Resisting the Nazis: Sophie Scholl

I once heard that curiosity about World War II is the gateway drug to the serious study of history. My family has always been quite historically aware, and World War II was a staple of our frequent discussions on history. While my dad used to tell me about the tanks, guns, and planes that were the weapons of war, my mom had a different focus. My mom is a voracious reader. She specializes in books and novels about very miserable topics, communist regimes, the Spanish inquisition, the Rwandan genocide, and of course, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, one of the most evil and depraved large scale premeditated horrors the Earth has ever seen.

Today it is unambiguous, to any rational person that the Nazi party was little more than an evil cult led by the most disgusting and reprehensible characters. Watching movies and reading books about the war, I always wondered why the German people allowed the Nazis to take over and why there never seemed to be any serious attempt to remove the Nazis from power or to resist the evil regime that the German people were forced to endure. Quite naively, I thought to myself that I would have done something, yes I would have resisted. But as ever my mom gave me some perspective. She asked, what if speaking out meant that my siblings, my brother and sister would be arrested, imprisoned, tortured and even executed on faulty or flimsy pretenses as collaborators. Even token resistance could put one’s friends and family in the crosshairs of the Gestapo, the infamous German secret police. The reality was that any form of resistance was swiftly and brutally punished no matter how seemingly minor an infraction it might have involved. With the full power of the totalitarian state at their disposal, the Nazi party could and did easily crush any dissent. What could any lone individual do against such unfettered power? Under these circumstances, it makes sense why so many simply kept their heads down. The sad truth that my mom had taught me was that I probably wouldn’t have been a hero. I would most likely be the same as the vast majority of Germans. I would have kept my counsel to have avoided any suspicion, and may have simply hoped for an end to the nightmare. Heroism sounds so attractive but not so much when the price for any heroic act of resistance was usually a swift execution often preceded by prolonged torture and interrogation.

Today I want to talk about Sophie Scholl, one of the leading figures of the White Rose Movement, a non-​violent group of students who protested against the Nazi regime and who paid the ultimate price for upholding the cause of human freedom. Sophie was not married to any particular political ideology, nor was she a libertarian by any means. But what she fought for was something all right-​minded people should support, the freedom to live life on one’s own terms, not to be brainwashed, forced, or bullied into submission, but to freely choose how to live in line with your conscience. A life without a conscience is no life at all. Henry David Thoreau said it best in his essay Civil Disobedience, “Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first and subjects afterward.” I think this is a sentiment that Sophie cherished as a person who refused to accept the crimes against humanity being committed on a daily basis.

Sophie Scholl was born on May 9th, 1921, in Forchtenberg, Germany, a mid-​sized town dating back to medieval times. Her father, Robert Scholl, was a liberal politician and served as mayor of Forchenberg. She was the fourth of six children, all of whom were raised to follow the teachings of the Lutheran church. Starting her education at the age of seven, it became apparent she was a naturally gifted child with a talent for learning new things rapidly. By 1930, the Scholl family moved to Ludwigsburg, and after two years, settled in the city Ulm along the Danube, where her father worked as a state auditor and tax consultant.

Here Sophie and her siblings nurtured their love of nature and the outdoors thanks to the perfectly idyllic German landscape at their disposal. Sophie was so entranced by nature that, later in life, she wrote to her father, “The sight of the mountains’ quiet majesty and beauty makes the reasons people advance for their disastrous doings seem ludicrous and insane.”

In 1932 Sophie began attending secondary school and joined the Nazi sponsored Bund Deutscher Madel, the League of German Girls, despite her father’s protests. Robert Scholl was a deeply religious man who, before most, could foresee the dangers of Adolf Hitler. He warned that Hitler, like the Pied Piper, would lead Germany to eventual ruin.

But he did not force his beliefs upon Sophie or his other children, who joined the popular Nazi youth groups. Robert Scholl believed in the importance of open dialogue and discussion. The Scholl’s dinners were often lively debates over religion, politics, art, literature; nothing was off the table. Despite the rigorous surveillance of the Nazi state, Robert and his wife Magdalena carved out their own enclave of free and unhindered expression and debate. He encouraged all of his children to read widely and think deeply. Above all else, he wanted his children to aspire to live in “uprightness and freedom of spirit.” A deeply religious man, he taught his children the value of staying true to their consciences. Letters penned by the children of the Scholl family present Robert and Magdelena as model parents of the highest moral standards who created a warm and loving home for their children. The Scholls were, above all else, a deeply humane family.

