In Nazi Germany, the White Rose Group gave Their Lives to Speak for Liberty
Sophie Scholl, freedom fighter martyred by the National Socialists
Article by Robin M. Itzler in The American Thinker
In Nazi Germany, the White Rose Group gave Their Lives to Speak for Liberty
Across the United States, people of all ages are organizing patriotic rallies, forming MAGA organizations, and creating conservative newsletters to keep the “America First” Trump base connected with those who share our conservative views about faith, family, and country. Most are not paid for their efforts and yet they devote hours each week to getting the word out about pending state and national legislation, woke companies’ insane actions, elected officials to contact regarding specific topics, and upcoming local issues and events.
Why do these patriotic Americans do this? Why do I do it for my weekly Trump Neighbors newsletter? The answer is “off-white rose.”
It’s humble gratitude to the group of young German Christians at the University of Munich that did the same but under life-threatening circumstances. Working secretly to avoid capture, torture, and death, the very small group known as Weisse Rose (White Rose) started distributing leaflets in 1942 decrying Nazi war crimes. Their articles talked about atrocities that many German citizens whispered about. They repeatedly begged their fellow citizens to join their non-violent resistance against the Nazi Party.
Weisse Rose primarily consisted of six people. Members were Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans, fellow students Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, and Christoph Probst, and Kurt Huber, a philosophy and musicology professor at the University of Munich.
During the one-and-a-half years they operated, Weisse Rose caused massive propaganda problems for the Nazi Party. For instance, to make it appear their network was much larger than its handful of courageous students, they distributed pamphlets and flyers as far north as Hamburg, and as far south as Vienna. The Nazis believed they were a much larger resistance group.
They worked 24/7 under unimaginable fear, as Gestapo agents could burst through the door at any second to arrest them along with family members and friends who were not involved with Weisse Rose – and perhaps did not even know the group existed.
In just one-and-a-half years, Weisse Rose published six pamphlets. In addition to working incognito when every movement might be their last, it was a laborious task. First, they had to type the pamphlet on a manual typewriter. They then had to mimeograph copies. They mailed out some issues, which meant searching through multiple phonebooks to find addresses. Rationing meant it was difficult for them to secure supplies such as paper, envelopes, and stamps. The group relied on an underground support system to obtain materials.
Once produced, came the toughest part: distributing the pamphlets without the Nazis discovering them.
That life-and-death challenge in Nazi Germany is why I say that conservatives who organize patriotic rallies, establish MAGA organizations, or write conservative newsletters pushing back at the Democrat Party’s efforts to move the United States toward Marxism are “off-white” roses. As dedicated as we are to promoting liberty, what we do pales when compared to the Weisse Rose’s struggles.
We sit in heated or air-conditioned homes comfortably clicking at keyboards to get our message out. If low on toner or paper, we take a break and leisurely drive to an office supplies store, maybe stopping for coffee or yogurt on the way. If a snail-mail or email address is needed, there’s Google or Alexa. Our iPhone is always nearby to connect us to the world.
What we don’t do is worry that someone will push down our front door because we are writing articles or organizing rallies against the Biden administration.
At least not yet.
On June 15, Attorney General Merrick Garland ominously gave an address at the Justice Department in which he said:
We will never take our eyes off the risk of another devastating attack by foreign terrorists. At the same time, we must respond to domestic terrorism with the same sense of purpose and dedication.
Who doesn’t want to stop domestic terrorists? You know, those folks who build bombs in their living room and fly planes into buildings. The problem is that many Marxist-leaning Democrats believe “America First” Republicans are domestic terrorists. By expanding the definition of “domestic terrorist,” the Biden administration could soon include many Republicans.
As Jim Hanson’s opening paragraph in “White House ‘Domestic Extremism’ Report Puts Target on Democrats’ Political Opponents” explains –
The Biden administration just released a “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.” It calls for abuses of state power to combine elements of totalitarian government with social and cultural engineering. They decided the Constitution and those pesky old individual liberties won’t stop them from making America the Wokest Place on Earth.
Republican leadership and other patriotic Americans who prize their civil liberties as guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution must:
- Loudly push back at liberal indoctrination and remind Americans that more people were killed, and more businesses were destroyed, during the 2020 months-long Black Lives Matter/Antifa violent and criminal protests in major cities than ever occurred on January 6.
- Demand that Americans arrested for the January 6 trespassing be allowed out on bail rather than forced to spend 23 of 24 hours a day in solitary confinement waiting for a trial that might never be held.
Unfortunately, many Republican “leaders” have jellyfish spines. As the first Weisse Rose essay concluded, “Do not forget that every nation deserves the government that it endures.”
Therefore, it is imperative for “America First” conservatives to use their circle of influence (whether it’s just 100 family and friends or 100,000 followers on social media) to continue organizing patriotic rallies, establishing MAGA organizations, and writing conservative newsletters. These small influencers from across the United States will collectively continue to have an essential impact and help grow large a peaceful citizenry that is empowered to disrupt, if not stop the Democrat Party’s Marxist goals.
The Gestapo arrested Sophie and Hans Scholl and other Weisse Rose members in February 1943 when someone reported seeing two members leaving pamphlets in a building. (The Nazi version of calling out extremists.) Within days, the Scholl siblings and Christoph Probst were tried before a Nazi kangaroo court. They were not allowed a formal defense. The only defense they had was Sophie’s short statement:
Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did.
The “people’s court” quickly reached a preordained sentence of “guilty.” The three young people were beheaded a few hours later. Hans, the oldest, was only 24. Seconds before Hans lost his life on the guillotine, he cried out, “Long live freedom!”
America’s “off-white roses” agree – Long live freedom!
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