White Rose Histories

June 2 - June 6, 1942.

Summary:

Hans Hirzel’s medical experiments with friends Kurt Glöckler and Max Gutbrodt turned into addiction to hallucinogenic drugs, specifically LSD and jimsonweed. He used these drugs to escape the reality of his parents’ constant fights and a National Socialist world in which he did not belong.

Hans Hirzel also abused anesthetics like (homemade) ethyl chloride to combat insomnia. He worried more about possible impurities in that drug than he did about LSD.

Striking about this narrative - no one in Ulm seems to have picked up on Hans Hirzel’s increasing isolation and paranoia. Not even his parents or siblings.

Willi Graf faced similar feelings of isolation and loneliness, although not connected to drug use of any sort. Instead, he felt like he had no “real friends” in Munich, no one who noticed or cared for him. He was always left out, solitude overwhelming his waking hours.

Willi replied to a letter from his younger sister Anneliese. She had expressed her disaffection with religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular. Willi’s answer provides us with deep insights into his own religious struggles. He told Anneliese that everything they had learned in their parents’ home had been empty - comfortable but empty. Every adult person must question what they learned as a child, if their faith and belief are to be defensible.

Why This Matters:

* It’s easy to gripe about “Gen-Z” [just as Silent Gen griped about Boomers, Boomers griped about Gen-X, etc.] and write them off for lack of commitment. Or whatever the current complaint is. We need to listen and observe and help. If someone had noticed that Hans Hirzel was lost and confused and paranoid, perhaps he would have found answers in rational places. Instead, adults ignored his cries for help.

* Willi Graf provides us with a blueprint for coming to terms with the faith we were raised in. His willingness to question and read and demand answers… that led him to reject empty religion and seek justice, mercy, and truth.

What resonates with you?

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 48-51.

Notes and references

Hans Hirzel:

* Hirzel, Hans. “Das groβe Miβverständnis. Warum die Mehrzahl der Deutschen sich Hitler unterordnete.” In Hinrich Siefken (Ed.). Die Weiβe Rose: Student Resistance to National Socialism 1942/43, Forschungsergebnisse und Erfahrungsberichte (pp. 147-182). Nottingham: The University of Nottingham, 1991.

* ZC13267, Volume 3. 2/18/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl.

* ZC14116, Volume 1. 3/17/43 interrogation of Hans Hirzel; 2/24/43 interrogation of Emilie Glöckler. Publication in 2024/2025.

Willi Graf:

“Junger Mann sucht Anschluβ” is a typical formulation for a personal ad.

Ernestine Schlant’s assessment of Werner Bergengruen can be found in Schlant, The Language of Silence: West German Literature and the Holocaust.

Schlant places Bergengruen in the same category as Ernst Jünger – and briefly debunks the concept of “inner emigration” (for which I thank her). This particular novel by Werner Bergengruen could be read and enjoyed by National Socialists who would have accepted the story of sixteenth century Berlin as historical fiction, but the warnings of death and destruction due to the fallibility and conceit of a ruler who loved to make laws would have resonated with those in the White Rose, and with other dissidents.

The novel (published in 1940) was not banned during the Third Reich.

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

* Schlant, Ernestine. The Language of Silence: West German Literature and the Holocaust. New York: Routledge, 1999.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 04 © 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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or 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.

June 1 - June 4, 1942.

Summary:

As result of growing estrangement from Hans Scholl, Traute Lafrenz begins reading to a blind artist named Hermann Tröltsch. She decides not to introduce him to Hans, although Hermann would have been the sort of person the embryonic White Rose would have wanted. Hermann is dying.

Traute noted shortly after the war (1946) that during this time, they associated solely with like-minded people and therefore overestimated their strength.

Sophie Scholl moves into Hans’ room at Mandl Str. 1, as he moves to Traute’s old room at Lindwurm Str. 13. She doesn’t enjoy her newfound freedom as much as she’d thought she would.

Professor Huber rents a room about two miles from the university to replace the office the university had taken from him upon his demotion to adjunct professor.

June 4, 1942: “The” soiree at Gertrud Mertens’ house, featuring Sigismund von Radecki. Starts innocently enough, but when Mrs. Mertens reads a Nazi piece about “inner renewal,” the students take the conversation political. They talk aloud about resistance. We also see the expanded circle, with the larger group of friends assembled for that soiree.

We’re introduced to Heinrich Ellermann, a former teacher of Christoph Probst. His true colors - National Socialist - appeared that evening. Christl did not hesitate taking on, and besting, his old teacher.

Why This Matters:

* We are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers of echo chambers, silos that prevent us from listening to our neighbors. The White Rose story is a case study in that danger. Traute Lafrenz regrets that they did not listen to fellow students better. They still would have resisted, but their resistance would have been more effective.

* Never underestimate the power of thoughtful students who take principled and strong stances against injustice.

What is your take-away?

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 45-48.

