h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I know you have threads going elsewhere about wartime resistance, but I thought I would tuck in a little thread here just for personal comments about White Rose.

I was wondering which books you have read about White Rose? I have read three. The two I own are The White Rose: Munich 1942-1943 by Inge Scholl and At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl, edited by Inge Jens. Alas, I cannot remember the title of the third one I read a while back. The first book includes translations of all the pamphlets -- I take it you have seen those? I saw elsewhere you weren't too impressed, but I really like them.

I saw someone on another thread asking, if White Rose were not Communists or Socialists, what were they? I guess I would say that they were 1)pacifists 2)christians and 3)romantics. Their great goal was that enough Germans would join them to overthrow Nazism and form a united democratic Europe. I believe that they did believe this was possible, or that they felt like if it was impossible, they had a moral imperative to try anyway. Naive? Maybe.

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That second book, At the Heart of the White Rose, is so touching and so personal, it will make you cry. You really come to know Hans and Sophie through their personal papers; when the book just breaks off at the end, it's crushing. The book also has a wealth of footnotes in the back, lots of additional information.

People have speculated about the origin of the name White Rose. An obvious connection is the symbolism of purity. But I think it is also worth noting that Hans had a close friendship, and may have been in love with, a woman named Rose Nagele. He kept the existence of White Rose a secret from her, to protect her. I think the idea that Hans would name the group after a spanish novel, as some speculate, is something of a stretch.

My favorite story about White Rose -

Hans Scholl was returning on a train from the Russian front where he had served as a medic. The train stopped briefly near some Jewish slave labor. Hans went up to a thin young woman who was being forced to work, and slipped a ration bar into her pocket. Now, mind you, he was wearing a German uniform, and the woman had her pride, so she took it out and threw it on the ground. Hans picked it up, then walked over and picked a flower and laid both back at her feet and said simply "I wanted to please you." Then the train started back up, and he had to run to catch it, but when he looked back, the girl had the flower in her hair.

The members of White Rose were incredibly loyal to one another once they were caught - none of them gave out additional names or information to win clemency. Sophie was particularly insistent that she receive the same sentence as her brother, and not a more lenient sentence because she was a woman.

It was quite tragic that while the members of White Rose had especially tried to keep Cristoph Probst safe because he was a young father, Hans was caught with a rough pamphlet in his pocket that Cristoph had drafted, sealing Probst's fate.

Apparently even the guards in the prison were impressed by the bravery of White Rose members, and allowed them a few minutes alone together before their execution.

Here I have to admit to not having got around to any of the books. My knowledge comes mainly from webseites and talking to German friends.

It certainly is a romantic story - and I agree with your definition of them. I guess that this also partly explains their ineffectiveness at starting off any kind of real movement. Vague feelings of goodness also have to be backed up by political philosophy - and local socialists and communists could have taught them a thing or two about how to 'agitate, educate, organise.' I understand, though, that towards the end Hans tried to contact members of the Soviet-backed 'Rotekapelle' (Red Orchestra) spy ring. To do that, I guess he must have had some KPD contacts.

Their pamphlets puzzle me. I don't think that contemporary anti-war protesters would get very far by distributing leaflets saying "it is imperative that America loses the war on terror." Their writing style and propaganda nous seem to me to be naive in the extreme. But - hey - I wan't there!

It's incredible to me that they were able to pull off as much as they did. They would travel from Munich to other cities like Hamburg to distribute leaflets. They were trying to give the impression that they were much more widespread than they were. Can you imagine traveling long distances with pamphlets that could get you executed, at a time when searches were pretty routine. I would not have been calm enough to do it, they would have spotted me right away! Their work did bear some fruit - White Rose members sprang up in Hamburg too, and some of them survived the war.

I think we should start working together on an entry. A combination of factual material, and the anecdotes which show their romantic side would work well. Shall I start on an outline?

Err. Err. I am hesitant to commit to working on an entry, because I have to finish a painting or two in the next month or two. I have told a fair number of people that I plan to donate at least one painting to the auction -- I must get busy soon with brush in hand. (I am a tediously slow painter) Maybe once have gotten painting out of the way?

Hello, just been browsing thro

Hi Edward, Vixen.

Painting is progressing nicely. Got the flower rings painted, now must turn to the background.