Economic desperation can create terrible situations leading to evil. People in want are less likely to listen to the voice of reason and are more likely to follow leaders promising security and prosperity.
The 1920s and early 1930s were such a time in Germany. Crushed by the millions of causalities suffered in World War I, burdened with an unjust peace at Versailles, the German nation saw its once vital economic life ebb towards extinction by 1932.
In these terrible times Hitler gathered support in this shattered land. Promising prosperity and a rebirth of national pride, the Nazi Party actually won 37% of the national vote in the 1932 elections. Only four years earlier, the Nazis had won 3% of the vote. Frightened people will often listen to false prophets. Within several years, the brutal Third Reich fell upon Germany.
In short order, Hitler rearmed the nation and began annexing land bordering Germany. The country was to be cleansed of those "unfit for living" and systematic euthanasia began being practiced on the weak and ill. Any persons or groups opposing the Fuhrer’s demands were arrested, with the normal punishment being prison, a concentration camp or execution.
The Reich exerted so much power that most citizens either supported the government’s goals or were cowed into silent submission. Either way, this allowed the Nazi Party to have near total control of the nation. Germans opposing the government seemed to have no way to change this awful situation. But one small group of students at the University of Munich decided to challenge the Nazi menace. They called themselves "The White Rose."
Hans Scholl, a medical student, organized the revolt. In the face of such overwhelming force, Scholl began practicing nonviolent resistance to the government. He obtained a typewriter, a duplicating machine, and soon began writing pamphlets denouncing the Nazi government. He was quickly joined by his younger sister Sophie and several others in this dangerous work.
The Scholls felt that the world must understand that some Germans opposed the Nazis and tried to organize a revolt against the horrible evil of National Socialism. They based their actions on a deep-seated love for Christian values, which they had built up through prayer and the study of great writers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. Their pamphlets soon started a sensation in Munich and other nearby cities where they had been distributed.
Denounced as traitors to Germany, the Gestapo quickly began searching for the members of the White Rose resistance group. After writing the sixth pamphlet, they were seen throwing a stack of writing over a balcony at the University of Munich and were arrested. The Gestapo’s subsequent interrogation then led the young heroes to their preordained deaths.
What do the Scholls and other members of the White Rose movement tell their evil judges during their trials? Why can a legally passed law be immoral? Why do White Rose participants freely confess that they carried out all the actions listed in the indictments? How did their courage continue to inspire people such as the Gestapo interrogating agent? Why does Sophie Scholl’s inner peace stagger so many people throughout her rigged interrogation? And finally, why are the Scholls considered heroes in modern day Germany? To find out, check out "The White Rose: Munich 1942-1943" by Inge Scholl.
This is a powerful story of a group of heroic young students opposing a malevolent government. The actual White Rose pamphlets are included at the end of the book, as well as the indictments by the Nazis against the White Rose members.
This is a sorrowful, beautiful story of courage and humanity in the face of grave moral evil. Sophie and Hans Scholl have much to teach us today.
