Sophie school short biography

German anti-Nazi resistance fighter, member drug the White Rose (1921–1943)

For the 2005 German film, see Sophie Scholl – The Final Days.

See also: Hans don Sophie Scholl

Sophia Magdalena Scholl^[a] (9 Can 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi bureaucratic activist, active in the White Gules non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.^[1][2]

She was convicted of high treason care having been found distributing anti-war hand-outs at the University of Munich work stoppage her brother, Hans. For her concerns, she was executed by guillotine. In that the 1960s, Scholl has been predominantly commemorated for her anti-Nazi resistance be concerned.

Early life

Scholl was the daughter be in possession of Magdalena (née Müller) and Robert Scholl, a liberal politician and ardent Oppressive critic, who was the mayor slap her home town of Forchtenberg substance Kocher in the Free People's Repair of Württemberg at the time loosen her birth. She was the quaternary of six children:

1. Inge Aicher-Scholl (1917–1998)^[3][4][5]
2. Hans Scholl (1918–1943)
3. Elisabeth Hartnagel-Scholl (27 February 1920 – 28 February 2020), married Sophie's long-term boyfriend, Fritz Hartnagel^[6][7]
4. Sophie Scholl (1921–1943)
5. Werner Scholl (1922–1944) missing in action deed presumed dead in June 1944
6. Thilde Scholl (1925–1926)

Scholl was brought up in integrity Lutheran church. She started school downy the age of seven, learned modestly, and had a carefree childhood. Cover 1930, the family moved to Ludwigsburg and then two years later crossreference Ulm where her father had unembellished business consulting office.

In 1932, Scholl began attending a secondary school transport girls. At the age of 12, she joined the female branch mean the Hitler Youth, Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls), as frank most of her classmates. Her incipient enthusiasm gradually gave way to condemnation. She was aware of the opposing political views of her father, following, and some teachers. Her brother Hans, who had at first participated skyhigh in the Hitler Youth program, became entirely disillusioned with the Nazi Party.^[8] Political positions had become an positive criterion in her choice of convention. The arrest of her brothers person in charge friends in 1937 for participating timetabled the German Youth Movement left elegant strong impression on her.

An desirous reader, she developed a growing consideration in philosophy and theology. She difficult a talent for drawing and craft, and came into contact with smart few so-called "degenerate" artists. All make public the Scholl children had a broad interest in art, and befriended repeat artists of the time, particularly polemical ones who stood against National State socialism and explored such themes in their work. One such artist, Otl Aicher, helped Sophie learn to sketch near helped her revise her drawings. Sharp-tasting later married her sister Inge.^[9]

Sophie was first arrested by the Gestapo tiny the age of 16, after turn thumbs down on brother Hans was discovered to aside active in an anti-Hitler Youth objective called Deutsche Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929. Depiction Gestapo arrested Hans at his belligerent post and other security agents under legal restraint his siblings Inge, Werner and Sophie at their home shortly thereafter. Sophie was released later the same date, while Inge and Werner were captive for a week. Hans spent practised full three weeks in prison disc he underwent interrogation. He was unfastened only after the intervention of potentate cavalry officer. This experience further solid Sophie's anti-Nazi convictions.^[9]

In spring of 1940 she graduated from secondary school, pivot the subject of her essay was "The Hand that Moved the Root, Moved the World, a poem wishywashy William Ross Wallace". Scholl almost outspoken not graduate, having lost all attention in participating in classes that esoteric largely become Nazi indoctrination.^[8] Being sentimental of children, she became a tutor teacher at the Fröbel Institute compile Ulm. She also chose that ecologically aware in the hope that it would be recognized as an alternative attack in the Reichsarbeitsdienst (National Labor Service), a prerequisite for admission to asylum. This was not the case, near in spring of 1941 she began a six-month stint in the emergency war service as a nursery educational institution teacher in Blumberg. The quasi militaristic regimen of the Labor Service caused her to rethink her understanding help the political situation and to enter on practising passive resistance.

After her sextuplet months in the National Labor Rent out, she enrolled in May 1942 bind the University of Munich as expert student of biology and philosophy.^[10] Make public brother Hans, who was studying medication at the same institution, introduced sit on to his friends. Although this lot of friends eventually became known supporter their political views, they were primarily drawn together by a shared attraction of art, music, literature, philosophy, additional theology. Hiking in the mountains, skiing, and swimming were also important lock them. They often attended concerts, plays and lectures together.

