White Rose Histories

August 6 - August 7, 1942.

Summary:

Hans Scholl’s younger brother Werner appears at HVP Plankenhorn. He is assigned to the TVP near Ržev, which is very close to the worst of the fighting.

Werner takes Hans out for a late-night stroll. He introduces him to Russian farmers. They drink vodka and sing Russian songs “as if we were in the middle of peacetime.”

The Russian military breaks through German defenses in two places near the TVP where Werner is assigned and HVP Plankenhorn. Hans Scholl is frustrated that the Russians cannot exploit their advantage. It is almost as if he is cheering them on.

Alois Mauer, Willi’s old friend from Gray Order days in Saarbrücken, shows up out of the blue. Ali and Willi sit up late talking. Ali tells Willi about conditions on the front line, while Willi fills Ali in about life in Munich. As Ali leaves, Willi realizes that goodbye is no longer auf Wiedersehen, till we meet again. Now goodbye has the potential of permanence.

Why this matters:

* Those we deem as “enemy” can change. Hans Scholl and others of his generation had been raised to believe that Russians were the enemy, that Germany’s survival depended on defeating the Bolshevist threat. As he and his friends understood more and more about atrocities committed in the name of the German nation, they ceased seeing Russians as the enemy. Rather, fascists in their own country had to be defeated if Germany were to survive. It’s particularly difficult when things are gray, when the lines are less clearly drawn.

Talk about it! This is a public post, and comment section is open.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 154-155.

Notes and references

Willi Graf’s tales of seeing Ali were preserved in letters to Günther Schmich, a so-called “half-Jewish” Catholic priest whom Willi regarded with utmost respect.

Remember the Mauer family name. The Mauer brothers were critical to Willi’s considerations regarding resistance. They were his most trusted sounding boards. You will see them over and over in the chapters to come.

The Smolensk-Moscow highway through Vyaz’ma still exists. It is now the E30. Smolensk is the gateway to Russia, just inside the border from Belarus. The E30 starts at Frankfurt a.d. Oder in former East Germany on the Polish border. From there it goes to Poznań (then Posen), also in Poland. It cuts between Łódź and Warsaw - to the north of Łódź and to the south of Warsaw. From there, it goes to Brest in Belarus, on the border with Poland. It then angles sharply north-northeast to Minsk, Belarus; from Minsk to Smolensk, just inside the then-Soviet Union, now Russia, and from there to Vyaz’ma, Gzhatsk, and on to Moscow.

On the western side of the highway, the E30 becomes the 2, running just south of Berlin to Magdeburg, Hannover, Dortmund, Essen, Düsseldorf, where it ends as the 2. From Düsseldorf, it’s a short drive to The Hague and Rotterdam.

In other words, whoever controlled the E30 controlled a major supply route.

When Germany invaded the USSR, German pilots bombed Smolensk-Vyaz’ma-Gzhatsk and the highway that connected them. When Soviet pilots tried to re-take the route, they also bombed the same highway and cities. The people who lived there didn’t stand a chance.

As usual, Inge Scholl limited access to what we see and know about events on the front lines between Hans and Werner Scholl. None of Werner’s letters have been published or made public, at least that I know of.

* Jens, Inge (Ed.). At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl. Translation by J. Maxwell Brownjohn. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1987.

* Knoop-Graf, Anneliese and Jens, Inge (Eds.). Willi Graf: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1994.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 12, © 2002 Denise Elaine Heap and Exclamation! Publishers. Please contact us for permission to quote.

This podcast is a project of WHY THIS MATTERS, a newsletter of Center for White Rose Studies, that explores the reasons that voices silenced more than eighty years ago still speak to us today.

To order digital version of White Rose History, Volume II, click here. Digital version of White Rose History, Volume I is available here.

August 4 - August 6, 1942.

Summary:

Hans Scholl, Willi Graf, Hubert Furtwängler, Alexander Schmorell, and Raimund Samüller receive their specific duty assignments. Hans and Willi are assigned to an infectious diseases ward at HVP Plankenhorn, while Hubert, Alex, and Raimund go to another section of the HVP. Hans and Alex protest - to no avail - to their Chief Medical Officer.

Important if you wish to understand the military-medical service these five young men rendered on the Russian front:

Medical services of the German army had a fairly rigid structure, similar to that of other Western military with minor differences. Medical non-coms (and Sergeant Hans Scholl and Sergeant Alexander Schmorell would have qualified) rendered first aid directly on the front lines in foxholes known as Verwundetennest. Wounds were hastily dressed, tourniquets applied, blood flow stanched. Wounded were evacuated from the Verwundetennest to the Truppenverbandplatz (TVP). Those who could walk were expected to get there under their own power. Everyone else was picked up by TVP medical personnel, although sometimes if battle raged, the wounded were simply moved slightly to the rear.

The TVP was always located as close to the front lines as possible, although allegedly out of the direct line of fire. Doctors and medics administered pain medication, tetanus shots, and shock therapy. They performed pressing procedures, such as tracheotomies. Primarily, they prepared the wounded for further transport to the Hauptverbandplatz or HVP, which supposedly was four to six miles behind the front lines.

Every HVP hypothetically had two surgeons on duty, though there could be as many as six or eight staff surgeons for an HVP near a particularly active front – which meant that less active HVPs would lend their doctors to another HVP, leaving them with one surgeon (or none) on duty. HVPs were designed to handle approximately two hundred patients, but often they crammed three or four hundred into a single facility.