Alongside the majority of her classmates, Sophie joined the League of German Women enthusiastically rising through the ranks. Like many, Sophie and her siblings had joined Nazi youth groups for a sense of belonging and comradery. Sophie’s sister Inge described the immense sense of belonging that, in her words, “carried us safely through the difficulties and loneliness of adolescence. But this enthusiasm quickly transformed into disillusionment for Sophie. Though a child, she was no fool. When she was twelve, Sophie asked why her Jewish friend with Aryian features like blue eyes and blonde hair was not allowed to join any youth groups.

It became apparent that these youth groups were about more than a love of the outdoors and comradery. They were about indoctrination and control. Conformism and militarization marked every aspect of German life. When her brother Hans acted as a flagbearer at the Nuremberg rallies representing Ulm with a flag his fellow members had sewn emblazoned with a mythical beast, they were told to use a more acceptable Nazi flag. Individuality and expression were not to be the hallmark of the Nazi in which obedience and submission were expected of the citizenry in line with strict Nazi ideology.

In 1937, Hans was arrested for membership of a banned youth group that promoted a love of nature, music, and literature, dangerous things that ought to be controlled according to the Nazis. Sophie began to realize the mass conformism being forced on the German population with the egregious use of state power brought to bear on those like her brother, who strayed from the norm. Once a bright student, Sophie almost did not graduate secondary school. With every class now consisting of varying degrees of Nazi indoctrination and propaganda, she lost interest in her so-​called studies.

On September 1st, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, and quickly after, France and Britain declared war on Germany, beginning World War 2. What was once a peaceful and enjoyable life for the Scholls was changed. Sophie’s brothers were sent to the frontlines. Graduating high school in 1940, Sophie planned to undertake an apprenticeship as a kindergarten teacher because of her love of children. After her apprenticeship, Sophie aspired to study philosophy and theology, which she had begun to read voraciously.

But to attend college, it was a requirement that prospective students had to work for the state. Her apprenticeship as a kindergarten teacher was not deemed worthy of state service, and so Sophie had no choice but to work for six months through 1941 as a nursery teacher. Though around children that she dearly cared for, Sophie was unable to impart much wisdom due to the stifling conformity of the military-​like regimen alongside a mind-​numbing adherence to routines. Miserable, Sophie turned to the Church Father and philosopher Saint Augustine. As her siblings were arrested and then drafted and the war dragged on without end, Sophie began to seriously doubt the validity and legitimacy of the Nazi regime, which robbed her of an authentic and autonomous life.

After completing her national service by 1942, Sophie enrolled at the University of Munich, studying biology and philosophy alongside her aforementioned older brother Hans who studied medicine. Hans also introduced Sophie to his eclectic group of friends, all of whom were passionate about music, art, literature, philosophy, and theology.

In 1942, while Sophie worked at a metallurgical plant as part of her war service during summer vacation, her father was arrested and imprisoned for referring to Hitler as “the scourge of God” to a fellow employee. Robert was imprisoned for seven months for one simple remark. Such was the fragility of Nazi egos that they had zero tolerance for the uttering of the mildest criticism. Criticism or questions could be infectious and undermine the carefully crafted image created by Reich Minister of propaganda Joseph Gobbels.

Distraught by her father’s arrest, while at her campus, Sophie happened upon a short pamphlet that gripped her instantly. It expressed everything she believed was wrong with the Nazi regime. She was particularly entranced by one section that reads as follows: “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?” The crimes the pamphlet was referring to was the Nazi practice of killing mentally disabled Germans under the misguided abomination of perfecting their mythical master race. Between 1940 to 1945, over 200,000 thousand disabled people were murdered on the altar of Hitler’s illusory notions of a perfected volk or people.

Shortly after, Sophie visited Hans at his apartment, but he wasn’t there. While waiting for Hans to return, she flicked through some of his books, and another arresting passage caught her eye. It read, “If a state prevents the development of the capacities which reside in man, if it hinders the progress of the spirit, then it is reprehensible and corrosive.” Instantly she recognized this quote from the pamphlet she had read. She concluded that Hans was somehow involved.

When Hans returned, Sophie questioned him. Hans attempted to deflect her questions in an attempt to protect her from the dangers of the Gestapo; he told her, “these days it is better not to know some things in case you endanger other people.” But Sophie would not relent. By the end of the conversation, Hans had no secrets left, divulging everything to Sophie and allowing her to join his efforts in a movement known as the White Rose.

Before Sophie joined the White Rose, the small band of students and intellectuals alongside Hans had published four pamphlets. They clandestinely distributed these pamphlets in which they called for a moral awakening in Germany. Using quotes from Aristotle, Fichte, and the Bible, they attempted to inspire resistance to the Nazi state, which for the movement had become the very embodiment of evil.

