On Feb. 22, 1943, Sophie Scholl, Hans Scholl, and Christoph Probst
were executed for their role in urging students to rise up and
overthrow the Nazi government. They were members of a group called the White Rose,
who organized nonviolent resistance to Hitler, and were arrested for
printing and distributing anti-Nazi flyers.
Hans Scholl-24 (left),
Sophie Scholl-21 (center), and Christoph Probst-24 (right), leaders of the
White Rose resistance organization. Munich, Germany, 1942
The three young people were, after a sham trial, declared guilty
of treason by a Nazi court, and sentenced to death. Their crime was the
distribution of anti-Nazi pamphlets. That same day they were taken to a
basement and, one by one, beheaded by the guillotine seen here, which
was recently found in storage in the basement of a Bavarian museum.
Sophie was given the chance to avoid execution if she would say that
Hans and Christoph were the leaders, and if she would give up the names
of their resistance group The White Rose. She refused, saying she was
proud of what she'd done, and that if one believes in freedom for all
people, one must be willing to die for it.
See trailer for film Sophie Scholl – The Final Days:
Here
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