Strong women

I can understand why origins of White Rose legend remained firmly masculine. But why is that legend being perpetuated, sometimes even by women?

Mary Robinson, seventh president of Ireland. Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 mei, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons.

The past ten days, I’ve been happily ensconced in a small Bavarian town. This is the place where our White Rose research began – with that fateful and wonderful call with Dr. Erich Schmorell, who loved Bad Heilbrunn as much as I do.

This time around, Bad Heilbrunn itself was and is the focus. Although I will be engaged in plenty of White Rose work, I’m enjoying life as a local. Whether cheering on the Tölzer Löwen (ice hockey team), teasing Mona at the Rewe as I get my afternoon cake and coffee, or chatting with people I care about, it is good to be in this second hometown, in a place where – yes – things change, but so much stays the same.

I’ve especially appreciated the strong women who surround me in this place. A strong woman runs Hotel Kilian where I’m staying. For a long time, I was frustrated when people would tell me I was strong. After my husband’s death, I needed time to be weak. Now that I have recovered from my grief, no one is going to tell me it’s wrong to be strong now!

Or the woman who operates Waldrast, a combination pub and inn. I would not mess with her! She is plainspoken, runs a tight ship, and makes customers feel at home. Same with the “immigrant” who keeps Park Villa going with her boundless energy and smiles for everyone who comes through those doors. Elvis cooks up the amazing food that fuses Croatian and Bavarian, but Marijana keeps people coming back. Park Villa went from being a “don’t go there” to everyone’s favorite place for celebrations and gourmet dining. As with Waldrast, there’s a sense you’re not a customer, but a friend.

These strong women are mentoring strong young women, Lena and Sarah and more. Fear is not in their vocabulary. They believe they can do anything. And they can.

Why should you care about the strong women of Bad Heilbrunn in Oberbayern? Why do they matter, at least in the context of this Substack?

Because although strong women may have operated in the background in recent history, they have long been part of the warp and woof of German life. What am I saying? Of American, of global life. Women like Angela Merkel and Mary Robinson have been rare, that is, women who are strong and publicly lead instead of ‘supporting their man’ in either private or public sphere.

This has resulted in women left out of history books. Too often, women’s accomplishments have been attributed to male colleagues or associates, sometimes upon the insistence of the male colleague, other times because journalists and historians have refused to give proper credit, even when known.

If you want a clear example of this principle, look no further than White Rose scholarship. Except for Sophie Scholl, women of the White Rose are largely ignored. Even the ‘Sophie story’ is mangled beyond recognition. She has become the token woman elevated to heroine status, halo firmly intact, on a pedestal six feet tall, demurely coiffed, willing helper to all those young men. Sophie may be treated as a heroine, but her story is never told.

Without the women of the White Rose, there never would have been White Rose resistance. Hans Scholl, Alex Schmorell, and Christoph Probst would have continued to cry into their ersatz-beer about German atrocities. Willi Graf never would have hooked up with them, but would have sought out more serious resistance efforts. Kurt Huber would have continued talking to his good buddy and top Nazi Karl Alexander von Müller about his issue with the Final Solution (get “the Jews” out of Germany, but don’t kill them). Who knows? He could have even succeeded in getting his much-desired face-to-face with Adolf Hitler. And Eugen Grimminger would have given his money to efforts to spirit Jewish neighbors out of the country, an effort he had already been involved with.

Once Sophie, and Traute, and Käthe, and Lilli, and Lilo, and Tilly, and Susanne, and Regine joined the circle of friends, words finally became action.

I attribute the strongest kick in the pants to Traute Lafrenz. She had come out of an environment in Hamburg where words did not suffice, where resistance was taking active forms. She and her friends in Hamburg had distributed “leaflets” – Thomas Mann’s Responsa to the office of the dean in Bonn as his honorary doctorate was rescinded. Her friend Heinz Kucharsky, as he denounced her to the Gestapo, outlined Traute’s treasonous activities. For more information, read here. These seven accusations, all of which would have culminated in her death had it not been for the American liberation of the prison (concentration camp) in Bayreuth where she was held – all seven accusations were for actions prior to her transfer to the university in Munich.

In other words, Traute arrived in Munich, ready to continue her resistance efforts.

Sophie too was tired of the inaction of ‘the guys’ and noted same in her diaries and letters. She hated the incessant talk that never produced confrontation with evil.

Traute brought Käthe into the group, a scholar who understood how Nazi propaganda worked, as she had served as translator for the Nazi propaganda ministry in Berlin (effort to appease her Nazi father). Käthe provided the group’s most direct connection to Kurt Huber, her Doktorvater. [Please someone, do a full biography of Käthe!]

Lilo connected the White Rose friends to the Harnacks, who were much better organized and effective. Had it not been for the arrest and quick execution of Arvid Harnack and his circle, White Rose could have linked with resistance that got things done.

Tilly was the can-do righthand assistant for Eugen Grimminger, yet not in his shadow. Without Tilly, there would have been far fewer leaflets distributed. Without her brazen courage, White Rose friends would have been buying bits and pieces of stationery and likely would have been arrested sooner. Without Tilly, Grimminger would have been executed along with Kurt Huber. No surprise that Eugen Grimminger stated postwar that women made the best antifascists.

And Lilli, and Susanne, and Regine…

I sort of understand why White Rose has long been presented as a resistance effort driven by young men. The era in which Inge Scholl crafted her initial White Rose story – geared as much towards reinvention of her own life from 1933-1945 as anything else – was male-controlled to the extreme. Women could not have bank accounts or credit cards in their own name. Women were Mrs. [Husband’s Name]. In some countries, women could not even vote until the mid-1970s – hi, Switzerland!

But we do not live in that era. We have moved on. Women establish and run businesses. Women can be Chancellor of Germany. Women helm major universities. Women direct major film features. Women conduct orchestras. Women work in the US Senate and House, although for some reason, the presidency still seems to be out of reach.

Women do all these things, successfully – and yes, unsuccessfully. Women can fail at ventures every bit as good as their male counterparts. But women no longer hide behind male pseudonyms. No longer must women have a man fronting their business ventures. And as difficult as it may be to believe in the USA in 2024, women can be president, chancellor, prime minister, and serve equally as well (or poorly) as men.

So yes, I can understand why origins of White Rose legend remained firmly masculine. But why is that legend being perpetuated, sometimes even by women?

Please read this not as a call to elevate women of the White Rose above their male friends. Rather, this is a call to see the women of the White Rose circle as equals among equals. To recognize the vastness of their contribution. And above all, to remember them as the heroes they were, and who should be remembered with the same awe currently granted only to the young male soldier students.

Not just every March during Women’s History Month. But 365/24/7. Any other remembrance is fatally flawed.

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© 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. Please contact us for permission to quote. To pre-order digital version of White Rose History, Volume II, click here. Pre-publication price is $48; after April 30, price will increase to $54. Digital version of White Rose History, Volume I, is already available here.

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