Another White Rose

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"It is unbelievable to what extent one must deceive a people in order to rule it"--Adolp Hitler

SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HIGH TREASON: Christopher Probst, age 24 Hans Scholl,age 25 Sophie Scholl, age 22

Gone were now the core leaders of the White Rose, a group of college students who resisted the Nazis by diseminating pamphlets calling for the demise of the facist regime. Even more telling than their deaths, were the lives that this group,the White Rose, led.What led Roland Freisler, Chief Justice of the Peoples Court of the Greater German Reich to sentence them to death by the guillotine? "Tuly, a devilhas broken loose from his leash in Germany--ah, and none of us know how we are going to get him back on the chain again". The White Rose, formed by two students Hans and Sophie Scholl, manifested itself in a loose association of friends, theologians, and professors with common ideals banded together to fight the German state by spreading leaflets. Setting up temporary base in a church in Ulm; Sophie orchestrated a clandescine mailing operation behind a church organ. Stuffing 2,000 leaflets at one setting, Sophie and her cohorts split up riding in trains at often perilous expense to cities like Stuttgard, Frankfort, Vienna, Frieburg, Saarbrueken, and Mannheim. Acting as couriers, they carried letters as luggage and upon arriving at their destination, dumped their contraband letters into the postbox,returning home that same night. The letters were addressed from names chosen randomly from telephone directories. In this way, no one would be singled out by having in their possession a leaflet of the White Rose. The White Rose met and networked with others outside of their own environment of Munich and Ulm. In Hamburg groups of dissidents were many but unorganized in nature. In the movie "Swingkids", the German youth listened to illicit jazz music at the Swingboys club.In Hamburg, the Swingkids mixxed with other dissident forces as Hamburg grew into a hot-bed of opposition. Thus; the Hamburg branch of the White Rose was born--further aiding in the distribution of White Rose literature. With the far reaching effectsof their leaflets, other sides of the White Rose can be seen. In addition to their clandescine activities, the Scholls discussed areasof art, literature, poetry and music--often with friends at local cafes. They went on skiing trips, long hikes in the woods, or concerts of classical music maintaining asense of themselves, a sense of their own being. The loose-knit circle of friends that the Scholls had maintained manifested itself in an underground magazine circulated among the group known ad Windlicht (literally meaning wind light, a hurricane or storm lamp.) There were only hidden political tones tothe magazine-most of the pieces dealt with intellectual and cultural tones. The commentaries and essays of Windlicht expressed a state of mind of the group-an outlet against the totalitarian darkness of Nazi Germany.

From the fourth pamphlet of the White Rose: "Every word that comes from Hitlers mouth is a lie. When he says peace, he means war, and when he blasphemously uses the name of the Almighty, he means the power of evil,the fallen angel satan. His mouth is the foul-smelling maw of hell, and his might is a bottom accursed. True, we must continue the struggle against the National Socialistic terrorist state with rational means, but whoever today still doubts the reality, the essence of demonic powers, has failed by a wide margin to understand the metaphysical background of this war. Behind the concrete, the visible elements, behind all objective, logical considerations, we find the irrational element: the struggle against the demon, against the servants of the Antichrist. Everywhere and at all times demons have been lurking in the dark, waiting for the monment when man was weak..."

The surface of the German society has begun to crack.

"One can already hear the howls and whines of the demons moreclearly in their dread-filled phases. It is the last gasp of a crazed man who runs amok; just before the end. An official call to hate! The hate will certainly be found, all right, but it will not be the hate they intend, and want, today. It will be different..."Theodore Hacker,journal entry Ja. 1943. Finally, all three were manacled and led away by uniformed police.As they were leaving the courtroom, Hans was heard to say, "Today they're hanging us. Tomorrow it will be their turn".

"After two o'clock we receive the frightful news from the headquarters: all three are sentenced to death! At 4:30 Mohr comes in. I ask, "Herr Mohr, is it really true that all three will die? " He only nods, himself still shaken by the experience. The words falllike bludgeon blows upon all of us.We are stunned to earn that three good, innocent persons have to die because they dared to rise against an organized band of murderers; because they wanted to help end this senseless war. I should like to scream these things at the top of my lungs; and I have to sit there silent. "Lord, have mercy on them, Christ, have mercy on them, Lord, have mercy on their souls", is all I can think. The minutes stretch to an eternity. I want to push the hands of the clock ahead, faster, fast, so that the heaviest task will be behind. But one minute creeps slowly after the other. Finally it is 5:00, 5:04, 5:08....You have returned into the Light".

