ia_2009_d_laura

=D. Analysis (500-650 words) Tips]=

//The White Rose is historically significant as it showed to the world that there was a difference between the Nazis and the ordinary German people, who were simply in a state of apprehension rather than actually supporting National Socialism. This greatly helped Germany rebuild relations after World War II as well as preventing the German people being demonized. The White Rose is still of great importance today as it proves Martin Luther King's point that "until a person finds something they are willing to die for, their life is not worth living" just as the film demonstrates the "hollywoodization" of history, which somewhat dumbs down history, providing people with incomplete or inaccurate information.//

i) __**What did the White Rose actually do and who was involved?**__



DELETE ALL OF THIS - In the film 'Sophie Scholl: The final days' the main members of the White Rose are Hans and Sophie Scholl, Alex Schmorell, Christoph Probst and Willi Graf. There are also implications during the interrogation that people such as Gisela Schertling, Furtwaengler and Wittenstein are part of the White Rose. Willi Graf and Alex Schmorell can only be seen at the beginning of the film when they help Hans and Sophie Scholl copy leaflets as well as being mentioned when Sophie Scholl is interrogated by Mr Mohr. In terms of what the White Rose did, the films shows that Christoph Probst wrote the seventh leaflet of the White Rose. Sophie and Hans Scholl also wrote leaflets as well as distributing them. Through their leaflets they spread the notion that Germany's defeat is imminent and thus Hitler "can only prolong [the war]". The film also shows that the White Rose wanted Hitler to end the war in order to create peace and to stop the blood bath that many of the members had to experience at the Eastern Front.

Nevertheless, concerning what the White Rose did, the film does not show that the White Rose asked the Germans to “work [...] against fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism." The films also excludes that the White Rose’s aim was to “to achieve a renewal from within of the severely wounded German spirit” . Regarding the members of the White Rose, the film has not mentioned Hans Hirzel and professor Huber. Consequently the film has not mentioned the fact that “the sixth and final document was written by Professor Huber”, who demanded German students to “fight against the party!” . Rothemunde possibly didn't mention members such as Professor Huber as he wanted a more dramatic story. Thus he focused on Sophie Scholl, a young, intelligent, attractive lady who gave her life for her people, subsequently making him "hollywoodize" history in order to make the movie more dramatic and a larger profit. The exclusion of Hans Hirzel is possibly because Hans Hirzel "had confided in two friends" concerning the White Rose, one of who " informed the Gestapo", which subsequently confronted Hirzel with the name Sophie Scholl. This incident has been omitted in the film, which is possibly why Rothemunde was oblidged not to mention Hans Hirzel and his importance. Nevertheless, the definition of resistance is debatable. The 'Bavaria Project' by Martin Broszat suggests that "all acts which actually helped to limit the infiltration of Nazism into everyday life" could be considered a resistance. However, could 'resistenz' in its broadest sense then also include sexual promiscuity within the Hitler Youth? [FOOTNOTE = Ian Kershaw provides three categories of conflict with Nazi Germany. The first would be for those who actively participate "in organised attempts to work against the regime", the second "encompasses actions of ‘limited aims’" , meaning those who simply sympathized with some elements of Nazism and the final category is "that of ‘dissent’" , aimed at those who were critical of the regime.Thus it could be said that the White Rose were, according to Kershaw, part of the first category]

ii) __**How did they justify what they did**__?

Within the film Christoph Probst justifies writing the seventh leaflet by explaining that he was “suffering a psychotic depression”, which was caused both by the war and the fact that his wife was having a childbirth fever. Sophie Scholl, on the other hand, justifies her actions by explaining that Germany wants peace, human dignity to be respected again, conscience and empathy. According to Sophie “[Hitler] led Germany into a bloody war where every victim dies in vain”. Hans Scholl explains that he was at the “Eastern Front and saw streams of blood with his own eyes in Poland and Russia” just as he saw women and children being shot by German soldiers and hence why he was part of the resistance group – to put an end to the war in order to introduce moral and peace again.

Further information can be found in the fifth leaflet, written by the White Rose where they explain that Germany will forever be “a nation which is hated and rejected by all mankind” if the population does not “dissociate [itself] from National Socialist gangsterism”. In “Passive Resistance to National Socialism” they explained that the overthrow of the system was necessary, as “a victory of fascist Germany in this war would have immeasurable, frightful consequences”. [FOOTNOTE = In the book “Sophie Scholl and the White Rose” it is explained that Sophie suffered of “heavy labor and indoctrination under the thumb of fanatical Nazi women leaders”, possibly a reason why she wanted to put an end to National Socialism. The book also demonstrates the concern Sophie had for Fritz Hartnagel as well as other friends at the Front. "The right to enjoy oneself when others were in agony" was something Sophie Scholl and many others could not do.] Nevertheless, the film accurately shows the reasons for their resistance as Rothemunde shows both why Germany in general should oppose the Nazi Regime just as it shows why the White Rose members personally opposed the Nazi Regime, which would have been irrelevant to mention in the leaflets aimed at everyone in the country.