An HVP was equipped with full surgical facilities, including anesthesia. In addition to admissions, apothecary, triage, and operating room, the building (only a few were tents) would have wards for the slightly wounded, badly wounded, and hopeless cases, plus – as at HVP Plankenhorn – infectious diseases if required.

Unless the HVP was extremely busy (as it would be on days when fighting was heavy and the TVP was overloaded), the medical staff took care of simple surgeries, amputations, and primary surgery on “non-transportable cases.” They did not, however, try to tackle major compound fractures or wounds to the brains, chest, or buttocks.

“Real” medical treatment took place at the Feldlazarett or field hospital, located twelve to fifteen miles behind the front lines. Specialized surgeons, x-ray facilities, dental services, and a well-stocked apothecary were elements of a field hospital missing from the HVP. The pace was still hurried, but it would be closer to the experience of working in a German, domestic military hospital, such as the one in Ebersbach where Traute Lafrenz served her clinical rotation. The doctors in a field hospital practiced actual medicine, not patch-up-and-move-out as in a TVP or HVP.

While the discontent of the soldier students may have stemmed from discomfort at being that close to the front lines, it is just as likely that they preferred a true clinical rotation that would give them medical experience they could use after the war. The things they would “learn” in an HVP would have been subjects covered in the preliminary first aid course required to qualify as a medic, not topics from their medical studies.

The five soldier students are bored, as there is little to do in their HVP. They appreciate the relative safety of their location, as Russian artillery pounds nearby Gzhatsk. They do not know it, but their position is a square on the chess board that is the Russian front. Hitler fakes documents to make it appear that Moscow is still his primary objective, while he is moving German troops to the Caucasus and Stalingrad. British intelligence warns the Red Army, who does not believe them. Instead, the Red Army works to annihilate Gzhatsk, Vyaz’ma, and Ržev.

Meanwhile, the Soviets indeed plan a counter-offensive near Stalingrad. A German intelligence officer warns Berlin of the buildup near Stalingrad, but top brass ignores him.

Still, the five soldier students are stationed on a tiny plot of soil where much fighting is taking place, and will soon intensify. They do not know about the military strategy. They just know they are no longer as safe as they had initially believed.

Willi Graf moves to a bunker closer to the HVP’s kitchen. Better accessibility to food, but his new “home” is damp and stuffy.

Why this matters:

* The effectiveness of strategy - whether military, political, or business - can often depend on the reliability of those giving advice. Both the Red Army and Hitler’s army suffered because top brass listened to the “wrong” people.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 153-155.

Notes and references available only to paid subscribers.

August 3 - August 4, 1942.

Summary:

Robert Scholl’s trial for perfidy takes place in Ulm. Judge Cuhorst, the same judge who had given Hans Scholl a lenient sentence for his §175(2) offenses (sexual assault of a preteen male under his command) hears Robert Scholl’s case. Prosecution relies on the testimony of Inge Wilke, Scholl’s 21-year-old secretary. Wilke tells the court that Scholl had used the pejorative “Gottesgeissel” to describe Hitler - a cliche that compares Hitler to Attila the Hun. And that Scholl had made defeatist statements in her presence.

Robert Scholl spins his statements by saying it was a compliment to the Führer to compare him to a man who had changed the face of Europe, and that he didn’t mean Germany should lose the war. He only wanted to make his secretary think about what could happen if the Bolshevists won.

Cuhorst does not buy Scholl’s spin. But he recognizes that Scholl is a loyal patriot who belongs to three significant Nazi organizations: Social Welfare, Civil Defense, and the Bar Association. And that it’s well-known that Scholl is eccentric. He sentences him to four months in jail (not prison).

Traute Lafrenz’s parents visit the Scholls after the trial. Carl Lafrenz recalls that no one mentions the trial. They do not even talk politics.

Gisela Schertling volunteers for war auxiliary service, requesting a difficult assignment. Her official service will not begin until August 30, but she asks to start on August 3. Her request is granted. She prefers the morning shift, because the foreman is more demanding and sets higher quotas. War auxiliary work makes Gisela feel like an integral part of the greater national whole. She proudly becomes a loyal National Socialist of her own choosing, no longer based on her parents’ politics.

Sophie Scholl worries that her father’s conviction may shine a bright light on his children, endangering their “White Rose” work. She and Traute travel to Munich, emptying both Hans and her apartments of anything remotely suspicious, especially leftover leaflets.

Traute and Sophie spend an evening with Christoph Probst, listening to his “wonderful” collection of records.

Why this matters:

* Another thread to follow throughout the White Rose story: Authoritarians like Adolf Hitler will even turn on their own people. As we already know from Otl Aicher and Hans Hirzel, Robert Scholl was not so much anti-Nazi as he was an opportunistic, loudmouth man who cozied up to Nazi bigwigs for their business. He got rich off the Nazis in Ulm. Yet even he had his knuckles rapped for stepping ever so slightly out of line. No matter where the authoritarian man rules, he will always, but always punish his own followers just as harshly if they deviate the slightest from his prescribed path. Watch for this once the arrests start taking place.

* Every time I write about Gisela Schertling, I think two things: First, how could Hans and Sophie Scholl bring her into their circle of “trusted” friends? Because of Gisela, too many people lost their lives. And second, how Gisela did something after the war that few Germans would do: She made atonement for what she recognized as her wrongdoing. She was more self-aware than her Scholl-related story makes it appear.

