We couldn’t have an advent calendar of historical figures that have served or saved other, without including one of Sophie’s personal heroes, Sophie Scholl.

Sophie Scholl was born in May 1921, the fourth of six children. The family moved to Ulm in the south west German state of Baden-Württemberg when Sophie was 10.

After the Nazis came to power in January 1933, Sophie, along with most of her siblings and it has to be said, many many Germans, were excited to see what was considered a positive change for Germany and a chance at a brighter future.

Sophie was particularly intrigued by the Party’s focus on nature and community experiences (youth groups, away days, group activities for example). She joined the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) and quickly rose in their ranks.

Sophie’s parents however, made it very clear they did not share their children’s enthusiasm for the Nazi Party. Their father Robert was a strong Christian and made it a daily practice to debate views and ideals at the dinner table.

The White Rose Movement

The Scholl children were to become founding members of the White Rose movement, a group for young people that loved outdoor exploration and adventure, music, literature and German Romanticism.

Originally seen as compatible with Nazi ideology by many, these alternative groups were slowly dissolved and finally banned by 1936. Hans remained active in one such group and was subsequently arrested in 1937. Some say that this was the key moment that changed the opinions of Sophie and Hans, how could the German state use such force again a group with such light hearted ideals?

Outbreak of War

At the outbreak of war, life for German citizens was to change immediately. Her older brothers were sent off to fight and Sophie’s plans for her studies and future career were taken from her.

She wanted to study biology and philosophy but in order to be allowed this, students had to spend a period of time working for the state in the National Labour Service which she did in the spring of 1941. She hated the intense authority, regimented work and the fact she could no longer express herself as an individual. She wrote down her thoughts, noting that her “soul was hungry"—she longed for an autonomous life, an end to the war, and for happiness with her boyfriend Fritz Hartnagel, who was now fighting on the Eastern front. Her doubts about the regime grew.

When she finally moved to Munich to study biology and philosophy in May 1942, her brother Hans, a medical student at the same university, and some of his friends had already begun to actively question the regime. Having served on the Eastern Front, they learned about the atrocities committed and saw the misery with their own eyes. They knew they couldn’t remain quiet. Starting in June 1942, they began printing and distributing leaflets in and around Munich, calling their fellow students and the German public to action. We must remember that questioning the regime, even in the privacy of your own home, was a crime. To publicly criticise and question was an incredibly dangerous move.

Sophie had no idea that her brother Hans was one of the students involved, but when she did, she immediately requested to join the group and participate.

Actions of the White Rose in Munich

At the core of the movement were siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, their fellow students Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, and a professor of philosophy and musicology at the University of Munich, Kurt Huber. Together they published and distributed six pamphlets, first typed on a typewriter, then multiplied via mimeograph. At first, they only distributed them via mail, going through phone books for addresses and hand-writing each envelope. Eventually they were distribute thousands, reaching households all over Germany. Acquiring such large amounts of paper, envelopes, and stamps at a time of strict rationing without raising suspicion was problematic, but the students managed by engaging a wide-ranging network of supporters in cities and towns as far north as Hamburg, and as far south as Vienna. These networks were also activated to distribute the pamphlets, attempting to trick the Gestapo into believing the White Rose had locations all across the country.

He we see the text of their third pamphlet:

“Our current ‘state’ is the dictatorship of evil. We know that already, I hear you object, and we don’t need you to reproach us for it yet again. But, I ask you, if you know that, then why don’t you act? Why do you tolerate these rulers gradually robbing you, in public and in private, of one right after another, until one day nothing, absolutely nothing, remains but the machinery of the state, under the command of criminals and drunkards?”

Their fifth pamphlet escalated calls for active resistance and sabotage:

“And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present ‘state’ in the most effective way….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….Try to convince all your acquaintances…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!”

By early January 1943, the group believes their work is making a real difference in the way Germans view the Party. They seek to intensify their activity:

Their sixth and last pamphlet read:

“Even the most dull-witted German has had his eyes opened by the terrible bloodbath, which, in the name of the freedom and honour of the German nation, they have unleashed upon Europe, and unleash anew each day. The German name will remain forever tarnished unless finally the German youth stands up, pursues both revenge and atonement, smites our tormentors, and founds a new intellectual Europe. Students! The German people look to us! The responsibility is ours: just as the power of the spirit broke the Napoleonic terror in 1813, so too will it break the terror of the National Socialists in 1943.”

On 18th February 1943, Hans and Sophie set off for University ready to distribute further. In an attempt to show more people their work, Sophie pushes a stack of leaflets off the side of a balcony, leaving them to flutter their way down like confetti. In this moment, Sophie would bring the group down and end their lives.

She was spotted by a janitor, a staunch supporter of the Nazis, who had Hans and Sophie immediately arrested by the Gestapo. The draft for the seventh pamphlet was still in Hans’ bag, which led to Christoph Probst’s arrest the same day.

The three young people endured a mock trial after long and arduous interrogations. In an attempt to save their friends, Hans and Sophie took all the blame for the White Rose’s actions. Sadly Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell, and Kurt Huber were arrested later in February and put to death shortly after.

After a half-day trial led by the infamous Roland Freisler, president of the People’s Court, Hans, Sophie, and Christoph were sentenced to death for treason. Despite this horrific prospect, Sophie did not waver. Freisler asked her as the closing question whether she hadn’t “indeed come to the conclusion that [her] conduct and the actions along with [her] brother and other persons in the present phase of the war should be seen as a crime against the community?” Sophie answered:

“I am, now as before, of the opinion that I did the best that I could do for my nation. I therefore do not regret my conduct and will bear the consequences that result from my conduct.”

What an incredible statement by one so young .

Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine on 22nd February 1943. Sophie was just 21 years old.

The text of the sixth leaflet was smuggled into the United Kingdom where they were reprinted and dropped over Germany by Allied planes in July of the same year.

Legacy

The actions of the White Rose Movement definitely caused concern and created increased activity for the Gestapo, as it was believed they were a much bigger group. Thousands would have read the pamphlets but ultimately, the impact of the group was small in scale at the time.

Sophie and the group’s legacy post war and for us today however, is much larger and it is a story that we must tell as often as we can.

Watching evil unfold, these young people refused to stay silent. When presented with a slim chance to save themselves by denouncing others, they refused. They knew their fate and went bravely to it for a cause much larger that themselves. History will be forever kind to Sophie, her brother and friends.

Visit Munich Memorial

Outside the entrance to Munich University is a memorial to Sophie and her group’s actions - a moving set of pamphlets on the ground that every student will see as they enter their place of education.

If you’d like to explore key historical sites including Munich, with one of Sophie’s Great War Tours experts, contact us today: sophie@sophiesgreatwartours.com