This film is based on historical facts,
as yet unpublished transcripts,
and new interviews with witnesses.
THE FINAL DAYS
Sugar, I call my baby my sugar
I never maybe my sugar
That sugar baby of mine
He's special ration
Funny, he never asks for my money
All I give him is honey
And that he can spend anytime
I'd make a million trips to lips
If I were a bee
Because he's sweeter
than chocolate candy to me
I have to go.
What are you up to?
Gisela.
- I see.
- Come on. Let's go.
See you tomorrow at noon.
- In front of the Seehaus?
- Yes.
- Tell Hans to call me.
- I'll tell him.
Has he calmed down again?
You shouldn't have yelled at him.
He's already forgotten.
It's about time you came.
Come on. Keep going.
- Is that all?
- All that was left.
Our people are shattered
by our losses at Stalingrad.
The Führer's brilliant strategy
sent 330,000 German troops
to a senseless death.
I'm sure Willi would appreciate your help.
Here are the stamps...
and the list of names.
Thank you, Willi.
What about the rest?
I'll hand them out on campus.
Are you crazy?
Things almost ignited when students
revolted at the Deutsches Museum.
That's why the Gestapo is on red alert!
And our slogans on every wall.
We'll hide the rest
until we get new envelopes.
They've run out. Paper shortage.
Writing on walls at night
is risky enough.
But handing out leaflets
in broad daylight! You're crazy!
We have to take action now!
n*zi informers infiltrated the campus
after Stalingrad!
When the Bolshevists get here,
- they'll wipe them out!
- You wouldn't want them
to get here before the Yanks do!
It's insane! Don't do it!
I'll go in during the lecture.
No one will be in the atrium.
I'll be in and out within seconds.
Too risky.
I'll take the responsibility.
I alone.
You want to take a full suitcase
through Schwabing now?
I will.
- Don't let Sophie...
- It's easier for women to get through.
She's right.
Okay...
March!
Alex, see you tomorrow at 12.
Tomorrow?
The Nazis don't wait either.
Thank you.
- Don't stay up too long.
- Good night.
Good night.
Dear Lisa,
I'm listening to the "Trout Quintet."
In Schubert's piece,
you can feel and smell the breezes,
hear the birds crying out for joy.
The piano repeats the motif
like cold, sparkling water...
It's so enchanting.
Please, write soon.
Lots of love, Sophie.
You think Mother has any jam left?
Our ration cards only get us syrup.
Inconspicuous enough?
The campus will ignite today.
Yes.
- Good morning.
- Morning.
We're going to the Psychiatry Dept.
Sophie's going to Ulm.
I'll be right there.
Come on!
Come on, let's get out of here!
Come on!
- There are some left in the suitcase.
- What?
- There aren't any upstairs. Wait!
- I'll go with you.
Let's get out of here!
Stop! Don't move!
Stop! At once!
I said stop, damn it!
- What's wrong?
- You're under arrest!
Hands off!
You were upstairs!
- We were in the Psychology Dept.
- No!
- You dropped those leaflets!
- Nonsense!
Let him go. I dropped them down.
I'm going to report you.
You're both coming with me!
This will have consequences!
On my campus.
"Our people are shattered by our losses..."
Come in!
So many?
Incredible!
- Is that all?
- Yes, sir.
Dismissed!
Schmidt, write a report!
We'll slap those rosy cheeks!
There! That student is hiding something!
Give me that!
Another leaflet!
Give it to me! Or should we force you?
This is all part of it.
Mohr, police.
Here are the two suspects.
- And the defamatory leaflet.
- I saw them...
Your IDs.
Yes.
- Brother and sister?
- Yes.
The weaker sex.
21 years old.
So, this is the anti-German resistance
that has gripped Europe?
That young man tried to tear up this paper.
Another student gave it to me. I wanted
to destroy it to avoid incrimination.
Is this your suitcase?
It's mine.
Take them away!
I've arranged for the university
to be completely sealed off.
Neither the staff
- nor the administration may leave.
- Yes, sir.
Of course, I will also stay here.
- Go home and tell Alex not to wait for me!
- Quiet!
Scholl, Hans, to Mahler for interrogation!
Hurry up, Fraeulein.
Remove handcuffs.
Thank you.
Investigator Mohr
Come on!
Have a seat.
Scholl, Sophia Magdalena
from Ulm.
Born on 9 May, 1921
in Forchtenberg. Protestant.
Father?
Robert Scholl.
He was the mayor of Forchtenberg.
Completed training
as a children's nurse?
Yes.
Second residence in Munich 23,
Franz Joseph Strasse 13, c/o Schmidt?
Yes.
- Previous convictions?
- No.