Robert Scholl and Gisela Schertling: At the time, two sides of the same coin. Both quite happy with Hitler’s regime, for different reasons. Robert Scholl, because he made money off it. Gisela, because she believed in the Cause.

In the end, both were rejected by the very Cause they embraced, because they did not hew fully to what the dictator said.

Any parallels you want to talk about?

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 149-151.

Notes and references available only to paid subscribers.

August 1 - August 3, 1942.

Summary:

Two different (German) perspectives on the war in Russia. Peter Hirzel says that as his tank division travels south through the Caucasus Mountains to the oilfield wars, Georgian soldiers defect to their side, saying, “Stalin no good, Hitler no good, you and me home to Mama.”

Otl Aicher on the other hand, whose company is also headed to the oilfield wars, says that the countryside is bereft of young people, as men had been drafted with their wives following them. He is upset to see baroque churches bearing remnants of anti-religious placards.

Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl, Willi Graf, Hubert Furtwängler, and Raimund Samüller arrive in Vyaz’ma on August 1, 1942. Their contemplations about the beauty of the Russian countryside suddenly end as they are faced with the filth and povery of that city.

On Sunday August 2, the five friends attend a church service at a Russian Orthodox church. Willi Graf is initially put off by the Matutin (morning prayers), but they are all “transfixed” once Mass begins. Hans Scholl tells his diary, “I wanted to love and laugh because I could see that hovering above these defeated people was an angel stronger than the powers of nothingness.”

The five friends learn they will be staying together, assigned to Willi Graf’s old unit, the 252nd Division. They kill time before scheduled departure time of 5:20 p.m., shopping at the local market. Again, they are hit by the poverty, with Willi saying that “bread breaks down barriers.”

They arrive in Gzhatsk around 10 p.m. Initially the friends are not frightened by the nearness of the war. They can see the gun flash from the front lines and the parachute flares, but enjoy a momentary sense of false security. When Russian artillery targets Gzhatsk, they seek shelter in bombed-out houses. Somehow they sleep soundly.

Their Commanding Officer tells them they are assigned to HVP Plankenhorn, a field dressing station closer to the front. When they reach that station, they are disappointed to find that, although it is “safely” hidden by a forest, it’s also a bit claustrophobic. This dashes their high spirits.

Why this matters:

* If you’ve read White Rose History, Volume I, you know how despondent Willi Graf was during his previous tour of duty in Russia. The difference between Willi then, and Willi with his new “White Rose” friends, is a lesson in the importance of friendship. If you must stand alone, stand alone and hold your head high. But if friends join you in your battle for justice, you will survive with a healthier outlook.

* As is clear from primary source documents, of the five soldier students now on the Russian front together, only Willi Graf and Alexander Schmorell regularly attended church back “home” in Munich. Yet the unfamiliar Mass touched all of them. Sometimes, even if you are of a different faith, or of no faith, a “worship service” can be meaningful when shared with people who are near and dear to you. Especially if the service is inclusive and does not seek to proselytize. Community is important.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 147-149.

Please note that effective immediately, podcast segments will be uploaded only Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Chapter 12, part 2 follows on Monday, July 29, 2024. Thank you for understanding!

Notes and references available only to paid subscribers.

July 27 - July 30, 1942.

Summary:

Christl writes his younger brother Dieter Sasse on his birthday. He encourages him, knowing Dieter is struggling to survive Reich Labor Service, with its coarse tone and harsh dealings.

He includes the same sentiment he had expressed to Angelika a couple of weeks earlier, the desire that their lives would bear fruit.

This letter gives us such a strong impression of Christoph Probst’s character that I am including a longer excerpt from White Rose History, Volume II here.

Christl wrote, “In this coming year, live in deep assurance that everything is meaningful, that no coincidences ever befall us in this life, that all our battles are – in the end – fought for that which is good, even if our eyes cannot see so far ahead as to be able to recognize this fact.”

Christl reminded Dieter that life was what he made of it, that he alone could determine the kind of person he would become. External influences? It was up to Dieter to turn them into something positive. And this was true, Christl asserted, although human beings had to keep searching for the right path in total ignorance – the light would only appear later to “let us see all things clearly.”

Never one to remain serious for too long, Christl teased Dieter about food in the Reich Labor Service. Nice to know he had enough to eat, but Dieter didn’t have to tell him about the quality of the abundant provisions.

His birthday present would have to be simple, not only to protect Christl’s budget, but because he was aware that Dieter’s footlocker couldn’t hold anything large. Back to the subject of food – maybe something edible would please his brother?

Learn from this experience, Christl exhorted Dieter. Christl said, “For a person who lives intellectually and spiritually, this accursed monastic seclusion can have a deepening effect, because after the fact, he sees things previously taken for granted with a new awareness and finds that his feelings for life’s freedoms have been intensified.”

And once again, that sense of humor. “Horse hockey!” said Christl to the serious words he had just written his brother. While Dieter should learn from this experience and so on and so on, “a person can realize his destiny ‘better’ without the questionable help of all these external forces.”

That ‘better future’ was one they all needed, and soon.

Fritz Hartnagel’s company is about halfway to Stalingrad. The further east they travel, the less vegetation they see. Water becomes scarcer. Not yet alarmed, he writes Sophie of his observations, wondering…

He rereads Sophie’s letters and tells her he is uncertain regarding her, because of the walls she has erected between them.

Unable to pray, feeling empty, Fritz explores the desert, enjoying insects, spiders, and birds he had never seen before. And he thinks about Sophie.

