White Rose, Their Leaflets, Their Resistance ... What Lessons For Today ?, page 1

It is unusual to come across to come across a story of heroism which makes makes one dwell deeply upon concepts of personal sacrifice when faced with the most desperate odds, a story of individuals standing quietly together to resist an oppressive government.

Yet I've been reading about such a group of people over the last few days and thought I might share their story. I apologise in advance if it's one with which you might already be familiar ; it is new to me and one which has left me humbled upon reading it. I apologise to if my English comes over sometimes as a bit strained, it's not my first language and I have tried my best to correct any spelling or grammar mistakes.

White Rose was an anti Nazi group based in and around wartorn Munich, Germany in and around 1942-1943. White Rose and the stand they took has been described by playwright Lillian Garret-Groag in the following terms :

It is possibly the most spectacular moment of resistance that I can think of in the 20th century... The fact that five little kids, in the mouth of the wolf, where it really counted, had the tremendous courage to do what they did, is spectacular to me.

I hope their story brings encouragement to those who struggle against both cruel government and the indifference of those who choose not to resist. Their part of history seems unknown to many outside the German speaking world, which is a terrible shame.

White Rose was a group of German individuals who came together during World War Two to resist the Nazi authorities. Based at the University of Munich, they were a group of young students and their distinguished professor who gave their lives for our freedoms, through the distribution of six leaflets which encouraged others to resist the Nazi authorities.

We are fortunate that the Nazis were unable to exorcise their names from the history books. White Rose was composed of the following university students.

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Hans Scholl

A Hitler youth member and medical student, Hans was a prominent member of White Rose. A protestant (Lutheran), Hans despised the Nazi regime and encourage passive resistance against the Nazi regime. Author/co author of many of the leaflets, Hans was put before a show trial, convicted of high treason and executed by beheading in 1943.

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Sophie Scholl

A kindergarten tutor and biology student, Sophie loved the arts, music, reading and hill walking. She was forced to join the Bund Deutscher Mädel (or League of German Maidens) but became quickly disenchanted by the forced regimen of that organisation. Convicted of high treason for the distribution of the leaflets, she shared the same fate as her Brother ; Sophie was executed by beheading.

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Willi Graf

Following his service with the Reichsarbeitsdienst (or Reich Labour Service), Willi enrolled at Munich University as a medical student. From 1940-1942 he served in the German Army as a medical orderly and then came into contact with White Rose through his membership of the Second Student Company. Willi was executed by beheading in 1943 for his anti Nazi activities, after months of the most cruel interrogation. The bravest of the brave, he incriminated not one person during those interrogations.

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Christoph Probst

A more distant member of White Rose, Christoph was a medical student with a dislike of the Nazi regime. Although Christop did not contribute towards the text of the six leaflets, he did design the cover of the seventh and for that he paid with his life, being executed by the Nazis in 1943.

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Alex Schmorrell

A Wehrmacht soldier, Alex participated in the German annexation of Austria and invasion of Czechoslovakia. He came to White Rose as a medical student and wrote a passage in the second leaflet against the Holocaust. He co-wrote the fifth leaflet “An appeal to all Germans”, distributed the leaflet in Austria and painted grafitti slogans on the walls of Munich … “Freiheit” (or Freedom) and “Nieder Mit Hitler” (or “Down With Hitler”). Sentenced to death for his anti Nazi activities, he was executed by beheading in 1943.

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Kurt Huber

Kurt was a Munich University professor. Most of the White Rose group were his students. Kurt hated the Nazi regime and was appalled by their excesses. Arrested by the Gestapo, left out to hang and dry by his friend the composer Carl Orff, Kurt was convicted of insurrection and executed by beheading in 1943.

So those were the main players in the White Rose. Far more about each individual may be found online, but I think a brief portrait of each person is useful to get to know them.

Let us now look at each leaflet in turn. For it is these on which those people were arrested, subject to fierce interrogation, show trials on trumped up charges followed by swift execution. I think it important to read each leaflet in full, for they led to the deaths of very many people.

Leaflet Number One

Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be "governed" without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. It is certain that today every honest German is ashamed of his government. 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?

