Introduction
Sophie Scholl & the White Rose is a book written by Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn, which explains the foundation, development, and general experience of Sophie School. It was first published in the year 1986 under the title “Shattering the German Night.” This captivating book is an inspiring and informative account of German opposition to the third race. With particulars of Scholl’s execution and trials, the story starts with an army soldier named Harnack who is to meet with a learner by the name Hans Scholl. The army soldier was very active in rebellion movements and had met with this student and her friends twice before (Dumbach and Jud 62).
Discussion
The main theme of the book is revolt and resistance as seen through Sophie and Scholl, who after a long period of apprehension oppose National Socialism which they had supported in the beginning. The Nazis felt that teenagers are the cutting edge in the new Germany struggles and thus encouraged their contribution in this subject matter. Due to this, Sophie and Scholl joined different movements with Sophie joining the BDM and Scholl joining the Hitler Youth. This enhances the theme of revolt and resistance since the two by joining these movements detest activities such as the persistent propaganda, thought and expression control and the ruthless anti-Semitic policies. Some of the activities undertaken by these illegal movements involved underground actions such as reading and conversing banned literature (Dumbach and Jud 200).
In resisting the Nazis, Sophie and Scholl began to dispute their authority and though they were detained, it strengthened them to resist the German Government. For instance, Scholl became more determined to go on with his defiance of the Nazis and subsequently established an opposition movement whose purpose was to write and dispense leaflets that faulted Nazi actions and policies. He befriended other students who later joined his group and at this point he named it” The white Rose” which stands for purity in the face of iniquity. The leaflets were filled with fury, literary citations, and a request for the readers to disseminate the information involved in the leaflets and take part in resistance activities (Dumbach and Jud 73).
Revolt and resistance is further seen through the fact that though Harnack had criticized four leaflets, which Scholl and her small sister had distributed as leaders of an opposition group in Munich, he still wanted to expand and associate with them to have a broader network of opposition. During the meeting, Harnack was to introduce Scholl to other active resistance groups in Berlin (Dumbach and Jud 212).
The theme of revolt and resistance is further seen where Scholl, her small sister, and their friend had been put on trial for high treason. Sophie, the young sister to Scholl was always strong in her convictions and enhances the theme of revolt and resistance through the fact that she deeply reflected on issues concerning her world, nature and her position in the society (Dumbach and Jud 49).
The theme of revolt and resistance is also seen through Robert, the father of Scholl, who is a strong open-minded man and does not keep his political opinions to himself. As a result, he has been severally arrested for his outbursts. He despises the cultural and administrative restrictions that have been enforced by the National Socialists (Dumbach and Jud 98). The authors of this book view Robert as an Einzelgänger in the sense that he revolts against almost everything through his own ways.
The weakness and flaw of these work is that the authors, Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn, heavily depended on individual records and letters by Sophie and Scholl in order to relate their real feelings and motives in showing their attempts in resistance. The authors give the story of the White Rose by framing the group’s activities in the concept of German history, beliefs, and culture. It would have been better if the authors were members of the group “White Rose” which forms the theme of the book. Another flaw of the book is seen through the fact that the authors show that the storyline is fictional though it appears actual to the reader.
Conclusion
An example of a quote from the work that best sums it up is “We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!” (Dumbach and Jud 198).This quote is best shown when Scholl and one of his friends are taken to Russia for medicinal detachments in the year 1942 leading to temporal cease of the resistance activities of their group. On return, the two decide that White Rose should increase its opposition efforts. They thus generate and spread more leaflets, which lead to the start of a nocturnal campaign with different slogans, the main one having the paintings “freedom.” In my opinion, I feel that Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn did an excellent and exhaustive job in writing this book since they efficiently framed the actions of White Rose within the context of German history and ways of life alongside the rise and fall of the Third Reich. This book is a significant addition to literature concerning the Second World War and a captivating window to individual spirit.
Works Cited
Dumbach, Annette and Jud, Newborn. Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Oxford: One world, 2007. Print.