Notes and references

Traute Lafrenz - Hermann Tröltsch, “like-minded” friends:

It is not known whether Hermann Tröltsch was related to the Lutheran theologian (friend of the Harnacks) Ernst Tröltsch.

* Lafrenz, Traute. “Bericht.” Letter to Inge Scholl, dated February 21, 1946. Unpublished.

* ZC13267 Vol. 6. 3/25/43 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/1/43 interrogation of Carl Lafrenz. (Publication 2024/2025.)

Sophie Scholl’s move to Mandl Str. 1:

No information available regarding Traute Lafrenz’s new address or why she moved.

* ZC13267, Volume 1, part 1. 2/20/43 interrogation of Maria Lösch.

* ZC13267, Volume 1, part 2. 2/21/43 indictment of Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst.

* ZC13267, Volume 3. 2/18/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl; 2/19/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl; 2/20/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl.

Kurt Huber’s rented room at Theresienstr. 93:

* NJ1704, Volume 7. 3/10/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber.

The June 4, 1942 soiree at Gertrud Mertens’ house:

Most extant White Rose literature dates this soiree as the evening of June 3, 1942. However, the only primary source that cites an exact date is Sophie Scholl’s June 6, 1942 letter to her family, when she clearly identifies the event as having taken place “night before last,” which was June 4.

There is also little information available about “Frau Dr. Mertens.” The only information I found was in Knoop-Graf/Jens, Willi Graf’s letters. Jens wrote that this was Gertrud Mertens, a pianist and singer. Her husband was Dr. Viktor Emmanuel Mertens, medical professor and editor of the Münchener Medizinische Wochenschrift, a medical journal.

That would also mean that Mrs. Mertens was not herself a professor, but was simply married to one. Jens claims that Mrs. Mertens was close to Dr. Muth and Theodor Haecker, and that her husband was anti-Hitler. Independent (albeit brief) research into Dr. Viktor Mertens could not confirm that statement, and I find it highly unlikely that someone known to oppose National Socialism could have been the editor – during the Third Reich – of a prestigious medical weekly.

In addition, most White Rose literature attributes the evening’s coordination to Otmar Hammerstein. Initially, I did as well. However, if Otmar Hammerstein had been the organizer, Willi Graf almost certainly would have been invited, as their paths had already crossed in the Bach Chorale. By June 4, 1942, both Otmar and Wolf Jaeger were friends of Willi. Both Otmar and Wolf were at the soiree. Since Willi does not mention it in his diary – not even as a declined invitation or something he had been left out of – it is unlikely that Otmar Hammerstein was as involved as originally believed.

Therefore I have gone with the accounts given by Sophie Scholl (the 6/6/42 letter above) and Wolf Jaeger (Wolfgang Jaeger, “Persönliche Erinnerungen an Kurt Huber”), where Hans Scholl is given credit for the invitations.

Finally, it appears that Alexander Schmorell was not at this soiree. His name was not mentioned in any of the accounts. Christoph Probst had the spotlight that night.

“Technical” note: June 3, 1942 date and Otmar Hammerstein information were based on Christian Petry, Studenten aufs Schafott: Die Weiβe Rose und ihr Scheitern. I do not fault Petry for the apparently incorrect information, as he was working without much of the documentation we now have available.

* May 29, 1999 letter from Hubert Furtwängler to G.J. Wittenstein, forwarded to author by GJW on June 9, 1999.

* Hermann Lietz Schulen. Eine Leitidee für alle Schulformen. Retrieved from www.lietz-schulen.de.

* Jaeger, Wolfgang. “Persönliche Erinnerungen an Kurt Huber.” Unpublished. ND.

* 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.

* Petry, Christian. Studenten aufs Schafott: Die Weiβe Rose und ihr Scheitern. Munich:, 1968.

* NJ1704, Volume 1, part 1. 4/8/1943 indictment.

* NJ1704, Volume 7. 3/4/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber; 2/27/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber;

* NJ1704, Volume 9. 3/11/1943 interrogation of Alexander Schmorell.

* ZC13267, Volume 15, part 2. 3/23/43 interrogation of Katharina Schüddekopf.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 04, © 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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or 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.

In White Rose History, Volume II, this chapter is subtitled For serious readers only. However, I am not labeling it as such in this podcast because of its importance in understanding both the life of Josef Söhngen and Professor Kurt Huber, as well as the difficulty of discerning who was what.

This segment is also twice as long as usual, 28 minutes instead of 10-15. Kurt Huber is such a pivotal character for White Rose students, I did not wish to split consideration of his story in half. It’s been thirty years, and I still have such strong, mixed emotions about Kurt Huber! I hope you better understand this man after listening to this podcast.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 37-44.

Notes and references

One of those little things: Huber’s full name did not appear on any Gestapo documents until after the trial. For everyone else, full name showed up on indictment and verdict. First time Huber’s full name appears? 4/19/43 intake form (Stadelheim) for Kurt Huber.

During his 2/27/43 interrogation, Huber gives conflicting information about his education. There he says he graduated summa cum laude in 1918 with a degree in musicology, and that he qualified as a university lecturer in philosophy (only) in 1923.

