Joel Whitney in Guernica:
For the Scholls, the three Protestant siblings behind Germany’s short-lived White Rose movement, the choice to spam their fellow Germans was an easy one. Here’s what they told readers in the Fourth Leaflet:
And do not forget the petty scoundrels in this regime; note their names, so that none will go free! They should not find it possible, having had their part in these abominable crimes, at the last minute to rally another flag and then act as if nothing had happened!
To set you at rest, we add that the addresses of the readers of the White Rose are not recorded in writing. They were picked at random from directories.
We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!They repeatedly warned Germans of the consequences of war crimes for years to come, and declared the war unwinnable. Here’s another chunklet from the First Leaflet (there were six in all, and a seventh was under way when the movement ended in arrest):
Isn’t it true that every honest German is ashamed of his government these days? Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes—crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure—reach the light of day?
Hans and Sophie Scholl were caught distributing the leaflets, and were executed (beheaded); it fell on Inge to tell her siblings’ story.
More here. [Photo shows Sophie Scholl.]