They died by the guillotine of an inhumane regime. Sophie Scholl was 22 at the time of execution, her brother Hans 25. The siblings will forever remain a symbol of resistance against the National Socialist dictatorship.
From 1942, the student resistance group “Weiße Rose” (White Rose) used flyers to campaign against the Nazi regime. The inner circle of the group consisted of the siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst, Willi Graf and university professor Kurt Huber.
On 18 February 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl dropped a stack of the sixth set of flyers from the second floor into the atrium of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. In response, they were arrested, sentenced to death and beheaded on 22 February 1943, together with their fellow student Christoph Probst. In the same year, the death sentence was also carried out on Kurt Huber, Willi Graf and Alexander Schmorell.
Today, the “Weiße Rose” memorial in the main building of the university commemorates the student resistance against the Nazi regime. A bronze relief was erected in the atrium of the university in 1953. Since 1997, a bilingual permanent exhibition with interactive media stations has honoured the members of the White Rose and their history.
The Geschwister-Scholl-Platz (square) with its fountain in front of the university is named after Sophie and Hans Scholl. On the ground facing the university entrance, visitors can discover a memorial consisting of leaflets, portrait photos and a farewell letter from Willi Graf, all set in stone.
Another memorial has been erected at Stadelheim prison, where the three members of the resistance group were executed.
Munich's Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) houses a permanent exhibition in its “Weiße Rose Saal“ (White Rose Hall), where the Scholl siblings were sentenced to death. In addition to photos of the accused and copies of some original documents, it is above all the authenticity of the location that conveys a lasting impression of the arbitrary justice of the Third Reich.
Hans and Sophie Scholl found their final resting place at the Perlacher Forst cemetery, Stadelheimer Strasse 24. The grave bears the number 73-I-18/19. On a vacated former grave site opposite the honorary grave of the “Weiße Rose”, a “thinking space“ was designed that invites cemetery visitors to linger and reflect.
