White Rose Memorial at the Ludwig Max Ludwig-Maximilian s-University, 2012. photograph. Public Art and Memory Page
Legacy
"Today they are great heroes, comparable to Abraham Lincoln for Americans, in Germany. Many Holocaust organizations in the USA have “White Rose Essay” contests and other ways to remember them"
~Thomas Mann
~Thomas Mann
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Years after the execution, the legacy of the White Rose lives on. On January 30, 1968 the Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science was created. In 1997, a tribute was made in honor of the White Rose Society in the atrium of the University of Munich where Hans and Sophie were arrested. This tribute consists of a sculpture of Sophie Scholl. Later, on February 22, 2003, the Bavarian Government placed a bust of Sophie Scholl in the Walhalla Temple. Sophie and Hans proved their impact when, in 2003, they were voted as the 4th most influential people of the 20th Century by Germany’s “under 40 population.” A more recent tribute, in 2005, a bronze effigy of Sophie Scholl was added in the atrium at the University of Munich.
"Germans in 2003 in a National TV competition to choose the top 10 most important Germans of ALL TIME voted the White Rose into fourth place – winning over Bach, Goethe, Gutenberg, Bismarck, Willy Brandt and Albert Einstein! They should be remembered as the greatest heroes of the German anti-Nazi resistance – but more – as shining examples of courage and basic human decency for people everywhere "
~From interview with Dr. Jud Newborn |
Bust of Sophie Scholl in the Walhalla Temple, 2011. photograph. Pettinger
"Sophie Scholl is now a legend in Germany, an iconic symbol of youthful defiance against a monstrous dictatorship. A very special German in the Nazi era who stood up while nearly everyone else joined in or looked the other way. There are over 190 schools in Germany named in her honor, she has been voted Woman of the Twentieth Century, and in November 2003"
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Brian Palmer discusses the White Rose and their act of resistance towards Hitler and the Nazis on TED- Talk.
Inspiration
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"The White Rose struck hope in her"
~Ilse Aichinger "The great German Nobel Laureate, Thomas Mann, singled them out as examples that there were still decent Germans who recognized the evils of Nazism"
~Thomas Mann |
"It is possibly the most spectacular moment of resistance that I can think of in the twentieth century... The fact that five little kids, in the mouth of the wolf, where it really counted, had the tremendous courage to do what they did, is spectacular to me. I know that the world is better for them having been there."
~Lillian Garrett Groag (Newsday February, 22, 1993) Q: "The last page of your book includes a quote from Ilse Aichinger which talks about how the White Rose struck hope in her. How would you say this affect was important? Do you think anyone else felt the same?"
A: "Yes, VERY important – even a great nobel laureate like author Thomas Mann was inspired by them and broadcast messages back to Germany by radio in hopes of getting more Germans to pay attention." ~Interview response from Dr. Jud Newborn |
Remembering the White Rose
German people honor the members of the White Rose through: monuments, stamps, street names and festivals. Their stand has lived on and not only appreciated by the German people today, but also by people all over the world!
Conclusion
"Finally - and most importantly - today the White Rose have become icons in Germany, as important to Germans as Abraham Lincoln is to us in America. They stand for “civil courage”- something Germans prize above all else, having experienced the consequences of complicity, cowardice and apathy themselves. And people around the world, more and more, are coming to embrace the White Rose similarly. Their importance has transcended the Nazi era and even the borders of Germany today. What could be more important than this?"
~Interview Response from Dr. Jud Newborn