by Kip Wilson
Finally, to the non-writerly people in my life. To my dad for encouraging my interest in German and history, and to my big brother, Matt, for being my own personal Hans. To my mom—love you and miss you and wish you were still here. To Rosanne Samson for distracting me with fun times and snacks, and to Casey Carlsen for inspiring me with beautiful strings of words. And, of course, to my own family—to my husband, Bernardo, for fixing broken Kips and for being my media naranja; to Megan for tagging along around Germany multiple times and for holding the microfilm; to Lyra for being witty and full of fun; and, last but not least, to Violeta for being the kindest, most bookish girl I’ve ever met. I’m so lucky to have you all in my corner! ¡Os quiero!
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Roland Freisler (October 30, 1893–February 3, 1945) was a judge with the Third Reich and president of the People’s Court, infamous for humiliating defendants and sentencing them to death. He was killed during an air raid on Berlin.
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Clemens August Graf von Galen (March 16, 1878–March 22, 1946) was a Catholic bishop who protested the Third Reich’s euthanasia program in his sermons.
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Else Gebel was a political prisoner who shared Sophie’s cell.
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Willi Graf (January 2, 1918–October 12, 1943) was a German medical student and a member of the White Rose resistance group. He was arrested on February 18, stood trial on April 19, and was executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison in Munich on October 12, 1943.
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Fritz Hartnagel (February 4, 1917–April 29, 2001) was a German army officer and close friend of the Scholl family. He was Sophie’s on-and-off boyfriend, and they maintained an intense letter exchange up until her execution. After the war and through their joint grief, Fritz and Sophie’s sister Liesl became much closer and married.
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Hans Hirzel (October 30, 1924–June 3, 2006) was a high school student and the younger brother of one of Sophie’s friends from Ulm. He purchased a duplicating machine with money from Sophie and distributed leaflets she brought him in Ulm. He was arrested by the Gestapo, stood trial on April 19, 1943, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
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Kurt Huber (October 24, 1893–July 13, 1943) was a German philosophy professor and a member of the White Rose resistance group. He was arrested on February 27, stood trial on April 19, and was executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison in Munich on July 13, 1943.
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August Klein was appointed by the People’s Court as the defense attorney for Hans and Sophie Scholl.
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Traute Lafrenz was a German medical student, one of Hans’s girlfriends, and a member of the White Rose resistance group. She was arrested on March 15, 1943, stood trial on April 19, and was sentenced to a year in prison.
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Anton Mahler was an interrogator with the Gestapo during the Third Reich who interrogated Hans Scholl, among others.
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Robert Mohr (April 5, 1897–February 5, 1977) was an investigator and interrogator with the Gestapo during the Third Reich who led the manhunt for the White Rose and then interrogated Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, among others. After the war he was briefly interned by the Allies but was not brought to trial for his role in the Gestapo.
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Christoph Probst (November 6, 1919–February 22, 1943) was a German medical student and a member of the White Rose resistance group. In spite of his young age, he was married and a father of three. He was executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison in Munich on February 22, 1943.
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Herta Probst (July 21, 1914–September 21, 2016) was the wife of Christoph Probst and the mother of his three children.
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Gisela Schertling (February 9, 1922–November 8, 1994) was a loyal National Socialist but was also a close friend of Sophie and was one of Hans’s girlfriends. Though not directly involved in the White Rose’s resistance activities, she was aware of what they were doing and looked the other way. She stood trial on April 19 and was sentenced to a year in prison.
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Jakob Schmid was the custodian at the University of Munich who witnessed Hans and Sophie upstairs when the leaflets fell into the atrium. He promptly arrested them and delivered them to his superior, who called the Gestapo.
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Alexander Schmorell (September 16, 1917–July 13, 1943) was a German medical student and a member of the White Rose resistance group. He fled when he heard of the others’ arrests but was captured on February 24, stood trial on April 19, and was executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison in Munich on July 13, 1943.
