This is JEllen42's Entry. I'm just making edits and additions.

In many German towns you will come across a Sophie Scholl Straße or Sophie Scholl Gymnasium¹. They are named after a member of The White Rose movement(die Weiße Rose), a heroic group of young Germans who actively opposed the Nazis at the very height of World War II. Although German anti-Nazi resistance² is seldom acknowledged by the former Allies, the German people are proud of the moral example of The White Rose and various others³. Sophie Scholl and The White Rose in particular are remembered as exemplars of the values of democratic, post-war Germany.

Who were The White Rose?

Members of the White Rose were young Germans, mostly medical students, centered in Munich and made up of Germans. Their leader was Hans Scholl, a medical student in his early 20's at the University of Munich. His sister Sophie was also a member, as were Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, and professor of psychology and philosophy Kurt Huber. Some members were members of the army and had served at the French and Russian fronts.

Hans and Sophie, who grew up in the town of Ulm. Although their father had been briefly imprisoned for a remark critical of Hiler, they were members of the Hitler-Jugend and Bund Deutscher Mädel ⁴. They had a strong Christian background and attributed their faith as the inspiration for thair anti-Nazism. The movement as a whole was non-ideolgical and members drew their inspiration from various sources, united by a rejection of the Hitler's fascism and militarism and a belief in a federated Europe that adhered to liberal values of tolerance and justice.

No one knows exactly why members of the group chose the name White Rose to begin with. Hans later claimed, following his arrest by the Gestapo, that it was from a Spanish novel, but he may have been lying to throw them off. White roses are traditionally associated with purity, a description that seems to fit the group. Also Hans had a good friend named Rose. In his diary he wrote to her:

The roses are already fading, but every garden is stilll heavy with the scent of summer, and if there were only one dainty rose in all the world, the scent would be strong enough to guide me to it. Everything fades, but not you.

The movement's activities were non-violent. They painted slogans in the streets such as "Freedom" and "Down with Hitler" and, most notably, wrote leaflets urging resistance against the Nazis.

The Leaflets of the White Rose

The group secretly produced and distributed a series of six leaflets. The first four of these had the strapline 'The Leaflets of the White Rose', the final two 'The Leaflets of the Resistance'. They were disseminated by couriers to various cities (Stuttgart, Cologne, Vienna, Freiburg, Chemnitz, Hamburg and Berlin) where they were posted to random individuals listed in phone books, dropped piles in strategic locations such as universities...or simply scattered in the streets. The leaflets caused a sensation throughout Germany and the hunt was on for the instigators. The text of the sixth leaflet, which was smuggled out of Germany via Scandinavia was used by the Allies who retitled it 'The Manifesto of the Munich Students' and dropped millions of copies over Germany.

The leaflets were largely written by Hans Scholl, with improvements by Prof. Huber. In terms of effective, mass propaganda, they were somewhat over-intellectual; they used various quotes from The Bible, Lao-Tse, Aristotle and Novalis, Goethe and Schiller - Definitely more Guardian than Daily Mirror. They were largely directed at the German intelligensia and appealed to their liberal and religious values and sense of decency. They targetted them mostly within Southwestern Germany where they beleived that people would be most receptive to these 'traditional' ideas.

The Final Days

The male members of The White Rose were deployed to the Russian Front during the academic break in 1942 - as the Battle of Stalingrad was getting underway. On their return in the autumn, they stepped up thair activities. In January, 1943 they produced 6000-9000 copies of their fifth leaflet, 'A Call To All Germans'. The Leaflet ended:

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

Support the resistance. Distribute the leaflets!

The leaflets caused a sensation throughout Germany and the hunt was on for the instigators.

The German rout at Stalingrad prompted the sixth leaflet, written mainly my Huber and addressed to the students of Munich University:

Students! The German people look to us. As in 1813 the people expected us to shake off the Napoleonic yoke, so in 1943 they look to us to break the National Socialist terror through the power of the spirit. Beresina and Stalingrad are burning in the East. The dead of Stalingrad implore us to take action. "Up, up, my people, let smoke and flame be our sign!"

On the morning of 18 February, 1943, the day on which Josef Goebbels would later urge the German people to embrace total war, Hans and Sophie went early Munich University. They took with them suitcases containing copies of the leaflet, which they placed in piles throughout the corridore, to be picked up by curious students as they emerged from their lectures. Just before the class break, Sophie realised that she still had leaflets remaining in her suitcase. Deciding that it would be a pity not to distribute them, she climed the stairway to a balcony ovelooking a large atrium and flung them into the air. Unfortunately she was spotted by a janitor. The police were called and the Scholls arrested.

At first they tried to bluff their way out of the situation. Hans had a handwritten draft of a possible seventh leaflet in his pocket, which he insisted must have been thrust there by someone else. But the police rounded up as many of their friends and acquaintances as they could find, and the plot was broken. The other ringleaders of The White Rose

Transcripts of their interrogations survive, and it's clear that the interviewers were keen to understand why such decent, intelligent people as Sophie should be so against their country. The Scholls and Probst were the first to stand trial, on 23 February, 1943. Sophie, who had remained firm during interrogation, despite having had her leg broken, said to the judge:

You know as well as we do that the war is lost. Why are you so cowardly that you won't admit it.

All three were executed by guillotine⁵ the same day at Stadelheim Prison. Christoph Probst asked to be baptized just before his execution. None gave in to the pressure to recant their 'treasonous' beliefs. Sophie in particular demanded that her punishment be no different from her brother's. The judge acknowledged her courage. Even the guards at the prison were impressed by their calm bravery when they died. Said one:

Then they were led off, the girl first. She went without the flicker of an eyelash. None of us understood how this was possible. The executioner said he had never seen anyone meet his end as she did.

Before Hans died he called out:

Long live freedom!

Other ringleaders were beheaded later that year. Friends and colleagues who had assisted in the preparation and distribution of the leaflets, in graffiti writing, and in organising a collection for Probst's widow and children were rounded up and given prison sentences.

The Legacy of die Weisse Rose

Modern Germany has had to struggle to overcome this ingnominious period of its history. Cynics might argue that it is convenient to hold up an example of heroism while ignoring the capitulation of the majority. Indeed, it is convenient that the White Rose members were decent, educated members of middle-class, free from the taints of delingiency or communism suffered by some other resistance groups and useful that they offered an unthreatening, non-belligerent, pacifist antidote. However, it is undeniable that Germany has made strenuous efforts to entrench liberal, democratic pan-European values and that - unlike their former enemies - have moved on. Undeniable also is the sincerity, the moral example, and the sheer heroism of The White Rose.

Memories of The White Rose have been kept alive by former members who have continued to give talks at schools and they are remembered throughout Germany with pride and affection. In a nation struggling reconcile an uncomprehending youth with the actions of their forbears, legacy of The White Rose delivers an important message: dissent against the majority is permissable in, indeed essential to, a free society.

May their memory live on.

Recommended books:

The White Rose: Munich 1942-1943 by Inge Scholl. ISBN 0-8195-6086-3

At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl edited by Inge Jens. ISBN 0-06-015785-2

Recommended viewing:

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days. (2005) An Oscar-nominated German film. Available in the UK on DVD.

Recommended links

The White Rose Leaflets. German originals and English translations.