Except for Huber’s statement that his father was a teacher, specifically a lecturer at the Zentralstelle für Gewerbe und Handel in Stuttgart, he left behind scant information about his parents, especially about his mother. Her maiden name was Jakobi, she was from Kempten, and her family ran the Jakobi Erziehungsinstitut in that town.

There was no specific reason given for not approving Huber’s transfer application. During a speech at Siena College, Wittenstein said that Huber was denied the position because they could only have professors who could also serve as officers. Reliability of that statement is in doubt, because Wittenstein also claims in the same paragraph that Huber therefore “subsisted” on a salary of 300 Marks or $2,400 per month, whereas in reality Huber earned 640 RM or $5,120 net of taxes.

Huber supporters will likely decry use of his Gestapo interrogation transcripts to corroborate information about his pro-Nazi, anti-Hitler stance. Indeed, it took years before I was willing to do so. The words of the sixth leaflet are just too beautiful. I want to believe that he was unequivocally “good.”

But a few factors speak to the authenticity of his pro-Nazi words. 1) The friendships Professor Huber formed with leading Nazi academics were not inconsequential. 2) He contributed articles to overtly Nazi publications. 3) Unlike others in the White Rose (Falk Harnack comes to mind) who attempted to get off by lying about their political convictions at every turn, Kurt Huber clearly stated that he was telling the truth because he wanted Adolf Hitler to read his transcripts and hopefully turn Germany back to the original pathway of National Socialism. This last point is the most troubling, because Huber was not attempting to escape a death sentence. He understood that if his request for an audience with Hitler was denied, his words would convict him.

Technical note: My publisher’s style sheet calls for following German standards when writing names, e.g., “Martin, Alfred von,” where Martin is treated as the last name. However, every German text on Karl Alexander von Müller referred to him as “von Müller, Karl Alexander”; we have therefore followed their lead.

Finally:

If you are unfamiliar with the scope of Professor Kurt Huber’s work with “Kiem Pauli” and what a rock star that made of Kurt Huber, check out this production from Bayerischer Rundfunk: Unter unserem Himmel. Der Kiem Pauli und das oberbairische Lied (video). It’s an 11-minute look into that long-ago, yet still very current, world of Bavarian folk music. The narrator mentions Kurt Huber around the 7-minute mark.

The production allows the music and very old film to shine, but the parts that are narrated are spoken in High German with a Bavarian accent. When Kiem Pauli speaks, or when the quartets sing, you will hear the same Bavarian dialect that is spoken now, was spoken then, and has been spoken for centuries on that corner of the earth. I’ve had it in my ear since 1973… The scenery in these old film clips? Hardly changed.

Extended through Chapter Four…

This is the last free podcast (serialized audio book), except for occasional segments that need a wider audience, such as the three White Rose trials.

I will continue to post a free, very short excerpt with each segment. Also, free subscribers will be able to read the segment notes, but not the bibliography.

Please join our work! We need every single reader! You may not realize how you fuel our work…

* Bayerische Volkspartei. Retrieved from bayerische-volkspartei.exsugo.de.

* Dill, Marshall. Germany: A Modern History. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1961.

* Dumanski, Fritz. “Zwischen Bierkeller und Salon – Hitler im München vor 1933.” Transcript of a Bayern 2 radio presentation.

* Huber, Kurt, & Kiem, Paul. Oberbayerische Volkslieder. Munich: Verlag Knorr & Hirth GmbH, 1930. Illustrated by Eduard Thöny.

* Huber, Kurt. Volkslied und Volkstanz: Aufsätze zur Volksliedkunde des bajuwarischen Raumes. Ettal: Buch-Kunstverlag Ettal (undated).

* Klönne, Arno. “Karrieren im Kampf gegen das ‘Weltjudentum’: Wissenschaftsbetrieb im Nationalsozialismus.” Retrieved from www.oeko-net.de/kommune/kommune3-00/ KKLOENNE.HTM.

* Kuttner, Sven. “Geraubte Bücher: Jüdische Provenienzen im Restbestand der Bibliothek der ‘Forschungsabteilung Judenfrage’ in der Bibliothek des Historicums der UB München.” In Bibliotheksdienst 37, Jahrgang 2003, Vol. 8/9, pp. 1059-1065.

* Litten, Freddy. “Max Dingler – Die andere Seite.” In Literatur in Bayern, No. 43, pp. 10-23. (Also available online at http://litten.de/fulltext/dinglerc.htm.)

* Mayo Clinic Staff. “Rickets.” Retrieved from www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=AN00220.

* McVeigh, Daniel P. An Early History of the Telephone. © 2000. Retrieved from www.ilt.columbia.edu/ projects/bluetelephone/html/health.html.

* Paterson, Colin. “Osteomalacia and rickets (vitamin D deficiency).” Retrieved from www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/osteomalaciarickets.htm.