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Elisabeth (Liesl) Scholl (February 27, 1920) is the middle Scholl sibling. She married Sophie’s boyfriend, Fritz, after the war ended.
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Hans Scholl (September 22, 1918–February 22, 1943) was a German medical student and a member of the White Rose resistance group. He was executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison in Munich on February 22, 1943.
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Inge Scholl (August 11, 1917–September 4, 1998) was the older sister of Hans and Sophie Scholl.
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Robert Scholl (April 13, 1891–October 25, 1973) was the father of Hans and Sophie Scholl and their three siblings, Inge, Elisabeth, and Werner. A former mayor, he was outspoken against Hitler and the National Socialist Party from the onset and was imprisoned for speaking out in 1942.
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Sophie Scholl (May 9, 1921–February 22, 1943) was a German biology and philosophy student, the younger sister of Hans Scholl, and a member of the White Rose resistance group. She was executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison in Munich on February 22, 1943.
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Werner Scholl (November 13, 1922–June 1944) was the younger brother of Hans and Sophie Scholl. He went missing on the Russian front in 1944 and is presumed dead.
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Ferdinand Seidl was appointed by the People’s Court as the defense attorney for Christoph Probst.
GLOSSARY
Arbeitsdienst: Labor service (see Reichsarbeitsdienst below).
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bitte: Please.
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Blitzkrieg: Literally “lightning war,” this signifies the importance of shock, strength, and speed in an all-out attack by military forces.
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Bund Deutscher Mädel: League of German Girls, the girls’ branch of the Hitler Youth.
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danke: Thanks.
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danke schön: Thanks a lot.
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Deutschland: Germany.
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Deutschland über alles: “Germany above all,” a line from the German national anthem.
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eins, zwei, drei: One, two, three.
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Freiheit: Freedom.
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frische Luft: Fresh air.
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Führer: Leader.
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Hauptbahnhof: Main train station.
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Hitlerjugend: Hitler Youth.
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Iller: A river in Ulm.
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Isar: A river in Munich.
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Jude: A Jewish person.
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Kinder, Küche, Kirche: “Children, kitchen, church,” this phrase was used to express the pillars that were seen as the ideals for German women.
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Kristallnacht: “Night of Broken Glass” (November 9–10, 1938), during which Jewish businesses and people were attacked and synagogues were burned.
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Münster: Cathedral.
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nein: No.
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Nieder mit Hitler: “Down with Hitler.”
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OKW Bericht: Armed forces report.
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&
nbsp; Panzerfaust: Bazooka.
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Pervitin Wachhaltemittel: An alertness drug, methamphetamine.
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Reich: Empire, nation.
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Reichsarbeitsdienst: National Labor Service.
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Reichsmark: National mark, German unit of currency from 1924 to 1948.
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Scheiße: Shit.
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Sitzkrieg: Literally “sitting war,” this signifies the period between the German invasion of Poland on September 3, 1939, and the attack on the western front on May 10, 1940, during which no new attacks began.
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Vaterland: Fatherland, homeland.
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Volk: People, folk.
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Wehrmacht: German armed forces from 1935 to 1946.
SELECTED SOURCES
SOURCES IN ENGLISH
Most sources about the White Rose are available in German only. The following resources are excellent starting points for non-German speakers who’d like to know more.
Dumbach, Annette, and Jud Newborn. Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Oxford: Oneworld Productions, 2006.
Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand [German Resistance Memorial Center]. https://www.gdw-berlin.de/en/recess/topics/15-the-white-rose/.
Jens, Inge, ed. At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Johnson, Eric, and Karl-Heinz Reuband. What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany. Cambridge, MA: Basic Books, 2005.
Kater, Michael. Hitler Youth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.
McDonough, Frank. Sophie Scholl: The Real Story of the Woman Who Defied Hitler. Gloucestershire, UK: History Press, 2010.
Scholl, Inge. The White Rose. Translated by Arthur Schultz. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1970.
