July 5 - July 10, 1942.
Summary:
Although the four friends - Hans, Sophie, Alex, and Christl - need help with production and distribution of the leaflets, the issue of trust keeps their circle small. Traute is excluded because of a rupture in her relationship with Hans Scholl. Raimund Samüller does not trust Hans, because of his reckless behavior at the ski trip over New Year’s December 1941 to January 1942. Hubert Furtwängler’s fiancée Margaret Knittel is expecting their first child. They could not marry because Margaret is a British citizen. Hubert is very protective of his new family.
Some who could help do not trust Hans Scholl, while the friends do not know whom they can trust. A former pal Jürgen Wittenstein is now off limits. His membership in the Nazi Party makes him untrustworthy, so they avoid him.
Traute gives Hans a quote from Ecclesiastes that she thinks he’ll like. He keeps “quotables” in a little notebook.
Hans tries a new strategy - for the first time that we know of - by handing a leaflet to someone, instead of mailing it. When he bumps into Katharina Schüddekopf on campus, he gives her a copy of the third leaflet. As she starts to read it, he tells her she should not read it in university corridors. She takes it home. After reading it, she puts it with other “keepsake” documents.
The student soldiers are notified that they must do their “Famulatur” or clinical rotation on the front lines. They are tested for fitness for the tropics, which suggests Africa.
Willi Graf renews his efforts to convince his sister Anneliese to join him in Munich in December. He combats his loneliness as best as he can, filling his time with fencing, concerts, and visiting friends at the Siegfried Strasse. He longs for meaningful conversation.
Willi accepts an invitation to a reading at Manfred Eickemeyer’s studio on July 10. Theodor Haecker reads aloud from his work, “Der Christ und die Geschichte,” or The Christian and History. It’s heavy on theology.
While Willi Graf and Hans Scholl enjoy Haecker’s emphasis on Catholic doctrine, Haecker’s words do not sit well with everyone. Especially once Haecker equates “the Christian” as someone of the Catholic faith, and his belief that the Catholic Church alone has the authority to decide what a person’s moral obligation is.
Traute Lafrenz does not enjoy such contemplations and begins reading anthroposophic works with a group of medical students. Without Hans Scholl in attendance.
The theological nature of some of these readings does not have universal appeal among this group of friends.
Why This Matters:
When working together for a common goal — whether political, social, or business — maintaining trust is crucial for success. Once lost, it is hard to regain. Raimund Samüller’s story begins in White Rose History, Volume I, and continues past the Russian Front experience in July 1942. Traute Lafrenz confirmed postwar that Raimund’s instincts were right.
Unless your common goal and activity is religious in nature, it’s advisable to leave religion out of the equation. There is little on the earth that divides and angers to the extent that religion does. It was one of the factors that eventually caused White Rose resistance to fail. Traute was merely the first to seek emotional and intellectual support outside the circle of friends. She was not the last. Follow this thread.
Have you been involved in a cause - save the whales, soup kitchen, political campaign for mayor - where someone introduced religion into the mix? How did it impact your work? Positively, negatively?
White Rose History, Volume II, pages 98-102.
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