* “Preissingen in Egern.” Retrieved from www.br-online.de/br-intern/thema/br-chronik/audio-sammlung.xml.

* Shulman, S.T. “The History Of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.” In Pediatric Research 55:163-176 (International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc., 2004). Retrieved from www.pedresearch.org/cgi/content/full/55/1/163.

* Suckert, Hans-Ulrich. “Die Büchse der Pandora.” In Mahnung Gegen Rechts – Städte und Gemeinden in der Zeit von 1933 – 1945 (Zittau). Retrieved from www.mahnung-gegen-rechts.de/pages/staedte/ Zittau/pages/pandora.htm.

* Winkler, Judith. “Die Volksmusik.” Retrieved from www.winkler-kreuth.de/tradition/ volksmusik.htm.

* Wittenstein, George J. “The White Rose.” World War II Conference, Siena College. June 1993.

* NJ1704, Volume 2. 4/16/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber.

* NJ1704, Volume 7. Undated (March 1943) C.V. written by Professor Huber; 2/27/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber; 3/10/43 interrogation of Kurt Huber.

* NJ1704, Volume 13. Notes to “mug shots” of Professor Kurt Huber; 5/4/43 clemency petition filed by Cotta Verlag on behalf of Kurt Huber; 4/21/43 clemency petition filed by August Deppisch.

* NJ1704, Volume 20. 4/19/43 intake form (Stadelheim) for Kurt Huber.

* ZC13267, Volume 2. 2/20/43 interrogation of Hans Scholl (second one of the day).

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 03 (supplement) © 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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or 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.

In White Rose History, Volume II, this chapter is subtitled For serious readers only. However, I am not labeling it as such in this podcast because of its importance in understanding both the life of Josef Söhngen and Professor Kurt Huber, as well as the difficulty of discerning who was what.

Were these two men appropriately defined as dissidents? The Gestapo thought so. Our 20-20 hindsight can cause us to look askew at their lives. What do you think?

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 33-37.

Notes and references

Some (but not all) of the material may be repeated in subsequent chapters. This supplement consolidates information that makes both Söhngen and Huber difficult to understand.

Both Jürgen Wittenstein and Inge Scholl could also be considered enigmatic people, but neither contributed a whit to White Rose life.

The monument to the victims [Opfer] of National Socialism is located directly at that complicated Brienner Str. / Maximiliansplatz intersection.

The “Söhngen” bookstore still existed as of 2004, but it is now located at Türken Str. 30. It is currently called Buchhandlung L. Werner Architektur, Design, Kunst.

Information about directions is primarily documented by personal experience – driving (or trying to drive) those streets long before I knew there was a White Rose. And yes, I’ve gotten trapped and been unable to exit or turn where needed!

Information about location of the Bodega: Baedeker’s Germany: A Handbook for Railway Travelers and Motorists, dated 1936. Maffei Str. 4 is still a restaurant, but an upscale place, and not the cheap Italian “wine restaurant” of the 1940s.

Baedeker (Munich II map) is also the source for information about location of Braunes Haus, Führerbau, and Verwaltungsbau der NSDAP.

Information about location of the Hugendubel Book Store comes from 2/20/43 report filed by Agent Schmauβ regarding Hans Scholl’s activities, because White Rose targeted that particular store during one of the graffiti campaigns.

In the 2001 interview with Wittenstein, he expressly stated that Hans Scholl et al did not attend his literary soirees.

* Baedeker, Karl. Germany: A Handbook for Railway Travellers and Motorists. New York: Chas. Scribner’s Sons, 1936. Original German version was published in Leipzig by Karl Baedeker, Publisher.

* “Buchhandlung L. Werner in neuen Räumen.” August 27, 1953. Retrieved from www.muenchen.de/Rathaus/dir/stadtarchiv/chronik/81265/1953.html.

* “Directory.” The online directory of the Pinakothek. Retrieved from www.pinakothek.de/kunstareal/galerien/galerien.pdf.

* Dr. Jürgen (George J.) Wittenstein and his wife Christel Bejenke, California. January 2001. Three-day interview at their home (with numerous telephone conversations before and after). I issued a written report of this interview, and Dr. Wittenstein signed off on it. I entered every correction he made to the Protokol.

* Wittenstein correspondence: May 28, 2000; December 15, 2001; multiple September 2003.

* Zentrumspartei. “Geschichte.” Retrieved from www.zentrumspartei.de/html/ geschichte.html.

* Ziegler, Armin. Jürgen Wittenstein und die Geschichte der ‘Weiβe Rose’: Ein Beitrag zur ‘Weiβe Rose’ Forschung. Schönaich: Self-published, 2004.

* the bündische trials: scholl-reden. 1937-1938.

* Third White Rose Trial. Initial interrogation of Josef Söhngen on 3/16/43; Söhngen’s post-war narrative; 4/27/43 order to transfer Söhngen, Geyer, Dohrn, and Eickemeyer to investigative custody; 5/24/1943 letter from Söhngen’s attorney requesting his release; 7/13/43 verdict with reasons; 4/14/1943 report by Gestapo about Söhngen; July 7, 1943 letter from Captain Manfred Schwarz to the Special Court in Munich on behalf of Josef Söhngen.

