Freiheit! The White Rose Graphic Novel by Andrea Grosso Giponte

In this graphic novel, the story of a group of German resistors called The White Rose is portrayed.

The story opens on February 18, 1943, at the University of Munich. Hans Scholl and his younger sister, Sophie have entered a building at the university to drop off leaflets they have written and printed. The White Rose, comprised of Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans Scholl, Christoph Probst, Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell and Kurt Huber are determined not to leave Germans in peace.

Nine months earlier, in May 1942, while travelling to Munich to meet Hans, Sophie is asked for her identity papers on the train. At Hans's apartment she discovers they have a huge library of books, even ones written by a German Jew named Heinrich Heine. As they walk through the woods later on, Hans reads a passage from Gottfried Keller. Alex believes this is good for their flyers.

At a lecture by Professor Kurt Huber in June, 1942, he tells students that Fichte invites the Germans "to think, to be responsible, not to endure". He warns his class that Fichte "warns us not to be surprised by the sweetness of servitude. The danger is precisely that or not feeling the weight of oppression. Suffering the poison with a slow addiction. Almost unconsciously." After class Sophie finds  a flyer on the desk and shows her friend Marie who tells her to hide it. But Sophie is determined to show her brother Hans. The leaflet urges the German people "to work against the scourge of humankind, fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism." Sophie tells her friend, her boyfriend Fritz has asked her to marry her. When she returns to the apartment, Hans is not there but she sees a book open on his desk. The title is "The Awakening of Epimenides" by Goethe. Sophie rides her bike over to Alex's house where she finds Christoph and Hans operating a small printing press, making leaflets.

Has tells her to leave and forget what she has seen, but she reminds him the Gestapo are already watching their family. This leads Sophie to decide to join Hans and his friends in their resistance because she feels being honest is what makes a person totally free.

They discuss how to get their leaflets to other cities. Alex has issues with some of the ides in the leaflets especially those that call for sabotage. He feels only the army can rid Germany of the Nazis, but Hans feels they cannot wait. They decide to mail the leaflets. The leaflets come to the attention of the Gestapo. When Hans goes to buy two hundred stamps, he is pursued by the Gestapo but gets away. 

Then Hans and Sophie's father, Robert is reported to the Gestapo by his new secretary for making treason remarks about Hitler. At the Scholl family home in Ulm, Munster, Hans decides against writing a request for clemency. At this time Fritz visits to take Sophie out before he returns to the front in Russia. However, Sophie is unhappy over Fritz's participation in the war. 

As Hans, Alex, Willi and the others prepare to return to the Eastern Front, the are told by Professor Huber to keep in touch. Sophie is assigned to work in a munitions factory in Ulm. Meanwhile at the home of Christoph and Herta Probst in Ruhpolding in November of 1942, Christoph is urged to spend more time with his young family and to look after his wife.

Along the Ludwigstrasse in Munich, February 1943, Hans paints the word Freiheit or "Freedom" in bold white letters. The Sixth Army has lost the Battle of Stalingrad. Later Sophie tells Hans they have almost two thousand copies of the leaflet to distribute. Hans decides they will go to the university and spread the leaflets in the hallway during class. It is a decision that will have devastating consequences for all those in the White Rose.

Discussion

The dramatic story of the White Rose, a group of young German dissenters is boldly portrayed by Italian artist and graphic novelist, Andrea Grosso Giponte in this well-done graphic novel. Their story is introduced by a short note at the front of the novel which provides the backstory to the situation in Germany and the four young people whose consciences called them to action. 

The opening panels are of Sophie and Hans at the university releasing the leaflets. The story then flashes back to nine months earlier, as the White Rose begins to act on their beliefs that Hitler must be resisted, and the German people must be woken from their moral stupor and encouraged to rise up against their evil government. Done in muted earthy tones, Giponte's panels are at times extremely realistic, appearing to be like photographs, seamlessly leading the reader from one event to the next.

