70 years ago today 3 German students were beheaded for anti-Nazi pamphlets

[pampango]

(Seventy) years ago today, three German students were executed by guillotine in Munich’s Stadelheim Prison for their crimes of high treason against Hitler’s Third Reich. Just four days earlier, 24-year-old Hans Scholl and his 21-year-old sister, Sophie, had been arrested after they’d been caught throwing hundreds of anti-Nazi leaflets from the third floor of the main building of their Munich University campus…. Non-violent and rooted in intellectualism, this impudent movement… was no more than a handful of Munich University students in their early twenties – inspired and aided by their professor of philosophy, Kurt Huber….

The White Rose mass-printed a total of six ingenious propagandist leaflets, in which they called for the active opposition of the German people to Nazi oppression and tyranny. Quoting Goethe, Schiller, Aristotle and the Bible, these fiery missives targeted Germany’s intelligentsia – imploring them to “rip off their cloak of indifference”:

Why do German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race? … The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals … through his apathetic behaviour he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do … he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all! Each man wants to be exonerated … But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty! … Now that we have recognized (the Nazis) for what they are, it must be the sole and first duty, the holiest duty of every German to destroy these beasts.

The Scholls, along with their fellow White Rose member Christoph Probst – a 24-year-old father of three – stood trial before the Third Reich’s notorious Volksgerichtshof, or “People’s Court”, on 22nd February 1943. In the face of certain death, the defendants displayed a beatitude-like composure and defiance. “Somebody, after all, had to make a start,” Sophie Scholl calmly responded when asked to explain her actions. “What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just do not dare express themselves as we did.” Judge Roland Freisler sentenced all three to death and gave them just three more hours to live. But the courage and righteousness of these young students even managed to touch the prison guards, who defied the rules to allow them to share a final cigarette together. Sophie was the first to be led to the guillotine. She went without a whimper. As the blade was about to fall on Hans, he cried out: “Let freedom live!” The White Rose, however, had the last word. Their final leaflet was smuggled to the Allies, who air-dropped millions of copies over Germany….

(T)he White Rose is a poignant and powerful reminder of what we can and should be.

We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!

http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/02/liveblogging-world-war-ii-february-22-1943.html

Execution 4 days after their arrest. "Justice" certainly was swift under the Nazis.

I had never heard of the White Rose and the actions of these Germans students in the middle of the war.

[CBGLuthier]

1. There is a pretty good movie about this

[OldEurope]

3. Film was nominated for Oscar in 2005

They were the heroes of my youth. And I'm still admiring their bravery.


Edited to add:

Execution 4 days after their arrest. "Justice" certainly was swift under the Nazis.

Not always:
Another Member of the group, Willi Graf, was tortured until October.

[barbtries]

5. i have looked at this on netflix for ages

and never watched it. i'll watch it now.

[adieu]

22. Great movie

Last edited Fri Feb 22, 2013, 06:48 PM - Edit history (1)

I saw it and it was unbelievable. There are several movies on netflix concerning how ordinary Germans behaved and lived during the war. They're all quite compelling. Another is Aimee and Jaguar, about a lesbian pair hiding their identities during the war (one was still alive when the film was made, she could still be). Another was about the germanic wives of jewish husbands who stood firm waiting for their husbands to be released, while they were imprisoned in Berlin. I think this latter one is called Rosenstrass.

[pampango]

31. Just watched it. It is a fantastic movie. Highly recommended. Thanks for the other suggestions. n/t

[tblue]

48. Then I'm not the only one

watching Holocaust movies on Netflix! Did you see The Boy in the Striped Pajamas? Or The Train? Or Surviving Hitler? Lots of good ones on Netflix!

[smirkymonkey]

34. It was an excellent film.

Very powerful. Julia Jentsch is a wonderful actress (she was also in "The Educators" another great German film, although a bit long and dragged out).

You should really see it. It's disturbing, but worth watching.