Sophie and her fellow White Rose agitators urged every “convinced opponent of National Socialism” to “Sabotage in armament 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.” They also cautioned not to act alone but to “Try to convince all your acquaintances” and warn against “the destruction of all moral and religious values” and, in short, “urge them to passive resistance! Each pamphlet urged the German people to reflect on the sins happening directly in front of them on a daily basis. One pamphlet ended prophetically, stating, “We will not keep silent. We are your guilty conscience. The White Rose will not let you alone!”

One member of the White Rose commented that Hans and another student Alexander Schmorell were the minds of the White Rose, but Sophie was its beating heart. She was in charge of copying and distributing the White Rose pamphlets as well as managing the group’s finances. One of her particularly sensitive tasks was collecting paper and stamps, visiting multiple post offices to avoid suspicion from the authorities. Over the Summer of 1942, the White Rose distributed three more pamphlets with an increasing moral fervor calling for passive resistance to the Nazi state. While some pamphlets expressed socialist ideals, they also had many ideas that libertarians would have found appealing. In one pamphlet, the author ends by writing, “Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the protection of the individual citizen from the caprice of criminal, violent States – these are the bases of the new Europe.”

After the German defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad, Russian forces destroyed nearly the entire 6th army, a massive blow not just militarily, but also to German morale. German people began to question if the war could really be won. Voices of dissent grew both in volume and frequency. Students rioted at the University of Munich after being publicly humiliated, being called leeches and war dodgers. Hans and Sophie saw this as the perfect time to strike. Hans and Scmorell painted “down with Hitler” on twenty-​nine public buildings and wrote the word freedom on both sides of Munich University’s entrance. The Gestapo was increasingly alert, with the university being kept under close surveillance. Thanks to the skills of Sophie, thousands of pamphlets had been distributed across the country, giving the Gestapo the impression that the White Rose was a national movement and a viable threat to the Nazi state when in reality, it was a small band of morally minded students.

The professor and White Rose member Kurt Huber wrote the sixth pamphlet that called on students to “Fight against the party!” Huber explained that Stalingrad was just one of many of Hitler’s disastrous ideas and more were to come unless something changed.

On February 18th 1943, Hans and Sophie carried a bulky suitcase filled with copies of their newest pamphlet. While students were busy attending lectures, they snuck about placing pamphlets outside classrooms, windowsills, and stairways. On their way out of the university, Sophie took the remaining one hundred or so pamphlets and tossed them onto students as they left their lectures. Sophie ran away immediately after tossing the pamphlets, but a custodian and staunch Nazi supporter Jacob Schmid saw her and Hans. The siblings tried to mingle with the crowd and make an escape, but the Gestapo closed the building, and Schmid pointed the pair out to the authorities, who arrested them immediately.

Sophie successfully purged any evidence from her person before being arrested, but Hans was caught with a draft copy of the seventh pamphlet of the White Rose. Hans tried to get rid of the draft by tearing and eating it, but the Gestapo retrieved enough to match the handwriting to Christopher Probst, a fellow White Rose member. When the Gestapo searched Hans’ apartment, they found more drafts, solidifying his guilt. While her interrogator thought her to be innocent once she found out Hans had confessed, Sophie did something few people would ever dream of doing. As an act of sacrifice she incriminated herself and confessed to her involvement in the movement in an effort to protect her brother and her comrades. This effort though noble, sadly failed.

Maybe Sophie would have been eventually cornered and forced to confess. Maybe she could have walked free that day. Maybe she would walk free and be caught at a later date. All of that didn’t matter to Sophie because, like many who have lived under totalitarian regimes, she knew that living a life in which one is forced to lie to one’s conscience daily, is not true freedom. Sophie’s courage reminds me of a line from the 18th-​century writer Joseph Addison’s play, Cato: A Tragedy, where Cato says, “A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty, Is worth a whole eternity in bondage.” The final line of the pamphlet Hans and Sophie smuggled read, “Our people stand ready to rebel against the National Socialist enslavement of Europe in a fervent breakthrough of freedom and honour.” Sophie unambiguously was not waiting to rebel but already fighting the state.

Sophie, Hans, and the author of the pamphlet, Christopher Probst, were detained and eventually hauled before the People’s Court before Roland Freisler. The People’s Court established in 1933 presided over cases related to so-​called “political offenses.” These offenses included crimes like black marketeering, treason, and defeatism. All of these alleged crimes were deemed to be designed to weaken the Nazi state and attracted heavy sanction including the death penalty. Roland Freisler, who served as president of the People’s Court, was known as the hanging judge because 90% of cases brought to his court resulted in a death sentence or a life of imprisonment. Friesler’s notoriety didn’t end there, he also holds the distinct dishonor of introducing to German law the death penalty for juveniles.

