We know their story well, these students who wrote the Leaflets of the White Rose. We know their bravery, their utter courage, how they wrote death-defying words that led straight to the guillotine.
Yet we hardly know them at all. We focus so tightly on their noble deeds that we overlook who they were. We're listening so closely for those awe-inspiring retorts as the students stand before Judge Freisler that we miss the wonder of the debates that stirred them to act.
When we begin to step back to "see" them better, to grasp the whole of their work, we find that our widened lens is capturing people we don't know at all. There are new faces, new voices, new perspectives.
Before long, we realize there is so much more to "resistance" during the Shoah than just White Rose, more even than White Rose plus 20 July 1944 plus Rote Kapelle plus the Kreisauer Circle and the handful of other groups that have made their way into the literature.
Every new story we find - whether it is Helmuth Hübener and his friends, or Helle Hirsch, or the BMW leaflet writers - demonstrates how much there is still to learn about the strength of character of so many unknown heroes.
Once that camera lens pans the landscape of thousands of courageous individuals, our spirits are lifted. We understand that even in the darkest of days, there were those who stood up for justice, those who did the right thing no matter the cost.
Join us as we continue to explore Why This Matters, why voices silenced over 75 years ago still speak to us today.
And if you want to dig even deeper, check us out at www.white-rose-studies.org!
If you have questions or want to be involved, contact us via our Web site or by snail mail at 85 Hunterstown Hampton Road, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325 USA.