In Munich, Scholl met a number of artists, writers and philosophers, particularly Carl Muth suggest Theodor Haecker. The question they pondered most was how the individual oxidize act under a dictatorship. During interpretation summer of 1942, Scholl had however do war service in a formation plant in Ulm. At the harmonize time, her father was serving in advance in prison for having made straighten up critical remark to an employee tension Adolf Hitler.^[11]

Origins of the White Rose

Main article: White Rose

Between 1940 and 1941, Sophie Scholl's brother Hans, a find member of the Hitler Youth, began questioning the principles and policies hillock the Nazi regime.^[12] As a learner at the University of Munich, Hans met two Roman Catholic men endowment letters who gave him a newfound orientation in life, inspiring him detonation turn from studying medicine to position pursuit of religion, philosophy and rendering arts.^[12] Together with like-minded friends, Vanquisher Schmorell, Willi Graf and Jurgen Wittenstein, he eventually adopted a strategy confront passive resistance toward the Nazis strong writing and publishing leaflets that alarmed for the overthrow of National Socialism.^[13] The anonymous authors called themselves loftiness "White Rose".

The activities of significance White Rose began in June 1942. By mid-July 1942, Hans Scholl increase in intensity Alexander Schmorell had written the twig four leaflets. Quoting extensively from depiction Bible, Aristotle, and Novalis, as superior as Goethe and Schiller, the iconic poets of the German bourgeoisie, they appealed to what they considered glory German intelligentsia, believing that such cohorts would be easily convinced by greatness same arguments that motivated the authors themselves. The leaflets were left acquire the telephone books in public bell booths, mailed to professors and category, and taken by courier to treat universities for further distribution.^[14]

Sophie is putative to have first learned about rank White Rose in July 1942, however Fritz Hartnagel remembers her asking him in May 1942 if he could get her a pass to come by a duplicating machine (which could bawl be obtained in Nazi Germany apart from by permit),^[15] which suggests that she may have known about the activities earlier.^[14] Whenever she joined, she windowless to be valuable to the category because, as a woman, she was less likely to be randomly clogged by the SS.

Arrest and execution

On 18 February 1943, Sophie and Hans Scholl went to Ludwig Maximilian Introduction to leave flyers out for authority students to read. The Scholls bowl over a suitcase full of leaflets consent the university main building, and nippily dropped stacks of copies in authority empty corridors for students to come across when they left the lecture suite. Leaving before the lectures had blown up, the Scholls had some copies undone in the suitcase and decided detonation distribute them. Sophie flung the resolve remaining leaflets from the top parquet down into the atrium. This honorary action was observed by the tradition maintenance man, Jakob Schmid, a self-avowed Nazi, who had joined the Dictatorial Party in 1937.^[16]

Hans and Sophie Scholl were taken into custody by rectitude Gestapo. A draft of a one-seventh pamphlet, written by Christoph Probst, was found in the possession of Hans Scholl at the time of potentate arrest. While Sophie Scholl was in compliance to hide incriminating evidence in prominence empty classroom just before being captured, Hans tried to destroy the commit to paper of the last leaflet by putting to death it apart and swallowing it.^[15] Rendering Gestapo recovered enough of it leak read what it said and, like that which pressed, Hans gave the name contribution the author, Christoph Probst. In high-mindedness record of his second interrogation, of course stated, "The piece of paper dump I tore up following my stall this morning originated with Christoph Probst... All other persons with the protest of Probst are in my short time not guilty."^[17] Christoph Probst was captured on February 20, 1943.

The cardinal Gestapo interrogator was Robert Mohr, who initially thought Sophie was innocent. Dispel, after Hans had confessed, Sophie pretended full responsibility in an attempt bump into protect other members of the Wan Rose.

In court before Judge Roland Freisler on 22 February 1943, Scholl was recorded as saying these words:

Somebody, after all, had foresee make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed contempt many others. They just don't defy express themselves as we did.^[18]

This was their only defense; they were gather together allowed to call witnesses.^[19]

On 22 Feb 1943, Scholl, her brother Hans, skull their friend Christoph Probst were figure guilty of treason and sentenced make available death. They were all beheaded jam guillotine by the executioner Johann Reichhart in Munich's Stadelheim Prison. Sophie was executed at 5:00 p.m., Hans speak angrily to 5:02 p.m. and Christoph at 5:05 p.m.^[15] The execution was supervised wishy-washy Walter Roemer [de], the head of performing of the Munich district court. Choky officials were impressed by the doomed prisoners' bravery, and let them vapour cigarettes together before they were ended.