Giponte captures some of conflicts members of the White Rose experienced; Alex is concerned about the suggestion that armament plants and war industries be sabotaged, while Sophie worries about endangering their family especially after the arrest of their father. At first their acts of defiance are small such as printing the leaflets but they grow bolder; Sophie works slowly at the munitions factory while Hans paints the word freedom on a building. Even Christoph Probst's increasing involvement places stress on his marriage.

Although the members of the White Rose are guillotined, the graphic novel ends on a positive note, portraying the British use of their leaflets which were dropped by the millions over Germany in July, 1943. Giponte has reproduced the text of each of the six leaflets, translated into English by Arthur R. Schultz, so readers can explore the ideas in the leaflets. The leaflets are explicit in their condemnation of Hitler. From the fourth leaflet,
"Every word that comes from Hitler's mouth is a lie. When he says peace, he means war, and when he blasphemously uses the name of the Almighty, he means the power of evil, the fallen angel, Satan.  His mouth is the foul-smelling max of hell, and his might is at bottom accursed." In the fourth leaflet, the writer vows, "We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!"

A very well done, engaging graphic novel about the White Rose resistance group that will appeal to readers of all ages. Many may find themselves wanting to look up German philosophers like Johann Gottlieb Fichte and the German poet, Heinrich Heine.

Book Details:

Freiheit: The White Rose Graphic Novel by Andrea Grosso Giponte
Walden, New York:  Plough Publishing House     2021
111 pp.

White Rose by Kip Wilson

The White Rose is a historical novel about the White Rose resistance group formed by a group of medical students and a professor out of the University of Munich in the early 1940's. The group included Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, Kurt Huber, Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell and Professor Christoph Probst as well as others. After the defeat of German forces in the Battle of Stalingrad, with millions of wounded and dead, with the ongoing annihilation of Jewish citizens of Germany and other occupied countries, the destruction of the Polish aristocracy and forced labour, the White Rose group hoped to prick the consciences of their fellow Germans into rebelling. Sadly their resistance brought them only death. By 1943, it was too little too late for the German people who were completely under the control of  the Nazis. It would be two more years before the Nazi regime would be brought to its knees by the Allies.

The novel opens with a section title "The End" on February 18, 1943 with Sophie and Hans having been taken to Gestapo headquarters where they are both being interrogated by Herr Mohr. Sophie naively believes she will be able to lie her way out of this dire situation.

The story then backtracks in a section titled "Before", to 1935 where fourteen-year-old Sophie enjoys life in Ulm with her four siblings Inge, Hans, Liesl and Werner. Her family has lived in Ulm in a rented flat in a building owned by Jakob Guggenheimer who is a Jewish businessman. Sophie's aim is to become "...the most of me" and "...the best of me". Sophie dreams of being a noble person. 1935 also sees the Fuhrer decree that young Germans must complete a mandatory six months of service.

In 1937 Hans leaves for Gopping for the Reichsarbeitsdienst to complete his labour service. Signs begin appearing, on bridges, in parks and on German Jewish storefronts, indicating that Jews arse not welcome. The Scholl's home is raided by the Gestapo and Inge and Werner are arrested. So is Hans on his military base. Hundreds of teenagers throughout Germany are also arrested, accused of being involved in illegal youth group. Inge and then Werner are released, but Hans is not. Eventually Hams is acquitted in 1938.

By 1938, Sophie begins to see the changes in Nazi Germany. She is glad to leave Ulm during a summer trip.
"escape
from the once overwhelming
civilization of Ulm, now
eroding
at its very
foundation with
        soft music turned harsh
        beloved books burned
        true art marked degenerate,
all hints that a terrible future
presses close,..."

Meanwhile returning to "The End", Sophie continues to be interrogated as Robert Mohr is determined to catch Sophie and Hans.

In 1939, Hans is now in Munich studying medicine and Sophie's boyfriend Fritz is away training soldiers. Although he's enjoying university, Hans knows the Reich doesn't value the knowledge they are learning. Instead it just wants the young men for war. Because Sophie's father is doing well in his business, he moves the family to a larger home on Munsterplaz.

