October 2 - October 4, 1942.
Storybook:
Willi Graf and Hubert Furtwängler say their goodbyes to people on the front lines. They enjoy the “stroll” through birch forests back to their home at HVP Plankenhorn.
The reunion with Alexander Schmorell delights the two soldier students. They are happy to catch up on Schurik’s news. Alex also leads them on an exhibition into town, serving as interpreter as they visit Russian friends in their homes. Willi notes that Alex cannot be distracted, so he does not understand much of the conversation. But he is touched by the magnificent people Alex brings into their lives. They even drink real milk at “the milkman’s” home!
The scene in the humble dwelling, Alex talking a hundred miles an hour in Russian, Willi (and possibly Hubert) struggling to keep up, trying to get their interpreter to catch his breath once in a while – it is so refreshingly natural in the middle of an unnatural war.
That evening, the friends drink “a little alcohol,” singing songs and swapping stories. Willi enjoys the feeling of being among real friends.
Hans Scholl now faces the same isolation on the front lines that Hubert and Willi had just left. He takes the cholera vaccine to a unit even closer to the front. He dislikes the task, until he’s out in the sunny autumn day. He understands he will be homesick for Russia when he is back in Germany.
Sophie Scholl picks apples from the Hirzels’ garden, chattering with Susanne about Dr. Muth, Alex, and Professor Huber’s Leibniz lectures. Susanne sees the old Sophie, the Sophie she loves, the person brimming with positive energy.
But when Susanne’s brother Hans tells her about White Rose leaflets, Susanne immediately knows who is behind them. The news troubles her. She warns her younger brother that he should not get involved with the Scholls’ work.
Sophie and Elisabeth Scholl arrive in Munich with the precious apples. They are unprepared for the devastation of Carl Muth’s home. They must tackle rubble in order to clear his space. The two women haul heavy loads of books from second-floor bookshelves down to Muth’s cellar. He also asks them to store Werner Bergengruen’s manuscripts in his automobile, which is up on blocks in his garage to prevent Nazis from taking it.
Elisabeth returns home after a few days, as she is using her entire vacation to help Dr. Muth. Sophie stays a full ten days, doing what she can to assist Carl Muth in restoring order to his home.
Why this matters:
Sophie Scholl is a complex human being. She can go from being upbeat, positive, chattering about happy things, to gloom and doom. Almost turning on a dime.
When we write our histories - whether White Rose, Civil War, American Revolution, British monarchy, or Black history in the US - we must take care to let our heroes (and villains) be human. No one is one- or two-dimensional. If we let them be who they were, not who we wish for them to have been, we can better understand their era and their deeds.
White Rose History, Volume II, pages 208-210.
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