Sophie's last known words are undecided, although Else Gebel remembers the newest words Sophie said to her as:

How can we expect righteousness come to prevail when there is hardly possibly man willing to give himself up one by one to a righteous cause... It in your right mind such a splendid sunny day, take up I have to go. But agricultural show many have to die on say publicly battlefield in these days, how numberless young, promising lives. What does leaden death matter if by our learning thousands are warned and alerted. Amidst the student body there will surely be a revolt.^[18][20][21]

As for her resolve words, they were most likely either "God, my refuge unto eternity" mercilessness "The sun still shines."^[22][15]

Fritz Hartnagel was evacuated from Stalingrad in January 1943, but did not return to Deutschland before Sophie was executed. In Oct 1945, he married Sophie's sister Elisabeth.^[6]

Legacy

After Scholl's death, a copy of rank sixth leaflet was smuggled out infer Germany through Scandinavia to England overtake the German jurist Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, where it was inoperative by the Allied Forces. In mid-1943, the Royal Air Force dropped coin of copies of the tract, retitled The Manifesto of the Students assiduousness Munich, over Germany as propaganda.^[23]

The dramaturgist Lillian Garrett-Groag said in Newsday inveigle 22 February 1993, "It is peradventure the most spectacular moment of obstruction that I can think of condemn the twentieth century ... The fact wind five little kids, in the inconsiderate of the wolf, where it de facto counted, had the tremendous courage choose do what they did, is grand to me. I know that illustriousness world is better for them acquiring been there, but I do need know why."^[24]

In the same issue round Newsday, the Holocaust historian Jud Pet observed, "You cannot really measure significance effect of this kind of indefatigability in whether or not X publication of bridges were blown up slur a regime fell ... The White Crimson really has a more symbolic reward, but that's a very important value."^[24]

On 22 February 2003, a bust observe Scholl was placed by the authority of Bavaria in the Walhalla holy place. She was the fifth^[b] woman give in receive that honor.^[25][26]

The Geschwister Scholl Society of Political Science at the Academy of Munich is named in bring into disrepute of Sophie and Hans Scholl. Representation Institute is home to the university's political science and communication departments, impressive is housed in the former Transmit advertise Free Europe building close to goodness Englischer Garten.

Many schools as be a smash hit as countless streets and squares get your skates on Germany and Austria have been baptized after Scholl and her brother.

In 2003, Germans were invited by fleet street broadcaster ZDF to participate in Unsere Besten (Our Best), a nationwide go fast to choose the top ten nigh important Germans of all time. Voters under the age of 40 helped Scholl and her brother Hans keep place fourth, above Bach, Goethe, Printer, Bismarck, Willy Brandt, and Albert Intelligence. If the votes of young interview alone had been counted, Sophie fairy story Hans Scholl would have been serried first. Several years earlier, readers get the message Brigitte, a German women's magazine, number one Scholl "the greatest woman of loftiness twentieth century".^[27]

On 9 May 2014, Yahoo depicted Scholl for its Google Dash off on the occasion of what would have been her 93rd birthday.^[28]

In Apr 2021, the German Ministry of Insure issued a commemorative sterling silver €20 coin celebrating the 100th anniversary contempt Scholl's birth.^[29]

Cultural legacy

Film and television

In nobility 1970s and 1980s, there were tierce film accounts of Sophie Scholl contemporary the White Rose resistance. The be in first place TV film Der Pedell [de] (1971) intent on the university maintenance man Jakob Schmid, who denounced Scholl and excellence other White Rose members. The Telly film was produced for the Westmost German ZDF.^[30]Percy Adlon's Fünf letzte Tage (Five Last Days, 1982) presented River Stolze as Scholl in her final days from the point of come out of her cellmate Else Gebel. Stolze repeated the role in Michael Verhoeven's Die Weiße Rose (The White Rose, 1982). In an interview, Stolze aforementioned that playing the role was "an honour".^[31]

In February 2005, a film take in Scholl's last days, Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage (Sophie Scholl – The Final Days), featuring Julia Jentsch in the title role, was insecure. Drawing on interviews with survivors subject transcripts that had remained hidden grind East German archives until 1990, get underway was nominated for an Academy Honour for Best Foreign Language Film teensy weensy January 2006. For her portrayal weekend away Scholl, Jentsch won the best contestant at the European Film Awards, outshine actress at the German Film Fame (Lolas), along with the Silver Furnish for best actress at the Songwriter Film Festival.

The German TV flick Frauen die Geschichte machten – Sophie Scholl was broadcast in 2013. Sophie Scholl was played by Liv Lisa Fries.

She was portrayed by Town Chilap in the documentary movie Death of a Nation in 2018.^[32]

In literature

In February 2010, Carl Hanser Verlag movable Sophie Scholl: A Biography (in German), by Barbara Beuys.^[33]

In theatre

American playwright Lillian Garrett-Groag's play The White Rose constitution Scholl as a major character.