[pampango]

6. Thanks. I requested this from our library. n/t

[midnight]

7. Thank you for posting this... In Wisconsin freedom of speech has to be negotiated.

And in other places in America we have developed free speech zones.

[YarnAddict]

19. What do you mean about Wisconsin?

I'm originally from there, but haven't really kept up, except for the assault on teachers last year, but that didn't have to do with Freedom of speech--did it?

[midnight]

60. Walker's Absurd Rule Restricting Free Speech in Capitol

"He also asked Capitol Police chief Charles Tubbs what criteria law enforcement was going to use in applying this policy, and he says Tubbs told him it’s a secret.

And that lack of transparency concerns Ahmuty, too.

Ahmuty is not the only one raising eyebrows at this new policy.

State Representative Chris Taylor, a Democrat from the Madison area, sent a letter on Friday to Mike Huebsch, Walker’s secretary of administration."

http://www.progressive.org/challenge_walker_rrule_restricting_free_speech_in_capitol.html


Walker Administration Sued over Free Speech in the Capitol

http://www.progressive.org/walker-admin-sued-over-free-speech

I'm looking for another article discussing the police union suing because the act 10 creates two classes of people.. Restricting free speech for one group and not the other...

[BlancheSplanchnik]

27. I saw the movie too

Absolutely awe-inspiring

[geardaddy]

29. Completely agree.

Excellent film.

[DFW]

51. The film is being shown again on German national TV tonight.

It is shown often here in Germany. I wish it were shown more often in other countries that are maybe a little less interested in confronting their past (or, in the case of certain states back home, their present).

[Brickbat]

2. Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christian Probst.

[defacto7]

44. Real heros

Do we have any of this caliber in America today?

[tblue]

49. Some of the Occupy people maybe.

Who has risked their neck to fight tyranny in this country? Bradley Manning maybe. Can't think of many.

[barbtries]

4. i could only aspire to such courage.

very moving.

[OldEurope]

8. Another young man from the White Rose,

Alexander Schmorell, was canonised by the Russion Orthodox Church as a Martyr, they call him Alexander of Munich.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Schmorell

[Mira]

9. Sophie Scholl's last words to judge Roland Kreisler, the "hanging judge" were:

"You will soon stand here where we are standing now".
The film "The final days" powerfully shows what we are capable of on all spectrums of humanity.

I saw that movie about a year ago with my mother (88) who remembers the war years from personal experience.
She told me that my dad, a minister and well known member of the underground, brought home a young man and his wife a number of years after the end of the war.
He had met him in a hardware store, and was taken aback at the unusual, and history laden last name of him: Kreisler.
The name of the judge.

My Dad took the young man aside and asked him if he was related to Roland Kreisler the judge of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Yes, he was his uncle.

So Mom said, when the young man and his wife came to dinner I had to play the piano and sing for the wife while my Dad took the man away to his study and asked and asked......

The memories of the Scholl siblings unimaginable bravery are dying out with time.
Today, and I thank you for bringing this to us, pampango - is the day to celebrate and remember them.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. Wow!! So much is in your relating of the events back then.

I have seen the movie, btw.
And I see too many signs of intolerance for dissent today.

[xocet]

35. Your post made me wonder what became of Freisler at the end of the war.

Before looking for the information, I expected that he would have been executed for his crimes, but instead he was killed in an allied bombing raid on February 3, 1945 by a bomb fragment. Shockingly, his widow was apparently given a generous pension until she passed away in 1997.

I have not translated this piece, but have put the passages relevant to his and her deaths in boldface. A precise translation would take too long, but the last paragraph's content is nearly unbelievable: this part is in boldface and italics to separate it from the other information. It seems as though after 1974 the pension was increased by a monthly damages award of DM 400 due to the justification that Freisler could have potentially continued in a high position in the legal profession in West Germany after a temporary ban from the field or as a result of some form of amnesty had he lived.

Inferno und Befreiung

Drei Todesurteile pro Tag

Am 3. Februar 1945 fliegen die Alliierten einen schweren Luftangriff auf Berlin. Eines der Opfer ist Roland Freisler, der Präsident des Volksgerichtshofes

...

