Sophie Scholl, The Young Woman Who Stood Up To Hitler With A White Rose
Difficulties forge courageous people who know well what it means to fight for freedom. Today we will tell you the story of a brave young woman, Sophie Scholl. To know more about her, we need to go back to Hitler’s Germany, to the place and time when this girl decided not to be afraid, but to face her, instead of ignoring the cruel and unwarranted persecution that many innocent citizens like her were. forced to endure.
In February 1943 Sophie was beheaded at the guillotine after being accused of treason as part of a group of young anti-Nazis called “The White Rose”. Curiously, the tool devised during the French Revolution to eliminate the so-called enemies of freedom was used to end the life of one of the greatest supporters of this historical period.
The story of Sophie Scholl
“It does not matter that she dies if thanks to us thousands of people wake up and begin to act”, were the words of Sophie a few hours before she was killed. The girl was only 21 years old.
Despite the control and dissuasive measures with which the Nazi regime threatened anyone who opposed the dictatorship, small anti-Nazi groups began to form within Germany of the time that were not afraid to face, even with few resources and even less support, those who he tried to control their actions and, consequently, their minds.
They had decided that, although the regime controlled justice, education, health or the army, it would never undermine their will. They weren’t crazy, or maybe they were, but wonderful. They knew what the risk was and the price to pay if they were discovered: their own life.
In 1937, after some of her brothers and friends were illegally arrested to form the German Free Youth, Sophie realized the macabre regime that subdued them all. His vocation was clear, teaching, although he eventually enrolled at the University of Munich to study biology and philosophy.
The White Rose
Each resistance movement had a name its members identified with and Sophie joined the group called The White Rose. After attending several circles at the university ideologically akin to National Socialism, she felt attracted to this group that was not afraid to spread their message through pamphlets or graffiti.
The White Rose did not just meet to discuss intellectual issues, but, in hiding, tried to make most of Germany understand that by silence it was proving to be complicit in the barbarism committed by the party led by Hitler. It was joined by people who, despite not being the target of the Nazi party, decided to take the risk that they would not run simply by doing nothing.
Thanks to her brother Hans, who was already part of the group, Sophie began to be the spokesperson for the message of The White Rose. A very risky job, because if they had been caught with the material at their disposal, they would not have had the opportunity to escape the accusation of treason.
He defended freedom until his last breath
On February 18, 1943, Sophie decided to go up to the roof of her faculty to distribute brochures and leaflets. Nothing would have happened if one of the janitors, belonging to the Nazi group, had not seen her and immediately reported her.
Arrested and taken prisoner by the Gestapo, Sophie was placed in a cell together with a person who had the task of extracting from her the information necessary to dismantle the whole group of The White Rose. However, he not only failed to find out anything from Sophie, but was so surprised by the girl’s strength that he was finally convinced of the value of her message.
On the other hand, neither Sophie nor her other companions disclosed who the members of the group were, despite the torture they were subjected to and the attempts to benefit of sentence. Even today, the White Rose represents the symbol of freedom and several universities, streets, parks or squares bear the name of the brothers Scholl, Hans and Sophie.
