October 10 - October 13, 1942.
Storybook:
Sophie Scholl goes into town, taking a short break from helping Dr. Muth store his books. She visits Josef Söhngen, who expresses his disappointment that Hans has not written him yet. Sophie defends Hans by saying that he writes very little. She tells Söhngen that her father has been granted early release — October 25 — but does not go into much detail, since she does not know Söhngen well.
Hans and Werner have not yet received the news about their father’s early release. Hans was close enough to Gzhatsk — although not at HVP Plankenhorn — to visit Werner. They spend a few enjoyable hours together.
Sunday October 11, 1942, Willi Graf knows the rare treat of attending Mass, celebrated in a storage shed that doubles as chapel. When he makes his rounds later that day, he encounters his first terminally ill patient. A Russian farmer has un untreatable carcinoma between his jaw and neck. Willi feels helpless, not knowing what to say to the man.
Willi attends another “community dance” in Sosnovka, merely observing.
Monday, the soldier students play skat all day, stopping only for rounds and supper. Willi says he always loses, and he cannot believe how enthusiastically Hubert plays. Laughter among friends!
While Hans Scholl is reading a book about the persecution of Christians, Willi chooses lighter fare. He sets Balzac aside and takes up Bjørnsterne Bjørnson’s Arne and Stifter’s Hochwald [High Country Forest]. The latter reflects Stifter’s obsession with the relationship between God, Nature, and mankind.
Hans finally hears about his father’s early release and immediately writes a letter home. He tells them he can hardly wait to see them again, and that they will be leaving in two weeks.
Wednesday, October 13, Willi surprises himself by attending an illegal dance held at a Russian farmhouse. He is the only German present - no Hubert, no Alex, no Hans. Just Willi. Initially he feels uncomfortable, since he cannot make himself understood, and no one pays attention to him.
But he is inspired with the way young people stick together. He notes in his diary that it’s forbidden for Russian youth to meet in the evening outside one’s own house, but that the next day, everyone will simply deny they were there. “Excellent!”
Why this matters:
What a person reads — or in our era, watches on TV or doomscrolls on social media — affects our outlook more than we care to admit. Once Willi Graf put down the Balzac volume with its doom and gloom and pessimistic outlook, and took up Stifter’s Austrian obsession with the beauty of nature, his mindset changed.
There’s time and place for everything. But when faced with impossible and overwhelming circumstances, often it helps if we take a step back. Read something uplifting. Play cards with friends. Go to a dance.
It’s not a matter of becoming an ostrich with our head in the sand, but rather of keeping our balance and perspective. We’re not good to anyone - much less serious causes on behalf of social justice - if we are eternally down in the dumps.
Sunshine, fresh air, and upbeat friends — those are vitamins that strengthen us beyond belief.One year to the day after the wonderful skat game with Willi losing and Hubert winning, with so much laughter between good friends, Willi Graf would be executed.
Nothing in life is guaranteed.
For what it’s worth, the visual of Willi and Hubert playing skat on the Russian front is one of my favorites. Nothing heroic about it. But without this firm foundation, they would not have had the strength to carry on.
With my canasta-playing friends, we would play twelve hours at a time. I can still hear John saying, “Don’t let Randy pick up the pall [pile]!” Lots of laughter, but serious conversation mixed in. The laughter was the glue that made the serious stuff stick.
With Willi and Hubert, it would have been, You shouldn’t have played your Jack there! or, So you won the hand, but at least it wasn’t Schneider! That camaraderie woudl carry them over into the dark days of winter, with serious conversations after Bach Chorale or over a glass of wine.
Friendsthips matter.
White Rose History, Volume II, pages 217-219.
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