* ZC13267, Volume 1, part 1. 2/20/1943 report filed by Agent Schmauβ regarding Hans Scholl's activities.

As always, should additional information become available that sheds new light on the person of Josef Söhngen, it will be included in a future update.

Postscript (2024): The Salvatorplatz location of Hugendubel bookstore was closed about ten years ago. The Marienplatz location still exists.

Hugendubel got into some pretty hot water around that time for ‘filtering out’ LGBTQ+ and “Communist” publications from its online store, along with items critical of the Catholic Church. Public pressure made the Hugendubel family and board of directors reinstate the filtered items.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 3 (supplement), © 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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or 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.

May 30 - May 31, 1942.

Alexander Schmorell and Lilo Ramdohr at Bumpererhof, near Chiemsee.

May 30/31, 1942 bombing of Cologne.

Otl Aicher in Ukraine.

Willi Graf response to bombing of Cologne.

2007 update:

Last meeting of Fritz Hartnagel and Sophie Scholl in Munich, May 20, 1942. Fritz’s deployment to Mariupol.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 29-32.

Notes and references

Alexander Schmorell and Lilo Ramdohr at Bumpererhof, near Chiemsee.

The event is only dated as “late spring 1942,” but this is the only weekend that makes sense with weather and other activities as noted. It is also clear that Alexander Schmorell did not accompany Hans and Sophie on the trip, which only underscores the probability that Lilo Fürst-Ramdohr’s narrative goes here in the timeline. If documentation surfaces that alters this timeline, that information will be included in a subsequent update.

* Fürst-Ramdohr, Lilo. Freundschaften in der Weiβen Rose. Munich: Verlag Geschichtswerkstatt Neu­hausen, 1995.

May 30/31, 1942 bombing of Cologne.

Inge Jens and Anneliese Knoop-Graf, Lilo Fürst-Ramdohr, and Susanne Hirzel all mention this air raid in their White Rose histories. It was that significant to the resistance work that was to come.

Susanne Hirzel’s narrative made me laugh, because she used the distinctly Swabian expression of “stille Zeit” as a euphemism regarding use of the toilet. A Swabian slang proverb still in use says Verse lernt man auf dem Klo, stille Zeit macht man sowieso when describing performing a secondary useful task while on the toilet. Literally means, “You learn verses on the toilet, you spend quiet time anyway.”

* Fürst-Ramdohr, Lilo. Freundschaften in der Weiβen Rose. Munich: Verlag Geschichtswerkstatt Neu­hausen, 1995.

* Hirzel, Susanne. Vom Ja zum Nein: Eine schwäbische Jugend 1933-1945. Tübingen: Klöpfer, Mayer und Co. Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 1998.

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

* Lippman, David H. “World War II Plus 55.” Retrieved from www.usswashington.com/.

* RAF History – Bomber Command 60th Anniversary. Retrieved from www.raf.mod.uk/ bombercommand/.

Otl Aicher in Ukraine.

* Aicher, Otl. innenseiten des kriegs. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag GmbH, 1985.

Willi Graf response to bombing of Cologne.

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

2007 update: Last meeting of Fritz Hartnagel and Sophie Scholl in Munich, May 20, 1942. Fritz’s deployment to Mariupol.

* Hartnagel, Thomas (Ed.). Sophie Scholl, Fritz Hartnagel: “Damit wir uns nicht verlieren”: Briefwechsel 1937-1943. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 2005.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 03, © 2002, Chapter 03, 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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or 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.

May 29 - May 30, 1942.

Sophie Scholl: Still at Dr. Muth’s house. Tea with Muth and Sigismund von Radecki. Tiring conversation with Josef Furtmeier. Sophie’s frustration at inactivity, at failure to do something.

Hans Scholl and Sophie Scholl: Trip to Passau and Bohemian Forest to visit Father Schwarz and procure food for Dr. Muth.

Sophie’s “unrequited love” and crush on Alexander Schmorell. Gift given to Lilo Berndl.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 27-29.

Notes and references

Sophie Scholl (Muth’s house, etc.):

In the earliest drafts of this book in 1994, I had portrayed Sophie Scholl – when she was among friends – as a vivacious, lively young woman who talked nonstop. During a March 1995 interview, Franz Josef Müller, director of Munich’s Weiβe-Rose-Stiftung, said that my concept of her was all wrong, that she was a quiet little mouse who always sat in a corner and never said anything.

Six weeks later, I asked Fritz and Elisabeth Hartnagel about this characteristic of Sophie. RHS: Was Sophie livelier when she was in a small group? Fritz Hartnagel and Elisabeth Scholl Hartnagel: What do you mean, “livelier”? RHS: Well, several people have said or have written that Sophie was very reserved, very quiet. But when I read her letters, I don't see her that way at all. ESH: Who said that? RHS: Among others, Franz Josef Müller. ESH: He did not know her at all. She was only reserved when she was around strangers, or whenever she deemed someone to be superficial.