Why this matters:

* As you have doubtless figured out, Christoph Probst is one of my “favorites” among the White Rose circle of friends. Not only his openness, but his family’s transparency about his life, are exemplary. This letter to his brother Dieter Sasse shows us Christl as he would have been seen by his friends. No wonder they relied on his strength and moral backbone! His advice to Dieter is worth heeding. No matter how awful things are around us, we’re responsible for our own “journey” and integrity. But I also love his “horse hockey” comment - that we can realize our destiny better without negative external influences. Haven’t we all felt that way at one time or another?

* Pay attention to Fritz Hartnagel’s descriptions of war. For one thing, his letters would have greatly influenced Sophie Scholl. Although she did not want to be with Fritz, his opinions and narrative mattered to her. Her brother and the other soldier students gained firsthand experience on the front lines. Sophie had to rely solely on letters from Fritz and her brother’s stories when he returned home. Fritz writes from a patriotic German’s viewpoint. Every time I read his letters, it hits me that we need less military history and more of the personal stories of those who would do war. Same thing with Otl Aicher’s letters and memoirs. War isn’t abstract. It’s real. It’s no food, no water. It’s commandeering homes and pantries from locals in the path of war. It’s death, up close and personal.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 144-146.

Notes and references available only to paid subscribers.

July 29 - July 31, 1942.

Summary:

The five soldier students — Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl, Willi Graf, Hubert Furtwängler, and Raimund Samüller — continue their eastward travel towards the Russian front. Willi Graf says they are living in the day. He reads Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey in German translation.

RAF bombs Willi Graf’s hometown of Saarbrücken, this time not even pretending to aim for military or industrial sites. They strike the downtown area, near Willi’s home and his father’s Gasthaus.

Eugen Grimminger turns fifty, and the Scholls make preparations for Robert Scholl’s upcoming trial. Sophie has a hard time enjoying her friend Lisa Remppis’ stories about her boyfriend Gust Schlehe. All Sophie can think about: Her father’s trial, and her own mandatory assignment at a munitions factory.

The five soldier students focus their conversation and private thoughts on three topics. First, the Russian partisans whom they cannot see, but whose handiwork is plainly visible.

Second, the beauty of the Russian landscape. Hans Scholl notes that even next to gutted freight cars and distraught faces, flowers bloom.

Finally, they talk about man’s destruction of that beauty, wishing that just as rainstorms had cleared the air for them, so a tempest would come and wash away the cruelty, destruction, and despair imposed by “godless men.”

Hans Scholl longs to “go forth, leaving everything behind.”

Why this matters:

* All of us occasionally find ourselves in places or situations where we must simply live day to day, not planning for the future or thinking too hard about things we’re going through. In those days, the most important thing: Having a safety net, a support group of friends with whom you can talk things out. Willi Graf had barely survived the Russian front from 1941-1942. During that tour of duty, he had had no one to talk to, no one who shared his values. His despair can sometimes be alarming to read. Contrast that to the clinical rotation in 1942, spent with Alex, Hans, Hubert, and Raimund. They provided him with sanity in a war zone that was still as awful as it had been the previous year. Willi Graf still saw the same atrocities, the same unjust German actions. But this time, he was not alone. If you are facing crises, reach out to a safety net, friends you can trust. Friends with whom you can express your feelings and worries.

* Gnaw on this a few minutes. Sometimes waging war can have unintended consequences. A country sends its young people to another country to kill and maim. But as was the case with the five soldier students, sometimes those young people get to the country of the hated enemy and find fellow human beings, beauty, and contradictions to warmongering propaganda. The enemy is humanized. Now, sometimes the young fighters are so entrenched in nationalistic propaganda that they are blind to that humanity, to any beauty in the countryside. But “war” can be life-changing in a positive sense for soldiers who have not been radicalized.

Have you been in a position where you felt things were hopeless, until your friends stepped in? Have you been able to be a safety net for one of your friends?

Have you ever gone into an adversarial situation, thinking you know everything about your opponent (“enemy”), only to find out they share your hopes and dreams?

Talk about it!

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 143-144.

Notes and references available only to paid subscribers.

July 26 - July 29, 1942.

Summary:

Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl, Willi Graf, Hubert Furtwängler, and Raimund Samüller spend a little time in Warsaw. They cannot see the deportations that started on the day they left Munich, because an 11.5’ brick wall obstructs the view of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Note: In each segment where I mention the five student soldiers traveling together, I will name them. This is to keep front and center who was traveling together, since Wittenstein’s account is false, and pervasive. Raimund Samüller was the fifth person in the compartment, not Jürgen Wittenstein.

Nevertheless, the misery - the “wretchedness” - overwhelms them. Their initial reaction is to cocoon, to avoid taking in the gruesome sights.

While they try to sleep, Traute Lafrenz’s family in Hamburg endures the first major bombing of that city. The losses are huge. It' is clear that the Allies are aiming for the civilian population in an attempt to get the “man on the street” to rise up against Hitler’s regime. Among other statistics: 14,000 are left homeless, with 337 dead and 1,027 injured from the bombing raid July 26 into the early morning hours of July 27, 1942.

On July 27, the five soldier students who are traveling together decide to go into Warsaw proper. What they see sickens them. Hans Scholl writes his family that an “American palace” towers over the ruins. The city is a contrast between extreme poverty and starvation on the one hand, and provocative jazz and unbridled revelry on the other. This description is remarkable, since the friends could not see into the Ghetto, as Willi Graf had been able to do in June 1941. Hans Scholl’s description applies solely to Warsaw itself.