1940 sees the Blitzkrieg in progress as Germany marches through Luxembourg to France. Sophie attempts to get her male friends to promise not to fire their weapons, to refuse to follow the Fuhrer blindly. A letter from Hans in May reveals that German soldiers are commandeering the best homes in France, making him feel like they are thieves. In July he writes about the casaulties. At this time Sophie begins to hear rumours of disabled children being deliberated killed in vans with poison gas. She wonders,
"Yet what can anyone
do
to stop it?"
She feels ignoring this would be cowardly.

In 1941, Sophie attempts to circumvent the Reichsabeitsdienst with teacher training. Instead, she is sent to Krauchenwies labor camp, with its forced ideology lessons and constant work. In May, Sophie is energized by the sermon of Bishop August Von Galen who reminds the German people that deliberating killing is murder and punishable by death. Von Galen's sermon is circulated as leaflets, giving Sophie hope people will act. In September, Jews are ordered by Reinhard Heydrich to wear the yellow Star of David. Shortly afterwards, rumours begin about Jews from Ulm being deported out of Germany. Sophie wonders where they are being sent.Sophie and her family refuse to participate in the collection drive for the Wehrmacht. She worries and prays for her brothers to survive the war.

1942 sees Sophie finishing her labor service in Blumberg and then entering university. Possibly inspired by Bishop Von Galen, Sophie asks Fritz to help her get money and a voucher for a duplicating machine. In Munich, Sophie is both uplifted and determined to make a difference. She meets Alex a half-Russian, half German student, and Christoph and his wife Herta with two small children, Han's girlfriend Traute. Sophie is given a leaflet like Bishop Von Galen's, encouraging passive resistance. Sophie is convinced that the leaflet is the work of her brother Hans. Sophie resolves when her brother returns from the front, she will not be excluded.

Meanwhile in the present of February 19, 1943 Sophie denies knowing anything about mailing "treasonous leaflets" in Munich and other cities. But then Sophie learns that Hans has confessed and that they have evidence from their flat. This leads Sophie to admit that she and Hans did in fact spread the leaflets because
"The war for Germany
                is lost,
young lives
              sacrificed in vain..."
They wanted to inspire others to follow them.
Sophie begins to realize her situation is dire,
"There's no way
              out
of this cage."
  

Discussion

In her novel, White Rose, Wilson has crafted a  deeply moving account of the events that led to the arrest and execution of members of the White Rose resistance group in Germany in 1943. Initially Sophie Scholl believes she and Hans will survive the interrogation. Instead they are considered traitors and are dealt with harshly; sentenced to death. The tragedy of Sophie and Hans Scholl is that Sophie hoped their deaths would spark more resistance. But it proved to be too little too late. Only defeat in war would bring the down Hitler and end the mass killing. Within Germany many members of the resistance were hunted down and executed. The leaflets found their way out of Germany and into the hands of the Allies who dropped them over Germany. But by this time, the people of Germany were too afraid to confront the Nazi regime which now had complete power over all of the country. They could only wait for the Allies and Russia to overrun their country.

Wilson portrays Sophie as a young, honourable woman whose father, Vati instilled in her the ideals of  truth and justice and who was raised to be politically minded. Sophie is portrayed as a young person who sees her beloved country being destroyed from within and who longs for others to do something, for her fellow Germans to resist, but no one takes up the charge. It seems Bishop Von Galen's homily and the leaflets distributed afterwards are the impetus for Sophie taking action.

The story of the White Rose resistance group is told primarily from Sophie Scholl's perspective, in free verse. There are a few poems written in the voices of Jakob Schmid the custodian who saw Sophie and Hans with the fliers and who brought them to his superior, Roland Freisler the judge who condemns Sophie and Hans, Else Gebel a political prisoner who shared Sophie's jail cell, Robert Mohr the Gestapo investigator who interrogated Sophie. Wilson has divided events up sections titled  "Before" which relate the events that lead up to her and Hans capture at the University of Munich, "Day Zero" which is a section of poems about what happens at the university when the leaflets are released and "The End" which deal with her interrogation, sentencing and execution.