If the German people are already so corrupted and spiritually crushed that they do not raise a hand,
frivolously trusting in a questionable faith in lawful order in history; if they surrender man's highest principle, that which raises him above all other God's creatures, his free will; if they abandon the will to take decisive action and turn the wheel of history and thus subject it to their own rational decision; if they are so devoid of all individuality, have already gone so far along the road toward turning into a spiritless and cowardly mass - then, yes, they deserve their downfall.

Goethe speaks of the Germans as a tragic people, like the Jews and the Greeks, but today it would
appear rather that they are a spineless, will-less herd of hangers-on, who now - the marrow sucked out of their bones, robbed of their center of stability - are waiting to be hounded to their destruction. So it seems - but it is not so. Rather, by means of a gradual, treacherous, systematic abuse, the system has put every man into a spiritual prison. Only now, finding himself lying in fetters, has he become aware of his fate.

Only a few recognized the threat of ruin, and the reward for their heroic warning was death. We will have more to say about the fate of these persons. If everyone waits until the other man makes a start, the messengers of avenging Nemesis will come steadily closer; then even the last victim will have been cast senselessly into the maw of the insatiable demon.

Therefore every individual, conscious of his responsibility as a member of Christian and Western
civilization, must defend himself against the scourges of mankind, against fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism. Offer passive resistance - resistance - wherever you may be, forestall the spread of this atheistic war machine before it is too late, before the last cities, like Cologne, have been reduced to rubble, and before the nation's last young man has given his blood on some battlefield for the hubris of a sub-human. Do not forget that every people deserves the regime it is willing to endure.

From Friedrich Schiller's "The Lawgiving of Lycurgus and Solon":

Viewed in relation to its purposes, the law code of Lycurgus is a masterpiece of political science
and knowledge of human nature. He desired a powerful, unassailable state, firmly established on its
own principles. Political effectiveness and permanence were the goal towards which he strove, and
he attained this goal to the full extent possible under the circumstances. But if one compares the
purpose Lycurgus had in view with the purposes of mankind, then a deep abhorrence takes the
place of the approbation which we felt at first glance. Anything may be sacrificed to the good of the
state except that end for which the State serves as a means. The state is never an end in itself; it is
important only as a condition under which the purpose of mankind can be attained, and this purpose
is none other than the development of all of man's powers, his progress and improvement. If a state
prevents the development of the capacities which reside in man, if it interferes with the progress of
the human spirit, then it is reprehensible and injurious, no matter how excellently devised, how
perfect in its own way. Its very permanence in that case amounts more to a reproach than to a basis
for fame; it becomes a prolonged evil, and the longer it endures, the more harmful it is...

At the price of all moral feeling a political system was set up, and the resources of the state were
mobilized to that end. In Sparta there was no conjugal love, no mother love, no filial devotion, no
friendship; all men were citizens only, and all virtue was civic virtue.

A law of the state made it the duty of Spartans to be inhumane to their slaves; in these unhappy
victims of war humanity itself was insulted and mistreated. In the Spartan code of law the dangerous principle was promulgated that men are to be looked upon as means and not as ends - and the foundations of natural law and of morality were destroyed by that law...

What an admirable sight is afforded, by contrast, by the rough soldier Gaius Marcius in his camp
before Rome, when he renounced vengeance and victory because he could not endure to see a
mother's tears!...

The state [of Lycurgus] could endure only under the one condition: that the spirit of the people
remained quiescent. Hence it could be maintained only if it failed to achieve the highest, the sole
purpose of a state.

From Goethe's "The Awakening of Epimenides, Act II, Scene 4:

SPIRITS: Though he who has boldly risen from the abyss Through an iron will and cunning May
conquer half the world, Yet to the abyss he must return. Already a terrible fear has seized him; In vain he will resist! And all who still stand with him Must perish in his fall

HOPE: Now I find my good men Are gathered in the night, To wait in silence, not to sleep. And the
glorious word of liberty They whisper and murmur, Till in unaccustomed strangeness, On the steps of
our temple Once again in delight they cry: Freedom! Freedom!