FH: Yes, I agree – and one example was when she was doing her Reich Labor Service in Krauchenwies. Those girls only talked about boys and such things. Sophie did not have anything in common with them. But she always had a good time and was very lively, although she was also quite contemplative. She was strong intellectually and spiritually, and very artistic. As one example of her liveliness, she liked to climb way up in saplings and swing back and forth.

* Fritz and Elisabeth Hartnagel, Stuttgart. April 1995. Two-hour interview at their residence.

* 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.

* Lafrenz, Traute. “Bericht.” Letter to Inge Scholl, dated February 21, 1946. Unpublished.

* Ziegler, Armin. Eugen Grimminger: Widerständler und Genossenschaftspionier. Crailsheim: Baier BPB Verlag, 2000.

Hans and Sophie Scholl: Trip to Passau and Bohemian Forest:

* 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.

Sophie’s unrequited love:

* Fürst-Ramdohr, Lilo. Freundschaften in der Weiβen Rose. Munich: Verlag Geschichtswerkstatt Neu­hausen, 1995. Lilo showed us the book.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 03, © 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.

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May 16 - May 28, 1942.

Hans Scholl’s new room at Mandl Strasse 1.

Willi Graf: Relationship with Fritz Leist and Emil Martin. Abscessed tooth.

Gisela Schertling’s homecoming visit to her high school in Spetzgart and physical issues.

Scholls’ Pentecost together: Inge’s visit to Hans and Sophie Scholl in Munich. Hans and Inge to Vorderriβ. Scholl siblings’ hike to Geislingen.

Willi Graf: Thoughts of Russian front. Correspondence with Marita Herfeldt.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 24-27.

Notes and references

Hans Scholl’s new room:

Alexander Berrsche was the pseudonym of Alexander Lösch, April 3, 1883 – July 14, 1940. – For more information about Alexander Berrsche’s work, Google his name. Modern musicologists still quote his critiques of early twentieth century performances. - Throughout this volume, I refer to Maria by her married name of Lösch.

The barracks were located at Bergmann Str. 36. That short street ends about two blocks from the current location of the beginning of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Autobahn, near Westend Park.

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

* ZC13267, Volume I. 2/20/1943 interrogation of Maria Berrsche (Gestapo naming).

Willi Graf and Fritz Leist-Emil Martin; abscessed tooth:

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

* Vielhaber, Klaus. Gewalt und Gewissen: Willi Graf und die “Weisse Rose.” Würzburg: Echter-Verlag, 1963.

Gisela Schertling’s Pentecost:

* ZC13267, Volume 15/1. 4/2/1943 interview of Paul and Charlotte Schertling.

* ZC13267, Volume 15/2. 4/7/1943 letter from Gisela Schertling’s attorney Karl Götz to the People’s Court.

Scholls’ Pentecost together:

Either Sophie never mentioned Inge’s visit in her diary or letters, or Inge censored whatever she said. The only things we know about it come from Inge, Magdalena, and Robert Scholl in 1943, when they reminisced about Pentecost a year ago, and from Hans Scholl’s one-sentence statement about the trip to Vorderriβ with Inge during a Gestapo interrogation transcript. Sophie’s voice is heard only when she gave the “failed” portrait to Lisa Remppis as a 1942 Christmas present (more about that in later chapters).

My first trip to Germany was in June 1973. I landed in Brussels, planning to catch the first train to Munich. Since Pentecost isn’t a big deal in Texas, I was unprepared for the rush of people. Not only could I not take the first train out. By the time I could get a ticket agent to sell me a ticket at all, I wound up sitting on my luggage behind the kitchen in the dining car, all the way from Brussels to Cologne! Needless to say, I quickly learned what Germans and Europeans think of the long Pentecost holiday!

Vorderriβ is worth the drive from Munich. It’s in the Karwendel mountains.

* 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.

* ZC13267, Volume 2. 2/21/1943 interrogation of Hans Scholl.

Willi Graf’s thoughts of Russia and correspondence with Marita Herfeldt:

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

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 03 © 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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Mid-May 1942.

Traute Lafrenz and Katharina Schüddekopf. Their friendship, common interests, especially Professor Kurt Huber’s classes. Parallels between their upbringing.

The importance of Katharina Schüddekopf’s friendship to Traute Lafrenz, as her relationship with Hans Scholl publicly disintegrated. Ulla Claudius.

Dr. Carl Muth’s “St. Thomas More” comment.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 20-23.

Notes and references

Traute Lafrenz introduction of Katharina Schüddekopf to the group of friends:

Traute identified the class where she met Käthe in her 4/21/2003 letter to me.

