The Martyrs of the White Rose (Holy Women & Holy Men)

Hans Scholl (right), Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst,

key members of the White Rose

February 22 - Hans and Sophie Scholl & Christoph Probst
July 13 – Professor Kurt Huber and Alexander Schmorell (St. Alexander of Munich)
October 12 - Willi Graf

Martyrs of the White Rose (d. 1943)

“We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience.”

In 1942, the citizens of Munich were astonished by a series of leaflets that circulated throughout the city. They contained a sweeping indictment of the Nazi regime and enjoined readers to work for their nation’s defeat. At a time when the merest hint of dissent was a treasonable offense, the audacity of this call to resistance threw the Gestapo into a rage.

Calling themselves "The White Rose," the authors of these leaflets were university students from Munich who had been inspired by their Christian faith and the idealism of youth to challenge the Nazi regime. At the center of the group were a brother and sister, Hans and Sophie Scholl, only twenty-four and twenty-one years old. Hans was a medical student who had served on the Russian front. Sophie studied philosophy. They were joined by friends Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Sophie’s Professor of Philosophy Kurt Huber, and a few others.

Discerning with uncommon clarity the depth of Nazi depravity, they had decided to wage a spiritual war against the system, armed with no other weapons than courage, the power of truth, and an illegal duplicating machine. By proclaiming the truth they hoped they might help break the Nazi spell and inspire others, who were experiencing doubts, to take up active resistance.

Over the course of a year or so, they managed to place 6 different leaflets around the city of Munich and beyond. Hans and Sophie were caught on February 18. Quickly convicted of treason they were sentenced to death and beheaded on February 22, 1943. Other arrests followed and while some received prison sentences, other White Rose members were eventually executed. (adapted from Blessed Among Us: Day by Day with Saintly Witnesses By Robert Ellsberg)

“Somebody, after all, had to make a start,” Sophie said. “What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did.” Hans agreed: “It’s high time that Christians made up their minds to do something. . . . What are we going to show in the way of resistance.”

Prayer:

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs of the White Rose [N.] triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 51:1-12
Psalm 116 or 116:1-8
Revelation 7:13-17
Luke 12:2-12

 

(Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 714)