Please make as many copies of this leaflet as you can and distribute them.

Leaflet Number Two

It is impossible to engage in intellectual discourse with National Socialism because it is not an
intellectually defensible program. It is false to speak of a National Socialist philosophy, for if there were such an entity, one would have to try by means of analysis and discussion either to prove its validity or to combat it. In actuality, however, we face a totally different situation.

At its very inception this movement depended on the deception and betrayal of one's fellow man; even at that time it was inwardly corrupt and could support itself only by constant lies. After all, Hitler states in an early edition of "his" book (a book written in the worst German I have ever read, in spite of the fact that it has been elevated to the position of the Bible in this nation of poets and thinkers): "It is unbelievable, to what extent one must betray a people in order to rule it."

If at the start this cancerous growth in the nation was not particularly noticeable, it was only because there were still enough forces at work that operated for the good, so that it was kept under control. As it grew larger, however, and finally in an ultimate spurt of growth attained ruling power, the tumor broke open, as it were, and infected the whole body. The greater part of its former opponents went into hiding. The German intellectuals fled to their cellars, there, like plants struggling in the dark, away from light and sun, gradually to choke to death.

Now the end is at hand. Now it is our task to find one another again, to spread information from person to person, to keep a steady purpose, and to allow ourselves no rest until the last man in persuaded of the urgent need of his struggle against this system. When thus a wave of unrest goes through the land, when "it is in the air", when many join the cause, then in a great final effort this system can be shaken off. After all, and end in terror is preferable to terror without end.

We are not in a position to draw up a final judgment about the meaning of our history. But if this
catastrophe can be used to further the public welfare, it will be only by virtue of the fact that we are
cleansed by suffering; that we yearn for the light in the midst of deepest night, summon our strength, and finally help in shaking off the yoke which weighs on our world.

We do not want to discuss here the question of the Jews, nor do we want in this leaflet to compose a
defense or apology. No, only by way of example do we want to cite the fact that since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way. Here we see the most frightful crime against human dignity, a crime that is unparalleled in the whole of history. For Jews, too, are human beings - no matter what position we take with respect to the Jewish question - and a crime of this dimension has been perpetrated against human beings.

Someone may say that the Jews deserved their fate. This assertion would be a monstrous impertinence; but let us assume that someone said this - what position has he then taken toward the fact that the entire Polish aristocratic youth is being annihilated? (May God grant that this program has not fully achieved its aim as yet!) All male offspring of the houses of the nobility between the ages of fifteen and twenty were transported to concentration camps in Germany and sentenced to forced labor, and the girls of this age group were sent to Norway, into the bordellos of the SS!

Why tell you these things, since you are fully aware of them - or if not of these, then of other equally grave crimes committed by this frightful sub-humanity? Because here we touch on a problem which involves us deeply and forces us all to take thought. Why do the German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race? Hardly anyone thinks about that. It is accepted as fact and put out of mind. The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals; they give them the opportunity to carry on their depredations; and of course they do so. Is this a sign that the Germans are brutalized in their simplest human feelings, that no chord within them cried out at the sight of such deeds, that they have sunk into a fatal consciencelessness from which they will never, never awake?

It seems to be so, and will certainly be so, if the German does not at least start up out of his stupor, if he does not protest wherever and whenever he can against this clique of criminals, if he shows no sympathy for these hundreds of thousands of victims. He must evidence not only sympathy; no, much more: a sense of complicity in guilt. For through his apathetic behavior he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do; he tolerates this "government" which has taken upon itself such an infinitely great burden of guilt; indeed, he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all! Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!

It is not too late, however, to do away with this most reprehensible of all miscarriages of government, so as to avoid being burdened with even greater guilt. Now, when in recent years our eyes have been opened, when we know exactly who our adversary is, it is high time to root out this brown horde. Up until the outbreak of the war the larger part of the German people were blinded; the Nazis did not show themselves in their true aspect. But now, now that we have recognized them for what they are, it must be the sole and first duty, the holiest duty of every German to destroy these beasts.