Seite 4/5

...

Am 3. Februar ist er vormittags bei Minister Thierack in der Wilhelmstraße. Die Alliierten fliegen ihren bislang schwersten Angriff auf die Stadt. Schnell lässt sich Freisler über die Leipziger Straße zurückfahren in sein Gericht. Dort angekommen, versucht er, in den Keller zu flüchten. Doch noch im Hof trifft ihn der Splitter einer Bombe.

Gleich nach dem Angriff, so überliefert es 1993 Helmut Ortner in seinem Freisler-Buch Der Hinrichter, wird im U-Bahnhof Potsdamer Platz nach einem Arzt gerufen. Ein Mann meldet sich. Man führt ihn in die alte Schule zu einem »hohen Prominenten«. Der Arzt betrachtet Freisler, sagt, der Mann sei tot, weigert sich aber, einen Totenschein auszustellen, ohne Begründung. Er ist nämlich auf dem Weg zu Minister Thierack, den er um Hilfe bitten will für seinen Bruder, den Freisler am Tag zuvor zum Tode verurteilt hat. Thierack erfährt also als Erster von Freislers Ende. Das hilft dem Bruder des Arztes aber auch nicht mehr. Der Mann wird erschossen, Roland Freisler beerdigt auf dem Waldfriedhof in Dahlem, wo er heute anonym im Grab der Schwiegereltern ruht.

Otto Thierack nimmt sich das Leben in einem englischen Gefangenenlager. Hans Frank wird im großen Nürnberger Prozess zum Tode verurteilt, wegen seiner Verbrechen in Polen, und gehenkt. Carl Schmitt kommt für zwei Jahre in die Internierung und zieht sich dann ins Sauerland zurück, wo er 1985 stirbt. Heute wird er wieder gern zitiert. Schlegelberger erhält eine lebenslange Freiheitsstrafe im Nürnberger Juristenprozess vor einem amerikanischen Militärgericht. Im Urteil dieses Gerichts, das Freisler wohl zum Tode verurteilt hätte, heißt es über ihn, er sei der »düsterste, brutalste und blutigste Richter der gesamten deutschen Justizverwaltung« gewesen. Wenn das mal stimmt. Es gab noch viele andere im großdeutschen Recht. Und die Masse der Deutschen fand es 1944 auch völlig richtig, wie er umgegangen ist mit den Attentätern vom 20.Juli.

1985 gibt es ein Nachspiel. Roland Freislers Witwe lebte unter einem anderen Namen in München und erhielt eine hohe Rente. Aber nicht nur das. Seit 1974 war diese vom Versorgungsamt erhöht worden um monatlich 400 Mark als Schadensausgleich dafür, dass ihr Mann nach dem Krieg wohl »als Rechtsanwalt oder Beamter des höheren Dienstes tätig geworden wäre«. Das bayerische Ministerium für Arbeit bestätigte die Entscheidung des Versorgungsamtes: »Es kann ebenso wahrscheinlich sein, dass Freisler in seinem erlernten oder einem anderen Beruf weitergearbeitet hätte, zumal da eine Amnestie oder ein zeitlich begrenztes Berufsverbot ebenso in Betracht zu ziehen sind.« Ein Abgeordneter des Bayerischen Landtags griff 1985 die Regierung an. Die Zeitungen berichteten ausführlich. Der Arbeitsminister versprach Nachprüfung. Dann hörte man nichts mehr von Roland Freisler und der möglichen Fortsetzung seiner Karriere in der Bundesrepublik. Seine Witwe starb 1997 und liegt an seiner Seite.

Der Autor ist Professor (em.) für Rechtsgeschichte und Zivilrecht an der FU Berlin

http://www.zeit.de/2005/06/A-Freisler/seite-4

P.S. Here is the website for the White Rose Society:

http://www.weisse-rose-stiftung.de/fkt_standard.php?aktion=cs&ma=cs&c_id=&topic=001&page=1&lang=de

[Mira]

42. All of this makes me sigh very deeply

and gives me reasons my father would have been so interested to pump the nephew of this judge for information.
I had only ever heard the hanging judge died by being beaten to death by falling bricks, and therefore got off too easy.

