As I already wrote in my description of "The White Rose" by Inge Aicher-Scholl: If there are any books that everyone should read, the story of the White Rose is definitely one of them.
This is another book on the subject. While Inge Aicher-Scholl was the sister of siblings Hans and Sophie, the authors of this book were journalists who researched the life of the group. Another point of view that brings us even more information about the life and work of these young people. You just have to admire them and ask yourself: What would I have done in their place?
A few quotes from Sophie Scholl that we should all take to heart:
Stand up for what you believe in even if it means you stand alone.
Offer passive resistance – resistance – wherever you may be, forestall the spread of this atheistic war machine before it is too late ... (from the first leaflet; 1942)
I still believe I did the best I could for my people right now. Therefore, I do not regret my actions and I want to accept the consequences that arise from my actions.
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.
And from Hans:
Long live freedom!
From the back cover:
"In the spring and summer of 1942, five young German students and one professor at the University of Munich crossed the threshold of toleration to enter the realms of resistance, danger and death. Protesting in the name of principles Hitler thought he had killed forever, Sophie Scholl and other members of the White Rose realized that the 'Germanization' Hitler sought to enforce was cruel and inhuman, and that they could not be content to remain silent in its midst."
In addition to the Scholl siblings, we should not forget the other members who were also executed:
Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst, Willi Graf and the university professor Kurt Huber.
Please read my post
ReplyDeleteI love those quotes!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lark. So do I. Very valuable ones.
DeleteI read this a few years ago. They were an impressive group of people standing up for what was right in impossible circumstances. Never let it be said that young people don't care about anything else but themselves. My review is here:
ReplyDeletehttps://cyberkittenspot.blogspot.com/2021/07/just-finished-reading-sophie-scholl-and.html
This is so true, Kitten. And it is still valid today, no matter what some people think. Young people often stand up for more since they have a longer future ahead of them. That doesn't diminish the value of their actions.
DeleteOh wow, The White Rose!
ReplyDeleteI'm very familiar with it. Besides the amazing movie, I know it through a link to Orthodoxy: Alexander Schmorell was actually Orthodox, and he's considered an Orthodox martyr.
We even have an icon of him in our church (with dust from his grave. His current family members are not Orthodox I believe, so they didn't agree for his body to be recovered from the tomb, and the bones cleaned and a few particles taken for relics, as we usually do for Orthodox saints).
Here is a picture of icon of him we have at church, see the white rose on it: https://www.uncutmountainsupply.com/icons/of-saints/by-name/a/st-alexander-schmorell-the-new-martyr-1al21/
Oh, thank you, Emma, that is very interesting. See, I didn't know anything about that. We hardly know anything about the others, that's why I mentioned it.
DeleteI heard about these siblings just a few years ago. Would be interesting to read more.
ReplyDeleteYes, Lisbeth, I am not surprised. It's not commonly known abroad that there were people like this in Germany. When Valkyrie was filmed, I often heard, I didn't know someone wanted to assassinate AH ... they tried 42 times! That we know of.
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