The Beginning
FEAR GIVES POWER
The great strength of the totalitarian state is that it forces those who fear it to imitate it. ~Adolf Hitler In the 1930's, Nazism ran rampant in the streets of Germany. Adolf Hitler used racism and the crushed hearts of the German people to create his empire. As time went on many people began to fear for their lives. Everyone and their choices were placed under a microscope and carefully inspected. If you said anything the could be seen as semitic then the Gestapo, or the German secret police, would turn you in. And in most cases, you would be killed. This constant fear and ridiculousness of these rules drove people mad. Many people wanted to do something about it, but were too afraid. Some, however, weren't as afraid. |
What Was The White Rose?
How do we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone who will give himself up undividedly to a righteous cause. ~Sophie Scholl
LEAFLET LEADS TO MOVEMENT
One day in the late 1930's, Sophie Scholl was at the Munich University library in Germany and found a leaflet. This leaflet discussed the evils of Nazism and brought up examples from the past on how government systems like this didn't work and only ended in the eradication of everyone. She was shocked that someone else shared the same thoughts as herself. Excited, she went home to tell her brother Hans Scholl. He must have acted suspicious when she talked to him because she then asked him if he knew who wrote them. He said he had no clue and no affiliation with it, so she should stop asking. After persistent questioning, he gave in and told her that himself and his friend Christopher Probst wrote the leaflet. She then joined the group and they created one of the most powerful resistance groups ever. They called themselves, "die Weiße Rose," or "The White Rose."
WHAT WAS THE WHITE ROSE?
The White Rose was a non-violent resistance group that started in the 1930's and was specifically against the Nazi regime. The group grew and eventually consisted of a handful of students and a professor from the University of Munich. They peacefully questioned the rules that were created by Adolf Hitler via writing short, philosophical essays. The most "physical" thing the troupe would do was graffiti the walls of Munich, Germany. The exact number of students who were in the group is unknown, due to the anonymity the job required. Within only a few years, thousands of leaflets were printed and distributed across Europe.
ARRESTED FOR A LEAFLET
On February 19, 1943, the group went to distribute their sixth leaflet at Munich University. Hans and Sophie put a suitcase full of leaflets at the entrances of classrooms and hallways. When they were about to leave, the two realized they had more handouts in the suitcase, so they ran up the stairwell to the upper floor and flung them down from the balcony just as classes ended. The falling leaflets attracted the attention of a custodian, Jakob Schmidt, who tracked the young people through the crowd and told the Gestapo. At first, they were almost let go because of how calm they seemed. However, after finding the draft of the seventh leaflet in Hans' possession, they knew he was guilty. Hans had tried to eat the letter at one point after his arrest. Seeing no way out, the brother and sister confessed, but each insisted he or she was solely responsible for the actions of the White Rose. Convicted by Roland Freisler, the blood judge, to death by the guillotine.
DEATH FOR ONES BELIEFS
The group continued, however, months after the death of the two siblings and another member, the rest of the group was found out by the Gestapo and were sent to death as well.
LEAFLET LEADS TO MOVEMENT
One day in the late 1930's, Sophie Scholl was at the Munich University library in Germany and found a leaflet. This leaflet discussed the evils of Nazism and brought up examples from the past on how government systems like this didn't work and only ended in the eradication of everyone. She was shocked that someone else shared the same thoughts as herself. Excited, she went home to tell her brother Hans Scholl. He must have acted suspicious when she talked to him because she then asked him if he knew who wrote them. He said he had no clue and no affiliation with it, so she should stop asking. After persistent questioning, he gave in and told her that himself and his friend Christopher Probst wrote the leaflet. She then joined the group and they created one of the most powerful resistance groups ever. They called themselves, "die Weiße Rose," or "The White Rose."
WHAT WAS THE WHITE ROSE?
The White Rose was a non-violent resistance group that started in the 1930's and was specifically against the Nazi regime. The group grew and eventually consisted of a handful of students and a professor from the University of Munich. They peacefully questioned the rules that were created by Adolf Hitler via writing short, philosophical essays. The most "physical" thing the troupe would do was graffiti the walls of Munich, Germany. The exact number of students who were in the group is unknown, due to the anonymity the job required. Within only a few years, thousands of leaflets were printed and distributed across Europe.
ARRESTED FOR A LEAFLET
On February 19, 1943, the group went to distribute their sixth leaflet at Munich University. Hans and Sophie put a suitcase full of leaflets at the entrances of classrooms and hallways. When they were about to leave, the two realized they had more handouts in the suitcase, so they ran up the stairwell to the upper floor and flung them down from the balcony just as classes ended. The falling leaflets attracted the attention of a custodian, Jakob Schmidt, who tracked the young people through the crowd and told the Gestapo. At first, they were almost let go because of how calm they seemed. However, after finding the draft of the seventh leaflet in Hans' possession, they knew he was guilty. Hans had tried to eat the letter at one point after his arrest. Seeing no way out, the brother and sister confessed, but each insisted he or she was solely responsible for the actions of the White Rose. Convicted by Roland Freisler, the blood judge, to death by the guillotine.
DEATH FOR ONES BELIEFS
The group continued, however, months after the death of the two siblings and another member, the rest of the group was found out by the Gestapo and were sent to death as well.