July 1 - July 10, 1942.
Summary (all 2007 update):
Someone mails a leaflet to the high-ranking Nazi librarian, Dr. Halm. When questioned about this in 1943, Alex says he knows nothing about it.
Robert Mohr is assigned to the White Rose case. Despite his postwar spin that he ‘never wished to belong to the Gestapo,’ Ulrich Chaussy’s interview with Mohr’s son Willi reveals that Robert Mohr had been a committed National Socialist. His membership was effective May 1, 1933, that is, in first group after Hitler’s ascension to power.
Chaussy tracks Mohr’s rise from the ranks as regular police officer, to Police Chief, to SA Sturmführer, to Obersturmführer with the NSKK (the National Socialist Motor Corps), to the SS, to Gestapo. There is significant gap between September 30, 1941 move to the SS, and Mohr’s assumption of the White Rose case in July 1942.
Christoph Probst visits his mother in Tegernsee, as his half-brother Dieter Sasse prepares to join Reich Labor Service. Christl writes his sister Angelika a long letter, telling her of his exhaustion from “life” in Munich, of his disappointment with Heinrich Ellermann, of the emptiness of the readings of Claudel’s Satin Slipper. Christl writes Angelika that he is reading Nikolai Berdyaev’s “brochure” about the Middle Ages and is being forced to reevaluate some of his long-held notions regarding philosophy and faith.
In a paragraph that also hints at trouble in Angelika’s marriage (and likely deepening romance with Alexander Schmorell), Christl says he can find her a room in Munich. He notes that that will be nice for him, as he will get to see her more often.
In the concluding section “for serious scholars,” I look at Robert Mohr’s problematic “biography” in a little more detail, specifically as regards his quid pro quo relationship with Robert Scholl after the war.
Why This Matters:
Writing this chapter gave me a front-row seat to the ironies of that time. At almost exactly the same time that Hans Scholl was writing words that begged fellow citizens not to let the little scoundrels escape after the war by reinventing themselves, Robert Mohr was assigned to the White Rose case. If ever there was a person who reinvented himself after the war, it was Robert Mohr. I like the actor Alexander Held on a personal basis, but his portrayal of Robert Mohr as a sympathetic character did a great disservice to White Rose history. That Ulrich Chaussy was involved with that portrayal as historical consultant? I don’t even know what to say.
The same movie that portrayed Robert Mohr sympathetically, portrayed Christoph Probst as a weak, simpering coward - contrasted to an equally false portrayal of Hans Scholl as strong and virile. In real life, Christoph Probst had a backbone of steel and a heart that embraced everyone he knew. He was an unusual, and unusually strong, young man. Historical revisionism as it pertains to White Rose has robbed us of a view of true courage in dark days. - I especially value Christl’s willingness to reevaluate his opinions, to talk about hard topics, to read books outside his comfort zone.
In the comments, talk about American (or British, or Australian, or contemporary German, or YOUR country) politicians and leaders who have reinvented themselves. How does it make you feel when you become aware of new legends they create to wipe away a problematic past?
How can and should we best deal with historical revisionism as it occurs in our time?
White Rose History, Volume II, pages 105-107.
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