82 years ago today, on February 22, 1943, a N@zi executioner forced 21-year-old Munich University student Sophie Scholl into a gu!llotine in Stadelheim Prison and be head ed her, before also snuffing out her brother, Hans Scholl, and a classmate, Christoph Probst within 10 minutes.
Their crime? Distributing leaflets critical of H!tler and the N@zis.
To stand by silently, they claimed, was to be complicit in “the most horrible of crimes – crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure.” To do nothing was to truckle to H!tler; and “every word that comes out of H!tler’s mouth is a lie.”
White Rose’s third leaflet read, “Why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanized state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right—or rather, your moral duty—to eliminate this system?”
The fourth pamphlet made a promise: “We will not be silent. We are your bad consciences. The White Rose will not leave you in peace.”
Sophie was caught tossing extra leaflets into her college atrium by a school maintenance man who called himself a “proud German nationalist." He called the Gestapo who arrested Sophie, Hans, and Christoph. Four days later, they convened a show trial after which they each were summarily beheaded.
In the morning that she went to the guillotine, Sophie, aged 21, said:
“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”
“The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn”
After the war, Sophie and White Rose were lauded as heroes. Streets across Europe were named for her and White Rose. In 2003, she became the fifth woman honored with a bust in Walhalla Temple, where Germany honors its heroes.
Indeed, resistance is never futile, and antifascism is in fact the hallmark of the Pantheon.
Their crime? Distributing leaflets critical of H!tler and the N@zis.
To stand by silently, they claimed, was to be complicit in “the most horrible of crimes – crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure.” To do nothing was to truckle to H!tler; and “every word that comes out of H!tler’s mouth is a lie.”
White Rose’s third leaflet read, “Why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanized state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right—or rather, your moral duty—to eliminate this system?”
The fourth pamphlet made a promise: “We will not be silent. We are your bad consciences. The White Rose will not leave you in peace.”
Sophie was caught tossing extra leaflets into her college atrium by a school maintenance man who called himself a “proud German nationalist." He called the Gestapo who arrested Sophie, Hans, and Christoph. Four days later, they convened a show trial after which they each were summarily beheaded.
In the morning that she went to the guillotine, Sophie, aged 21, said:
“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”
“The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn”
After the war, Sophie and White Rose were lauded as heroes. Streets across Europe were named for her and White Rose. In 2003, she became the fifth woman honored with a bust in Walhalla Temple, where Germany honors its heroes.
Indeed, resistance is never futile, and antifascism is in fact the hallmark of the Pantheon.
82 years ago today, on February 22, 1943, a N@zi executioner forced 21-year-old Munich University student Sophie Scholl into a gu!llotine in Stadelheim Prison and be head ed her, before also snuffing out her brother, Hans Scholl, and a classmate, Christoph Probst within 10 minutes.
Their crime? Distributing leaflets critical of H!tler and the N@zis.
To stand by silently, they claimed, was to be complicit in “the most horrible of crimes – crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure.” To do nothing was to truckle to H!tler; and “every word that comes out of H!tler’s mouth is a lie.”
White Rose’s third leaflet read, “Why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanized state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right—or rather, your moral duty—to eliminate this system?”
The fourth pamphlet made a promise: “We will not be silent. We are your bad consciences. The White Rose will not leave you in peace.”
Sophie was caught tossing extra leaflets into her college atrium by a school maintenance man who called himself a “proud German nationalist." He called the Gestapo who arrested Sophie, Hans, and Christoph. Four days later, they convened a show trial after which they each were summarily beheaded.
In the morning that she went to the guillotine, Sophie, aged 21, said:
“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”
“The real damage is done by those millions who want to 'survive.' The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don’t want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won’t take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don’t like to make waves—or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It’s the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don’t make any noise, the bogeyman won’t find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what? Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn”
After the war, Sophie and White Rose were lauded as heroes. Streets across Europe were named for her and White Rose. In 2003, she became the fifth woman honored with a bust in Walhalla Temple, where Germany honors its heroes.
Indeed, resistance is never futile, and antifascism is in fact the hallmark of the Pantheon.
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