They stroll through Warsaw, shopping and eating/drinking. The friends find a restaurant-bar called “The Blue Duck,” where they drink vodka in tiny sips. Willi Graf buys a Russian edition of Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov [Guilt and Atonement]. They spend all their money.

The 1 a.m. train to Vyaz’ma that they are supposed to take is full, so they sleep in the hall in front of the General’s door.

They finally depart for the front lines, but the train backtracks westward before turning north, and finally east to Lithuania.

Hamburg endures a second night of bombing. Fewer casualties and deaths, but enough to shake up the population.

Why this matters:

* The targeting of civilian populations is once again a matter of significance. Reason for so doing has not changed in eighty years.

* Regarding Warsaw Ghetto: Because of what was happening in that city at the same time the five soldier students were there, a cottage industry has grown up perpetuating a false legend about what our White Rose students saw and experienced while there. That cottage industry ignores both their own words and the 11.5’ brick wall that obscured the Ghetto from view. We must take great care - whether writing about historical topics, or about current events - not to conflate or extrapolate actions based on our “omniscient” viewpoint.

I almost hate asking this question, but ignoring it would be the easy way out: What do you think about targeting civilian populations? Americans and Brits justified and rationalized it in the 1940s. Instead of speaking in terms of current events, let’s focus on the 1940s.

* Do you agree? If so, why is it right to kill people who are not in the military when fighting a war?

* Do you disagree? If so, would you still disagree if not targeting civilians would have meant that the Nazi regime would have ultimately won the war?

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 141-143.

Notes, references, and comments available only to paid subscribers.

In keeping with goal of introducing a wider audience to critical members of the White Rose circle who have been mostly overlooked in the “legend,” this segment is free. Eugen Grimminger made the work of White Rose resistance possible. He deserves our honor and utmost respect.

July 27, 1942 (with flashback for Eugen Grimminger).

Summary:

Robert Scholl worries he will be imprisoned following his upcoming trial. He travels to Stuttgart to ask his friend Eugen Grimminger to take over his accounting practice if necessary.

Flashback re Grimminger:

Born July 29, 1892, Eugen Grimminger hailed from Crailsheim, birthplace of Hans Scholl. He had served with distinction in World War I. When he returned from war, he had adopted two distinctly un-German traits: He was an avowed pacifist, and he repudiated the antisemitism of his childhood home.

Grimminger met Robert Scholl when he (Grimminger) was director of the municipal cooperative in Crailsheim and Robert Scholl was mayor of a nearby village. At that time, they were not friends, as Grimminger enforced regulations that Scholl wanted changed.

Grimminger fell in love with a local Jewish woman named Jenny Stern. He left the Lutheran church for her, although he was already disillusioned by the warmongering that was common from the pulpit. Gandhi’s books appealed to Grimminger, as did those by Alexandra David-Neel. Grimminger identified as Buddhist, becoming a strict vegetarian and disciple of nonviolence.

Jenny and Eugen left Crailsheim as antisemitism in that place grew. After living with her sister for a short time, Jenny and Eugen secretly married. Jenny was first to tell her family, who quickly embraced Eugen. Jenny’s mother said he was her favorite son-in-law.

Eugen Grimminger’s family was not as understanding. While Eugen’s father eventually accepted Jenny, two of Eugen’s siblings never did. They feared his marriage to a Jewish woman would damage their careers with the railroad.

After Crailsheim was the site of one of Germany’s earliest pogroms - March 1933 - Jenny convinced the rest of her family to join them in Stuttgart. In 1935, a local Nazi leader ordered Eugen’s employer to fire Grimminger because of his marriage to a Jewish woman. That Nazi party boss claimed he had heard Grimminger say: “The destruction of private capital is my work as well.” Although the coop fired Grimminger, he fought to receive his salary until his contract expired.

While studying for his CPA certification, Grimminger ran into Robert Scholl again. Scholl was in the same course. After Robert Scholl heard of Grimminger’s plight, he gave him a little financial support.

Kristallnacht was turning point for Eugen Grimminger. His accounting firm became known as a stop on the underground railroad for German Jews seeking to flee Nazi terror. He worked with a woman named Mrs. Willemer, a Swiss employee of the American consulate in Stuttgart, to forge documents required for German Jews to flee Germany via Switzerland.

Eugen Grimminger was even able to smuggle Jenny’s sisters Mina and Julie out of the country. Jenny, however, refused to leave, fearing that her absence would endanger Grimminger’s life.

Once the border was sealed after war broke out, Jenny and Eugen Grimminger continued to help German Jews however they could. One Jewish man from Crailsheim who survived the war was able to retrieve his valuables that Grimminger had hidden for him.

Eugen Grimminger agreed to help Robert Scholl should he be given a prison sentence.

Why this matters:

* The good people of Crailsheim have turned themselves into Scholl Central, since both parents and their children were born in or near that city. Crailsheimers also occasionally remember Eugen Grimminger. But the commemoration services ring a bit hollow, as they omit the more painful part of Eugen and Jenny Grimminger’s life stories. Armin Ziegler - a Crailsheimer who fought the Scholl legend - was surprised when he learned that one of Germany’s first pogroms was in his town. They don’t talk about that much. When I hear Germans say that we should simply move on, forget the past, I invariably think first about Crailsheim. Until places like this deal brutally and honestly and openly with the sins of their fathers, it’s next to impossible to move on. There’s a giant bandaid on a cancerous wound, a bandaid that obscures the sickness without healing. I will say that I am pleased that Crailsheimers tend the old Jewish cemetery in their town. They ensure the headstones are straight, and if graffiti appears, they clean it off. They look after the graves. I am grateful to them for these efforts. Now if they would just take that next, and incredibly difficult, step!