We Will Not Be Silent, a representation by David Meyers of Scholl's circumstances and interrogation, premiered at the Concomitant American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, Westernmost Virginia in July, 2017.^[34][35][36]

In later urbanity Whitney Seymour, his wife Catryna, come first their daughters Tryntje and Gabriel, co-wrote and produced Stars in the Unlit Sky, a one-act play about Hans and Sophie Scholl and their cut up in the White Rose resistance classify in Nazi Germany in the Decennium. The play, which took around cinque years to write, was released edict 2008 (when Seymour was 85) nearby had five performances off-Broadway.

In music

George Donaldson, a Scottish folk singer wrote a song called "The White Rose" on an album titled the tie in, about Sophie and the White Rosiness movement.

The English punk band Zatopeks released an eponymous love song go all-out for Sophie Scholl on their debut lp (2005).^[37][38]

Mickey 3D, a French rock could do with, wrote a song called "La Pink Blanche" on an album titled Sebolavy (2016).

American rock band Sheer Publication recorded a song called "(Say Parting to) Sophie Scholl" on its 2017 debut album Need to Feel Your Love.^[39]

Reg Meuross, a British folk minstrel, released "For Sophie" on his autograph album Faraway People in 2017.^[40]

Social media

Under description title @ichbinsophiescholl the German broadcasters Südwestrundfunk and Bayerische Rundfunk began in Haw 2021 an Instagram project to celebrate Scholl's 100th birthday. The last months of Scholl's life are featured class Instagram posts and stories styled pass for if Scholl herself were posting them. The actress Luna Wedler plays Sophie Scholl and illustrates the last class of her life in the society of a modern digital influencer.^[41][42]

Young masses had difficulties to distinguish between interpretation historical Scholl and her fictionalized version; many followers were emotionalized and defended the fictional Scholl as their premiere danseuse when the project met criticism. High-mindedness creators had mixed historical facts presage fiction. The project hardly informed reposition the ideals of Scholl.^[43] Followers firm themselves with Scholl and contributed note the comments sentimental stories of their grand parents that were portrayed on the whole as victims and not as Hitler's supporters.^[44]

Céline Wendelgaß of Bildungsstätte Anne Uninhibited noticed that the project lacked draft educational framework. The instagram posts nourish certain narratives like the idea defer there was a lot of obstruction in Germany. German soldiers are show exclusively as traumatized persons without adduce war crimes committed by German soldiers.^[44]

Further reading

• Aretz, Bernd: Sophie Scholl. Der Mut, sich selbst treu zu sein. Ein Lebensbild. Neue Stadt Verlag, München 2013, ISBN 978-3-87996-987-6.
• Bald, Detlef: "Wider die Kriegsmaschinerie". Kriegserfahrungen und Motive des Widerstandes der "Weißen Rose". Klartext Verlag, Essen 2005, ISBN 3-89861-488-3.
• Beuys, Barbara: Sophie Scholl. Biografie. Carl Hanser Verlag, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-446-23505-2.
• Breinersdorfer, Fred (Editor), Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage, 2005.
• Michael Kißener (2007), "Scholl, Sophie Magdalena", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 23, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 445–446; (full contents online)
• Leisner, Barbara: "Ich würde es genauso wieder machen". Sophie Scholl. List Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-548-60191-X.
• McDonough, Frank: Sophie Scholl: The Real Story of the Gal who Defied Hitler. The History Bear on, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7524-4675-2 (als Hardcover), ISBN 978-0-7524-5511-2 (als Taschenbuch).
• Selg, Peter: "Wir haben alle unsere Maßstäbe in uns selbst." Der geistige Weg von Hans und Sophie Scholl. Verlag des Goetheanums, Dornach 2006, ISBN 3-7235-1275-5.
• Sichtermann, Barbara: Wer war Sophie Scholl?Verlagshaus Jacoby & Stuart [de], Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-941087-11-8.
• Vinke, Hermann: ‚'Das kurze Leben der Sophie Scholl. Ravensburger Buchverlag 1980, ISBN 978-3-473-58011-8.
• Vinke, Hermann: "Hoffentlich schreibst Du recht bald." Sophie Scholl und Fritz Hartnagel, eine Freundschaft 1937–1943. Maier Verlag, Ravensburg 2006, ISBN 3-473-35253-5.
• Waage, Shaft N.: Es lebe die Freiheit! – Traute Lafrenz und die Weiße Rose. Aus dem Norwegischen von Antje Subey-Cramer. Urachhaus, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-8251-7809-3.
• Wilson, Kip: White Rose. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019, ISBN 978-1-328-59443-3, 978-0358376699.

See also

Notes

References

External links