THE WHITE ROSE
The white Rose resistance fighters are the definition of a group of people who made a difference. They put there life on the line to spread the message that Hitler was not the right guy in Germany. They knew they would be killed if they were caught and in the end they were executed by the SS.
The White Rose is a group that started with only three people. Those three were the founders of the white rose and they were Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probast. These were three kids who all agreed that they had to do something about Hitler. They wanted to show and tell people that Hitler was not doing the right things and was killing many people. They made there group grow but the age still stayed the same of there members teenagers or low to mid 20 year olds no one above that. They wanted to go for this group of people so that they could get the kids who haven’t heard much about Hitler or who don’t believe everything about Hitler is good. After the scholls told there parents about what they were planning on doing there parents agreed with it. Some may say that there parents were the ones who got them into the idea and this plan as well. The parents agreed with their actions because they thought that Hitler was taking Germany down the road of destruction.
They got there message through in one way and this was the mass production of there leaflets. They started by just handing them out to some random people on the streets and people they knew. They knew they had to be very secretive of this because the Gestapo was trying to get rid of any message about Hitler and how he should be over thrown. They did that for a while until they suddenly appeared at the University of Munich. The leaflet contained an anonymous essay that talked about how Germany has taken over and know started killing its own people and that you have to group together to over the our tyranny government. It also said how the Nazi government turned evil and at the bottom they said make as many copies as you can of this leaflet and pass them out to everyone you know and continue this and join us. They surfaced all of there leaflets between 1942 and 1943 and they started showing up in bulk later in that time period. Soon on many leaflets were being handed out and being mailed to all the students and also they started being mass produced and passed out at the University of Hamburg. The Gestapo was very angry because it usually caught and destroyed the stuff before it was told to many of people but they did not get this one. It surfaced and impacted many students at both universities. They didn’t pass out just leaflets either there were many people who wanted to show everyone what they thought about Hitler and this was shown by graffiti on the streets. On the walls of the streets many wrote the message “Down with Hitler! The Mass Murderer Freedom…Freedom …Freedom.” Again it was the first major message to go against Hitler that was actually successful.
The white Rose put there lives on the line because of one thing and that was not to let the people fall under control of Hitler. They disagreed with all of his ways and his slick propaganda as well. They wanted to teach people that there could be a different way of government if they were put together. They went out to make sure that the younger generations new what to do and how they could pass the word and try to get something done. They wanted a change of government and other things to start and they thought that there message could do that. The other thing was to show people that if they talked and stood up for themselves the voice would be heard by the government and things may change and others could follow.
There luck soon ran out after they started. They got many copies of the leaflets out and they did very good with tricking the Gestapo. The Gestapo knew that they had to use a lot of paper a duplicating machine, and envelopes. They still couldn’t find Sophie, Hans or Christoph. The Gestapo was very Frustrated that they couldn’t stop the leaflets from coming out but then was the day that the White rose got a little slip up. While dropping off a large number of leaflets the two of the three founders of the white rose were arrested. Hans and Sophie Scholl were stopped at the University of Hamburg by Gestapo officers. They then investigated more into the operation and saw that Christoph Probast was part of it. The officers that arrested them then subjected them to execution on February 22, 1943. The officers that took them into custody and also were about to execute them were so impressed with there bravery and what they did and how they produced everything and got it out there for a while before being caught. Also none of them cried, screamed, or begged for mercy before they were executed.
The White Rose Resistance Movement was a very brave fight for the three founders. They knew they would face death if they did get caught. With knowing that would happen they still tried to do what they could. They were the first uprising against Hitler so that was a big accomplishment and it also got the message to a couple million students at both the University of Hamburg and the University of Munich. They started by just doing it with there friends and then made it big with the printing press and many other people passed them out as well. They did it also when the Gestapo was all over things going against the Nazi Regime. Just because of that they made a difference and changed many people’s views of Hitler.
I believe that the white rose is one of the most influencing resistance groups I have ever been a part of. They put there life on there line to do something they knew wouldn’t change something right away but would work later on in life. They started there process and got it to be the only major thing against Hitler to rise to the surface. They showed people that it is okay to be against there theory and show it. It was the first time that people did that in Germany and helped other people get angry at the government and the Nazi Regime. They also might have saved many people because if everyone agreed with Hitler it could have been worse then it came out to be even though it is an awful outcome. That is why I believe that the White Rose made a difference in the war and how it fought Hitler’s rules and was the only group to do so.