* In White Rose History, Volume I, I tell the overwhelmingly painful part of the Stern family story. Yes, Jenny and Eugen convinced her family to move from Crailsheim to Stuttgart where they would be safe. But Jenny’s family in Stuttgart was swept up in the net after the decree issued by Stuttgart Gestapo chief Friedrich Mussgay. Senta Meyer nee Stern and her four children – Gertrud, Lore, Fritz, and Ilse - were all sent to Riga, where they were murdered. Armin Ziegler wrote about Senta Meyer. Jenny would later be murdered in Auschwitz. The two sisters Mina and Julie survived the war in Los Angeles. And Friedrich Mussgay was one of Robert Scholl’s closest friends. That is in Inge Scholl’s Sippenhaft book! Even after the execution of Hans and Sophie Scholl, Mussgay stayed in touch. I swear, sometimes I don’t understand Scholl dynamics at all. The Scholl Archives must be opened!

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 138-140.

Notes and references

I will say this again, so it cannot be overlooked: Without Eugen Grimminger, White Rose resistance as we know it would not have existed. He financed their operations after November 1942.

* Kissener, Michael. “Geld aus Stuttgart: Eugen Grimminger und die Weiβe Rose.” In Rudolf Lill (Ed.). Hochverrat? Die “Weiβe Rose” und ihr Umfeld (pp. 121-134). Konstanz: Universitätsverlag Konstanz, 1993.

* Schönhagen, Benigna. “‘Wenn keiner etwas tut, dann ändert sich nie etwas’: Die Weiβe Rose und Stuttgart.” In Marlene P. Hiller (project director). Stuttgart im Zweiten Weltkrieg (pp. 247-254). Gerlingen: Bleicher Verlag, 1989.

* Ziegler, Armin. Eugen Grimminger: Widerständler und Genossenschaftspionier. Crailsheim: Baier BPB Verlag, 2000. — This is the definitive biography of Eugen Grimminger.

* Gestapo Interrogation Transcripts: Manfred Eickemeyer and Eugen Grimminger, Volume 1. ZC13267, Volume 7. First interrogation of Eugen Grimminger on 3/3/1943; second interrogation of Eugen Grimminger on 3/3/1943.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 11, © 2002 Denise Elaine Heap and Exclamation! Publishers. Please contact us for permission to quote.

This podcast is a project of WHY THIS MATTERS, a newsletter of Center for White Rose Studies, that explores the reasons that voices silenced more than eighty years ago still speak to us today.

To order digital version of White Rose History, Volume II, click here. Digital version of White Rose History, Volume I is available here.

July 23 - July 27, 1942.

Summary:

The same day the soldier students leave Munich, headed for the Russian front, Adam Czerniakow — head of the Judenrat in the Warsaw Ghetto — suicides. Czerniakow had asked Nazi bigwigs if rumors about deportations East were true. They had all emphatically denied those rumors.

The rumors are true. Czerniakow must ensure that 6,000 Jews would be deported to extermination camps daily, else Czerniakow’s wife will be shot. Czerniakow pleads for exemptions for orphans, but his request is denied. He therefore swallows a cyanide capsule. His suicide note reads, “I can no longer bear all this. My act will prove to everyone what is the right thing to do.”

Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl, Willi Graf, Hubert Furtwängler, and Raimund Samüller continue their eastward trek. They are struck by the beauty of the German landscape, Regensburg, the Danube, Dresden. They enjoy the sun and scenery, the conversation and games. The friendship.

Hans Hirzel visits Sophie Scholl, primarily to get Christoph Probst’s address in Munich. Sophie tells him how important Kurt Huber is to their circle. She mentions that Huber is a Leibniz specialist and that he had studied mathematics. Sophie also relates to Hans Hirzel that Kurt Huber’s speech impediment was due to an injury from World War I and that because of it, he only taught in small groups.

Hans Hirzel visits Christoph Probst. They discuss religious questions and “intimate” relationships.

Manfred Eickemeyer closes down his studio in Munich, handing the keys over to the building’s janitor, Mr. Mayer. He has not made any arrangements with Hans Scholl for use of the studio in his absence, because he does not know Hans well enough. Mayer has one set of keys, while Eickemeyer takes the other set with him to Cracow.

The five Russia-bound friends cross into Poland. The endless plains cause them to occasionally stop what they’re doing and stare out the window. Hans Scholl notes that all that beauty must make one think about Polish prisoners in Germany and their love of country.

The Scholl family is advised that Robert Scholl’s trial for perfidy will be starting soon. Inge Scholl travels to Munich to meet with Carl Muth and Theodor Haecker to ask them to pray for her father. Their comfort reassures her.

