The White Rose

Seventy years ago, young German siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl were caught by the Nazis in an act of resistance. With a small group of friends, mainly other students at the University of Munich, the Scholls founded the Resistance group Die Weisse Rose (White Rose), named after the title of the anti-Nazi leaflets they scripted and distributed. From its start in June 1942, the White Rose spread from Munich to campuses across Germany, with leaflets speaking out against the mass murder of Jews and preaching the need to rise up against Fascism. On 18 February 1943, as the Scholls were depositing leaflets at the university, they were spotted and reported to the authorities, who captured and imprisoned them and then immediately began to round up others in their circle. Within four days they were tried for treason, given a death sentence and were executed. Seven people, including the Scholls, would be executed for their involvement in the resistance activities of the White Rose; others would spend the rest of the war in prison. The White Rose is remembered in Germany and throughout the world for their courage to speak out against the oppression, tyrany and murder of the Third Reich.

Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.