Wilson has done considerable research into White Rose and the Scholls as evidenced by her extensive list of sources, both in English and German at the back of the novel as well as primary sources in German. She also provides readers with a Glossary and a list of the people involved as well as what happened to them.

Novels like White Rose are important because they challenge young readers to consider the actions of real people like Hans and Sophie Scholl and to ask what they might have done if they had lived in this time. Sophie and Hans originally supported Hitler and were eager to join the youth groups. But they quickly became disillusioned when they saw what policies and ideas these groups were promoting.  Many of the issues that Sophie experienced are issues are similar to ones we face today; we live in an era of unprecedented propaganda and fake news, where inaccurate content can be created and spread quickly, where voices different from the accepted social/political narrative can be deplatformed and where even facts often don't hold sway.

White Rose is a well-written novel that is highly recommended. Although Sophie and Hans Scholl's deaths did not lead to the uprising she hoped, they are remembered today as one of the few voices that stood alone against the Nazi regime. And that is no small accomplishment.

For more information on the White Rose resistance group readers are directed towards these resources:

A Noble Treason: The story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Revolt Against Hitler by Richard Hanser

Sophie Scholl and the White Rose by Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn


United States Holocaust Memorial Museum


Book Details:

White Rose by Kip Wilson
New York: Versify, an imprint of  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co.     2019
358 pp.

We Will Not Be Silent by Russell Freedman

We Will Not Be Silent tells the story of the White Rose Student Resistance Movement, formed during the Second World War in Nazi Germany. This group, formed to motivate and inspire the German people to rise up against Hitler and his National Socialist (Nazi) party, was founded by Hans Scholl, his younger sister Sophie and their friend Christoph Probst.

The Scholls led a relatively idyllic life growing up in the small town of Ulm on the Danube River. Their family consisted of their parents, Robert and Magdalene and five siblings; Inge, Hans, Elizabeth, Sophie and Werner. The children loved their country with its beautiful landscapes and rich culture.

Robert Scholl was not a supporter of either the Nazi party nor of Hitler. Nor was he supportive when Hans and his other children all joined the Hitler Youth Movement. Robert saw through Hitler's promises to make Germany a great nation and knew they would destroy the country. But his children were. Although membership was first voluntary, it eventually "became mandatory for all boys and girls of proven 'Aryan' descent." Hans thrived at first in the Hitler Youth, enjoying the outdoor activities and comraderie. His leadership skills resulted in him being quickly promoted to squad leader.

In 1935, a huge Nazi Party rally was held in Nuremberg, complete with a speech by Adolf Hitler. Sixteen-year-old Hans Scholl was given the honor of carrying the flag for the Ulm Hitler Youth Contingent. However, this rally marked a turning point for Hans who returned to Ulm disillusioned by the rhetoric and indoctrination of his peers. He soon lost his position as a squad leader after being caught reading a banned book and a fight with another leader over the use of a flag one of Han's boys created for their group. Instead, he joined the Deutsche Jungendschaft (German Boys' League) or d.j.1.11 which was outlawed in 1936 when membership in the Hitler Youth became mandatory.

Soon Sophie too became disillusioned. Her path was similar to that of Hans; she was a squad leader in the Bund Deutscher Madel (League of German Girls) and was caught reading a banned book. Sophie also refused to abandon her friendships with Anneliese Wallersteiner and Luise Nathan, two Jewish classmates and close friends.

Hans, Sophie and Christoph, Munich 1942. All were later executed.

The troubles for the Scholls began in 1937 when fifteen-year-old Werner and his sisters Inge and Sophie were arrested in a crackdown by the Gestapo on dissident youth groups. Their parents were shocked that children would be arrested and also because Inge and Sophie were held for a week. Hans, who was serving his two years of compulsory military service in a German cavalry unit in Stuttgart, was also arrested, placed in solitary confinement and interrogated for five weeks. Eventually all charges were dismissed.

