The White Rose: Munich, 1942-1943

In this slim book, Inge Scholl chronicles the heroism of her brother and sister, Hans and Sophie Scholl, and their friends in Germany during World War II. The Scholls were students at the University of Munich who had slowly become aware of the horrors their government was perpetrating. They decided that they had to do something, anything to stop the Nazis, and so they printed leaflets denouncing the government and providing information about atrocities. They distributed these leaflets throughout the University and the city, and created a network to distribute them even farther. They identified themselves only as The White Rose. The Nazis eventually tracked down the Scholls and their collaborators and executed them.

Inge Scholl tells the story beautifully, in spare and simple prose. She wrote the book originally for German youth after the war, so it is not a scholarly book, but it is even more affecting because of that. After Scholl's narrative are the texts of the six leaflets themselves, as well as a series of fascinating documents -- the Nazi indictments and sentences of the White Rose group, contemporary newspaper accounts ("Just Punishment of Traitors to the Nation at War"), and some deeply affecting testimonials, including a powerful letter written by a fellow prisoner of Sophie Scholl. There are also a number of photographs of the primary members of the White Rose group.

As a Jewish child growing up, I often heard the horror storiesof those who collaborated with Hitler and the National Socialistagenda. It wasn't until much later in life that I began to hear about those who resisted. This book, written by the surviving sister of two such resisters, gives us a compelling account of the stories of a small group calling itself the White Rose consisting of students, soldiers and teachers who examined their consciences and engaged in rebellious activity.

Included here are the texts of many of the leaflets distributed by the White Rose. One wonders how modern readers would relate to such eloquence that draws from the poetry of Goette and other sources utilizing vocabulary beyond what is common in our dumbed down institutions.

Ms. Solle's introduction to this book provides a context in which we might examine our own complicity with modern structures of annihilation.

I would highly recommend this book as text for classes in social or political history.

If the purpose of education is to encourage us to examine our contexts and choices, this book is an imperitive read.

For those unfamiliar with the story of The White Rose, it is a testament to the power and courage of those who are willing to stand up for freedom and independence in a world gone mad. Once again I find this book paticularly compelling today, for obvious reasons. The pamphlets the White Rose students distributed (that they subsequently paid the ultimate price for) are reprinted in their entirety in the book. They are well written, beautiful in spirit, and as compelling today as they were then.

The story is told with honor and reverence by the sister of Hans Scholl and Sophie Scholl, siblings and two of the students in Germany who brainstormed the pamphlets and were executed swiftly and denounced publicly for their trouble. In spite of that, or because of it, their efforts caused a ripple of resistance in the German republic that caused its fair share of trouble for the Nazi regime.

Calling for a policy of passive resistance -- the ability for each one, individually, to sabotage any efforts of the fascist regime in power -- was a brilliant move on their part. No fundraising, no unending meetings, no need for mailing lists or computer databases. Sabotage rallies, sabotage in all areas of science and scolarship which further the continuation of the war, sabotage in all branches of the arts, and a refusal to give a penny to any government organized charity...such was the call of these noble individuals who had no great army, but who understood the power of the individual.

I only learned of the White Rose within the past couple of years myself. Everyone should learn and understand what they did and why. It gives me hope.

In all my life I don't think I have read a book about such courageous people as Hans and Sophie Scholl. They are involved in an anti-fascist resistance movement and know they can be killed at any hour of the day. They are in constant fear of the people around them, wondering if they are Nazi spies, and yet they keep going.
This inspiring book, so full of tears, fearfulness, joy, anxiety, and love should be read by every young person.
Janice Wipf

Would you be willing to join a cause, knowing that you could be killed for even associating with members of that cause? Would you be ready to leave family and friends for something that is almost impossible to achieve? The young people of the White Rose movement did just that.

Sophie and Hans Scholl lived in Germany during the reign of the cruel dictator Adolph Hitler. They and several other young people and their teacher stood up to Hitler's brutal rulership and tried to bring about peace and justice in a country devoid of almost everything but propaganda, hate, and bloodshed.

Exactly what steps these young people took is not as important as the great Idea they stood for, the vision of peace, love, and justice. Writing such things as "Freedom"and "Down with Hitler" on walls and streets took courage that only the most devout and focused person could have. These people, who were killed for their beliefs, should have more than just a book about them with the name of their group, The White Rose. They should be known and honored world-wide for their nonviolent stand against the most wicked and horrible dictatorship in modern history!

Please get this great little book, read it, and pass it on!
Kenneth Zimmerman