June 30, 1942.
Summary:
As a researcher, I am curious not only as to why these students resisted, but also why they chose the last two weeks of June 1942 as the time to start their work.
Lilo points to the “thousand plane” bombings as motivation (I concur). Elisabeth Scholl thinks it was the execution of ten or twelve Communists in Pforzheim in Spring 1942 that motivated her siblings to do something. Anneliese Knoop-Graf says their goal was to conquer apathy and cowardice, which explains timing only if the arrival of Sophie and Christl on the scene is taken into account.
The scholar Eckard Holler reminds us to keep two things front and center: First, that the White Rose consisted of far more than just Hans, Sophie, Alex, Christl, Willi, and Professor Huber. And second, that it was not a religious movement.
Lilo tells of the difficulties in keeping their work secret. Alex refers to their leaflets as “secret mail.” When he invites her to dinner with his family, he asks her not to mention it, but rather to focus on their art classes or general matters. She realizes that Alex’s father has no idea that his son is involved in resistance.
Willi Graf attends a series of theological lectures at the end of June. He understands that there’s more to life than a career and that he must rebuild facets of his life from the ground up.
Otl Aicher’s unit gears up for battle. He chafes at the Prussian uniforms, woolen, with tailored waist, stiff collars, and silver buttons. Otl envies Russian soldiers their comfortable fatigues. Though determined not to engage in looting as his comrades do, he spies a pair of American-made rubber boots that he simply must have. He understands how war has changed his priorities.
Why This Matters:
Even as I write about the when and who and why, I realize that the students we call White Rose did not have that luxury. They worried about duplicating leaflets, typing envelopes, and making it to the post office without getting arrested. Too often, we dissect and debate the effectiveness of someone else’s work on behalf of social justice, instead of getting out there and doing something ourselves. It’s easy to be an armchair quarterback. But tough to be Tom Brady.
Have you ever been in Alex’s position, where your family would not approve of your work on behalf of social justice or civil rights, so you hide your activities from them? How did that make you feel? How did you overcome their disapproval?
And when Alex longs for liberating debate but finds only leaflets - which he does not think will work - can you identify? Talk about it in the comments!
White Rose History, Volume II, pages 88-90.
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