The White Rose Anniversary

Those of us who are fighting this century's war, the modern day pamphleteers, are this century's White Rose. Join us.

The White Rose

(German: die Weiße Rose) was a non-violent/intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, 
consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an anonymous leaflet campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943, that called for active opposition to dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.

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The six core members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo (German secret police) and they were executed by decapitation in 1943. The text of their sixth leaflet was smuggled by Helmuth James Graf von Moltke out of Germany through Scandinavia to the United Kingdom, and in July 1943 copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes, retitled "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."

Photo right: Monument to the "Weiße Rose" in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Please read this most excellent piece by J. Christian Adams

The White Rose: An Anniversary of Three Executions

February 22, 1943: Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans, and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine in Munich, Germany.

Today marks an anniversary of true bravery for the cause of liberty. On February 22, 1943,

Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans, and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine in Munich, Germany. Their crimes? Anonymously distributing leaflets criticizing the German government at the University of Munich. They were members of the White Rose, an underground student group that should inspire every American who loves the cause of liberty.

The three who were executed on February 22, 1943

The White Rose was comprised of a dozen or so University of Munich students, including Probst and the Scholls. They were active when very few participated in opposition to the Nazi regime. After German defeats at Stalingrad, many Germans silently feared for the future of Germany, but scant few ever put their lives on the line through deeds.

It is no coincidence those who were willing to actively oppose the Nazis were motivated by devout religious views. Like the martyrs of early Christendom and the American civil rights movement, those who have nothing to fear in this world are well suited to oppose evil and injustice.

The religious origins of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s active opposition to the Nazis are well-known and inescapable. But even Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who planted a bomb that almost killed Hitler, was a devout Catholic. He was active in a religious and philosophical dissident group called the Kreisau Circle. He struggled with the questions and contradictions of taking a life to oppose black hot evil. Of course Hollywood devotes exactly zero screen minutes to the religious motivations of von Stauffenberg.

Active opposition to Hitler inside Germany was a deadly and lonely affair. Yet today, we view these few souls, most of whom would meet gruesome deaths, as plainly right and heroic. Pope Benedict XVI captured this idea of justice revealed over time when he observed: “usually it is the creative minorities that determine the future” — another lesson for today’s defenders of liberty.

Between March 1942 and February 1943, the White Rose wrote and secretly produced anti-Nazi leaflets. They copied them on mimeograph machines and literally left them lying all around Munich. They stenciled anti-Hilter messages on the sides of buildings. The Gestapo went wild. Nobody else in Germany was doing anything of the sort.

White Rose leaflet four captures the totalitarian corruption of language as well as a view of Hitler justified by hindsight:

Every word that proceeds from Hitler’s mouth is a lie. When he says peace, he means war. And when he names the name of the Almighty in a most blasphemous manner, he means the almighty evil one, that fallen angel, Satan. His mouth is the stinking maw of hell and his might is fundamentally reprobate. To be sure, one must wage the battle against National Socialism using rational means. But whoever still does not believe in the actual existence of demonic powers has not comprehended by far the metaphysical background of this war.

In March 2001, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke at James Madison University. He said he was fascinated by the history of German resistors. Thomas’ concurrence in the McDonald gun rights case most certainly was informed by a deep appreciation of what recourse free men have when mayhem, evil, and oppression rule. Thomas’ tour de force describes the plight of recently freed slaves reliant on guns to protect their new freedoms. He recalled the Massacre of 1876:

There, a white citizen militia sought out and murdered a troop of black militiamen for no other reason than that they had dared to conduct a celebratory Fourth of July parade through their mostly black town.

The lessons of the White Rose are not confined to Nazi Germany. We are not many generations removed in this nation from oppression, and in other places, a single generation. Our Constitution was designed first to prevent oppression, but also to resist it.

The fourth White Rose leaflet spoke of a need for a continuous watch, because we will never reach the End of History:

Everywhere and at all times, the demons have waited in darkness for the hour in which mankind is weak; in which he voluntarily abandons the position in the world order that is based on freedom and comes from God; in which he yields to the force of the Evil One, disengaging himself from the powers of a higher order.

Implicit in this assessment is that the world cannot escape a struggle between moral polarities in foreign affairs.

Today’s anniversary offers a multitude of other lessons. For starters, the power of language, truth, and courage are potent weapons to defend liberty. The central recognition of human dignity drew them to the active opposition to Hitler. The power of anonymous political speech also cannot be overlooked. In civilization’s darkest hours, anonymous political speech serves as a check on tyranny as our own founders presumed the right to bear arms also does.

So today, one might consider three young lives cut short in Stadelheim Prison in Munich and the courage they had to attack one of the most evil regimes of the 20th century. The courage to act and risk everything is a prerequisite for liberty to flourish. Remembering that they were not endowed with any particular human trait we don’t ourselves possess makes their sacrifice all the more extraordinary.

J. Christian Adams is an election lawyer who served in the Voting Rights Section at the U.S. Department of Justice. His website is www.electionlawcenter.com.

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BethesdaDog

13 years ago

Thank you, Pamela, for presenting a tribute to the White Rose.
This was a brave organization about which most people today know nothing.
Unfortunately, as time goes on, most people know less and less about the Nazi era and the Holocaust.
Thanks again for remembering.

