and Sophie were the first arrested. Originally, the interrogators thought Sophie was innocent. But Hans confessed, and Sophie took full responsibility in an attempt to protect the other members of the White Rose. However, they were all eventually identified and arrested.
The Scholls and Cristoph Probst were tried together, convicted of treason, and sentenced to death by beheading. This was on 22 February 1943; their sentences were carried out the same day.
Even the Gestapo were impressed by their courage, especially Sophie. She never named anyone else, despite being interrogated by the Gestapo. Their jailers allowed the three to meet together one last time. Sophie's last words were spoken to Judge Freisler: "You know as well as we do that the war is lost. Why are you so cowardly that you won't admit it?" Hans's last words were "Let freedom live."
The next trial was on April 19, when Traute, Gisela Schertling, and Katharina were indicted and arrested, but they were released after the trials were postponed.
Professor Huber had connections- one of his good friends was an bigshot lawyer who worked for the Nazis. Unfortunately, this Nazi lawyer did a half-ass job preparing for the trial. He never talked to Kurt before the trial and didn't even read the leaflets until he got into the courtroom. At that point, he realized Kurt was completely screwed and handed the case to the junior attorney.
Eugen was originally sentenced to death, but Tilly convinced the judge that he didn't know what the money was being used for. He got ten years.
The next trial (Geyer, Dohrn, Soehngen, and Eickemeyer) was postponed until July 1943 because the evidence against them was lost.
Gisela had given the authorities the names of everyone who was even remotely involved in the group, but in July she recanted her entire testimony. All but Soehngen were acquitted, and he was only given six months.
The same day, July 13, Alex and Kurt were beheaded. Willi was beheaded in October.
Fringe members of the White Rose, and even people who had only collected money for Christoph's widow and young children, were arrested. They were given sentences ranging from six months to ten years.
Traute was rearrested and jailed, but her trial was postponed several times. It was finally rescheduled for April 1945. She was considered very dangerous by the Nazis, and almost certainly would have been executed. But the Allies liberated her only three days before the trial was to begin.
After the executions, the Allies got a hold of their final leaflet and dropped millions of copies over Germany.
Hans Scholl. Executed. Age 24.
Sophie Scholl. Executed. Age 21.
Alexander Schmorell. Executed. Age 25.
Willi Graf. Executed. Age 24.
Christoph Probst. Executed. Age 23. Wife, 3 yr, 2 yr, 4 wk.
Kurt Huber. Executed. Age 49. Wife.
Eugen Grimminger. 10 years.
Heinrich Bollinger. 7 years.
Helmut Bauer. 7 years.
Hans Hirzel. 5 years.
Franz Muller. 5 years.
Heinrich Guter. 18 months.
Gisela Schertling. 1 year.
Katharina Schuddekopf. 1 year.
Traute Lafrenz. 1 year.
Susanne Hirzel. 6 months.
Falk Harnack. Acquitted.
Sophie Scholl, and all of the other members of the White Rose are my heroes. I can hardly fathom that the whole atrocity the was the second World War occurred in this century, in my grandparents' lifetimes. I think I could spend the rest of my life studying WWII and never be able to fathom the scale of it. Hopefully because of the sacrifices made by this group of young people 70 years ago, and the millions of others who will never be blogged about or recognized, the young people of our generation will never be called upon to fight against injustice and tragedy on so large a scale.
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