The White Rose Resistance

 

The White Rose Resistance – Students Who Stood Up to Hitler

In 1942, deep within Nazi Germany, a small group of university students and one professor at the University of Munich began a bold, secret resistance movement. They called themselves “The White Rose.” Their mission: to awaken the German people to the horrors being committed in their name — and to stand against Adolf Hitler's regime through non-violent means.

The central figures were Hans Scholl and Sophie Scholl, a brother and sister in their early 20s, along with their friends Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, and Kurt Huber (the professor). Most were medical students. All were horrified by the Nazi atrocities — especially the murder of Jews in Eastern Europe and the crushing of free thought in Germany.

They began writing and secretly distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, urging Germans to resist Hitler's rule. The leaflets spoke of morality, responsibility, and conscience. They included quotes from famous thinkers like Goethe, Schiller, and the Bible — combined with devastating facts about what the Nazis were doing.

One leaflet read:

"Since the Führer has led the German people into this war, the German people will be blamed for these crimes."

The group would leave stacks of leaflets in public places — university hallways, phone booths, mailboxes — even dropping them from buildings. Their sixth and final leaflet was smuggled out and eventually made its way to Allied forces, who reproduced it and dropped millions of copies over Germany by air.

But on February 18, 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl were caught by a janitor while distributing the leaflets at the university. They were arrested by the Gestapo, interrogated, and quickly tried by the infamous Nazi “People’s Court.”

Just four days later, on February 22, 1943, Hans and Sophie were executed by guillotine. Sophie was 21 years old. Her last words were reported to be:

"What does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"

Kurt Huber and others in the group were also executed. But their courage lived on. The White Rose became a symbol of moral resistance in Germany, and today, their story is taught in German schools and honored in memorials throughout the country.

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