June 1 - June 4, 1942.
Summary:
As result of growing estrangement from Hans Scholl, Traute Lafrenz begins reading to a blind artist named Hermann Tröltsch. She decides not to introduce him to Hans, although Hermann would have been the sort of person the embryonic White Rose would have wanted. Hermann is dying.
Traute noted shortly after the war (1946) that during this time, they associated solely with like-minded people and therefore overestimated their strength.
Sophie Scholl moves into Hans’ room at Mandl Str. 1, as he moves to Traute’s old room at Lindwurm Str. 13. She doesn’t enjoy her newfound freedom as much as she’d thought she would.
Professor Huber rents a room about two miles from the university to replace the office the university had taken from him upon his demotion to adjunct professor.
June 4, 1942: “The” soiree at Gertrud Mertens’ house, featuring Sigismund von Radecki. Starts innocently enough, but when Mrs. Mertens reads a Nazi piece about “inner renewal,” the students take the conversation political. They talk aloud about resistance. We also see the expanded circle, with the larger group of friends assembled for that soiree.
We’re introduced to Heinrich Ellermann, a former teacher of Christoph Probst. His true colors - National Socialist - appeared that evening. Christl did not hesitate taking on, and besting, his old teacher.
Why This Matters:
We are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of echo chambers, silos that prevent us from listening to our neighbors. The White Rose story is a case study in that danger. Traute Lafrenz regrets that they did not listen to fellow students better. They still would have resisted, but their resistance would have been more effective.
Never underestimate the power of thoughtful students who take principled and strong stances against injustice.
What is your take-away?
White Rose History, Volume II, pages 45-48.
Notes and references
Traute Lafrenz - Hermann Tröltsch, “like-minded” friends:
It is not known whether Hermann Tröltsch was related to the Lutheran theologian (friend of the Harnacks) Ernst Tröltsch.
Lafrenz, Traute. “Bericht.” Letter to Inge Scholl, dated February 21, 1946. Unpublished.
ZC13267 Vol. 6. 3/25/43 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/1/43 interrogation of Carl Lafrenz. (Publication 2024/2025.)
Sophie Scholl’s move to Mandl Str. 1:
No information available regarding Traute Lafrenz’s new address or why she moved.
ZC13267, Volume 1, part 1. 2/20/43 interrogation of Maria Lösch.
ZC13267, Volume 1, part 2. 2/21/43 indictment of Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst.
ZC13267, Volume 3. 2/18/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl; 2/19/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl; 2/20/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl.
Kurt Huber’s rented room at Theresienstr. 93:
NJ1704, Volume 7. 3/10/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber.
The June 4, 1942 soiree at Gertrud Mertens’ house:
Most extant White Rose literature dates this soiree as the evening of June 3, 1942. However, the only primary source that cites an exact date is Sophie Scholl’s June 6, 1942 letter to her family, when she clearly identifies the event as having taken place “night before last,” which was June 4.
There is also little information available about “Frau Dr. Mertens.” The only information I found was in Knoop-Graf/Jens, Willi Graf’s letters. Jens wrote that this was Gertrud Mertens, a pianist and singer. Her husband was Dr. Viktor Emmanuel Mertens, medical professor and editor of the Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift, a medical journal.
That would also mean that Mrs. Mertens was not herself a professor, but was simply married to one. Jens claims that Mrs. Mertens was close to Dr. Muth and Theodor Haecker, and that her husband was anti-Hitler. Independent (albeit brief) research into Dr. Viktor Mertens could not confirm that statement, and I find it highly unlikely that someone known to oppose National Socialism could have been the editor – during the Third Reich – of a prestigious medical weekly.
In addition, most White Rose literature attributes the evening’s coordination to Otmar Hammerstein. Initially, I did as well. However, if Otmar Hammerstein had been the organizer, Willi Graf almost certainly would have been invited, as their paths had already crossed in the Bach Chorale. By June 4, 1942, both Otmar and Wolf Jaeger were friends of Willi. Both Otmar and Wolf were at the soiree. Since Willi does not mention it in his diary – not even as a declined invitation or something he had been left out of – it is unlikely that Otmar Hammerstein was as involved as originally believed.
Therefore I have gone with the accounts given by Sophie Scholl (the 6/6/42 letter above) and Wolf Jaeger (Wolfgang Jaeger, “Persönliche Erinnerungen an Kurt Huber”), where Hans Scholl is given credit for the invitations.
Finally, it appears that Alexander Schmorell was not at this soiree. His name was not mentioned in any of the accounts. Christoph Probst had the spotlight that night.
“Technical” note: June 3, 1942 date and Otmar Hammerstein information were based on Christian Petry, Studenten aufs Schafott: Die Weiβe Rose und ihr Scheitern. I do not fault Petry for the apparently incorrect information, as he was working without much of the documentation we now have available.
May 29, 1999 letter from Hubert Furtwängler to G.J. Wittenstein, forwarded to author by GJW on June 9, 1999.
Hermann Lietz Schulen. Eine Leitidee für alle Schulformen. Retrieved from www.lietz-schulen.de.
Jaeger, Wolfgang. “Persönliche Erinnerungen an Kurt Huber.” Unpublished. ND.
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.
Knoop-Graf, Anneliese and Jens, Inge (Eds.). Willi Graf: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1994.
Petry, Christian. Studenten aufs Schafott: Die Weiβe Rose und ihr Scheitern. Munich:, 1968.
NJ1704, Volume 1, part 1. 4/8/1943 indictment.
NJ1704, Volume 7. 3/4/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber; 2/27/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber;
NJ1704, Volume 9. 3/11/1943 interrogation of Alexander Schmorell.
ZC13267, Volume 15, part 2. 3/23/43 interrogation of Katharina Schüddekopf.
Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 04, © 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.
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Chapter 4, part 1: Dialogue