In search of military records

We frequently talk about the student-soldiers among the circle of White Rose friends. Yet we know almost nothing about their military service.

Administrative building of the military complex in Munich, 1935. Postcard photo. Public domain.

When working through the Protokolle that tend to be overlooked by most White Rose (and German resistance) scholars, I was surprised to find large chunks of Willi Graf’s military records in his clemency file. Clearly, these documents did not comprise all of his service records. His attorney used only the evaluations and statements that put Willi Graf in the best possible light for the NSDAP.

The little evidence we have of Willi Graf’s military duty greatly exceeds what we know of others’ service. Below are things we know, or think we know, but where primary source materials are missing.

Why this matters? When people talk about themselves (a lot) and block access to documents from their past, it’s likely that what they’re blocking contradicts their public story. This applies whether we’re talking about German soldiers who fought in World War II — think Günter Grass; or institutions that supported slavery before, during and after our Civil War, and now quietly remove that information from the “About” page of their Web site; or modern politicians who reinvent themselves to trend on Twitter.

It matters. Facts matter. Background matters, context matters.

Before the paywall: If you are the rare scholar with deep understanding of the Shoah and military history, who is bilingual (German and English), please contact us. This is a significant gap in scholarship regarding German resistance during the Shoah (in general) and White Rose in particular. I’d love to apply for a grant to fund this research. The military and denazification records have to be there. It’s just a matter of tracking them down.

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