Sophie and Hans both knew they were going to die. But even the Gestapo was impressed by their calm, stoic bravery. This whole affair basically being a show trial, the siblings did not get to select their own legal representation. Instead, they were assigned a state lawyer who was little more than a stooge, a helpless puppet on the Nazi stage. Sophie said to their lawyer, “If my brother is sentenced to die, you mustn’t let them give me a lighter sentence, for I am exactly as guilty as he.” Before leaving his cell to proceed to the court, Hans wrote the words of the poet Goethe that his father often repeated, “Hold out in defiance of all despotism.”

The trial was a sham. Roland had already made up his mind before breakfast. It began and ended on February 22nd. Roland pontificated endlessly, condemning Sophie, Hans, and Christopher. The young trio endured his beratings as Roland flapped about in his flowing robes. The defendants had no opportunity to speak on their own behalf. In the middle of Roland’s long-​winded tirade, Sophie responded, “Somebody had to make a start! What we said and wrote are what many people are thinking. They just don’t dare say it out loud!”

Inge Scholl, the sister of Sophie and Hans, recounted that by the time her parents, who had rushed to Munich from their home in Ulm for the trial, managed to push their way into the courtroom, the proceedings were already effectively over. They arrived in time to hear the sentences announced. The trio were deemed guilty of treason, conspiracy, rendering the armed forces unfit to protect the Reich, giving aid to the enemy, and crippling and weakening the will of the German people. They were all to be executed by guillotine that very day. As the verdict was passed, the loving father Robert Scholl shouted, “There is a higher court before which we all must stand!”

While waiting to be executed at Stadelheim Prison, Sophie’s cellmate Else Gebel recorded her prophetic last words, “It is such a splendid sunny day, and I have to go. But how many have to die on the battlefield in these days, how many young, promising lives. What does my death matter if by our acts thousands are warned and alerted. Among the student body there will certainly be a revolt.” Sophie Scholl was beheaded sometime around 5PM on February 22nd 1943. She was just twenty years old when she was put to death.

The revolt Sophie wished for did not occur. It would take another two years until the Nazi war machine would finally be dismantled. Following her execution at Munich University, a rally was held in honor of the custodian Jakob Schmid for helping capture the Scholls. He was hailed by thunderous applause for being an informer, a snitch responsible for the deaths of three promising young minds. The Nazi propaganda machine made it so no one could utter not a single positive word about Sophie or Hans.

The Gestapo cracked down on the White Rose, and more executions followed until the group was all but wiped out. The last thing Sophie did as a free woman was to toss the White Rose pamphlets into a crowd of students. The same pamphlet she died for was smuggled out of Germany to the UK by German jurist James Graf Von Moltke. The allied forces used their planes to drop millions of copies across Germany with the new title, The Manifesto of the Students of Munich.

Sophie Scholl and the White Rose did not bring an end to the Nazi state. This much is obvious. Does that mean what they did was for nothing? Sophie Scholl did not stand up for some grand or utopian vision of the world. She stood for an elementary principle: individuals have the right to choose how to live and to live in freedom. Under the leadership of Joseph Gobbels, the Nazi propaganda machine and brainwashing efforts seeped into every last crevice of life. Sophie and Hans did what they could to keep the inner lives of fellow Germans clean from Nazi corruption.

Adolf Hitler once said, “Conscience is a Jewish invention. Like circumcision it mutilates man…one must distrust mind and conscience, one must place one’s trust in one’s instincts.” Hitler and the Nazis abhorred the idea of objective reason and preferred to rely on willpower. What Hitler describes is the lowering of humans to the level of savage beasts. Our ability to choose is what makes us human. Sophie, akin to figures like the defender of religious freedom Roger Williams, also fought for the principle of conscience. The right of every person to act in accordance with their sense of morality. Without this right, there is nothing left to fight for. Without a conscience, we are no longer human, a terrible lesson the heinous Nazis taught the world.

At the beginning of this episode I claimed that my Mom loved stories about miserable times and horrific regimes. I came to realise that this is not the case, that in fact she was attracted to stories of the bravery and beauty of the indomitable human spirit in the face of overwhelming circumstances. Today many streets, squares, and fountains throughout Germany have been named after Sophie and her brother Hans. Many brave people fought and died during World War 2, but I believe Sophie to be among the most courageous of them all. She challenged the Nazi war machine unarmed, relying only on her moral sense. My favorite philosopher Cicero once wrote, “Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever.” We study history in the hopes that we do not repeat the miseries and inhuman acts of the past. The proper study of history results in skepticism of power. In this vein, we ought to remember the sacrifice of Sophie Scholl. Thomas Mann, the acclaimed novelist and Nobel prize winner during his monthly anti-​Nazi broadcasts on the BBC, said of the White Rose, “Good splendid young people! You shall not have died in vain; you shall not be forgotten.”