"If the people are barely aware that the government exists, they are happy. When the government
is felt to be oppressive, they are broken. " "Good fortune, alas! builds itself upon misery. Good
fortune, alas! is the mask of misery. What will come of this? We cannot foresee the end. Order is
upset and turns to disorder, good becomes evil. The people are confused. Is it not so, day in, day
out, from the beginning? " "The wise man is therefore angular, though he does not injure others:
he has sharp corners, though he does not harm; he is upright but not gruff. He is clear-minded,
but he does not try to be brilliant." - Lao Tzu

"Whoever undertakes to rule the kingdom and to shape it according to his whim - I foresee that he
will fail to reach his goal. That is all. " "The kingdom is a living being. It cannot be constructed, in
truth! He who tries to manipulate it will spoil it, he who tries to put it under his power will lose it. "
"Therefore: Some creatures go out in front, others follow, some have warm breath, others cold,
some are strong, some weak, some attain abundance, other succumb. " "The wise man will
accordingly forswear excess, he will avoid arrogance and not overreach." - Lao Tzu

Please make as many copies as possible of this leaflet and distribute them.

Leaflet Number Three

*Salus publica suprema lex*

All ideal forms of government are utopias. A state cannot be constructed on a purely theoretical basis; rather, it must grow and ripen in the way an individual human being matures. But we must not forget that at the starting point of every civilization the state was already there in rudimentary form. The family is as old as man himself, and out of this initial bond man, endowed with reason, created for himself a state founded on justice, whose highest law was the common good. The state should exist as a parallel to the divine order, and the highest of all utopias, *the civitas dei*, is the model which in the end it should approximate.

Here we will not pass judgment on the many possible forms of the state - democracy, constitutional
monarchy, and so on. But one matter needs to be brought out clearly and unambiguously. Every individual human being has a claim to a useful and just state, a state which secures the freedom of the individual as well as the good of the whole. For, according to God's will, man is intended to pursue his natural goal, his earthly happiness, in self-reliance and self-chosen activity, freely and independently within the community of life and work of the nation.

But our present "state" is the dictatorship of evil. "Oh, we've known that for a long time," I hear you object, "and it isn't necessary to bring that to our attention again." But, I ask you, if you know that, why do you not bestir yourselves, why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanized state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right - or rather, your *moral duty* - to eliminate this system?

But if a man no longer can summon the strength to demand his right, then it is absolutely certain that he will perish. We would deserve to be dispersed through the earth like dust before the wind if we do not muster our powers at this late hour and finally find the courage which up to now we have lacked. Do not hide your cowardice behind a cloak of expediency, for with every new day that you hesitate, failing to oppose this offspring of Hell, your guilt, as in a parabolic curve, grows higher and higher.

Many, perhaps most, of the readers of these leaflets do not see clearly how they can practice an effective opposition. They do not see any avenues open to them. We want to try to show them that everyone is in a position to contribute to the overthrow of this system. It is not possible through solitary withdrawal, in the manner of embittered hermits, to prepare the ground for the overturn of this "government" or bring about the revolution at the earliest possible moment. No, it can be done only by the cooperation of many convinced, energetic people - people who are agreed as to the means they must use to attain their goal.

We have no great number of choices as to these means. The only one available is *passive resistance*. The meaning and the goal of passive resistance is to topple National Socialism, and in this struggle we must not recoil from any course, any action, whatever its nature. At *all* points we must oppose National Socialism, wherever it is open to attack. We must soon bring this monster of a state to an end. A victory of fascist Germany in this war would have immeasurable, frightful consequences. The military victory over Bolshevism dare not become the primary concern of the Germans. The defeat of the Nazis must *unconditionally* be the first order of business. The greater necessity of this latter requirement will be discussed in one of our forthcoming leaflets.

And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present "state" in the most effective way, how he can strike it the most telling blows. Through passive resistance, without a doubt. 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. Obstruction of the smooth functioning of the war machine (a machine for war that goes on solely to shore up and perpetuate the National Socialist Party and its dictatorship). *Sabotage* in all the areas of science and scholarship which further the continuation of the war - whether in universities, technical schools, laboratories, research institutions, or technical bureaus. *Sabotage* in all cultural institutions which could potentially enhance the "prestige" of the fascists among the people. *Sabotage* in all branches of the arts which have even the slightest dependence on National Socialism or render it service. *Sabotage* in all publications, all newspapers, that are in the pay of the "government" and that defend its ideology and aid in disseminating the brown lie.