Why this matters:

* One golden thread to follow throughout this story, one that hit me hard the first year or so I worked on this history: Even when the world is coming apart at the seams, good and happy parts of life continue. Czerniakow and the Jewish residents of the Warsaw Ghetto were entering a nightmare from which few would emerge alive. Yet on the exact same day that Czerniakow found life too hopeless to continue, Willi Graf notes that the day is so beautiful. All five young men were touched by the beauty of the German countryside. On a nonpolitical note, when we face our worst days, someone else is getting married, having a baby, celebrating an anniversary, going to a dance, marveling at the colors of a sunset. On a political-but-not-partisan note, when terrible things happen on a national or global scale, life goes on. “Our side” suffers a setback, someone we admire dies, there’s a grave injustice in our town or state. But someone, somewhere, is getting married, having a baby, celebrating an anniversary, going to a dance, marveling at the colors of a sunset. Even in the middle of fighting on behalf of social justice, for tikkun olam, to change and repair the world, we must keep living. Keep enjoying the sunshiny day, the colors at dusk, the smiles of our friends. It may sound corny, but follow this golden thread.

* The little anecdote about Hans Hirzel visiting Christoph Probst made me appreciate Christoph Probst all the more. He could have blown off Hans Hirzel, who was so insecure as to be annoying. But Christl extended friendship and kindness to the high school boy, a boy who desperately wanted to be a man. Their short conversation made a profound impression on Hans Hirzel.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 136-138.

Notes and references available only to paid subscribers.

I am making all three segments of Chapter 10 free to all readers. I want you to get a good glimpse of the humanity of these students, how they could have fun together, their dynamics in a group setting, simply their silly, serious selves.

July 22 - July 23, 1942.

Summary:

Hans Hirzel enjoys a number of one-on-one conversations with White Rose friends at the farewell party. Alexander Schmorell discusses music, regaling the high school students with stories of Igor Stravinsky. Christoph Probst tells Hans Hirzel that he disapproves of Hans Scholl’s “activism.”

Despite that, Hans Hirzel observes that Christl’s repudiation of the National Socialist government was the most unshakable among all the friends.

A small group discusses White Rose leaflets, really leaflets in general. Several believe that leaflets are ineffective, because they are too associated with Communist methodology. Somebody expresses a favorable verdict about that technique for communicating antipathy to Hitler’s regime, because they tell of having seen the single word Sieg painted on the side of a house. A question mark replaced the nearly-requisite Heil.

Just as the party is breaking up, someone mentions a “great woman” they should have invited. Hans Scholl calls her, and she comes right over. She talks to Professor Huber as if they are old friends, and he has no clue who she is. Apparently her husband is Huber’s friend?

Kurt Huber is first to leave at 11 p.m., followed closely thereafter by Traute and Käthe. Around midnight, Hans and Sophie Scholl accompany Hans Hirzel to the home of the Klein family, where he is staying. Hans Hirzel tries to ask about White Rose leaflets, but struggles to find the words. When he musters up one feeble question — did Hans Scholl know the origin of the leaflets — Hans Scholl does not answer directly.

Hans Hirzel also asks how they know that what they are saying about National Socialist crimes is true? After initially sidestepping an answer, Hans Scholl promises he will look into it and send proof to Hans Hirzel.

Hans and Sophie drop in on Traute - yes, after midnight. The three friends talk through the night, until Hans and Sophie leave for the Ostbahnhof, the East Train Station. Traute does not go with them, but she lends Sophie her bicycle.

While the soldier students mill around inside the fenced enclosure, Sophie climbs on the railing to eavesdrop. The five soldier students are elated to learn that they can travel together, and they get a compartment all to themselves. The five soldier students: Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl, Willi Graf, Hubert Furtwängler, and Raimund Samüller.

After the train pulls out at 11 a.m., Sophie turns to go back to her room. She realizes that in all the commotion, someone had stolen Traute’s bike.

2007 update

The friends — Hans, Sophie, Alex, and likely Traute — spend Sunday, July 19, 1942, with the Probst family in Zell. They realize that this could be a final farewell. Christl still does not know where he will be doing his clinical rotation.

Anton Wagner, a soldier from the student company, is also on the train with the soldier students. Anton was never part of White Rose, but he shows up now and again. Remember his name.

Why this matters:

* Traute Lafrenz’s ability to love is unsurpassed among White Rose friends. I am in awe of her genuine friendship with Hans and Sophie Scholl, despite everything. If she had allowed herself to be run off by Hans’ demeaning and belittling words, or by Sophie’s disdain, White Rose work would have suffered. She loved them, even when they would not love her. She is example for us all. Note: Not recommending staying in abusive relationships. She did not “stay” with Hans!

* When we set about the hard work of righting wrongs or repairing the world or simply taking a stand, often the hardest thing to overcome is simply finding agreement regarding methodology. For White Rose: Leaflets? Placards? Graffiti? What about active resistance? For us, the choices may be between social media, volunteering, pounding the pavement. Choosing a course of action can sometimes be the biggest obstacle to success.

Have you been part of a group working for social justice, and gotten stumped by process? Talk about it here!

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 132-135.

Notes and references

The last part of the party (including Hans and Sophie to Traute’s room):

Hans Hirzel placed his conversation with Alexander Schmorell (Igor Stravinsky) as the day after the party, which was impossible, since Alex was on his way to Russia.

Regarding Manfred Eickemeyer not being present for the debate: Since he had confessed to so much, it is inconceivable that he would have lied about a relatively small point. However, Eickemeyer’s claim that “had he known about the leaflets, he would have broken off contact with Hans Scholl et al” is not credible.

Katharina Schüddekopf confessed to the conversation with Hans Scholl about the leaflets. She also just as clearly stated that no one else heard their conversation.

