Sophie Scholl and the White Rose
Page 26
All this because he imagined that only in this way could the German people survive the end of the war!
Returning from Russia in November 1942, Scholl requested his friend, the accused Probst, to provide him with an article which would open the eyes of the German people! In actuality Probst furnished Scholl with a draft of a leaflet as requested, at the end of January 1943.
In conversations with his sister, Sophia, the two resolved to carry on propaganda in the form of a leaflet campaign against the war and in favor of collaboration with the plutocratic enemies of National Socialism. Brother and sister, who had quarters in the same rooming house, collaborated in the writing of a leaflet, “To All Germans.” In it they predicted Germany’s defeat in the war, they urged a war of liberation against “National Socialist gangsterism,” and demanded the establishment of a liberal democracy. In addition, they drafted a leaflet, “German Students!” (in later versions, “Fellow Fighters!”), wherein they called for a struggle against the Party. They wrote that the day of reckoning was at hand, and they were bold enough to compare their call to battle against the Führer and the National Socialist way of life with the War of Liberation against Napoleon (1813). In reference to their project, they used the military song, “Up, up, my people, let smoke and flame be our sign!”
The accused Scholls, in part with the help of the accused Schmorell, duplicated the leaflets and by common agreement distributed them as follows:
1. Schmorell traveled to Salzburg, Linz, and Vienna and put 200, 200, and 1,200 leaflets addressed to places in those cities in the mail; in Vienna an additional 400 were directed to Frankfurt am Main.
2. Sophia Scholl posted 200 in Augsburg and on another occasion 600 in Stuttgart.
3. Hans Scholl, with the aid of Schmorell, scattered thousands of leaflets in the streets of Munich at night.
4. On February 18 the Scholls deposited 1500–1800 copies in bundles in the University of Munich, and Sophia Scholl let fall a large number from the third floor down the light well of the building.
Hans Scholl and Schmorell also, on the nights of August 8, 1942, and February 14, 1943, defaced walls in many places in Munich, and in particular the University, with the words “Down With Hitler,” “Hitler the Mass Murderer,” and “Freedom.” After the first incident Sophia Scholl learned of this action, was in agreement with it, and requested—though without success—to be allowed to help in the future!
Expenses were covered by the accused themselves—in all, about 1,000 marks.
Probst likewise began his medical studies in the spring of 1939 and is now in his eighth semester, a soldier on student duty. He is married and has three children aged two and a half, one and one fourth years, and four weeks. He is a “nonpolitical man”—hence no man at all! Neither the solicitude of the National Socialist Reich for his professional training nor the fact that it was only the National Socialist demographic policy which made it possible for him to have a family prevented him from writing at the behest of Scholl—in cowardly defeatism—a “manuscript” which takes the heroic struggle in Stalingrad as the occasion for defaming the Führer as a military swindler and which then, progressing to a hortatory tone, calls for opposition to National Socialism and for action which would lead, as he pretends, to an honorable capitulation. He supports the promises in this leaflet by citing—Roosevelt! And his knowledge about these matters he derived from listening to British broadcasts!
All the accused have admitted the facts stated above. Probst offers as excuse his “extreme depression” of the time he drafted the leaflet, a depression which he claims arises from Stalingrad and the childbed illness of his wife. But such explanations do not excuse a reaction of this scope.
Whoever has, like the three accused, committed the acts of high treason, weakening the home front and thereby in time of war the security of the nation, and by the same token has aided the enemy (Par. 5 of Special War Decree and Par. 91b of the Criminal Code), raises the dagger for a stab in the back of the Front! That applies also to Probst, though he claims that his manuscript was not intended for use as a leaflet—since its tone and style proves the opposite. Whoever acts in this way—and particularly at this time, when we must close our ranks—is attempting to cause the first rift in the unity of the battle front. And German students, whose traditional honor has always called for self-sacrifice for Volk and fatherland, were the ones who acted thus!
If a deed of this sort were to be punished otherwise than by death, we would be forging the first links of a chain whose end—in an earlier time—was 1918. Therefore, for the protection of the Volk and the Reich at war, the People’s Court has found but one just punishment: death. The People’s Court knows that it is at one with our soldiers in this decision.
Through their treason to our Volk, the accused have forever forfeited their citizenship.
As criminals who have been found guilty, the accused will pay the court costs.
Stier.
Dr. Freisler
(signed)
Certified True Copy
Landesarchiv Berlin
Berlin-Charlottenburg
December 22, 1960
(Seal) (signature illegible)
APPENDIX 5
Article in the Münchener Neueste Nachrichten reporting the sen-tencing and execution of Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst.
February 22, 1943
Death Sentences
For Preparing to Commit Treason
On February 22, 1943, the People’s Court, convened in the Court of Assizes Chamber of the Palace of Justice, sentenced to death (together with loss of the rights and privileges of citizenship) the following persons: Hans Scholl, aged 24, and Sophia Scholl, aged 21, both of Munich, and Christoph Probst, aged 23, of Aldrans bei Innsbruck, for their preparations to commit treason and their aid to the enemy. The sentence was carried out on the same day.
