1942/43
Members of the White Rose group issue leaflets calling for resistance against the Nazi regime.
Memorial for the members of the White Rose, set in the pavement in front of the Main Building. | © jan Greune
On 27 June 1942, in the third year of the war, members of the White Rose group disseminated the first of their leaflets calling for passive resistance against the Nazi regime. Five further appeals followed, the last calling for the overthrow of Hitler’s dictatorship. The LMU students Willi Graf, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Sophie Scholl and Hans Scholl, together with LMU Professor Kurt Huber, formed the core of the group, which maintained informal links with other individuals and groups opposed to the Nazi regime.
On 18 February 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl were arrested by the Gestapo, after they had scattered copies of their latest leaflet around the Main Building. Further arrests were made in the days following and, in several separate trials, the leading members of the White Rose were convicted and sentenced to death. In all cases, the sentences were carried out without delay in the prison in Munich-Stadelheim.
Contexts