Do not give a penny to the public drives (even when they are conducted under the pretense of charity). For this is only a disguise. In reality the proceeds aid neither the Red Cross nor the needy. The government does not need this money; it is not financially interested in these money drives. After all, the presses run continuously to manufacture any desired amount of paper currency. But the populace must be kept constantly under tension, the pressure of the bit must not be allowed to slacken! Do not contribute to the collections of metal, textiles and the like. Try to convince all your acquaintances, including those in the lower social classes, 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*!

Aristotle: *Politics*: "... and further, it is part [of the nature of tyranny] to strive to see to it that nothing is kept hidden of that which any subject says or does, but that everywhere he will be spied upon,... and further, to set man against man and friend against friend, and the common people against the privileged and the wealthy. Also it is part of these tyrannical measures, to keep the subjects poor, in order to pay the guards and the soldiers, and so that they will be occupied with earning their livelihood and will have neither leisure nor opportunity to engage in conspiratorial acts... Further, [to levy] such taxes on income as were imposed in Syracuse, for under Dionysius the citizens gladly paid out their whole fortunes in taxes within five years. Also, the tyrant is inclined constantly to foment wars"

Please duplicate and distribute!

A Leaflet Of Resistance

A Call to All Germans!

The war is approaching its destined end. As in the year 1918, the German government is trying to focus attention exclusively on the growing threat of submarine warfare, while in the East the armies are constantly in retreat and invasion in imminent in the West. Mobilization in the United States has not yet reached its climax, but already it exceeds anything that the world has ever seen. It has become a mathematical certainty that Hitler is leading the German people into the abyss. Hitler cannot win the war; he can only prolong it. The guilt of Hitler and his minions goes beyond all measure. Retribution comes closer and closer.

But what are the German people doing? They will not see and will not listen. Blindly they follow their seducers into ruin. Victory at any price! is inscribed on their banner. "I will fight to the last man," says Hitler-but in the meantime the war has already been lost.

Germans! Do you and your children want to suffer the same fate that befell the Jews? Do you want to be judged by the same standards are your traducers? Are we to be forever a nation which is hated and rejected by all mankind? No. Dissociate yourselves from National Socialist gangsterism. Prove by your deeds that you think otherwise. A new war of liberation is about to begin. The better part of the nation will fight on our side. Cast off the cloak of indifference you have wrapped around you. Make the decision before it is too late. Do not believe the National Socialist propaganda which has driven the fear of Bolshevism into your bones. Do not believe that Germany's welfare is linked to the victory of national Socialism for good or ill. A criminal regime cannot achieve a German victory. Separate yourselves in time from everything connected with National Socialism. In the aftermath a terrible but just judgment will be meted out to those who stayed in hiding, who were cowardly and hesitant.

What can we learn from the outcome of this war-this war that never was a national war?

The imperialist ideology of force, from whatever side it comes, must be shattered for all time. A one sided Prussian militarism must never again be allowed to assume power. Only in large-scale cooperation among the nations of Europe can the ground be prepared for reconstruction. Centralized hegemony, such as the Prussian state has tried to exercise in Germany and in Europe, must be cut down at its inception. The Germany of the future must be a federal state. At this juncture only a sound federal system can imbue a weakened Europe with a new life. The workers must be liberated from their condition of down trodden slavery under National Socialism. The illusory structure of autonomous national industry must disappear. Every nation and each man have a right to the goods of the whole world!

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the protection of individual citizens from the arbitrary will of criminal regimes of violence-these will be the bases of the New Europe.

Support the resistance. Distribute the leaflets!

The final leaflet

A Call to All Germans!