You admitted to the janitor that you
dropped these leaflets from the gallery.
They were lying on the marble banister.
I gave them a shove as I passed by.
Why?
Playing pranks is part of my nature.
I confessed immediately.
I realize that it was stupid of me.
I regret it now.
The leaflets you dropped at university
fall under the jurisdiction
of special wartime law.
Want to read what you get
for high treason and aiding the enemy?
I have nothing to do with it.
A prison sentence or death.
I really have nothing to do with it.
A cigarette?
No, thanks.
You do smoke?
Now and then.
Fits perfectly.
A coincidence.
Why did you take an empty
suitcase to the university?
I was on my way home to Ulm to pick up
the laundry I gave my mother last week.
Ulm?
Such a long trip in the middle of the week?
- Yes.
- Just for laundry?
No. I also wanted to see
my girlfriend's new-born child.
And my mother is ill.
Why the middle of the week?
Why so suddenly?
My girlfriend is leaving
for Hamburg sooner.
I wanted to catch the 12:48 express.
I was meeting my sister's boyfriend
at Central Station.
- His name?
- Otto Aicher.
He arrived in Munich...
at 11:30.
With "Ei"?
With "Ai."
Didn't you have any dirty laundry for Ulm?
No, I wash small things by hand.
So you have no need for clean laundry,
but you say you were taking
an empty suitcase for clean laundry.
For laundry I might need
in the next few weeks.
Why were you on campus then?
I had a date with a girlfriend.
Gisela Schertling.
We wanted to have lunch at 12.
Although you were going to Ulm?
I changed my mind last night. I wanted
to tell Gisela I couldn't come.
Why was your brother
with you on campus?
You only wanted to cancel a date.
We often go to the university together.
Hans was going to the Psychiatry Dept.
The janitor says you were on the
2nd-floor gallery at 11 o'clock.
What for?
We were going to meet Gisela,
who was at Prof. Huber's lecture
- on philosophy.
- That's on the 1st floor.
As we were early, I showed
my brother the Psychology Dept.
I often attend lectures there.
It's on the 2nd floor.
Where were the leaflets?
Lying the floor.
You didn't read them?
I just glanced at them.
My brother joked about them.
Political jokes?
No, he joked about a "waste of paper."
He's as apolitical as I am.
As female students recently
attempted their little revolt
during the Gauleiter's speech...
Were you there?
No.
Attendance was mandatory!
I stay out of all politics.
What's your opinion about what
the Gauleiter said in his speech?
"Young women should bear
a child for the Führer
instead of hanging around university."
He even promised to give the less
pretty girls one of his adjutants.
A question of taste.
The situation in which you
were found makes you a suspect.
I recommend you to tell the full truth
regardless of any secondary interests.
I deny having anything at all to do
with the leaflets.
Aside from the stupid prank.
I realize we are suspects
if the real culprits aren't found,
but my brother and I
have nothing to do with it.
Do you think you can hide
your true convictions from us?
I'm speaking frankly with you.
Our staff found no traces
of the leaflets in your suitcase.
Your brother confirmed what you said.
Relieved?
I wasn't worried at all.
Send in the transcript writer.
I'm going to dictate a report.
Listen carefully
and interrupt me
if there are any mistakes.
Do you understand?
Yes.
After that we will put you
in one of the cells,
but... it depends.
Perhaps you can still
go to Ulm tonight.
Ready?
- Metternich!
- Yes, sir.
- Release form!
- Eschenbach!
- Yes?
- Come with me.
You students think you can
scare us with your hogwash!
Your jewelry, please.
Watch.
Goebbels: ...to defend
our lives by any means.
Without consideration for the...
Necklace with a pendant.
Total w*r is the demand of the hour!
Come with me.
We must put an end
to the bourgeois attitude
which we have also seen in this w*r.
Get undressed, please,
and give me your clothes.
The danger facing us is enormous.
Give me whatever could incriminate you.
I'll throw it in the toilet.
I'm a prisoner myself.
I don't have anything.
The time has come to remove the gloves
and use our fists.
Those who today do not understand...
Here we are.
...will thank us tomorrow
on bended knees for taking on the task.
Enter, ladies! Hurry up,
I want to hear the speech!
Do you know anything about my brother?
He's finished and is waiting upstairs.
You're the prime suspect,
because you carried the suitcase.
And you dropped the leaflets.
Don't admit a thing.
There's nothing to admit.
- How long have you been here?
- 1 year and 5 days.
I got caught with a letter containing
anti-h*tler statements by Ludwig Thoma.
- And yet you work for them?
- I was ordered to do so.
I'm here so you don't k*ll yourself.
Why are you against the Nazis?
My brother and I are Communists.
Communists stick together.
That impressed me.
We have to do something.
Scholl, Sophia, follow me!
I hope we don't meet again.
All the best.
Yes, all the best.
Wait here.
This is your release form.
Lucky, this time.
Registration Desk.
Yes, sir!
Follow me!
Take off your coat.
Have a seat.
Your father served a
6-week sentence last year
for calling our Führer
"God's scourge to mankind."
He was arrested for slander.
His professional license was taken away.
I'd like to know why your father
ever allowed you to join
the n*zi Girls Organization (BDM).
Our father never influenced us
politically.
Typical for a democrat.
Why did you join?
I heard that h*tler would lead our
country to greatness and prosperity
and ensure everyone had work
and food and was free and happy.
You're unmarried?
I'm engaged...
...to Fritz Hartnagel.
He's a captain on the Eastern Front.
Stalingrad.
Yes.
When did you last see him?
Over half a year ago.
Seen this before?
My brother has one like it.
He's a sergeant with the Wehrmacht.
What about the 190 b*ll*ts in your desk?
Caliber 9 mm?
They are my brother's.
When did you last buy stamps?
2 weeks ago.
Where? How many?
Post Office 23 in Leopold Strasse.
Ten 12-pfennig stamps and
maybe five 6-pfennig stamps.
- Not more?
- No.
Ever seen these before?
No.
Really?
No.
We found them in your brother's room.
Why didn't you tell us he had
such a large amount of stamps?
You asked where and when
I bought stamps.
140 stamps!
Who needed these stamps? For what purpose?
What was to be sent by mail?
Letters to family and friends.
- So you've seen them before?
- It's an assumption.
You found stamps in my brother's
room, not in mine.
Do you own a typewriter?
Our landlady lent us one,
so my brother could type.
- What?
- An essay on philosophy and theology.
Not this leaflet?
No.
Perhaps some philosophical
and theological questions like...
"h*tler can't win the w*r,
he can only prolong it."
Or: "A crime syndicate
can never achieve
a German victory." Or:
"Germany must become
a federalist nation."
"Freedom of speech."
"Freedom of belief."
Hans didn't write that.
Did you?
No.
But you believe in such a world order.
I am apolitical.
This defamatory leaflet
was written with the typewriter
in your apartment! It was also sent
to a number of recipients
in Augsburg and Munich!
I know nothing about it.
Stay seated!
Watch her!
You were there when your brother tried
to destroy this defamatory leaflet.
Ever seen it before?
No.
Read it before making a false statement.
"200,000 soldiers were sacrificed for
the prestige of a m*llitary impostor."
What does that remind you of?
It sounds very reminiscent
of the other 6 leaflets!
The handwriting...
- Never seen it before.
- That's enough!
The author of this leaflet
is Christoph Probst,
a friend from Innsbruck.
We found letters from him
among your things.
It is his handwriting!
Also a medical student,
thanks to the Führer.
A family man with feelings,
a love of the mountains of his homeland!
A spoiled brat who fouls his own nest
while others are dying on the front!
Who helped to write the leaflets
besides Probst and your brother?
Stop making insinuations.
You concealed the existence
of this evidence,
although you are required
to tell us everything.
I can only admit what I know.
Want to hear what your brother said
after first b*ating around the
bush, like you?
"After I realized that our defeat
on the Eastern Front
and the increasing m*llitary power
of England and America
made it impossible for us to be victorious,
I concluded that there was only one way
to prevent further victims
and maintain the idea of Europe:
shorten the w*r.
Furthermore, I loathed the way
we treated the occupied territories."
A political statement. It has
nothing to do with the accusations.
This... is troop demoralization
and high treason!
I don't believe
my brother said that anyway!
Oh, you think we're giving you
false testimony?
Until I hear my brother say that,
I won't believe he did.
I'm sure you've heard
of the Eickemayr studio.
Yes.
Eickemayr has been working in Krakow
as an architect.
He gave us the key to his studio, so
we could show his paintings to friends.
The fingerprints on the copying machine
are your brother's.
Your brother confessed.
He claimed he did everything by himself.
He wrote and copied all 6 leaflets...
...and distributed them.
He says he distributed 5,000 leaflets
alone in Munich one night.
Read and signed:
Hans Scholl
You live with your brother.
You were together with him
on the gallery this morning.
You want us to believe
you didn't know about all this?
You thought the leaflets
were harmless?
Admit that you wrote and distributed
the leaflets together with your brother!
Yes, and I'm proud of it.
What will happen to my brother and me?
You should have thought of that before.
- Will you arrest our family?
- That is decided elsewhere.
I have to go to the lavatory.
Not now!
Who wrote the leaflets?
I did.
You're lying again!
We had a scientific report prepared
which concludes
that the author is probably a man...
...a brain -worker, your brother.
Who sent those leaflets?
My brother and I.
Excuse me, but I really do
have to go to the lavatory.
The lavatory.
Follow me.
Hurry up!
Take off the handcuffs!
You're hurting me!
What did you want with them?
You know them?
Things are starting to roll now.
To the left.
You know where to go.
What about the slogans on the
walls: "Down with h*tler"?
"Freedom"?
The crossed-out swastikas
at the university.
And on Ludwig Strasse, Marienplatz,
- in Schwabing?
- My brother and I did that.
After his arrest at the university,
your brother said,
"Go home and tell Alex
not to wait for me."
Schertling was nearby.
He wanted to tell Schmorell to flee.
Hans didn't want Schmorell
to wait in vain.
Did you tell Schmorell about your plans?
No.
- And Graf?
- No.
- Why do you keep lying?
- I'm not lying.
Here.
Your confession. Sign it.
Read and signed:
Take her away.
Mohr apparently said to Lohner,
"Germany needs people like that.
They just need to be re -educated."
They may try it with
"ideological schooling."
But I tell you, they're
sure going to be surprised.
Why?
Even the big-sh*ts are scared stiff.
The invasion may come in 8 to 10 weeks,
and Germany will be freed.
When my mother hears
that we've been arrested...
she won't be able to take it.
She's over 60.
She's been ill for months.
When the Gestapo
knocks on our door again...
and they arrest my whole family...
- What about your father?
- He's 10 years younger.
He always gave us
a great deal of his strength.
Then she won't be alone.
Thank you.
"We won't be silent.
We're your bad conscience.
The White Rose
won't leave you alone ."
- Who are "we"?
- My brother wrote that.
In the 4th leaflet, it says,
"Please copy and forward."
Here it even talks about
"a resistance movement!"
Doesn't sound like lone operators!
- There is no group.
- What about Willi Graf?
A sergeant. A med student.
He sometimes comes to see us.
We know he helped to copy
the leaflets in the studio.
You may have found his fingerprints,
but he was there at a different time.
- When?
- Mid-January
when we showed the paintings
to our friends.
That's why other fingerprints
are there, too.
Who else was there? Schmorell?
Maybe. I was there briefly,
then I went to a concert.
Did Probst distribute the leaflets
in Salzburg and Linz?
No, Hans never told him, for the sake
of his wife and 3 children.
Damn it!
You have to tell me the whole truth!
I expect you to start
giving me names at last!
Graf, Anneliese?
I was only in contact with her
8 to 10 times.
- What did you talk about?
- Literature and science.
- Graf is completely apolitical.
- Apolitical, but informed?
I insist that
she has nothing to do with our leaflets.
And Schertling?
Gisela and I often get together.
She's quite National Socialist-minded.
You're saying the Reich is swarming
with apoliticals and supporters.
Then everything's just fine for you.
We know that the White Rose
bought 10,000 sheets of paper
and 2,000 envelopes in January alone.
Who did it?
My brother and I.
Alright. There were only a few hundred
copies of the first 4 pamphlets.
But don't tell me that you and your
brother printed several thousand copies
of the last leaflets all alone
and distributed them!
We worked day and night.
Well done!
In addition to the lectures
which you attended?
Yes, we wanted to create the impression
that our resistance is broad-based.
We know that your brother served
together with Graf and Schmorell and...
...Furtwaengler and Wittenstein.
They're all studying here in Munich.
Didn't they discuss political beliefs?
My brother told me about the horrors
of w*r and not about his comrades.
I don't believe you.
People are very hesitant
to make political statements nowadays.
As we can see by your leaflets.
- Where did you get the addresses?
- Copied from phone books.
For example, Stuttgart...
On 27 January and the following morning,
about 700 leaflets
were put into a mailbox.
At the same time over 2,000 leaflets
were distributed in Munich.
It's impossible your brother did it.
2,000 leaflets!
I took the express train
to Stuttgart on the 27th.
And I had the leaflets in my suitcase.
After arriving, I put half the envelopes
into nearby mailboxes.
I left the rest in the suburbs.
It's impossible that your brother
distributed 2,000 leaflets alone
in Munich on 28 January
by leaving them in phone books
and other public places.
- Who helped him?
- I didn't take part in Munich.
Who financed the leaflets?
My father gives me
150 Reichsmarks a month.
My brother receives m*llitary pay.
You both lived on that
and paid for the leaflets
and stamps, too?
Every one of your many trips to Ulm
costs 15 Reichsmarks.
- We borrowed money from friends.
- From whom?
Here on the left side at
the top is the letter "I ."
It stands for "income."
- And the name next to the sum probably says who gave you the money.
- Yes.
Your fiance is also listed.
- So he also knew about it.
- No.
We made up excuses every time.
Just ask them.
My brother and I are
the culprits you want.
Have you considered the consequences
if you accept full responsibility?
We have all the names.
Work together with us.
It would have a positive influence
on the verdict.
Think of your poor parents
and the shame they will feel.
You've accused us of high treason.
And now you want me to betray others
to save my own skin?
Solving a crime
has nothing to do with betrayal.
My brother's comrades
have nothing to do with it!
Take her away!
I'm worried about Fritz.
Why did I write his name
in my notebook?
Did he know?
Not a thing.
He didn't notice a thing?
No.
He is loyal to the oath
he swore to h*tler.
We often quarreled about it.
I refused to support the front,
because it only prolongs the w*r.
That upset him.
Is he in Stalingrad, too?
He was.
Fortunately, he was one of the last
to be flown to Lemberg.
He's at a m*llitary hospital there.
They amputated two of his fingers.
He and his men were outside for weeks
exposed to minus 30 degrees C.
I really hope he survives
without becoming a creature of w*r.
What'll he do
when he finds out You're here?
He'll understand.
Hopefully.
What's he like?
Tall, dark-haired.
A free thinker.
He always made me laugh.
Love which is simply free
is a wonderful thing.
When did you last see him?
Last summer.
We were at the North Sea.
We'd take a fishing boat out
at the cr*ck of dawn...
...and a carriage to the mudflats
in the evening.
We'd sing at night
and talk about peace.
No soldiers anywhere.
No planes, no bombs.
Just the sea, the sky...
...the wind and our dreams.
Dear God,
all I can do is stammer to You.
I can do nothing
but hold out my heart to You.
You created us in Your likeness.
Our hearts are uneasy
until they find peace in You.
Amen.
Here, drink it.
This is real coffee.
You are also concerned
about the German people's well-being.
Yes.
You didn't cowardly plant a b*mb
like Elser did in Munich in '39.
You may have used false slogans...
but you used peaceful means.
So why do you want to punish us?
Because It's the law.
Without law there's no order.
The law you're referring to
protected free speech before
the Nazis came to power in 1933.
Someone who speaks freely now
is imprisoned or put to death.
Is that order?
What can we rely on if not the law?
- No matter who wrote it.
- On your conscience.
Nonsense!
Here is the law,
and here are the people.
As a criminologist, it is my duty
to find out if they coincide,
and if not...
...to find the rotten spot.
The law changes, conscience doesn't.
What would happen if everyone separately
decided what is right or wrong?
What would be left, if criminals
actually toppled the Führer?
Criminal chaos!
So-called free thinking, federalism,
democracy?
We know what it leads to.
Without h*tler and his Party
there'd be law and order for everyone.
Everyone would be safe from arbitrary
acts. Not only the yes-men.
How dare you
make such derogatory remarks!
Derogatory is calling my brother and
me criminals because of some leaflets!
We've only tried
to convince people with words!
You and your kind shamelessly
abuse your privileges!
You can study in wartime,
thanks to our money!
I was only a tailor
in that damn democracy!
Know who made me a policeman?
The French who occupied us.
Not the German democrats!
Without the movement,
I'd still be a country policeman.
That disgusting Treaty of Versailles,
inflation, unemployment, poverty...
Our Führer Adolf h*tler
eliminated all that!
And he led Germany into a bloody w*r
where every victim dies in vain!
A heroic struggle!
You get the same coupons
as the people you're fighting against!
You're much better off
than people like me!
You don't need to do this!
How dare you raise your voice!
The Führer and the German people
are protecting you!
Here in Wittelsbach Palace?
By arresting my family?
Our German soldiers are freeing Europe
from plutocracy and Bolshevism!
Fighting for a free Germany!
Never again will Germany be occupied!
Until the w*r is over,
and foreign troops march in,
and the world points its finger at us
for tolerating h*tler.
What will you say
when the Final Victory is won?
When freedom and prosperity blossom?
That was your vision
when you joined the BDM!
In h*tler's Germany
everyone has lost that belief.
What if I'm right?
You're a Protestant?
Yes.
The church also requires devotion
even if you doubt.
People attend church voluntarily.
h*tler and the Nazis
give us no other choice.
Why do you risk so much
for false ideas?
Because of my conscience.
You're so gifted,
why don't you think and feel like us?
Freedom, honor, prosperity,
a morally responsible government.
That is our conviction.
Weren't your eyes opened
by the terrible bloodbath
the Nazis carried out
in the name of freedom and honor?
Germany will be disgraced forever
if its youth doesn't topple h*tler
and build a new intellectual Europe.
The new Europe
can only be National Socialist.
What if your Führer is insane?
Take racial hatred.
We had a Jewish teacher in Ulm.
He was placed
before a group of SA men.
They had to spit in his face.
That night he disappeared.
Like thousands in Munich.
Allegedly to work in Eastern Europe.
You believe that nonsense?
The Jews are emigrating.
Soldiers coming from the East
talk of extermination camps.
h*tler wants to exterminate
all European Jews!
He was preaching that madness
20 years ago.
How can you believe the Jews
are different than we are?
That mob brought us misfortune,
but you are confused.
You have no idea.
The wrong education.
Maybe It's our fault.
I'd have raised
a girl like you differently.
Do you realize how shocked I was
to find out
that the Nazis used gas and poison
to dispose of mentally ill children?
My mother's friends told us.
Trucks came to pick up the children
at the mental hospital.
The other children asked
where they were going.
"They're going to heaven,"
said the nurses.
So the children
got on the truck singing.
You think I wasn't raised right,
because I feel pity for them?
These are unworthy lives.
You trained to be a nurse.
You saw people who were mentally ill.
Yes, and that's why I know.
No one, regardless of circumstances,
can pass divine judgment.
No one knows what goes on
in the minds of the mentally ill.
No one knows how much wisdom
can come from suffering.
Every life is precious.
You have to realize
that a new age has dawned.
What You're saying has nothing
to do with reality.
Of course it has to do with reality.
With decency, morals and God.
God doesn't exist!
Isn't it true...
that you relied on your brother,
that it was right what he did?
And you just took part?
Shouldn't we write that in the report?
No, because It's wrong.
I have a son, too,
who's even a year younger than you.
He sometimes had crazy ideas.
Now He's on the Eastern Front, because
he understood he has to do his duty.
Do you believe in the Final Victory?
If you'd considered everything,
you'd never have let yourself
get dragged into this!
Your life is at stake.
Here...
For the record, I ask you:
"Following our talks,
have you come to the conclusion
that your action together with your brother
can be seen as a crime against society
and in particular against
our hard fighting troops
and that it must be harshly condemned?"
No, not from my point of view.
By admitting your mistake
you wouldn't betray your brother.
But I'd betray the idea.
I'd do the same again.
You have the wrong world view, not me.
I still believe that I acted
in the best interests of my people.
I don't regret it.
And I'll accept the consequences.
Transcript writer.
Yes.
Tell the chief we're finished.
Mohr offered me a way out
if I abandoned our idea.
- And?
- I didn't accept.
Why not?
You're still so young.
You have to survive
for your idea!
And for your family.
For God's sake, accept his offer.
There's no way back.
Air-raid warning.
Get down! Get away from the window!
It's safest down here!
Get down!
It won't be long until we're free.
The new prisoner isn't Schmorell.
His name is Christoph Probst.
Also accused of high treason.
I'm sorry. I thought...
He has 3 children.
The youngest was just born.
His wife has child-bed fever.
Your prosecutor is expecting you.
Keep going!
Here is my indictment.
Your trial is tomorrow morning
at the People's Court in Munich.
I included a written summons.
- Tomorrow?
- We can't afford any delays.
High treason, troop demoralization,
aiding the enemy.
And the trial is tomorrow!
What a beautiful sunny day!
I beg You from the bottom of my heart.
I beseech You.
I beseech Thee,
even though I know nothing about You.
You alone are my salvation.
I beg of You, please
don't turn away from me, dear God.
My glorious Father.
Amen.
My name is Klein,
your court-appointed counsel.
Have you read the indictment?
Yes.
Any questions?
What will happen to my family in Ulm?
Please.
Other authorities will decide.
I want to know what will happen.
You're my lawyer!
You talk as if
I'm responsible for your situation!
It's my right to know
what will happen to my family.
You feel entitled to make demands?
No matter what verdict my brother gets,
mine should not be more lenient.
I'm as guilty as him, in your opinion!
You have nothing more to say?
- No!
- You and your brother
feel you don't have to fit in
to society! But You're wrong!
The President of the People's Court
is coming from Berlin tomorrow!
He will set you straight!
He'll make you feel
this small!
Open up!
- Something wrong?
- No.
I'll see you in court tomorrow.
Wretched coward!
Freisler will call you criminals.
He was a Soviet Commissar.
He has to rehabilitate himself
on the home front.
Our father says, "I want you
to live honest and free lives,
even though it may be difficult."
ls it a public trial?
Yes. It will be
a show trial to deter others.
Freisler will have to talk
about our leaflets in public,
and everyone can hear what we think.
Students will revolt after hearing
what happened to us for a few leaflets.
After the trial, you will be moved.
And if worse comes to worst,
everyone is given 99 days
until execution.
"A strong spirit, a tender heart,"
says my brother.
I dreamed
I was carrying a child
in a long white dress.
I felt its warmth.
Suddenly the earth shook,
and right beneath me
a crevasse opened up.
I started slipping.
I looked at the child
and had just enough time
to put it in safety.
I fell, and yet I felt
released and relieved.
The child in the white dress
is our idea. And it survived.
Prepare to be transferred!
Let her get dressed first!
Thank you.
God be with you, Sophie.
God be with you, Else.
Thank you.
Freedom
How are you?
- And you?
- Quiet! Only speak when spoken to!
- Fight for yourself.
- Quiet!
I hereby begin the proceedings
of the People's Court
in the case against Hans Fritz Scholl
and Sophia Magdalena Scholl from Munich
and Christoph Probst from Aldrans,
charged with high treason,
troop demoralization,
and aiding the enemy!
You are married and have 3 children?
Yes, one is 2 1/2, one is 1 1/4,
and one is 4 weeks old.
How can a failure like you
raise 3 children to be true Germans?
- I'm a good father and...
- What... "and"?
...and apolitical.
Apolitical? What a laugh!
This is your handwriting?
Yes.
Neither the fact that the Reich
paid for your education,
nor that National Socialist
policies enabled you
to have a family while studying
prevented you from
writing this manuscript
after being asked to do so by Scholl.
You mention the heroic battle
of Stalingrad as a reason
to call the Führer
a m*llitary impostor
and to call for surrender!
Do you admit it?
Yes, sir.
But it was only a rough draft.
There is no "only" in the
Germans' fight for survival!
- I want to say you that I suffered from a psychotic depression.
- So!
A psychotic depression
is to blame for all this?
I was suffering from depression
when I wrote it. The w*r...
my wife's child-bed fever...
Stop wailing! That is no excuse
for such disgusting treason!
I retracted my statement yesterday.
I offered neither financial
or material support,
nor did I print leaflets to endorse
such an operation.
- My emotional state...
- We've heard
your claims to be
a psychopathic idiot
in order to get away with it!
President, my children need a father.
German children don't need
such a rotten role model!
You are unworthy!
Any questions from the defense?
No, President.
Take him away!
You've been studying medicine
since the spring of 1939?
Yes.
Thanks to the support of the National
Socialist government, for 8 semesters.
8 semesters is correct.
At the expense of the Reich!
Another one of these parasites!
You also worked at a field hospital
in France and on the Eastern Front
from July to November 1942
as a medical aide?
Correct, but...
Don't speak unless spoken to!
I am not a parasite...
Shut up!
Or I'll have you taken away!
As a member of the student company
it is my duty to study.
Ah, why don't we talk about duty?
It is your duty as a student
to work for the community.
That, and the support you were provided
by the Reich, didn't prevent you
in early summer of 1942
from publishing
leaflets from the White Rose
which predicted Germany's defeat
and called for passive resistance
and to sabotage armaments.
They also demanded that the German
people be robbed of their government
and the National Socialist way of life!
- Outrageous!
- A disgrace!
- Traitor!
Is that true?
- Yes.
- And, like a coward, you dragged your sister into it!
It was my decision.
Did I ask you, defendant?
- I must put it right!
- Spare us your comments!
Did you write those leaflets,
because you believe
that the German people
can only survive the w*r
by betraying the Führer?
- w*r...
- Yes or no! What's so difficult about that?
We don't stand a chance
against America, England and Russia.
Just look at the map.
h*tler is leading Germany to disaster
with mathematical precision.
He can no longer win the w*r.
He can only prolong it.
You are gravely mistaken
about the Germans' will to fight
and their perseverance!
Your t*rror1st aid to the enemy
will cause the death
of more German soldiers!
Only by ending the w*r now
can we prevent...
End the w*r? How?
Do you think you can decide
whether we have w*r or peace?
The German people want Total w*r!
Germany is bleeding to death
and wants peace!
h*tler and his helpers are to blame
for this European m*ssacre
which knows no bounds!
- Everyone here knows...
- Who do you think you are?
You dishonorable dog!
Insulting the Führer in court!
I was on the Eastern Front,
as were many others here.
You weren't.
I saw streams of blood with my own eyes
in Poland and Russia.
I saw women and children...
...sh*t by German soldiers.
Are you really so stupid as to think
that even one German
would believe that nonsense?
If you and h*tler weren't afraid
of our opinion, we wouldn't be here.
Shut up!
It's all just...
That dishonorable
scoundrel! You're nothing but a...
fool! And a miserable traitor!
End of examination!
- Any questions?
- No.
No questions, President.
Step down.
Aren't you ashamed of distributing
traitorous leaflets at the university?
No, I'm not.
You just threw them into the atrium?
I didn't just throw them. I wanted...
Speak up! I can hardly hear you!
- I wanted to distribute the last leaflets so our idea...
- Idea!
You call this filth an "idea"?
The product of some idiots!
Not worthy of German students!
- We fight with words.
- You wrote in fact:
"Therefore you must denounce
National Socialist sub-humanism."
Take a look at yourself,
you'll see who's sub-human here.
Where did you get the paper
for these pamphlets?
- From shops and the university.
- I see!
From the university!
Malicious theft of national property!
Paper, of course!
Which is so scarce! That is typical
of such traitors!
My brother and I wanted those leaflets
to open people's eyes
and to put an end to the terrible
slaughter of other peoples and Jews
even sooner than it will be ended
by the Allies.
Shall our nation
be forever cast out by all mankind?
A master race doesn't care!
Your master race really wants peace.
It wants human dignity
to be respected again.
It wants God,
conscience and empathy.
Who do you think you are?
Total w*r will bring victory
to the German people!
They will emerge greater and purified
by this storm of steel!
The thoughts we have expressed
and written are shared by many.
They just don't dare to speak up.
Will you be quiet!
Questions?
No.
The hearing of evidence is over.
Take her away!
Now we come to the closing statements
of the defendants.
I'm the father...
Remove these people from the courtroom!
I'm Robert Scholl,
father of two of the defendants!
- I want to say something in defense...
- Not permitted!
Get him out of here!
There is a higher justice!
Quiet!
Now the closing statements!
Stand up, defendants!
I beg you to spare my life,
for my children. I confessed everything.
And you?
I beg the court to spare this man
and punish me.
If you can't speak for yourself,
then be silent!
You will soon be standing
where we stand now.
Every decent person in this courtroom
is outraged by what you say!
In the name of the German people,
in the criminal case against
Hans Fritz Scholl from Munich,
Sophia Magdalena Scholl from Munich,
and Christoph Hermann Probst
from Aldrans,
the People's Court
has reached a verdict following
court proceedings on 22 February, 1943:
The defendants published leaflets
at a time of w*r,
calling for people to sabotage armaments
and to overthrow our people's
National Socialist way of life.
They propagated defeatist ideas
and viciously insulted the Führer.
By so doing, they aided the enemy
and demoralized our troops.
They are therefore sentenced to death.
They lose their rights
as citizens for all time.
They bear the cost of the trial.
Your terror will soon be over!
You may hang us today.
But you'll be hanged tomorrow.
Take them away!
This way!
If you want to write
a farewell letter, do it quickly.
Today?
I thought everybody has 99 days.
Better start writing.
My beloved Fritz...
Follow me. You have visitors.
Visitors?
Please, don't worry.
I'd do the same again.
You did the right thing.
I'm proud of you both.
My little girl.
How bravely you stand by me.
Now you'll never come
through our door again.
We'll meet in eternity.
Don't forget, Sophie...
Jesus.
Yes, Mother. But you neither.
It's time.
I just said goodbye to my parents.
You'll understand.
Follow me.
My name is Alt.
I'm the prison minister.
My God, glorious Father,
transform this ground into fertile earth,
so Your seeds may not fall in vain.
Let the longing grow for You the Creator
that they so often do not want to see.
I ask you for God's blessing.
May God the Father bless you
who created you in His image.
May God the Son bless you
whose suffering and death redeems you.
May God the Holy Spirit bless you
who leads you to His
temple and hallows you.
May the Trinity judge you with mercy...
and grant you eternal life.
Amen.
No one loves more than one
who dies for friends.
God is with you.
It's against the rules, but...
Hurry please.
Thank you.
It wasn't in vain.
The sun's still shining.
In his decree from 22 February, 1943,
the Reichsminister of Justice chose
not to grant a reprieve, but instead
to let justice take its course.
It is exactly 5 p.m.
The execution is to be carried out.
Long live freedom!
The so-called People's Court
imposed the death sentence
on these members of the White Rose:
Harsh sentences were imposed on:
Other members of the White Rose
suffered draconian punishments.
Thanks to Helmut Von Moltke,
the 6th leaflet of the White Rose
was taken to England via Scandinavia.
In mid-1943, millions of copies
were dropped by Allied planes
over Germany.
They now bore the title:
"A German Leaflet,
Manifesto of the Students of Munich"
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
Moderator: Maskath3