Meet SOPHIE SCHOLL, a young woman now remembered as the girl who stood up to Hitler. A member of the White Rose movement, a student-led non-violent group in Nazi Germany, she was committed to passive resistance through the writing and distribution of leaflets that criticized National Socialism.
As a teenager, Sophie was a member of the League of German Girls, the female branch of the Hitler Youth. While at first enthusiastic, she grew disillusioned as she enjoyed reading and art, two pastimes deemed degenerate by the Nazis. Following her brother Hans lead, she began reading philosophy and pondering the policies and philosophies of the Nazi Party. As a result, she joined the White Rose movement and began distributing pamphlets aimed at making readers question National Socialism. While distributing leaflets at a university, she was observed by a Nazi-sympathizer custodian who didn’t hesitate to alert the Gestapo about her activities. Even though her interrogator believed her innocent, Sophie assumed full responsibility for the group in an effort to protect other members of the White Rose.
Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did.
How can we expect the righteous to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause…
Three members, including Sophie and her brother Hans, were beheaded for participating. Let me reiterate: a 21-year-old woman was guillotined for handing out pamphlets that encouraged people to question the Nazis. Her story is particularly poignant in our current world. Think of Sophie’s fate as yet another cautionary tale as we move into 2025.
For learn more:
- The Guillotine Execution Of Sophie Scholl – The White Rose
- The National WWII Museum – Sophie Scholl and the White Rose
Photo credit: Figurator, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons