Wonderful Women: Sophie Scholl

Sophie Scholl is one of those people whose lives should be taught in every school in every nation. But it's surprising to learn just how few people have heard of her.

Scholl was born in 1921 in a small German town, the fourth of five children. In 1942, she enrolled at the University of Munich, studying biology and philosophy. Around that time, a group of young men at the university, including Scholl's brother Hans, formed a Nazi resistance group called The White Rose.

Several members of The White Rose had spent time fighting on the eastern front and had witnessed Nazi atrocities firsthand. They authored political leaflets describing the horrible war crimes of the Nazis and instructing Germans to passively resist them. Although Sophie did not author any of the leaflets, she did help distribute them, and it was while she was distributing them on campus that she was arrested on February 18, 1943. Three days later, Sophie, Hans, and their friend Cristoph Probst were tried for treason, convicted, and sentenced to death in a ridiculous parody of a trial, wanly defended by court appointed attorneys. They were beheaded just hours after their sentences were handed down. Impressed by their dignity and bravery, the guards of the prison violated regulations by letting the three friends see each other before they died. Hans and Sophie were allowed to see their parents, but none of Probst's family was aware that he had even been arrested, and his wife was in the hospital giving birth to their third child.

Sophie Scholl's last words were: "How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"

Sadly, the democratic uprising that Sophie envisioned never took place, and several more members of The White Rose were executed or sent to concentration camps.

A quality little film about Sophie Scholl was nominated for best foreign language film a few years ago - it's called Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, and it's worth adding to your Netflix queue. Another film about Scholl featuring Christina Ricci has been in development purgatory for years and looks like it's finally gone off the rails.