Nothing I read in the excerpt you provide is a surprise to me. In 1974 for instance the German people had not woken up and been informed enough to protest this insanity of increasing Kreisler's widow's pension because he
"could have been useful and productive after the war had he not died".
The Germans woke up slowly, a country still filled with Ex-Nazis for a good while longer, and with the history lessons of the 2nd world war lasting about a 2 week period in the appropriate school year. I know. I was there.

He would without a doubt have been hanged in the trials of Nuremberg.
When your excerpt says he was the
»düsterste, brutalste und blutigste Richter der gesamten deutschen Justizverwaltung«
translation:
"darkest, most brutal, and most bloody judge of the entire German Court"
a death sentence would have been a given in the Nürnberger Prozess. That trial to me is the epitome of an example of what America once was capable of, and the very type of thing I think needed to be done to the entire Bush Crime Family. Of course I mean the trial and the investigation. Then I would think the prison doors would have opened wide.

I digress, and I am so sad.
The Scholl siblings who triumphantly died will forever be the highest example of personal courage and putting your country and fellow humans above your own fate in a way I know I could not do. And for that I am also sad.

[xocet]

43. Yes, it is sad that these events happened.

Thank you for filling in precise translations and for sharing you family story. It has been quite a while since I have used German properly, so it is good that you speak German.

By the way, I first heard of the White Rose Society years ago in Stuttgart. They are worth remembering.

Yes, Bush et al should be prosecuted for their crimes.

[The Wizard]

10. Another example

of Nazi failure. Any wonder why they lost the war? Hitler was a corporal, nothing more or less. People will listen to any one delivering a loaf of bread when they're starving.

[Smll_Ax3]

11. Thank you for posting this

too many among us think the German people were willing accomplices to the evil of the nazi's

[OldEurope]

20. To many were.

And to many did not care.

[tblue37]

23. Many were. Read

"Hitler's Willing Executioners."

(Can't italicize the title on my Nook.)

[tblue]

50. Hey Cuz!!!!

[tblue37]

59. Hi, Cuz! Long time no see! nt

[leftynyc]

28. Many were

Don't ever fool yourself into thinking otherwise.

[Smll_Ax3]

56. Sounds like you were there

I'm guessing not though

my father lost his entire family fighting the Nazi's,
and they were ALL Germans!

[Marr]

32. Many were. Basically the same sort of people who comprise the Republican base today.

Authoritarian followers very eagerly line up to inflict all sorts of cruelties on others when the powers that be authorize it. There's been a lot sociological research on the topic.

[Heidi]

12. Kick!

[kairos12]

13. Remarkable heros

[FiggyJay]

14. So Young & So Brave...

I have long admired their courage!
Last month I bought the white rose forever stamps at the Post Office thinking that they were commemorating those heroic students. Silly me. They were designed for wedding invitations.

[Pakid]

15. In many ways we need to see this same type of courage in our elected leaders today.

Standing up for what is right is something that very few of our elected Democratic in congress seem able to do.I won't even start on how badly we need to see some truth in our media today in place of the corporate tools that we call reporter's today. What will it take to wake America up to what the rich are doing to us? As for the White Rose you courage in the face of certain death stand as an example of just what we as a race are sometimes capable of !

[Voice for Peace]

16. there's footage on Youtube of Judge Roland Freiser. He's well portrayed in the Sophie Scholl film

total raving lunatic

&bpctr=1361547751

[adieu]

24. Unfortunately,

our politicians from the two major parties are more akin to Roland here than Sophie. I don't see anyone even close to matching the caliber of Sophie Scholl.

[Octafish]

18. Gotta lot a NAZIs around here still. And we ALL need to call them out for what they are.

Starting with the BFEE.

[busterbrown]

26. That Group of tea baggers at McCains town hall?

You think in two seconds they wouldn’t mind if a couple of Liberals were executed to set an example?

