Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Quo Vadis, Sophie?
It might be worth remembering that on this date in 1943, a young lady named Sophie Scholl was murdered (“executed”) by the Nazis. Sophie, a student at the University of Munich, and her brother Hans, along with some other enlightened and very brave folks, began, of course, the group known as The White Rose— Die Weiße Rose. They dedicated themselves to resisting the Nazis.
They printed leaflets back then. If they were around today, they’d probably be bloggers. This quote comes from the first leaflet they published, knowing full well it could mean death to do so:
"Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be ruled without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to its basest instincts. Certainly today, every honest German is ashamed of his government. Who among us has any concept of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes, crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure, reach the light of day?"
They painted anti-Nazi slogans on walls. They were finally arrested after several more leaflets, and on this date Sophie, Hans and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine after only days in prison.
Sophie Scholl was 21 years old when she was killed. The wingers would love to use her as an example of an anti-appeasement poster child. I say no. You will notice she didn’t use violence, but particularly advocated non-violent resistance. Resistance to a government that controlled every part of society, invaded countries without provocation, used and advocated torture while agitating for “decency,” and hated leftists. Oh, and Sophie was a Christian—the kind that used to be held up as examples of the faith.
Que Viva!
They printed leaflets back then. If they were around today, they’d probably be bloggers. This quote comes from the first leaflet they published, knowing full well it could mean death to do so:
"Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be ruled without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to its basest instincts. Certainly today, every honest German is ashamed of his government. Who among us has any concept of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes, crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure, reach the light of day?"
They painted anti-Nazi slogans on walls. They were finally arrested after several more leaflets, and on this date Sophie, Hans and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine after only days in prison.
Sophie Scholl was 21 years old when she was killed. The wingers would love to use her as an example of an anti-appeasement poster child. I say no. You will notice she didn’t use violence, but particularly advocated non-violent resistance. Resistance to a government that controlled every part of society, invaded countries without provocation, used and advocated torture while agitating for “decency,” and hated leftists. Oh, and Sophie was a Christian—the kind that used to be held up as examples of the faith.
Que Viva!
