Born on May 9, 1921, in Forchtenburg, Germany. She was the 4th of 6 children. Her father, Robert was the mayor of Forchtenburg am Kocher, in Baden-Württemberg. Sophie's childhood was relatively peaceful and carefree. But this wasn't too last, Hitler came to power in 1933 and quickly gained an iron grip on German affairs. These slow steady changes didn't affect Sophie at first, but her father and brothers were vehemently critical of Hitler's regime, this would have a resolute impact on the young Sophie.
At the age of 12, Sophie joined a pseudo-Nazi organization, The League of German Girls. At first, Sophie enjoyed the groups activities and she was eventually promoted to Squad Leader. Despite her initial enthusiasm, Sophie became increasingly weary of the Nazi ideology seeping into the group and the resulting conflict with her own conscience. The Nuremburg Laws were passed in 1935, which further increased persecution of Jews, banning them from most public spaces. Sophie was upset when two of her Jewish friends weren't allowed to join the League of German Girls and she was scolded for reading the Book of Songs by the banned Jewish writer, Heinrich Heine. She rebelled by saying that reading Heine was critical to understanding German literature. These incidents and increased anti-Jewish legislation, lead to Sophie taking on a much more critical stance of the Nazi regime.
in 1937, her brothers and some of her friends were arrested for participating in the German Youth Movement. The incident had a huge impact on Sophie and was one of the events that solidified her resolution against Nazi ideology. Another key event in Sophie's life occurred in 1942, when her father was imprisoned for insulting Hitler, he had called Hitler "God's Scourge". Sophie's boyfriend, Fritz Hartnagel fought on the Eastern front and sent letters back to Sophie, detailing the horrors of war including the failed siege of Stalingrad and various war crimes perpetrated by the German army and Gestapo.
Sophie was an avid reader and formed an interest in philosophy and theology, she also further embraced her Christian faith, which emphasized the dignity of all humans. Sophie's faith became a key element of her resistance towards the pervading Nazi ideology. She also had a knack for art-- drawing and painting especially and was introduced to art circles which were labelled by the Nazi's as "degenerate". In 1940, after WW2 had started, Sophie graduated from high school and became a kindergarten teacher at the Frobel Institute. But in 1941, she was conscripted into the auxiliary army as a nursery teacher, in Blumberg. Taking an automatic dislike to the regimen of military service, she resolved to begin a passive resistance to the war effort.
In May 1942, after 6 months in the National Labour Service, Sophie enrolled at the University of Munich, where she studied biology and philosophy. Along with her brother, Hans, she became part of a circle of friends who shared mutual interest in art, culture and politics, which came into opposition of the increasing power of the Nazi party. The group became known as the White Rose Movement, they were an underground organization, who wanted to oppose the war and the Nazi regime. The group was formed in early 1942 by Hans, Willia Graf and Christoph Probst. They wrote 6 anti-Nazi resistance leaflets and distributed them around Munich. Sophie wasn't aware of the group at first but Hans introduced her to them and she expressed her interest, as soon as she discovered their activities. She delivered messages and scattered leaflets, as a woman she would've been less of a target for the SS (secret police), which patrolled the streets constantly, closely monitoring any suspected resistance activities.
On February 18, 1943, Sophie, Hans & Christoph were arrested for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets. Sophie and Hans were interrogated and despite maintaining defenses of one another, were sent to court 4 days later. The trial was overseen by Roland Friesler, chief justice of the People's Court of the Greater German Reich. He was a devoted Nazi and repeatedly shouted damnation at the accused. No defense witnesses were called and after a very short trial, the accused were declared guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence was set to be carried out the next morning by guillotine. Impressed by the prisoners courage, the guards relaxed the rules and allowed Sophie, Hans and Christoph to meet before their executions.
Walter Roemer, chief of the Munich district court, who supervised the execution later described Sophie's bravery at the execution. According to Roemer, Sophie Scholl's last words were: "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?".
After the deaths of Sophie, Hans and Christoph, the Gestapo continued their ruthless hunt. Other members of the White Rose were captured and executed. Many students from the University of Munich were either killed or sent to concentration camps.
On February 22, 2003, a bust of Sophie Scholl was unveiled by the government of Bavaria in Germany, in the Walhalla Temple. In 2005, a movie about Sophie's last days was released called, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days.
https://www.biographyonline.net/women/sophie-scholl.html
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