[madfloridian]

21. There are some great pics at this site, a lot of history of the White Rose.

http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/The%20White%20Rose%20nazi%20resistance.htm

The graves of Hans and Sophie Scholl and the crosses marking them.

[another_liberal]

39. Twenty-two years old?

That's not poignant, not much it isn't. (sigh)

[Hulk]

25. True heroes!

They deserve a never-ending monument; and they are an inspiration to those of us that struggle on today to bring about truth and justice.

[rgbecker]

30. Execution 4 days after their arrest. "Justice" certainly was swift under the Nazis

Well, at least they got a trial. 4000 killed by US drones without nothing save an unknown nod from "Somewhere up the chain of command."












I not defending the Nazis.

[WillyT]

33. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[steve2470]

36. such brave heroes, inspiring nt

[mountain grammy]

37. Thank you, pampango, this story of courage in the face of insanity must live forever.

[another_liberal]

38. Sophie had a fresh cast on one leg . . .

In videos of the trial it is possible to see that Sophie has a fresh cast on one leg. It was broken during her "Enhanced Interrogation."

[thucythucy]

40. Thank you so much

for not letting this sad anniversary go unremarked.

Inge Scholl, younger sister to Hans and Sophie, wrote a beautiful book about them: Students Against Tyranny: The Resistance of the White Rose. It contains the complete text of all the White Rose leaflets. They are truly awe-inspiring, incredibly brave words during an incredibly dark time.

Everything about what they did was dangerous. Paper was rationed, and any attempt to procure it in any quantity made you subject to Gestapo inquiry. Printing presses and mimeo machines were of course restricted. Even buying too many postage stamps (they mailed out bundles of leaflets, both to people they thought might be sympathetic, and to random addresses picked out of phonebooks) could get you a visit from the police.

Add to this the fact that, unlike the resistance in the occupied countries, the White Rose was advocating for the defeat of their own nation during a time of war. They wanted Germans to rise up and overthrow Hitler before the Allies landed, but if this didn't happen they were willing to work for German defeat during a world war. They despised nationalism, racism, and Sophie herself was even something of an early feminist.


From the First Leaflet:

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 today that 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?

From the Second Leaflet:

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 is persuaded of the urgent need of his struggle against this system... After all, an end in terror is preferable to terror without end....

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.

From the Third Leaflet:

And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present "state" in the most effective way... SABOTAGE in the armaments 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 areas of science and scholarship which further the continuation of the war... SABOTAGE in all cultural institutions... SABOTAGE in all publications, all newspapers... Try to convince all your acquaintances of the senselessness of continuing, of the hopelessness of this war....

Please duplicate and distribute!

From the Fourth Leaflet:

Every word that comes from Hitler's mouth is a lie. When he says peace, he means war, and when he blasphemously uses the name of the Almighty, he means the power of evil, the fallen angel, Satan. His mouth is the foul-smelling maw of Hell, and his might is at bottom accursed....

For Hitler and his followers there is no punishment on this earth commensurate with their crimes.... And do not forget the petty scoundrels in this regime; note their names, so that none will go free!...

We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!

The Last Leaflet:

Shaken and broken, our people behold the loss of the men of Stalingrad. Three hundred and thirty thousand German men have been senselessly and irresponsibly driven to death and destruction by the inspired strategy of our World War I Private First Class! Fuhrer, we thank you!...

We grew up in a state in which all free expression of opinion is unscrupulously repressed. The Hitler Youth, the SA, the SS have tried to drug us, to revolutionize us, to regiment us in the most promising years of our lives...

Freedom and honor! For ten long years Hitler and his coadjutors have manhandled, squeezed, twisted, and debased these two splendid German words to the point of nausea, casting the highest values of a nation before swine.... The frightful bloodbath has opened the eyes of even the stupidest German--it is a slaughter which they arranged in the name of "freedom" throughout Europe, and which they daily start anew....

