Translation
Courage in the Face of Death
from “Leaflet of Resistance” from The White Rose
The White Rose was a resistance group of college students in Germany who boldly exposed the hatred of Nazi ideology and addressed the evils of the mistreatment of and the extermination of the Jews under Hitler. Reading the text of the pamphlets these young adults produced and distributed, I find myself touched by not only their courageous devotion to writing the truth at a time when doing so would mean one’s death, but deeply impressed with the prose itself. It powerfully states precisely what was going on in the midst of all who chose to ignore what was all around them, identifying all who apathetically accepted Hitler’s crimes as being guilty, too, as they acquiesced rather than opposed it.
To express such opposition to the government at a time when Germans were dying in the war and many were enthralled by the Nazi regime, and knowing that such dissent was punishable by death, required an extraordinary courage rarely seen. Informants for the Gestapo, who could be anyone you knew, were always a threat.
- from The First Leaflet of The White Rose
- from The Second Leaflet of The White Rose
Sophie Scholl’s strength is perfectly communicated throughout the film. The interrogation by Gestapo officer Robert Mohr of Sophie Scholl and her comments in court before Judge Roland Freisler (the “People’s Court” was its name though it was anything but with its proceedings conducted in secrecy and with no appeals permitted, set up by Hitler to stop political opposition ) make this film unique and informative to view. The courtroom scenes are powerful, with the words of these courageous resistors amazing in view of the tyranny they were denouncing. In their early twenties, the members of The White Rose were sentenced by Freisler to death and were executed immediately following the “trial.”
In The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich by William L. Shirer (a book I also recommend, having read it many years ago), Judge Roland Freisler is described as “perhaps the most sinister and bloodthirsty Nazi in the Third Reich after Heydrich.”
What did perplex me was why there was no depiction in the film of any mistreatment by the Gestapo upon Sophie Scholl and the others as they were notoriously known for their violent interrogation tactics, and I would think those accused of treason would have been subjected to such torture. I do not know if the Gestapo refrained from their methods in these cases, or if is uncertain if such tactics were used against the Scholls since some articles mention her leg being injured and others make no such mention.
However, in Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich he writes that, “Sophie Scholl was handled so roughly during her interrogation by the Gestapo that she appeared in court with a broken leg.”
I also recommend a piece by Jacob Hornberger: “The White Rose: A Lesson in Dissent” is an excellent article at The Future of Freedom website summarizing the Sophie Scholl and The White Rose story very well and it includes book recommendations about The White Rose.
And, the English translation of The White Rose pamphlets may be read here.
Finally, I recommend reading the memories of Dr. George J. Wittenstein who was a member of the inner circle of The White Rose.
 Christine Smith is a freelance writer and political activist from Colorado. She has written numerous articles for state, national and international publications (newspapers, magazines, online publications) covering a wide range of topics: the arts, technology, business, politics, health, environment, social justice, human spirituality, and profile interviews with high achievers. Articles by Christine Smith at MWC News http://mwcnews.net/ChristineSmith |
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Since reading your article I have read the history and the leaflets then downloaded and watched the film.
On the one hand it's inspirational. On the other hand it fills me with shame both of my own feeble protest and of the "civilisation" that I live in.
Things are, in real terms (not yet in practical terms) worse than in Hitler's germany. The stiffling of protest is not by force but by sheer absorption of our voices into the cotton-wool anaesthetic of consumerist babble and general indifference.
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Tags: Christine Smith Germany White Rose Sophie Scholl