Typical outsiders, the condemned persons shamelessly committed offenses against the armed security of the nation and the will to fight of the German Volk by defacing houses with slogans attacking the state and by distributing treasonous leaflets. At this time of heroic struggle on the part of the German people, these despicable criminals deserve a speedy and dishonorable death.
APPENDIX 6
Article in the Völkischer Beobachter, Munich edition, reporting the sentencing of Alexander Schmorell, Kurt Huber, Wilhelm Graf, and others.
April 21, 1943,
Just Punishment of Traitors to the Nation at War
The People’s Court of the German Reich, sitting in Munich, dealt with a number of accused persons who were involved in the high treason of the Scholl siblings sentenced on February 22, 1943.
During the years 1942–43, at a time of arduous struggle for our people, Alexander Schmorell, Kurt Huber, and Wilhelm Graf of Munich collaborated with the Scholls in calling for sabotage of our war plants and in spreading defeatist ideas. They aided the enemy of the Reich and attempted to weaken our armed security. Through their violent attacks against the community of the German people, these accused have voluntarily excluded themselves from that community, and were punished by death. They have forfeited their rights as citizens forever.
Eugen Grimminger of Stuttgart furnished funds in support of this action, though, to be sure, he was not fully aware of its details. The Court was unable to establish that he consciously gave aid to the enemy of the Reich. Furthermore, he gave considerable assistance to his employees who were serving in the armed forces, though on the other hand he was aware that the money might be used for purposes injurious to the state. He has been sentenced to ten years in jail. Heinrich Bollinger and Helmut Bauer of Freiburg had knowledge of the treasonous acts of the above-named accused but failed to report them, despite the fact that they are mature adults, and in contravention of the obligation of every German to report treasonous plans of this sort. In addition, they listened to enemy broadcasts. They have been sentenced to seven years in jail, and have forfeited their honor as citizens fo
r the same length of time.
Hans Hirzel and Franz Müller of Ulm, immature youths, aided in the distribution of the treasonous leaflets. In consideration of their age they were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
The accused Heinrich Guter of Ulm, likewise a young person who knew of the treasonous acts but failed to report them, was sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment. Three girls who were guilty of the same act were sentenced to one year’s imprisonment.
One other accused person, who assisted in the distribution of the leaflets but who did not know their contents, was given a sentence of six months in jail because she failed to carry out her obligation to inform herself about the contents of the leaflets.
APPENDIX 7
Excerpt from the Deutsche Hörer (“German Listeners”) Radio Series by Thomas Mann:
June 27, 1943
I tell you: Respect the people of Europe! Let me add, though at the moment it may sound strange to many of you who are listening, pay respect to the German people and show compassion for them! The idea that it is impossible to distinguish between the German Volk and Nazism—that to be German and National Socialist are one and the same thing—is heard at times in the Allied countries, and put forward with some passion. But this idea is untenable and will not prevail. Too many facts testify to the contrary. Germany has set up its defenses and continues to resist, exactly as the other nations do. . . .
The world is deeply moved by the recent events at the University of Munich, about which we have received information through the Swiss and Swedish newspapers, at first just rumours and then with specific facts that fascinate us more and more. We know now about Hans Scholl, survivor of the Battle of Stalingrad, and his sister. We know of [Chistoph] Probst, Professor Huber, and all the others; about the Easter demonstration of students against the obscene speech of a Nazi bigwig in the auditorium; we know of their martyrdom on the block; about the leaflet which they had distributed and which contains words that go far to make up for many of the sins against the spirit of German freedom committed in these unhappy years at the German universities. Indeed, this susceptibility of German youth—the youth in particular—to the National Socialist revolution of lies was painful. Now their eyes are opened, and they put their young heads on the block for their insight and for the honor of Germany. They go to their death after telling the president of the court to his face, “Soon you will be standing here, where I now stand,” and after bearing witness in the face of death that a new faith in freedom and honor is dawning.
Good, splendid young people! You shall not have died in vain; you shall not be forgotten. The Nazis have raised monuments to indecent rogues and common killers in Germany—but the German revolution, the real revolution, will tear them down and in their place will memorialize these people, who, at the time when Germany and Europe were still enveloped in the dark of night, knew and publicly declared: “A new faith in freedom and honor is dawning.”
APPENDIX 8
Text of a Leaflet Issued by the National Committee for a Free Germany
To, the German Fighting Forces on the Eastern Front:
Lower the flags
Over the fresh graves
Of German freedom fighters!
A short time ago we heard the terrible news that three young Germans, Hans and his sister Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, were executed at the end of February.
The three belonged to the group of noble and courageous spokesmen for German youth who refused to witness the terrible sufferings of their Fatherland in passive and silent acceptance any longer.