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looloo

13 years ago

I have never heard of the White Rose before today, what a very brave and inspiring example of hope in the middle of despair. Thank you, I will be sharing this.

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Bill

13 years ago

Our world today still requires the brave acts of those with a moral, just, and enlightened view of the purpose of man on Earth. The coming storms will test the resolve of the best of us; We will all play a part whether it be large or small, but action of some type will be required of each of us.

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Spiritof1776

13 years ago

“Every word that proceeds from _______’s mouth is a lie.” (fill in the blank)
Boy is that pamphlet fit for today!!! I would like to find a copy
to read them. I believe they would be very helpful in our current
situation in America.
Samuel Adams Aug 1, 1776
“If ye love wealth better than liberty,the tranquility of servitude
better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in
peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which
feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may prosterity
forget that ye were our countrymen”
There are some things worth dieing for!!!!

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katherine

13 years ago

Thank you Pamela. I never knew about The White Rose
until now…will be forwarding this story.

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PatriotSara

13 years ago

To the memory of those valiant brave souls! “The courage to act and risk everything is a prerequisite for liberty to flourish.” Thank you, Mr. Adams. G-d give us the courage necessary to defeat the evil rearing its head. 9PM every night; tell your friends–join the national prayer for 1 min: for our nation, our troops, our citizens, in liberty! We must spread this truth!

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descendantofacrusader

13 years ago

Thank you, Pamela, for posting once again material that is extremely suggestive of our time. The White Rose Society could surely serve as an inspiration for all those who love good and hate the pure EVIL that is Islam. Witness 2 million hate filled, Mohammedan, Egyptians chanting for the total demise of Israel after their demonic Friday prayers just last week. Why is it that so few in our pathological age of cultural relativism have the courage to call evil for what it is: EVIL as represented by Satanically inspired Islam as these brave souls of the White Rose Society clearly spoke out against the evil of Nazism 70 years ago in Germany. Where are those who will call evil for what it is? G_d help us!

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Chris

13 years ago

Susanne Zeller-Hirzel is one of the two still living members of Die Weisse Rose.
Today she fights against Islamization.

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armaros

13 years ago

http://www.imdb.de/title/tt0084897/

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Robin Shadowes

13 years ago

There was a movie made about Sophie as late as 2007. I haven’t seen it myself but it is probably pretty good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM5A4ETW_Io

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Robin Shadowes

13 years ago

Maybe it would be a great idea to adopt the symbol of the white rose for our fight against the the greatest evil of our times?

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John K

13 years ago

Let’s remember, too, the anti-Hitler pamphleting campaign by the Mormon boys, Helmuth Hübener, Rudolf Wobbe and Karl-Heinz Schnibbe. Helmuth was the youngest opponent of the Reich to be executed at age 17.
Their story has been told in the documentary, Truth and Conviction. A new major motion picture, Truth and Treason, is currently in production.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmuth_H%C3%BCbener

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Pilgrim

13 years ago

Thanks Pam for this piece about the White Rose . I know of Bonhoeffer but not of this particular group .

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Stephen Rapp

13 years ago

Here is my Facebook post on 2/22.
In loving memory. On this day 1943, Sophie Scholl was beheaded by a Nazi tribunal for distributing a one page flyer, criticizing Hitler and the 3rd Riech war effort.
Sophie was a 21 year old deeply religious girl, who believed that conscience was the true guide for belief and conduct.
Any law that restricts freedom of expression and seeks to impose political correctness, even against views you and I happen to disapprove of, must be fiercely rejected and violated. The modern threat to free expression is political correctness, which is nothing more then newspeak for political cleansing. And the precursor to Thought Police.
For 50 years I was terrified to give voice to my beliefs and values. I wanted to be liked and loved just like everyone else, and it always seemed my beliefs were out of sync with my friends and acquaintances. Sophie became my angel of courage and whenever I hesitate with fear, I think about the executioner, who said, “Upon her death, not an eyelash wavered.”

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looloo

13 years ago

Thank you for the reply, I checked that out and discovered a company from Australia that distributes the movie you mentioned. I’d like to give one to my local library.
http://www.gilscrinefilms.com.au/ The cost is $30.00, I’m not sure how much for shipping. I did watch the trailer, it seems to be a beautiful movie.

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looloo

13 years ago

Thank you for what you have written, I too have felt afraid to voice my beliefs and values, like maybe I feel too strongly, or I’m too serious. I will think of Sophie, and gain courage from her example also.

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Noelegy

13 years ago

Excellent!

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Noelegy

13 years ago

Beautifully written. Thank you.

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TruckTurkey

13 years ago

Mrs. Pamela
Your photo of political writes about So called Armenian Genocide is photo of White Rose victims !
[http://b1ff5939f6.nxcli.net/muslim-turkey-promises-another-armenian-genocide-if-you-speak-of-the-fiirst-aremenian-genocide-prime%5D
Objective History is not your hate & proganda Toy !
http://angelsof1915.blogspot.com/2009/04/fake-illustrations-used-in-armenian.html
Pls verify !

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