Käthe’s home life may have been complicated by two additional factors. First, her father (Friedrich August Hermann Schüddekopf) had been born to a single-parent household, not knowing who his father was until he was 52 years old. He had been raised with his mother’s maiden name of Schüddekopf. Friedrich Heinrich Daniel Voltmer (a farmer) did not claim paternity until July 26, 1938, four years before the death of Käthe’s father. (see Marcel Ohlmeier). Second, Käthe’s father had to convert to Catholicism when he married her mother. This does not seem to have made much difference to him, as nothing in the literature speaks to his having been religious even before his marriage.

Krupp Grusonwerke, alternately written Krupp-Grusonwerk, had initially been simply Grusonwerk, with Gruson apparently the name of the family that founded that factory. It was taken over by Krupp sometime before the war. The CIA kept a watchful eye on the production of Krupp-Grusonwerk after the war.

There is no evidence that Katharina Schüddekopf met Professor Huber during his tenure at the University of Berlin. He had already returned to Munich before she enrolled in the summer semester of 1939. Also, as of May 1942, Professor Huber was not Käthe’s PhD advisor. That came later.

More about Professor Huber’s international reputation in the fields of musicology and philosophy follows in subsequent chapters.

* “Forms of Cerebral Palsy.” Retrieved from www.formsofcerebralpalsy.com/diplegia.html.

* Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg. “Magdeburg: Kurzgeschichte der Stadt.” Retrieved from www.khm-magdeburg.de/KleineStadtGeschichte/Kapitel10.html.

* Letter dated 4/21/2003 from Traute Lafrenz to author.

* Ohlmeier, Marcel. “Genealogische Daten.” Retrieved from www.ohlmeier-online.de/Genealogie/data/ deutsch/data/die_familie/ged/html/dat3.htm.

* Siemers, Cary. “World War II Vehicles: Germany’s Panzerkampfwagen IV, SdKfz 161.” Retrieved from www.wwiivehicles.com/html/germany/tanks_medium/ pzkpfw_iv.html.

* ZC13267, Volume 6. 3/19/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/1/1943 interrogation of Carl Lafrenz; 2/26/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz. (Publication in 2024/2025.)

* ZC13267, Volume 15, part 2. 3/23/1943 interrogation of Katharina Schüddekopf; 3/24/1943 interrogation of Katharina Schüddekopf.

* ZC13267, Volume 15, part 3. Agent Geith’s final report dated 4/6/1943 regarding Katharina Schüddekopf; 4/4/1943 evaluation of Katharina Schüddekopf by Gestapo in Magdeburg.

Traute Lafrenz, Katharina Schüddekopf, Hans Scholl… and Ulla Claudius:

Traute Lafrenz was very clear about Sophie’s arrival deflating her relationship with Hans Scholl.

Ulla Claudius returned to Hamburg in June 1942. But the damage had already been done.

* 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.

* Letter dated 4/21/2003 from Traute Lafrenz to author.

* ZC13267, Volume 6. 3/19/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 3/25/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/3/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz; 4/12/1943 report filed by Agent Geith regarding Traute Lafrenz. (Publication in 2024/2025.)

* ZC13267, Volume 15, part 1. 4/2/1943 interrogation of Gisela Schertling.

Dr. Carl Muth, Hans Scholl, Inge Scholl… and St. Thomas More:

Thomas More was not made patron saint of statesmen and politicians until October 31, 2000. He had been canonized in 1935.

* Aicher-Scholl, Inge. “Verbindung zu Th. Haecker.” Unpublished. ND.

* American Catholic, “Saint of the Day.” Retrieved from www.americancatholic.org/Features/ Saint of Day/.

* Hudleston, G. Robert. “St. Thomas More.” In The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. I, Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Retrieved from www.newadvent.org/cathen/14689c.htm.

* Women of Faith & Family. “Catholics and Political Responsibility.” Retrieved from www.wf-f.org/Litany-ThosMore.html.

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 02, © 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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Mid-May 1942.

Alfred von Martin introduces Hans Scholl to Josef Furtmeier, who would become profound influence on White Rose friends. Nicknamed “The Philosopher,” Furtmeier quit his job instead of joining the NSDAP, an action that taught the students the cost of living according to one’s convictions.

Josef Furtmeier introduces Manfred Eickemeyer to Hans Scholl. Background on Eickemeyer’s life and influence on the students.

Hans Scholl joins Alexander Schmorell as frequent visitor to Lilo Berndl nee Ramdohr’s home. Sketching.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 17-20.

Notes and references

Josef Furtmeier:

During Traute Lafrenz’s interrogation on 2/26/1943, she said they had never talked politics with Josef Furtmeier. She shielded him well.

* 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.

* 4/21/2003 letter from Traute Lafrenz to author.

* ZC13267, Volume 6. 2/26/1943 interrogation of Traute Lafrenz. (Publication in 2024/2025.)

Manfred Eickemeyer:

In Eickemeyer’s 4/7/1943 interrogation, he stated that he met Hans Scholl in Spring 1942. On 4/6/1943, he had stated it was June 1942. On 7/13/1943, the judge in the Third White Rose Trial stated that Eickemeyer had met Hans Scholl in March or April 1942.