They were students at the University of Munich. Hans Scholl had returned just a few months before on study leave from the eastern front. He had been a courageous soldier and had received the Purple Heart, the Iron Cross Second Class, and the Eastern Front Medal.
Under Hans Scholl’s leadership the Munich students were the first to raise the flag of freedom. They distributed leaflets and organ-ized impressive demonstrations
against Gestapo terror and the betrayal of the masses;
against total mobilization, which reduces the German people to total misery;
against the debauched and squanderous high-life carousers of the SS, the SA, and the Hitlerian big-wigs;
against warmongers and prolongers of the war who, in their insatiable greed for profit or in stubborn fanaticism, let millions of Germans bleed to death;
against the whole arbitrary Hitler regime, which is out to achieve world rule and the enslavement of peoples, which has brought upon Germany the infinite sufferings of total war, mass air raids, ruin, and misery;
against Hitler, the betrayer of peoples, the mad self-styled general, who through his quixotic policy of conquest, his fomenting of racial hate and bloody terrorizing of the occupied areas, has incited the hatred of the nations against Germany; who has ruined and decimated the German family, the German farmer and the middle classes; who has caused Germany to be overrun with foreign nationals; who has crushed and undermined the foundations of our existence and halted the processes of our historical growth.
These were the slogans of the young demonstrator in Munich in February 1943.
The demonstrations were broken up by the SS. Several students were arrested, brutally mistreated, and hauled before the Military Court.
They were called a “Threat and Danger to the German Volk” and “Communists.”
“I am no communist; I am a German,” stated Hans Scholl before the Court.
And as a German, as a soldier at the front, as a man with concern for the fate of his homeland and his people, this brave young freedom fighter defied his judges.
“You can execute me, but the day will come when you will be judged. The people, our German homeland, will judge you!”
The ax of the Hitler executioner was raised three times; three times it descended; and three young heads rolled from the block.
Three heroes died, but their spirit, their love and their hate, their struggle for peace and German freedom lives on in the hearts of hundreds of thousands and millions of young Germans. . . .
The renown of the brave is eternal.
Ulm—the home of the Scholls—and Munich—where they fought and died—will one day dedicate monuments in gratitude and respect to these heroes.
“Germany puts its hopes in its youth!” said Scholl in his last speech.
“As once in the Wars of Liberation in 1813–1814, now again German youth must rescue the fatherland from dishonorable tyranny, shame, misery, and war exploitation,” added his sister.
Young Germans in uniform: Heed the call of alarm of the heroes of freedom from distant Munich. There speaks to you the voice of your unhappy homeland.
The most evil enemies and destroyers of Germany stand behind you. Yes, they give you your orders and incite you to self-destructive, utterly dangerous warfare.
Know the truth. Know the real enemy!
You alone can save our people, our homeland, from ruin and misery.
Officers and Soldiers: Do not be misled by lying, inflammatory slogans. Follow your own reason, your conscience, and your love for country.
For a free and peaceful Germany!
For the preservation and security of the German people, the German family!
Fight against the Hitler war and the Himmler terror!
Fight against Göring-Krupp war profiteering and Goebbels-Ley lies!
Fight against the enmity between nations and total war!
Bring the war to an end. Bring Hitler down!
German Youth, awake!
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Plate Section
White Rose leaflet reproduced by the RAF attacking Hitler’s Nazi regime
Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst, July 23, 1942
Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf & Professor Kurt Huber
Alexander Schmorell and Hans Scholl
Christoph Probst and Alexander Schmorell
Hubert Fürtwangler,
Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, & Alexander Schmorell at Munich’s East Station
Jürgen Wittenstein leaving for the Eastern front
Hans Scholl and Alexander Schmorell aboard the troop train
Hubert Furtwängler, Hans Scholl, Willi Graf and Alexander Schmorell at the Russian Front
White Rose members at Munich’s East Station before leaving for the Eastern Front
Gestapo mugshots of Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Professor Kurt Huber & Willi Graf
Room 253 of the Munich Court of Justice, where the first White Rose members were tried
Munich Gestapo Headquarters
Roland Freisler, President of the People’s Court, 1942–45
The back page of Sophie’s indictment: “Freiheit”
Fritz Harnagel’s telegram requesting pardon for Sophie’s execution
The guillotine used to execute members of the White Rose.
Facsimile of the New York Times article of April 18, 1943
Memorial to the White Rose at the entrance to the University of Munich
Sophie Scholl commemorative postage stamp
A map of Germany showing the major cities where the leaflets were distributed
The hand-cranked mimeograph machine used to duplicate the leaflets
ILLUSTRATIONS
One of the six White Rose leaflets attacking Hitler’s Nazi regime. This one was reprinted by the British Royal Air Force who air-dropped millions of copies over Germany, July 1943
L–R: Hans Scholl, born September 22, 1918, Ingersheim; Sophie Scholl, born May 9, 1921, Forchtenberg am Kocher; Christoph Probst, born November 6, 1919, Murnau. All were executed February 22, 1943, Munich; photo taken July 1942