Chapter 13, part 4: Relentless Rain

August 14 - August 18, 1942.

Summary:

Hans Scholl forgets Josef Söhngen’s birthday. Söhngen is disappointed that he does not hear from Hans, since he has grown fond of him.

Magdalena Scholl writes Hans and asks him and Werner to submit a clemency petition from the front lines for their father. Hans’ instinctive reaction: He won’t do it.

His mother’s letter seems to send him into another downward spiral, as he pens another “psychedelic” diary entry. Hans Scholl alternates between manic highs and depressive lows, talking about suicide, spiritual abyss, destruction and deliverance, and above all, melancholy.

Willi Graf and Hans Scholl appear to have a love-hate relationship, and August 17-18, it seems as if their relationship is strained. Willi tells his diary that he feels abandoned, even though they are all together.

Hans wheedles himself back into Willi’s good graces, taking his side in a debate over tobacco products. Hans and Willi argue that cigars are better than cigarettes.

Hans Scholl heads to Gzhatsk to talk to Werner. He wants to discuss their mother’s request for a clemency petition for their father. Werner later says that Hans tells him, “Don’t take that too seriously. If it is serious, it will only last for a while. We owe it to our upbringing that we must bear this easier than others would.” Neither brother records their discussion of a clemency petition.

Like Willi Graf, Hans Scholl also is not sleeping well. He tells his diary about a nightmare he had, where he tried to cross a chasm on an iron bridge. The bridge falls vertically. He climbs down the bridge-as-ladder, descending into an abyss, where men are waiting to arrest him. He voluntarily surrenders.

Why this matters:

• Often people react to stressful situations with bravado. In the case of his father’s conviction and mother’s request for a clemency petition on Robert Scholl’s behalf, Hans Scholl initially says he will not do it. That fulfilling his mother’s request would be the equivalent of false pride.
  But we know from the non-Scholl record, that is, primary sources, that both Hans and Werner Scholl did in fact dutifully complete the paperwork for clemency petitions and filed it with the courts.
  When we are involved in a struggle for justice, we must be careful not to take bravado at face value. Sometimes a person will make strong statements, and then back down once challenged, leaving us - all riled up and inflamed - looking foolish.
  We must ensure that we KNOW the intent of our allies’ words.

• Similar to the above, yet slightly different: Accept primary sources over commentary. Always. Both Inge Scholl and her apologist Barbara Schüler made specious claims about Hans (and Sophie) Scholl’s religiosity and mentors. Those claims are almost always disproved by primary source materials.
  In this specific case, we know directly from Hans Scholl himself — as well as from Traute Lafrenz postwar — that Josef Furtmeier was far more important to Hans Scholl than White Rose “scholarship” lets on. Furtmeier was more important than Father Schwarz, Carl Muth, or Theodor Haecker.
  No matter what the topic, if there are contradictions between opinions-beliefs versus primary sources, go with the primary sources. Verify opinions against the public record.

Talk about it!

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 165-166.

Postscript for all readers: Be careful about reading too much into the dreams that Inge Scholl lets us read, whether from Hans Scholl or Sophie Scholl. The uncensored dreams are carefully curated to make it appear that her siblings were either prescient or prophetic.

If we were granted unfettered access to all documents in the Scholl Archives, not just the ones that Inge and her heirs deem acceptable for us to read, we could better judge the “quality” of these dreams.

This word of warning comes because the Scholl cult of personality tries to make a big deal of the “recorded” dreams of both Hans and Sophie. We are looking at these dreams in the context that Inge Scholl wants us to see them, not in the grand scheme of things.

Sincerely: Enjoy the dreams! They add to our understanding of these two young people. Just know that there is so much more documentation we have NOT been allowed to read. Our understanding of these dreams may change in the larger context.

Notes and references available only to paid subscribers.