White Rose resistance Against Hitler Early stages

Members of white rose

Granite memorial

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose

These youth had tremendous courage and were heroes as was the Mormon youth I first posted about. All were beheaded literally. They distributed 6 leaflets calling for active opposition to the Nazi regime.They were influenced by the German Youth movement. They were from the University of Munich and advocated non violent resistance. Further posts will follow.

• Christoph Probst was a member. Hans Scholl was a member of the Hitler Youth until 1937, and Sophie was a member of the Bund Deutscher Mädel. Membership of both groups was compulsory for young Germans, although many such as Willi Graf, Otl Aicher, and Heinz Brenner never joined. QUOTED FROM BELOW
  
  

This article is about the German resistance movement. For other uses, see White Rose
(disambiguation).
Also see Weiße Rose
(opera) and Sophie
Scholl – Die letzten Tage

Monument to the "Weiße Rose" in front of the Ludwig
Maximilian University of Munich
The White Rose (German: die Weiße Rose)
was a non-violent resistance group in Nazi
Germany, consisting of a number of students from the University
of Munich and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an
anonymous leaflet campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943, that
called for active opposition to German dictator Adolf Hitler's
regime.
The six core members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo and executed by beheading in 1943. The text of
their sixth leaflet was smuggled out of Germany through Scandinavia to the UK,
and in July 1943 copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes,
retitled "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."[1]
Today, the
members of the White Rose are honoured in Germany as amongst its greatest
heroes, since they opposed the Third Reich in the face of almost certain
death.

Between June 1942 and February 1943, they prepared and distributed six
leaflets, in which they called for the active opposition of the German people to
Nazi oppression and tyranny. Huber wrote the final leaflet. A draft of a seventh
leaflet, designed by Christoph Probst, was found in the possession of Hans
Scholl at the time of his arrest by the Gestapo. While Sophie Scholl hid
incriminating evidence on her person before being taken into custody, Hans did
not do the same with Probst's leaflet draft or cigarette coupons given him by
Geyer, an act that cost Christoph his life and nearly undid Geyer.
The White
Rose was influenced by the German Youth
Movement, of which Christoph Probst was a member. Hans Scholl was a member
of the Hitler Youth until 1937,
and Sophie was a member of the Bund Deutscher
Mädel. Membership of both groups was compulsory for young Germans, although
many such as Willi Graf, Otl Aicher, and Heinz
Brenner never joined. The ideas of Deutsche
Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929 (dj 1.11.) had strong influence on Hans Scholl
and his colleagues. d.j.1.11 was a youth group of the German Youth Movement,
founded by Eberhard Koebel in 1929.
Willi Graf was a member of Neudeutschland,
a Catholic
youth association, and the Grauer
Orden.

The core of the White Rose comprised students from the university in
Munich—Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans
Scholl, Alex Schmorell, Willi
Graf, Christoph Probst, Traute
Lafrenz, Katharina
Schueddekopf, Lieselotte
(Lilo) Berndl, and Falk
Harnack. Most were in their early twenties. A professor of philosophy
and musicology, Kurt
Huber, also associated with their cause. Additionally, Wilhelm
Geyer, Manfred
Eickemeyer, Josef
Soehngen, and Harald
Dohrn participated in their debates. Geyer taught Alexander Schmorell how to
make the tin templates used in the graffiti campaign. Eugen
Grimminger of Stuttgart funded their
operations. Grimminger's secretary Tilly
Hahn contributed her own funds to the cause, and acted as go-between between
Grimminger and the group in Munich. She frequently carried supplies such as
envelopes, paper, and an additional duplicating machine from Stuttgart to
Munich.
The White Rose was influenced by the German Youth Movement, of which Christoph Probst was a member. Hans Scholl was a member of the Hitler Youth until 1937, and Sophie was a member of the Bund Deutscher Mädel. Membership of both groups was compulsory for young Germans, although many such as Willi Graf, Otl Aicher, and Heinz Brenner never joined. The ideas of Deutsche Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929 (dj 1.11.) had strong influence on Hans Scholl and his colleagues. d.j.1.11 was a youth group of the German Youth Movement, founded by Eberhard Koebel in 1929. Willi Graf was a member of Neudeutschland, a Catholic youth association, and the Grauer Orden.
The group was motivated by ethical and moral considerations. They came from various religious backgrounds. Willi and Katharina were devout Catholics. The Scholls, Lilo, and Falk were just as devoutly Lutheran. Traute adhered to the concepts of anthroposophy, while Eugen Grimminger considered himself Buddhist. Christoph Probst was baptized a Catholic shortly before his execution. Earlier he had followed his father's theistic beliefs.
Some had witnessed atrocities of the war on the battlefield and against the civilian population in the East. Willi Graf saw the Warsaw and Lodz Ghettos, and could not get the images of brutality out of his mind. By February 1943, the young friends sensed the reversal of fortune that the Wehrmacht suffered at Stalingrad would eventually lead to Germany's defeat. They rejected fascism and militarism and believed in a federated Europe that adhered to principles of tolerance and justice.