Sophie Scholl

Sophie Scholl

Sophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother, Hans. As a result, she was executed by guillotine.

About Sophie Scholl in brief

Summary Sophie SchollSophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother, Hans. As a result, she was executed by guillotine. Since the 1970s, Scholl has been extensively commemorated for herAnti-Nazi resistance work. Scholl’s life was highlighted in an article in the Catholic Herald by Jakob Knobab in 1942. She had given two volumes of Saint John Henry Newman’s sermons to her boyfriend, Fritz Hartnagel, when he was deployed to the front in eastern Germany in May 1942. This discovery shows the importance of religion in her life and highlighted an article by Saint Henry Newman in 1942 about Scholl. In the summer of 1942, four leaflets were written and distributed throughout the school and central Germany, based upon letters between Scholl and her boyfriend. The leaflets called for a toppling of the National Socialism, calling themselves the ‘White Rose’ Scholl was the daughter of liberal politician and ardent Nazi critic Robert Scholl, who was the mayor of Forchtenberg am Kocher in the Free People’s State of Württemberg at the time of her birth. In 1932, she started attending a secondary school for girls. At the age of twelve, she chose to join the Bund Deutscher Mädel, as did most of her classmates.

Her initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to criticism. She became aware of the dissenting political views of her father, friends, and some teachers. Even her own brother Hans, who once eagerly participated in the Hitler Youth program, became entirely disillusioned with the Nazi Party. In spring 1940, she graduated from secondary school, where the subject of her essay was ‘The Hand that Moved the Cradle, Moved The World’ Scholl nearly did not graduate, having lost all desire to participate in the classes which had largely become Nazi indoctrination. In May 1942, she enrolled at the university of Munich as a student of biology and philosophy. Although this group of friends eventually was known for their political views, they initially were drawn together by a shared love of art, music, literature, philosophy, and theology. Hiking in the mountains, skiing and swimming were also of importance to them, They often attended concerts, plays, and lectures together. Between 1940 and 1941, Schol’s brother, a former member of the Adolf Hitler Youth, began questioning the principles and policies of the Nazi regime. At the same time, her father was serving time in prison for having made a critical remark to an employee about Hitler. She had a talent for drawing and painting and for the first time, came into contact with a few so-called ‘degenerate’ artists.