Mid-May 1942.
Traute Lafrenz and Katharina Schüddekopf. Their friendship, common interests, especially Professor Kurt Huber’s classes. Parallels between their upbringing.
The importance of Katharina Schüddekopf’s friendship to Traute Lafrenz, as her relationship with Hans Scholl publicly disintegrated. Ulla Claudius.
Dr. Carl Muth’s “St. Thomas More” comment.
White Rose History, Volume II, pages 20-23.
Notes and references
Traute Lafrenz introduction of Katharina Schüddekopf to the group of friends:
Traute identified the class where she met Käthe in her 4/21/2003 letter to me.
Käthe’s home life may have been complicated by two additional factors. First, her father (Friedrich August Hermann Schüddekopf) had been born to a single-parent household, not knowing who his father was until he was 52 years old. He had been raised with his mother’s maiden name of Schüddekopf. Friedrich Heinrich Daniel Voltmer (a farmer) did not claim paternity until July 26, 1938, four years before the death of Käthe’s father. (see Marcel Ohlmeier). Second, Käthe’s father had to convert to Catholicism when he married her mother. This does not seem to have made much difference to him, as nothing in the literature speaks to his having been religious even before his marriage.
Krupp Grusonwerke, alternately written Krupp-Grusonwerk, had initially been simply Grusonwerk, with Gruson apparently the name of the family that founded that factory. It was taken over by Krupp sometime before the war. The CIA kept a watchful eye on the production of Krupp-Grusonwerk after the war.
There is no evidence that Katharina Schüddekopf met Professor Huber during his tenure at the University of Berlin. He had already returned to Munich before she enrolled in the summer semester of 1939. Also, as of May 1942, Professor Huber was not Käthe’s PhD advisor. That came later.
More about Professor Huber’s international reputation in the fields of musicology and philosophy follows in subsequent chapters.
“Forms of Cerebral Palsy.” Retrieved from www.formsofcerebralpalsy.com/diplegia.html.
Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg. “Magdeburg: Kurzgeschichte der Stadt.” Retrieved from www.khm-magdeburg.de/KleineStadtGeschichte/Kapitel10.html.
Letter dated 4/21/2003 from Traute Lafrenz to author.
Ohlmeier, Marcel. “Genealogische Daten.” Retrieved from www.ohlmeier-online.de/Genealogie/data/ deutsch/data/die_familie/ged/html/dat3.htm.
Siemers, Cary. “World War II Vehicles: Germany’s Panzerkampfwagen IV, SdKfz 161.” Retrieved from www.wwiivehicles.com/html/germany/tanks_medium/ pzkpfw_iv.html.
ZC13267, Volume 6. 3/19/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/1/1943 interrogation of Carl Lafrenz; 2/26/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz. (Publication in 2024/2025.)
ZC13267, Volume 15, part 2. 3/23/1943 interrogation of Katharina Schüddekopf; 3/24/1943 interrogation of Katharina Schüddekopf.
ZC13267, Volume 15, part 3. Agent Geith’s final report dated 4/6/1943 regarding Katharina Schüddekopf; 4/4/1943 evaluation of Katharina Schüddekopf by Gestapo in Magdeburg.
Traute Lafrenz, Katharina Schüddekopf, Hans Scholl… and Ulla Claudius:
Traute Lafrenz was very clear about Sophie’s arrival deflating her relationship with Hans Scholl.
Ulla Claudius returned to Hamburg in June 1942. But the damage had already been done.
Jens, Inge (Ed.). At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl. Translation by J. Maxwell Brownjohn. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1987.
Letter dated 4/21/2003 from Traute Lafrenz to author.
ZC13267, Volume 6. 3/19/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 3/25/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/3/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/12/1943 report filed by Agent Geith regarding Traute Lafrenz. (Publication in 2024/2025.)
ZC13267, Volume 15, part 1. 4/2/1943 interrogation of Gisela Schertling.
Dr. Carl Muth, Hans Scholl, Inge Scholl… and St. Thomas More:
Thomas More was not made patron saint of statesmen and politicians until October 31, 2000. He had been canonized in 1935.
Aicher-Scholl, Inge. “Verbindung zu Th. Haecker.” Unpublished. ND.
American Catholic, “Saint of the Day.” Retrieved from www.americancatholic.org/Features/ Saint of Day/.
Hudleston, G. Robert. “St. Thomas More.” In The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. I, Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Retrieved from www.newadvent.org/cathen/14689c.htm.
Women of Faith & Family. “Catholics and Political Responsibility.” Retrieved from www.wf-f.org/Litany-ThosMore.html.
Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 02, © 2002 Denise Elaine Heap and Exclamation! Publishers. Please contact us for permission to quote.
This podcast is a project of WHY THIS MATTERS, a newsletter of Center for White Rose Studies, that explores the reasons that voices silenced more than eighty years ago still speak to us today.
To order digital version of White Rose History, Volume II, click here. Digital version of White Rose History, Volume I is available here.
Share this post