The war is approaching its destined end. As in the year 1918, the German government is trying to focus attention exclusively on the growing threat of submarine warfare, while in the East the armies are constantly in retreat and invasion in imminent in the West. Mobilization in the United States has not yet reached its climax, but already it exceeds anything that the world has ever seen. It has become a mathematical certainty that Hitler is leading the German people into the abyss. Hitler cannot win the war; he can only prolong it. The guilt of Hitler and his minions goes beyond all measure. Retribution comes closer and closer.

But what are the German people doing? They will not see and will not listen. Blindly they follow their seducers into ruin. Victory at any price! is inscribed on their banner. "I will fight to the last man," says Hitler-but in the meantime the war has already been lost.

Germans! Do you and your children want to suffer the same fate that befell the Jews? Do you want to be judged by the same standards are your traducers? Are we to be forever a nation which is hated and rejected by all mankind? No. Dissociate yourselves from National Socialist gangsterism. Prove by your deeds that you think otherwise. A new war of liberation is about to begin. The better part of the nation will fight on our side. Cast off the cloak of indifference you have wrapped around you. Make the decision before it is too late. Do not believe the National Socialist propaganda which has driven the fear of Bolshevism into your bones. Do not believe that Germany's welfare is linked to the victory of national Socialism for good or ill. A criminal regime cannot achieve a German victory. Separate yourselves in time from everything connected with National Socialism. In the aftermath a terrible but just judgment will be meted out to those who stayed in hiding, who were cowardly and hesitant.

What can we learn from the outcome of this war-this war that never was a national war?

The imperialist ideology of force, from whatever side it comes, must be shattered for all time. A one sided Prussian militarism must never again be allowed to assume power. Only in large-scale cooperation among the nations of Europe can the ground be prepared for reconstruction. Centralized hegemony, such as the Prussian state has tried to exercise in Germany and in Europe, must be cut down at its inception. The Germany of the future must be a federal state. At this juncture only a sound federal system can imbue a weakened Europe with a new life. The workers must be liberated from their condition of down trodden slavery under National Socialism. The illusory structure of autonomous national industry must disappear. Every nation and each man have a right to the goods of the whole world!

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the protection of individual citizens from the arbitrary will of criminal regimes of violence-these will be the bases of the New Europe.

Support the resistance. Distribute the leaflets!

www.whiterosesociety.org...

Those few leaflets led to the deaths of so many. Yet I wonder whether their words still ring true today ? I think they do. And when you consider that they were published in Nazi Germany, by Germans in the full knowledge that their publication would lead directly to their own deaths, I think these some of the most extraordinary documents I've ever read, yet the values imbued in each still ring true today. And I think there's a lesson in each for all of us even today, that we each have the power to resist the oppressive state, of whatever political complexion.

There's one member of White Rose for whom I've said nothing. And that's because she's still alive and living in the United States. I'm sure most have never heard of her, it's a damning indictment on our education priorities that we've all lived in ignorance of this remarkable woman. Her name is Traute Lafrenz, she's now 91 years old and lives in Yonges Island, South Carolina.

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Traute Lafrenz

A liberal arts teacher, Traute joined White Rose in 1941 when she met Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst at Munich University. She participated in many of the groups discussions. In November 1942, Traute took very many copies of the third leaflet from Munich to Hamburg for distribution (a very brave act in itself, in a country in wartimewhere “stop & searches” were part of the day to day norm). Together with Sophie Scholl, Traute sought out materials to help with the production and distribution of the White Rose leaflets.

Traute was arrested by the Gestapo in March 1943, convicted and sentenced to a year in prison, released then re-arrested. She was finally discharged from captivity in Bayreuth Prison when US troops liberated that establishment in April 1945.
I think we owe this woman, and her friends, an enormous debt of gratitude for showing us all what can be done when the odds are so stacked against you that one's own death becomes an act of resistance. For none can be in any doubt that each member of White Rose knew that, ultimately, they would die for their beliefs.

I wonder how we might have faced the dilemma, whether to resist and hold true to those common values of humanity to which we all aspire. Or whether we might have just kept our heads down and denied knowledge of all the bad things which go on in our name.

What lessons do White Rose have for us ?

What would you have done ? And what do you do today ?

It's a question on which we should all dwell. These people did. And died for it.

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Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, in deep discussion