In 1938, as conditions in Germany continued to deteriorate and Hitler secretly prepared for all out war, Hans entered medical school. In 1940, Sophie graduated high school and attempted unsuccessfully to circumvent the mandatory six months duty with the Labor Service by working as a kindergarten teacher. Finally in 1942, Sophie joined Hans at Munich University, studying philosophy and biology. She soon joined Hans and his circle of friends which included Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst and Will Graf. Although they spent time doing typical things like reading and recommending books, they often discussed the repressive political climate in Germany and what was happening in the war. The reports of death camps, mass murder of Jewish citizens along with the disappearance of many Jewish friends and neighbours were deeply troubling.

When Roman Catholic bishop, Clemens A. Graf von Galen publicly denounced the Nazi's brutal euthanasia program, Hans was impressed. Hans and his friends decided the time had come  to take a stand. It was a decision that would prove costly to Hans, Sophie and many others but be remembered as deeply heroic.

Discussion

We Will Not Be Silent is a well written account that takes young readers through the events that led to the formation of the White Rose student resistance group, their brave acts of resistance against the Nazi regime, and finally to the capture and execution of Hans and Sophie Scholl and other group members.

Freedman does an excellent job of describing the Scholl's early years, providing insight as to how their deep love of their fatherland was one of the motivating factors in their decision to begin to passively resist the Nazi regime.At the same time, Germany's descent into tyranny is portrayed in a way that encourages younger readers to consider what life under Nazi rule must have been like.

Freedman portrays the complicated and terrible situation Germans now found themselves in after the infamous night of November 9, 1938. Known as Kristallnacht, mobs attacked Jews, breaking in to homes and shops, vandalizing and destroying them, beating and killing Jews and burning synagogues. "Many Germans were shocked by the brutality of the attacks. Some turned their faces away from the wreckage and wept. But the iron grip of the Nazi regime stifled any meaningful opposition. One newspaper ridiculed the 'softhearted squeamishness' of those who expressed sympathy for Jewish victims of the violence. Most Germans kept their opinions to themselves. 'The cowed middle classes stared at the Nazi monster like a rabbit at a snake,' wrote one German observer."

It was this Nazi monster that Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie and their student friends decided to confront. Hans felt it was "preposterous" that they were studying to heal people when the state was killing them by the thousands. And so they began creating anti-Nazi leaflets that encouraged the German people to "put up as fierce a fight as possible;" and to "Offer resistance - resistance- wherever you may be...before it is too late;" The series of leaflets also focused on calling to the German people's attention, the atrocities being committed in German occupied countries. Freedman lays out the dangers Hans, Sophie, Willi, Alex and others were courting just by this simple resistance.

We Will Not Be Silent portrays the tremendous courage Hans and Sophie Scholl and other resistance members displayed when finally caught, and interrogated by the Gestapo. Knowing she likely faced death, Sophie challenged the chief Gestapo interrogator, Robert Mohr, telling him, "I would do it all over again -- because I'm not wrong...You have the wrong worldview." As Sophie predicted, what they did, made waves. The White Rose leaflets continued after the execution of the Scholls and many others, even finding their way to London where the British reproduced them and dropped them by the thousands on German cities.

Freedman's account of the White Rose Resistance Movement is both moving and timely. Reader's can't help but be deeply touched by the innocence, integrity, courage and determination of Hans and Sophie Scholl. Their resistance was not violent, but peaceful and passive - an attempt to reveal the truth in a country overwhelmed by lies.

Like the miracle of St. Denis, who continued to preach the truth even while carrying his decapitated head, the truths Hans and Sophie Scholl were trying to tell their countrymen, continued to be told even after they too were beheaded.

We Will Not Be Silent is a must read for those studying war, resistance movements and the heroes of World War II. Russell Freedman included many black and white photographs from the era, which help younger readers place the events in proper context. There is a listing of Source Notes and an Index at the back. Well written, deeply moving and inspirational.


Resources:

From the Jewish Virtual Library: Holocaust Resistance: The White Rose - A Lesson In Dissent by Jacob G. Hornberger

From the National Catholic Register: Remembering Sophie Scholl's Witness by Jay Copp

Image Credit: https://beastproduction.eu/the-white-rose-die-weise-rose/

Book Details:

We Will Not Be Silent by Russell Freedman
New York: Clarion Books     2016
104 pp.