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Anne Frank and the Holocaust - teaching resources |
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The White Rose movementIntroductionDid all Germans support Hitler during his reign as Führer? Was there any resistance to his power? This page has some resources for studying one aspect of resistance to Nazi tyranny. This page gives a brief account of the Weiße Rose movement. This is summarized from Inge Scholl's definitive account. If you wish to study the movement in more depth, you should look at the available historical records, starting perhaps with Inge Scholl's book. As an eye-witness and as a relative or friend of the founders of the movement, she may be trusted to give a detailed version of events. Did all Germans support Hitler?Not all Germans supported Hitler, but there is a lot of evidence to show that most did, and that the exceptions were few. The question of how much the German people knew about such things as the mass murder of Jews and other groups is still hotly-debated. But there are many Germans who have been honest enough to say that they knew what was happening and thought it normal at the time. Because they had the support or agreement of most Germans, the Nazis worked very much in public. They displayed notices about the laws controlling Jewish people, created ghettos in large cities, and conducted punishments in public. If the German people did not know about this, then it is hard to see how some brave individuals opposed it. The Weiße Rose movementThe leaders of the movementOne group which stood up against the Nazi régime was the Weiße Rose ("White Rose") movement. This was the name taken by a group of young men and one young woman from Munich. They were Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie, Christoph Probst, Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell, and the university philosophy teacher, Professor Kurt Huber. Another of the family, Inge Scholl, wrote an account of their resistance, entitled simply Die Weiße Rose. Inge Scholl's book makes clear how people in Germany came to support Hitler. When Hitler came to power, he was very successful in encouraging young people to work for the Nazi Party. He created the movement called the Hitlerjugend ("Hitler Youth"). Young adults became leaders, while teenagers and children were organized and given uniforms and flags. They were taught to be loyal to the Vaterland ("Fatherland") and Heimat ("home" or "homeland"). The origins of resistanceHans Scholl became a Fähnleinführer ("little flag leader") in the Hitler Youth. His troop, like many others, made its own flag to go with the official Nazi flag of the movement. One day, the twelve year old who carried the flag was ordered by a superior to surrender this unofficial flag, and use only the flag officially designed for the whole Hitler Youth. When the boy refused, Hans supported him, and struck the superior commander. For this, he was demoted. Later Hans Scholl joined a group called the Jungenschaft. The name just means a youth movement, but this was a group very different from the Hitlerjugend. It was made up of groups of friends, mostly young men, who would camp and walk in the country at wekends and in holiday times. But they would also sing, paint, take photographs or compose songs and poems. The Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei or secret police) soon banned the movement. When the members defied the ban, many were arrested in a wave of persecution in 1938. Most of these were sent to prison, among them Hans Scholl. The Weiße Rose group formsAs war drew nearer, Hans Scholl completed his studies at school, and went to university in Munich as a medical student. Here he formed a firm friendship, which would last for the rest of his short life, with three other medical students: Alex Schmorell, Christoph (Christl) Probst and Willi Graf. Willi, like Hans, had been arrested in 1938 for belonging to the Jungenschaft. With the outbreak of war, the students were compelled to serve in the army, while continuing their medical studies. In 1942 Sophie Scholl, now twenty-one, joined her brother at university. As their unease about the Nazi régime grew, so they learned more about its actions. From a young priest they learned of a Nazi plan to change the fundamental principles of the Christian religion in Germany. And from a nurse in a hospital for mentally ill children, they learned that the SS (Schutz Staffeln, meaning "team of guardians" - a special political wing of the German Army) had taken away the young patients and killed them. With the help of a university lecturer, Kurt Huber, the young men began to print pamphlets and distribute them secretly. These bore the name Flügblätter der Weißen Rose ("White Rose Pamphlets") and challenged the German people to resist the fascism, atheism and war-mongering of the Nazis. No-one but their secret authors knew where they came from, but the pamphlets passed quickly from hand to hand. Sophie Scholl was convinced that her brother was behind the resistance movement, but so far he had not told her about it. Down with Hitler!All of the young men were sent to Russia in the autumn of 1942, to take part in the advance which would come to a halt at Stalingrad. Before they went, they made a pact. Life on the Russian front was precarious, and they might be killed there. If they survived the campaign, then they would step up their campaign of resistance. When they did return safely, they continued to print the White Rose pamphlets. One night, they went around Munich painting the slogans Nieder mit Hitler ("down with Hitler") and Freiheit ("freedom") in large letters. By now those in the group knew that they were only one step ahead of the Gestapo. And now Sophie joined Hans and the others in distributing the pamphlets. Early in 1943 the group planned a bold and dangerous move. Just before the other students arrived at the university one morning, Hans and Sophie would drop pamphlets out of a suitcase, into the lobby of the university entrance hall. But they were seen by a caretaker, loyal to the Nazis, who locked the doors, and called the authorities. They were arrested, and a few hours later, Christoph Probst was arrested, too. The trial of Hans, Sophie and ChristophAt their trial, all of the Weiße Rose group spoke openly of what they had done. None tried to minimize the nature of their resistance. The trial of Hans and Sophie Scholl, with Christl Probst, followed quickly on their arrest. They were found guilty of offences against the state, and sentenced to death, the sentence being carried out on the same day, late in the afternoon. As a soldier, Hans had asked if he might be shot, but all were guillotined. Not long after the trial, Professor Huber, Alex Schmorell and Willi Graf were also arrested, tried, sentenced and executed, while others who had joined the movement or carried it to other parts of Germany suffered the same fate. Studying this subjectSourcesWhat sources can you find to learn more about the Weiße Rose movement?
Interpreting the evidence
Making comparisons
Responding to the historyIf you have studied the Weiße Rose movement you can show what you have learned in many different kinds of format. Here are some suggestions: Speaking and listening tasks
Writing tasks
Other responses
Web sites for studying the Weiße Rose movementPlease use the hyperlinks below to find resources online for learning more about the history of the White Rose movement.
Help us improve this siteThis part of the site contains resources for studying Anne Frank and the Holocaust within the Programmes of Study for History, in Key Stage 3 of the UK National Curriculum, as well as more widely. If you have ideas or suggestions for this site, please will you send them to us? (Use e-mail to send your ideas or resources to this URL: andrew.moore@eril.net) If we use things you send in, we will acknowledge your contribution, and your copyright, where this applies. Thanks for your support. Please return to this page and other parts of the site to see the resources grow. 
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