"WE WILL NOT BE SILENT.WE ARE YOUR BAD CONSCIENCE. THE WHITE ROSE WILL NOTLEAVE YOU IN PEACE"....from the fourth leaflet of the White Rose by J.F. appeared in Talmidim #12,1994



-- Beth Weber (talmidim88@hotmail.com), September 17, 2000

Answers

Thank you, Beth, for posting this. I can only say that to protest so strongly against evil, they had to know the difference between good and evil, and that is something sorely lacking in most of our younger generation today. In order to know the difference between good and evil, you must know the source of good, God, and you must know His Word, the Bible. Can this culture we have even bring forth people with such strong convictions as Hans and Sophie Scholl? Especially young people, as they were? And if it does, will they suffer the same fate?

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 17, 2000.

Thank you for that post. It's interesting that not even truly knowing what the movie was about, I picked up the movie "Swing Kids" and watched it last night. I see definite parallels between Nazi Germany and the United States today. If you have any links on the web or books or video titles on the subject of "The White Rose", "Swing Kids" or any Nazi resistance movements, I would sure appreciate the info.

May we all stand up for what it right even in the face of great personal sacrifice.

May God have mercy on the United States.

-- Tammy (gregandtammy@interbel.net), September 17, 2000.


Tammy, I was going to mention the link someone had put on the other white Rose thread when...i saw that link was from you! (smile). There is a book written by the Scholl's sister titled, "The White Rose". It is excellent! It shows pictures of the kids...and kids they were...Sophie barely looks a day over 16. Wow. Responding to another post on this thread concerning our youth of today...and the moral relativity they have been pretty much raised in (in regarding world- vieww)...Yeah; I look at youth like the White Rose and have to be saddened and in fear that todays youth rarely displays that inner depth to reach out and stand up for anything beyond their own creature comforts. Guess I sound like an old fart; right? Thats ok (and btw, I'm only 36,) but I look at the vast majority of todays youth...due to too much technology, too many "experts", too many parents on debts treadmill to actually parent their children...too many minds wasted on computers,games, etc. ,(instead of employing creativity to "play",) and I say; too many children today are soft handed, have no moral stability,are absolutely ill-mannered, have no work ethic, and do not know---nor care---about what is happening in the world at large--that is beyond their own little sphere. For this I greatly fear.

-- Beth Weber (talmidim88@hotmail.com), September 17, 2000.

Beth, you have placed my fears of about today's kids in a nutshell. I work at a school, and it is scary. Some will lie to your face, without a twich in their eyes, and think NOTHING of it. Eight year olds that will sextually harass a classmate, and neither the harasser nor their gardians see nothing wrong with their behavior. NOOOO conscience!!!!! We had two in our class shove a little grandma bringing in a decorated birthday cake for one of the first graders. The were trying to get first in line for gym, and continued to shove and fight even as she truggled to juggle the cake into safety. NO, the teacher wasn't there...he was in the office ( I think he should have been there, but I'm just an aide, so what do I know?), and he left the students there, and that is the point. Some of them care NOTHING for others. When left to their own devices, chaos-- destructive chaos--ensues. Restroom doors and sinks ripped off in the beautiful new bathrooms, toilets deliberately shoved full of paper towels...the list goes on.

I have seen kids who could name massive numbers of Pokemon characters and their distinctive characteristics...but would struggle with basic American History or multiplication tables. They know all the gorey details of the latest video releases, but they come to me and ask, "What is church?" and "Who is Jesus?" Yes, I answer them (in the most sectarian free way that I know), but I risk my job every time I do it. Half the kids in last year's class came from broken homes, or had no Dad's around to begin with! We are raising babies with NO moral base, so why shouldn't they follow someone like a Hitler...OR an Anti-Christ? Dear God, help us.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), September 17, 2000.


You are right about the sad state of affairs with our children in the United States. However, I think it is important to remember that these kids who stood against Hitler and Nazi evil were not in the majority. There are a handful of us here in the United States who are trying to raise our children with morals and absolutes. Perhaps they too will have the courage to take a stand against the evils in this world. Of course, we must set an example for them to follow.

I know what you mean about "feeling like an old fart". I am 33 and I definitely don't "fit in" with the majority of people my age.

-- Tammy (gregandtammy@interbel.net), September 17, 2000.



Tammy, Leann, Beth & Kathleen.... AMEN! Wow, what courage! What conscience! Can you imagine?! Truly noble & great causes are fought when we have the capability to recognize, the courage to engage and the wisdom to do so. I sometimes get discouraged, thinking that for the most part, we as a society have lost (thrown away) the ability to call on our conscience, courage or wisdom! Then I remember who is in control and I am revitalized!! There is hope! To know that even during the midst of such "evil" (Nazi's, Hitler), there were those so young, willing to stand against that evil, is inspiring! Thank You so much Beth, for sharing the White Rose information! God Bless! Wendy

-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), September 18, 2000.

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