We all learned about the Holocaust in history classes. However, middle and high school history classes sometimes gloss over the effects of the Holocaust on the rest of the German population not directly targeted during the Holocaust. Until freshman year in college, I was wholly convinced that the German voters that put Hitler in power had absolutely no inkling what he was using his power to do. That’s not true. There were several resistance movements that the Nazis quickly shut down before word could spread. One of these resistance groups was called Die Weisse Rose, which translates to The White Rose.
The White Rose was a symbol of peace and hope, as was the organization named in honor of it. The group was created in 1942 by Hans Scholl and his friends Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, and Willi Graf, all students at the University of Munich. Later, Hans’ little sister, Sophie, started school at the University of Munich, discovered the secret operation, and took on the main role of printing and distributing the informative pamphlets that the men had been producing. At the time of their resistance, Sophie and the members of Die Weisse Rose were all between the ages of 19 and 23.
Die Weisse Rose was responsible for writing, printing, and secretly distributing leaflets about the Jewish genocide to their classmates and painting anti-regime graffiti around Munich. Their pamphlets contained logical and philosophical arguments focused around human dignity and supported with quotes from famous philosophers such as Aristotle. The organization remained anonymous successfully until a janitor spotted Sophie and Hans leaving a briefcase of pamphlets at the University and called the secret Nazi police. They were arrested on Feb. 18, 1943, tried in the Nazi puppet court, and sentenced to execution for treason. On Feb. 23, 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl along with their collaborator, Christoph Probst, were killed. Sophie Scholl’s last words were, “Die Sonne scheint noch,” which means, “the sun still shines.”