Regarding the “great woman”: It has always been assumed she was a “great” woman. She could have simply been large [eine grosse Dame]. There are no sources that point to her identity. It would not have been Mrs. Mertens, because she would have been well known by all. Maybe Dr. Paugger? But that is complete conjecture. Traute assumed she was one of Eickemeyer’s friends. She never reappeared in White Rose circles that we know of.

Katharina Schüddekopf had initially claimed she left the party at 9:30 pm because she was exhausted. She had to recant her testimony after Kurt Huber’s interrogation, finally admitting that he was right.

The word Traute Lafrenz used for sensual was sinnlich, which has the connotation of being controlled by one’s emotions.

* Hirzel, Hans. “Flugblätter der Weiβen Rose in Ulm und Stuttgart.” In Rudolf Lill (Ed.). Hochverrat? Die “Weiβe Rose” und ihr Umfeld (pp. 89-119). Konstanz: Universitätsverlag Konstanz, 1993.

* October 1996 interview with Dr. Traute Page nee Lafrenz at her residence.

* Gestapo Interrogation Transcripts: Eickemeyer and Grimminger, Volume 1. Stadtsarchiv München Stanw. Nr. 12.530. 4/7/43 interrogation of Manfred Eickemeyer.

* NJ1704, Volume 7. 3/19/1943 interrogation of Professor Huber; 2/27/1943 interrogation of Professor Huber.

* ZC13267, Volume 6. 3/15/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 3/19/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/3/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz. Publication in 2024/2025.

* ZC13267, Volume 15, part 2. 3/24/1943 interrogation of Katharina Schüddekopf.

* ZC14116, Volume 1. 2/27/1943 interrogation of Hans Hirzel in Munich; 2/22/1943 interrogation of Hans Hirzel; 3/8/1943 “letter” written by Hans Hirzel (explanation of his philosophy of life). Publication in 2024/2025.

The soldier students at the Ostbahnhof:

The other woman standing next to Sophie Scholl in Wittenstein’s photograph has never been identified. Wittenstein says he does not know who she was.

Until October 1996, I had assumed it was Traute Lafrenz. When I asked her, she said it was not (and then told me the other things about 7/22-7/23/42 included here).

2023 note: To be updated in 2025 update, but it was likely Lilli Holl, a friend from Ulm. Lilli was close to Otl Aicher, and also to Alexander Schmorell. After Alex’s execution in July 1943, she took photographs from the departure at Ostbahnhof to the Schmorell family. As far as I know, those photographs have not been found. Apparently Lilli did not keep a copy.

Anyone who says it was Traute did not ask her!

Wittenstein has repeatedly claimed that he, Alex, and Hans were in one compartment, while Hubert, Raimund Samüller, and Willi Graf were in another. Since that contradicts the above, Armin Ziegler asked Hubert Furtwängler about the matter. Furtwängler claimed that Wittenstein was not in the compartment with them.

Wittenstein’s account is so riddled with errors and contradictions (e.g., sometimes he says they were in the train for two weeks, sometimes for three, while Willi Graf’s diary firmly documents that they were in the train for nine days, period), it is not worthwhile to replicate Ziegler’s excellent analysis here. But it’s assuredly worth understanding!

* Aicher-Scholl, Inge. Sippenhaft: Nachrichten und Botschaften der Familie in der Gestapo-Haft nach der Hinrichtung von Hans und Sophie Scholl. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, 1993.

* Jens, Inge (Ed.). At the Heart of the White Rose: Letters and Diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl. Translation by J. Maxwell Brownjohn. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1987.

* Knoop-Graf, Anneliese and Jens, Inge (Eds.). Willi Graf: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1994.

* October 1996 interview with Dr. Traute Page nee Lafrenz at her residence.

* May 2002 interview with Herta (widow) and Michael (son) Probst at their residence.

* January 2001 interview with George J. (Jürgen) Wittenstein at his residence.

* Ziegler, Armin. “Gehörte Jürgen Wittenstein zum inneren Kreis der ‘Weiβe Rose’?” Retrieved from www.weisse-rose-studien.de/41604.html.

* Ziegler, Armin. Jürgen Wittenstein und die Geschichte der ‘Weiβe Rose’: Ein Beitrag zur ‘Weiβe Rose’ Forschung. Schönaich: Self-published, 2004. I received advance (pre-publication) copy.

2007 update:

* Volkmann, Robert, and Gernot Eschrich, Peter Schubert (Ed.). “…damit Deutschland weiterlebt”: Christoph Probst 1919-1943. Gilching, Germany: Christoph-Probst-Gymnasium, 2000.

* RGWA I361K-1-8808. Alexander Schmorell: Gestapo Interrogation Transcripts. 3/11/1943 interrogation of Anton Wagner; 3/1/1943 interrogation of Alexander Schmorell.

Next segment goes back to “notes and references for paid subscribers only.” I hope you enjoyed Chapter 10, and this glimpse into their world.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. - All subscription funds are deposited directly to the account of Center for White Rose Studies, a 501(c )(3) nonprofit. Ask your tax accountant if your subscription is tax deductible.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 10, © 2002 Denise Elaine Heap and Exclamation! Publishers. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 10, 2007 update, © 2007 Denise Elaine Heap and Exclamation! Publishers. Please contact us for permission to quote.

This podcast is a project of WHY THIS MATTERS, a newsletter of Center for White Rose Studies, that explores the reasons that voices silenced more than eighty years ago still speak to us today.

To order digital version of White Rose History, Volume II, click here. Digital version of White Rose History, Volume I is available here.