The June 1942 date does not leave enough time for the meetings they both admitted to before July 22, 1942 (databases are good at establishing this sort of thing!). The March-April 1942 date is untenable because Eickemeyer’s “furloughs” in Munich rarely lasted more than one month, at most two, and would not have stretched until July 22, 1942.

Regarding the 4/9/1943 interrogation: This interrogation includes his admission to the Gestapo about what he told the White Rose friends at the 7/22/1942 party re murders of Jews and Poles in the Generalgouvernement, and how it negatively affected his attitude towards the government. Eickemeyer’s willingness to take this stand during his interrogation alleviates some of the doubts that would remain of necessity if one only considered the work he did for the Generalgouvernement.

Regarding his immediate family members: I like the fact that Manfred Eickemeyer mentioned his sister Luise and her husband Professor Dr. Kurt von Fritz first during his interrogation. He seems to have emphasized the anti-Nazi side of his family.

Dr. Kurt von Fritz’s archives may be accessed on the Web site of SUNY/Albany’s M.E. Grenander Special Collections and Archives.

* Lahanas, Michael. “Constantin Carathéodory.” Retrieved from www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/ new/Caratheodory.htm. Information about the friendship between Kurt von Fritz and Constantin Carathéodory.

* Reiss, Hans. “Geisteswissenschaften in the Third Reich: Some Reflections.” In German History, January 1, 2003, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 86-103.

* Stadtsarchiv München Stanw. Nr. 12.530. 4/6/1943 interrogation of Manfred Eickemeyer; 4/7/1943 interrogation of Manfred Eickemeyer; 4/9/1943 interrogation of Manfred Eickemeyer;

Lilo Berndl nee Ramdohr:

* Fürst-Ramdohr, Lilo. Freundschaften in der Weiβen Rose. Munich: Verlag Geschichtswerkstatt Neu­hausen, 1995.

* 2002 interview with Lieselotte Fürst-Ramdohr at her apartment in Starnberg.

* Steipe, Patrizia. “Alexander Schmorell – privat.” Süddeutsche Zeitung, 1995, Feuilleton.

* NJ1704, Volume 9. 3/2/1943 interrogation of Lilo Berndl. (Publication in 2024/2025.)

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 02, © 2002 Denise Elaine Heap and Exclamation! Publishers. Please contact us for permission to quote.

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

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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

First weeks of May 1942.

This chapter - all of it - paints portrairs of people who remained largely behind the scenes as White Rose friends began their resistance efforts. And yet, these individuals contributed significantly to the “thinking” of the students.

Alfred von Martin played an outsized role in Hans Scholl’s thinking, as well as that of Otl Aicher. Josef Furtmeier impacted Traute Lafrenz. Katharina Schüddekopf, who by all rights should have known Traute Lafrenz already, joined the circle in May 1942. Josef Furtmeier introduced Manfred Eickemeyer to the group.

Slowly but surely, the circle widened.

Today, we look at Otl Aicher’s transfer to the Russian front, but the majority of today’s podcast deals with Alfred von Martin - his back story, and how his work influenced White Rose resistance.

White Rose History, Volume II, pages 14-17.

Starting with today’s podcast, “notes and references” will contain books, essays, etc. in bibliography format instead of footnote format. — DEH.

Notes and references for fencing:

While fencing seems to have figured into a great deal of bündische life, and while Hans Scholl probably had learned how to fence, he is never mentioned as joining in this aspect of the life of the friends in Munich or Ulm.

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

Reference re Sophie Scholl’s meeting Christoph Probst and feelings at Muth’s house:

* Aicher, Otl. innenseiten des kriegs. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag GmbH, 1985.

* 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.

* ZC13267, Volume 3. 2/20/43 interrogation of Sophie Scholl.

Reference for Otl Aicher on the Russian Front:

* Aicher, Otl. innenseiten des kriegs. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Verlag GmbH, 1985.

Notes and references regarding Alfred von Martin:

* “Alphubel.” Retrieved from http://mountainarea.com/alphubel/main/html.

* Ferguson, Wallace K. “Introduction to the Torchbook Edition.” In Sociology of the Renaissance, by Alfred Wilhelm Otto von Martin. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.

* Knox, E.L. Skip. “Historiography of the Renaissance.” Retrieved from http://history.boisestate.edu/hy309/historiography/.

* Lichtblau, Klaus. “Soziologie als Kulturwissenschaft?” Retrieved from www.soziologie.uni-freiburg.de/ kuso-dgs/debatte/lichtblau.htm.

* Swidler, Leonard. The Ecumenical Vanguard: The History of the Una Sancta Movement. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University Press, 1966.

* Zenz, Helmut. Karl Buchheim: Historiker und Philosoph (1889-1982).

Podcast © 2024 Denise Elaine Heap. White Rose History, Volume II, Chapter 02, © 2002 Denise Elaine Heap and Exclamation! Publishers. Please contact us for permission to quote.

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

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.

Why This Matters is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.