United States Holocaust Museum. https://collections.ushmm.org/search/.
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The following films are available with English subtitles:
Rothemund, Marc, and Fred Breinersdorfer. Sophie Scholl: Die Letzten Tage [Sophie Scholl: The last days]. X Verleih AG, 2005.
Verhoeven, Michael, and Mario Krebs. Die Weiße Rose [The White Rose]. CCC Film, 1982.
PRIMARY SOURCES IN GERMAN
The following German sources were invaluable to me. These collections of primary sources include letters, diaries, interviews, and other documents.
ALEX: Historische Österreichische Rechts-und Gesetztext Online [ALEX: Historical Austrian Legislation and Law Text Online]. http://alex.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/alex-iv.pl?aid=dra.
Bassler, Sibylle. Die Weiße Rose: Zeitzeugen erinnern sich [The White Rose: Eyewitnesses remember]. Bremen: Rowohlt Verlag, 2006.
Chaussy, Ulrich, and Gerd R. Ueberschär. Es lebe die Freiheit! Die Geschichte der Weißen Rose und ihrer Mitglieder in Dokumenten und Berichten, 2 Auflage [Long live freedom! The history of the White Rose and its members in documents and reports, second edition]. Frankfurt/Main: Fischer Verlag, 2013.
Hartnagel, Thomas, ed. Sophie Scholl. Fritz Hartnagel: Damit wir uns nicht verlieren [Sophie Scholl. Fritz Hartnagel: So that we don’t lose one another]. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag, 2005.
Jens, Inge, ed. Hans Scholl. Sophie Scholl. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen [Hans Scholl. Sophie Scholl. Letters and diaries]. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag, 1984.
————. Willi Graf: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen [Willi Graf: Letters and diaries]. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag, 2004.
Moll, Christiane, ed. Alexander Schmorell. Christoph Probst: Gesammelte Briefe [Alexander Schmorell. Christoph Probst: Collected letters]. Berlin: Lukas Verlag, 2011.
SECONDARY SOURCES IN GERMAN
The following German secondary sources include detailed biographies and books about the group as a whole:
Beuys, Barbara. Sophie Scholl: Biografie [Sophie Scholl. Biography]. Munich: Carl Hanser Verlag, 2010.
Gebhardt, Miriam. Die Weiße Rose: Wie aus ganz normalen Deutschen Wiederstandskämpfer wurden [The White Rose: How ordinary Germans became resistance fighters]. Munich: Deutscher Verlagsanstalt, 2017.
Gottschalk, Maren. Schluss. Jetzt werde ich etwas tun, 2. Auflage [That’s it. Now I’m going to do something, second edition]. Weinheim: Beltz & Gelberg, 2016.
Leisner, Barbara. Ich würde es genauso wieder machen: Sophie Scholl [I’d do it exactly the same again: Sophie Scholl]. Berlin: List Taschenbuch, 2005.
LeMO (Lebendiges Museum Online), Jahreschronik [Living History Museum, Historical Milestones]. http://www.dhm.de/lemo/jahreschronik/.
Scholl, Inge. Die Weiße Rose [The White Rose]. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1955.
Vinke, Hermann. Das kurze Leben der Sophie Scholl [The short life of Sophie Scholl]. Ulm: Ravensburger Buchverlag, 1987.
————. Fritz Hartnagel: Der Freund von Sophie Scholl [Fritz Hartnagel: Sophie Scholl’s boyfriend]. Zürich-Hamburg: Arche Verlag, 2005.
Zankel, Sönke. Die Weisse Rose war nur Anfang [The White Rose was only the beginning]. Köln: Böhlau Verlag, 2006.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo by Rosanne Samson
KIP WILSON is the poetry editor of the Young Adult Review Network and holds a PhD in German literature. In 2017 she won the PEN/New England Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award, and her work has appeared in several children’s literary magazines. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Visit her online at kipwilsonwrites.com
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