By Jackie Zhang
Sophie Scholl was executed on February 22, 1943. After a lengthy and harsh trial which Sophie endured fearlessly, she was sentenced to execution at just 21 years old by the People’s Court in Germany. Sophie was sentenced for treason because of her involvement with The White Rose Organization, a group of young people who wrote secret pamphlets that called for the war to end and vigorously condemned the horrific actions of the Nazis. Her last words were, “such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go... What does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”. Even almost 80 years after her death, Sophie Scholl continues to serve as an incredible inspiration for young people. Nowadays, every student in Germany knows the story of the White Rose. There is a square at the University of Munich that is named after Sophie and Hans Scholl and numerous other streets and schools named after various members of the White Rose. The influence that these incredibly courageous teenagers made is undeniable. Sophie and Hans Scholl are inspirational figures for youths everywhere; they prove that young people are just as capable of leading change and impacting the world.
Born in May 1921 into a middle-class family in the south of Germany, Sophie Magdelena Scholl was the fourth child out of six siblings. The Nazis gradually came into power in the early 1930s during the adolescence of the Scholl siblings. The siblings began as blind and happy supporters of the Nationalist Socialist cult of Youth, and did not question the organization’s ideals which were spread at the time. Sophie joined the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM), otherwise known as the League of German Girls; she thrived and rose quickly under these conditions. Robert Scholl, Sophie’s father, however, did not support the Nazi party and viewed their actions with growing trepidation. Sophie’s parents exerted their influence on her and raised her very religiously while teaching her the importance of truthful and open conversation. Sophie’s views changed soon when her brother got arrested for his resistance against the Nazis. This event shook her, making her reconsider her opinions regarding Nazi propaganda. Instead of studying biology and philosophy and becoming a teacher, Sophie was forced to work in the Reichsarbeitsdienst (National Labor Service) where she grew discontented with the extremist Nazi regime.
Sophie moved to Munich afterward, finally finishing her service. There, she was reunited with her brother Hans and they both studied at the University of Munich. Hans and his friends served on the Eastern Front and saw the pain and suffering in Poland and Russia first hand. They refused to be complacent and began distributing pamphlets calling fellow students into action. Sophie wholeheartedly supported the content in the papers and when she heard her brother was involved, she immediately joined the group. Hans and Sophie were the leaders of the White Rose, as they called themselves. Other members included Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, and Professor Kurt Huber. They began to distribute the flyers rapidly, mailing them and leaving them in public places. They managed to distribute thousands of copies of the pamphlets. People all over Germany read their powerful words. For example, the third White Rose pamphlet wrote, “Our current ‘state’ is the dictatorship of evil. We know that already, I hear you object, and we don’t need you to reproach us for it yet again. But, I ask you, if you know that, then why don’t you act? Why do you tolerate these rulers gradually robbing you, in public and in private, of one right after another, until one day nothing, absolutely nothing, remains but the machinery of the state, under the command of criminals and drunkards?”. The pamphlets also encouraged people to rise and sabotage the “armament plants and war industries,...all gatherings, rallies, public ceremonies, and organizations of the National Socialist Party” Under so much complacency, Sophie and Hans were the faces of active resistance and unflinching truth.
Their fervent activism worked. The papers caused conversations to grow between young students and unnerved the governmental officials. Under Hans and Sophie’s leadership, the group was well calibrated and planned to further their campaigning. With the tide turning in the war and Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad, more and more students began to speak out against the war. The voice of the pamphlets grew even more passionate. The sixth and final pamphlet read, “Even the most dull-witted German has had his eyes opened by the terrible bloodbath, which, in the name of the freedom and honour of the German nation, they have unleashed upon Europe, and unleash anew each day. The German name will remain forever tarnished unless finally the German youth stands up, pursues both revenge and atonement, smites our tormentors, and finds a new intellectual Europe. Students!”. The White Rose’s willingness to speak the truth and harshly condemn the Germans for their actions while the rest of the country watched the horrific events unfolding in silence, is truly commendable.
Unfortunately, while distributing the sixth pamphlet at their university, Sophie and Hans were seen by Jakob Schmidt, the university janitor. Schmidt was an avid supporter of the Gestapo and he immediately reported the two siblings. Hans and Sophie were interrogated cruelly and finally condemned to death. But as Sophie said, their death was not in vain. Hans and Sophie Scholl serve as a powerful reminder of the importance of courage and following one’s conscience against the banality of evil. To students everywhere now, they are proof that young people are capable of fighting forcefully against social injustice.
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