Our people stand ready to rebel against the enslavement of Europe in a fervent new breakthrough of freedom and honor.

****

These are just fragments of each leaflet. They are so inspiring, so courageous, I get chills reading them. Especially this: "...an end in terror is preferable to terror without end."

Sophie Scholl's last written word was found by her cellmate on a copy of the indictment, the charges against her.

"Freiheit!"

"Freedom!"

Thomas Mann said, after their deaths were announced, "Good, splendid young people! You shall not have died in vain. You shall not be forgotten."

Thank you again, Pampango, for seeing it is so.

[pampango]

54. "They despised nationalism, racism, and Sophie herself was even something of an early feminist."

Far-right parties today still rely on "nationalism, racism" and misogyny. Some things never change.

The Scholls' actions were "truly awe-inspiring, incredibly brave during an incredibly dark time". "...an end in terror is preferable to terror without end." is a worthwhile reminder that dictatorships, then and now, rely on 'terror' for their continued survival. That 'terror' may be in the form of arrest, torture and execution (largely invisible if you live outside the country) rather than in the form of exploding bombs, falling buildings, etc., but it is 'terror' by any definition.

Thank you for the detailed post and all of the excerpts from the six pamphlets. "Freiheit!"

[blackspade]

41. Damn.

That is true dedication to a cause.
These folks should be well known heroes.
The fact that they are not says a lot about our society.

[struggle4progress]

45. .

[tblue]

46. I know them well, but didn't know the day.

Thank you for telling us. I truly honor the memory of the WRS. What incredibly courageous young people--some of the finest to ever walk this earth. I could just .

[nikto]

47. Ugly question, worth asking...

Will Nazi Germany=Texas, 2027?

[DFW]

52. The film is shown more often here in Germany than back home in Texas.

Of course, back home, I bet less than half of Texans could even find Germany on a map, much less tell you what happened there or when.

[JPZenger]

53. Almost everyone who stood up to Hitler died

Very very few people who stood up to Hitler survived.

I read a book that described the stories of hundreds of Gentiles who helped save Jewish people from the Holocaust. Almost all of them were caught and died. Most people were turned in by average civilians, because there were few Gestapo agents in most cities.

One of the more interesting groups to work against Hitler was inside the Abwehr, which was the Nazi intelligence service. At times, they figured out that the British were using counter-intelligence, and played along with it.

[smirkymonkey]

55. Very sad. But the brave who have done so must be admired and remembered.

It must have been very difficult for them in those times to stand against the Nazis.

[thucythucy]

57. "Weapons of the Spirit" is another incredible film

about resistance to the Nazis. In this case, it was in occuped France, the rural village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. During the Holocaust, this little hamlet of 5,000 people--mostly Protestant Christians--sheltered 5,000 Jews. That is to say, for every man, woman and child in the village, one Jewish refugee was taken in, fed, clothed, housed, and hidden, during the duration of the occupation. It was also a center for the production of forged documents--identity papers, ration coupons, travel passes--and a way station on the underground railroad smuggling refugees into Switzerland.

The film was produced by Pierre Sauvage, who was born of Jewish parents while in hiding at Chambon. It traces not only HOW these people were able to accomplish what they did, but WHY they were willing to risk everything to shelter total strangers. It also contrasts their story with that of the French collaborators who willingly aided in the arrest and deportation of French Jews.

It's an amazing story, and an extremely fine film. Another one of those stories everyone should know.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

61. One of my college French professors was from Le Chambon

I had no idea of her family's role in saving Jewish refugees until I was out of college and happened to see the book "Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed" (about the people of Le Chambon). I spotted her rather unusual last name in the book and found a picture of her as a little girl with her family.

When "Shoah" (a long film about the Holocaust) was shown on PBS in the 1990s, PBS made an accompanying feature about Gentiles who had hidden Jews during that time. My former French professor was interviewed for it, and so was the mother of a friend of mine, who had been in the Underground in the Netherlands.

[senseandsensibility]

58. Awe inspiring courage

and moral clarity is what this is all about. Wow.