The Book Of Yesterday | February 22
German activist brothers Hans and Sophia Scholl were hanged
February 22, 1943
If there has ever been a most popular picture of activism and fighting against the abusive and oppressive regime of Adolf Hitler, it was the German student activists Hans Fritz and Sophia Magdalena Scholl. Today is 78 years since the brothers, along with another White Rose movement activist Christoph Ananda Probst, became martyrs in their struggles.
On February 18, 1943, at the same time as Joseph Goebbels' "Total War" speech, the Scholl brothers circulated a series of pamphlets denouncing the Nazi government throughout the campus of Ludwig Maximilianus University in Munich, Germany, a university janitor who accused them of the Gestapo. The Gestapo arrested the brothers, but despite intense interrogation of the brothers, they denied the allegations against them. Other White Rose members Christoph Probst, Wilhelm Graf, Alexander Schmorell and professor Kurt Huber were also arrested in the following days. The brothers also confessed to their actions, but they refused to reveal their accomplices to the Gestapo.
On February 22, Hans and Sophia Scholl along with Christoph Probst were indicted in the Volksgerichtshof or "People's Court" moro-moro trial, in which Roland Freisler presided. They were charged with treason, military morale and collusion with German enemies, but despite Freisler's humiliating and brutal remarks to the youth, they upheld their principles and their struggle against the abusive regime. . Robert Scholl, the father of sisters Hans and Sophia, came to trial to defend his children, but they were dismissed. Three of their cases were still convicted and sentenced to death. The three were immediately sentenced to death, but Scholl and Probst were allowed to see their loved ones for the last time.
Before she died, Sophia Scholl is said to have left the words, "How can we expect righteousness to prevail if no one is willing to dedicate himself to a just cause? I am leaving for a good day, but the important thing is to my death, thousands of people will wake up and stand up ". At around 5 pm, a few hours after being sentenced to death, Sophia, age 21, and Hans, age 24, and Probst, age 23, were beheaded with a guillotine at the Stadelheim Prison in Munich, Germany. Alexander Schmorell and Kurt Huber in July, and Willi Graf in October of the same year.
From June 1942 to February 1943, the White Rose movement published six pamphlets condemning Hitler's abusive and brutal regime, and the futile waste of life in the fight against the abominable "Total War" policy. ". And thanks to the generosity of a German diplomat Helmut von Moltke, the movement's sixth pamphlet was smuggled into Scandinavia and thousands of copies were delivered from the air throughout Germany from the United Kingdom, entitled "Manifest der Münchner Students ". It was only after the war that the true identity, story and bitter fate of those young people were revealed to the public.
Seventy-eight years ago, three German youths, who by words stood up and fought against the dictatorship and excesses of the Nazi regime in Germany, became martyrs at an early age because of their struggles. Decades after their execution, it is still a challenge in our society to uphold and uphold the beliefs of others and deviate from the beliefs that many people follow.
In this day and age when those in power and their blind fanatics take a stand for what is right, it takes sufficient courage and sacrifice to maintain the light of darkness, justice in wickedness and immorality, and honor and dignity to blind fanaticism and false beliefs. Even though they did not see with their own eyes the liberation of their country from Hitler's regime, the spirit of White Rose members continues to evolve in youth-led activism all over the world, including the Philippines. I hope that today's youth will also emulate the example set by the Scholl brothers and young members of the White Rose, that through their abilities they can do useful, just, humane and dignified work that will not only improve in society but for the world we will leave behind.