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<h1 class="text-center"> Sophie Scholl </h1>
<h4 class="text-center"> "Stand up for what you believe in even if you are standing alone." </h4>
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<img class="center-block" src="http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/images/stuff_in_street_scholls_and_probst_1942.jpg">
<div class="caption"> <p id="thumbnail"> Sophie & Hans Scholl with Christoph Probst summer of 1942. </p>
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<p><b>Sophia Magdalena Scholl</b> (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.</p>
<p>She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich (LMU) with her brother Hans. As a result, they were both executed by guillotine. Since the 1970s, Scholl has been extensively commemorated for her anti-Nazi resistance work.</p>
<h2> Biography </h2>
<p> <font size="4">A</font>t the age of twelve, she joined a pseudo Nazi organisation, the League of German Girls. Initially Sophie enjoyed the activities of the group, and she was promoted to Squad Leader. However, after her initial enthusiasm over the activities of the group, Sophie became uneasy about the conflict between her conscience and the creeping Nazi ideology of the organisation. In 1935, Nuremberg laws were passed which increased the discrimination against Jews, banning them from many public places. Sophie complained when two of her young Jewish friends were barred from joining the League of German Girls. She was also reprimanded for reading from the ‘Book of Songs’ by the banned Jewish writer Heinrich Heine. Scholl indicated her rebelliousness by replying, that Heine was essential for understanding German literature. But, these incidents and the bans against Jews led to Sophie taking a much more critical attitude to the Nazi regime. She began choosing friends more carefully – people who were politically sympathetic to her viewpoint. </p>
<p> <font size="4">S</font>ophie was an avid reader and developed an interest in philosophy and theology. She developed a strong Christian faith which emphasised the basic dignity of every human being. This religious faith proved an important cornerstone of her opposition to the increasingly all-pervading Nazi ideology of German society. Sophie also developed a talent for art – drawing and painting, and she became acquainted with artistic circles which, in Nazi terms, were labelled degenerate. </p>
<p> <font size="4">I</font>n 1940, after the start of the Second World War, she graduated from her Secondary School and became a kindergarten teacher at the Frobel Institute. However, in 1941, she was conscripted into the auxiliary war service working as a nursery teacher in Blumberg. Sophie disliked the military regime of war service and started to become involved in passive resistance to the war effort. </p>
<p> <font size="4">A</font>fter six months in the National Labour Service, in May 1942, she enrolled in the University of Munich as a student of biology and philosophy. With her brother Hans, she became associated with a group of friends who shared similar artistic and cultural interests, but also developed a shared political views, which increasingly opposed the Nazi regime they lived in. She came into contact with philosophers such as Theodor Haecker, who posed questions of how individuals should behave under a dictatorship. </p>
<h2> The White Rose Movement </h2>
<p> <font size="4">T</font>he White Rose was an informal group who sought to oppose the war and Nazi regime. It was founded in early 1942 by Hans Scholl, Willia Graf and Christoph Probst. They wrote six anti-Nazi resistance leaflets and distributed them across Munich. Initially Sophie was not aware of the group, but when she found out her brother’s activities, she was keen to take part. Sophie took part in distributing leaflets and carrying messages. As a women, she was less likely to be stopped by the SS. </p>
<p id="cit-body">”Nothing is so unworthy of a nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by a clique that has yielded to base instinct…Western civilization must defend itself against fascism and offer passive resistance, before the nation’s last young man has given his blood on some battlefield.” </p>
<p id="cit-author"> - White Rose 1st Leaflet </p>
<p> <font size="4">H</font>owever, there was a strong police state which kept a high degree of surveillance on any resistance activity. After leaflets were found in the University of Munich, the local Gestapo stepped up its efforts to catch the resistors. Hans, Willi and Alex also began painting anti-Nazi slogans on buildings in Munich.</p>
<p> <font size="4">O</font>n February 18, 1943, Sophie and other members of the White Rose were arrested for distributing anti-war leaflets. They were seen by Jakob Schmidt, a local Nazi party member. Sophie and Hans were interrogated by Nazi officials and despite trying to protect each other, just four days later were sent to court. The trial was presided over by Roland Freisler, chief justice of the People’s Court of the Greater German Reich. Freisler was an ardent Nazi and with great vigour and a manic intensity, frequently roared denunciations at the accused.</p>
<p> <font size="4">N</font>o defence witnesses were called and, after a very short trial, the judge passed a guilty verdict, with a sentence of death. The sentence was to be carried out early the next morning by guillotine. Walter Roemer, the chief of the Munich district court, supervised the execution, he later described Sophie’s courage in facing her execution. He reports that Sophie’s last words were:</p>
<p id="cit-body">“How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” </p>
<p> <font size="4">T</font>he guards were impressed with the courage of the resistors, and relaxed the rules to allow Hans, Christoph and Sophie to meet before their execution. After the execution of Sophie, Hans and Christoph, the Gestapo continued their relentless investigation. Other members of the White Rose were caught and executed. Many students from the University of Hamburg were either executed or sent to concentration camps.</p>
<h3 style="margin-top:30px;">If you want to know more about the White Rose Movement and the incredible courage shown by this young german girl, please go and find more information in this <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl">Wikipedia entry.</a></h3>
<p id="signature"> Coded by <a href="https://www.freecodecamp.com/eliijahh"target="_blank">Paolo Caponeri</a></p>
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