General topics

In reverse chronological order, newest to oldest. I hope something here triggers your emotions or logic or desire to know more! Musings for a rainy afternoon...

Learning from Henry Sledge. Look for the silences. Watch for gaps. Observe questions that are not asked. And start digging there. Ask the questions you’ve heard are “better not asked.” That’s where the truth begins. (2024.11.18) FREE.

White Rose Holy Wars. Focus on the fight these White Rose friends did in fact engage in: A fight against entrenched clergy who toed the Party line. A fight against false honor, false virtue, false humility, false faith. (2024.11.15) FREE.

Not your usual translations. If you have a collection of German language documents that date back to 1933 – 1945, or an endeavor encompassing multiple elements or resources, we would be interested in speaking with you. (2024.11.13) FREE.

Nuts and bolts. It helps me to know that it matters to you, this history of complex people who chose to do the right thing in an era far darker than our own. Thank you, thank you. (2024.10.18) FREE.

An Open Letter to Dr. Michael Frandsen, Wittenberg University, Springfield, Ohio. The connections I made in Springfield, Ohio made a lasting impression on me personally, as well as on the work of our Center for White Rose Studies. (2024.09.18) FREE.

Behind the scenes: Gettysburg activities. The Eisenhower Institute is "nonpartisan, inspired by President Eisenhower’s approach of engaging diverse people and ideas to find common ground and take action." (2024.09.16) FREE.

The kinder, gentler Hitler, or, the 1936 Berlin Olympics. From the moment the pageantry started on August 1, 1936, Hitler endeavored to show the world how progressive Germany had become. (2024.08.04) FREE.

Karma for Nazis, or, cigarettes made in Dresden. History is never a direct trail of logical events. (2024.08.01) FREE.

Looking back at our July 2013 White Rose conference. It is to the credit of the individuals who came to our 2013 conference that each person consciously chose to seek common ground. That is the spirit of White Rose. If only our microcosm could go macro. (2024.07.17) FREE.

Moral dilemmas – the hard topics, continued. We cannot honor them if we don’t engage in the same debates, the same deliberations, as they did. If we “honor” them without engaging, we’ve created pedestals and haloes, nothing more. (2024.07.05) FREE.

Moral dilemmas – the hard topics. The decision to resist Hitler’s regime was based on informed dissent: Knowledge of specific wrongs, specific injustices, that had rendered the National Socialist government criminal, and illegitimate. (2024.07.02) FREE.

Moral roadblock: Romans 13. In 2024, justice still matters. Doing what is right still matters. Living well with one’s conscience still matters. (2024.06.26) FREE.

Moral dilemmas. I was convinced that I must act on my inner convictions. I believed that this inner duty was greater than the oath that I had sworn as a soldier. - Hans Scholl. (2024.06.21) FREE.

June 17, 1953. Each man wishes to be acquitted of his complicity – everyone does so, then lies back down to sleep with a calm, clear conscience. But he may not acquit himself. Everyone is guilty, guilty, guilty! (2024.06.18) FREE.

L’dor v’dor. Oral histories, traditions, prayers, feasts, fasting, food - all flow from generation to generation. (2024.06.14) FREE.

Strong foundations. We have a sign of hope. It reveals that when we have done all that is humanly possible, there is still something else we can do – something that cannot be touched and is eternal. (Hermann Krings) (2024.06.10) FREE.

Forward progress. We need to understand with every breath we take that those in the circle we call “White Rose” were heroes not because they were perfect, but because they acted on the courage of their convictions. (2024.06.03) FREE.

Looking back: May 31, 2013 newsletter. Lifting of a ban on German-Jewish publications from 1933-1945. The Holocaust at Eton College. And, Israelis cheering for... Bayern München? Wha-at? (2024.05.31) FREE.

Reflections. "The value of a person can be seen in the dignity of his death. How and for what a person will die defines that person himself." Otl Aicher, writing of December 1942. (2024.05.28) FREE.

Death and the White Rose: Part Three. On this Memorial Day, I challenge us also to remember and revere those who made the ultimate sacrifice fighting against a Fatherland they loved. May we never know the darkness that comes from tyranny. (2024.05.26) For paid subscribers only.

Death and the White Rose: Part Two. The White Rose: Death, commingled with love and youth. Fragile purity. Faith – not religion, but honest to goodness spirituality. A symbol to remember as we dig deeper in to their story. (2024.05.23) For paid subscribers only.

Death and the White Rose: Part One. As we head to Memorial Day weekend, to fun on the shore or celebrations with graduates, join me in remembering, grieving, standing on the shoulders of these White Rose friends who gave their all. (2024.05.20) For paid subscribers only.

The debate: White Rose as symbol? Can people be national “symbols” – untouchable? What is the definition of a hero? How should we proceed when a legend becomes entrenched? (2024.05.09) For paid subscribers only.

Ken Burns, Sam Waterston, and the White Rose. White Rose leaflets, for which they gave their lives!, came from the depths of anguish and sorrow over injustice. You’re not hearing me. You’re hearing their voice, their witness. (2024.05.08) FREE.

Acknowledgments. I want every single one of you to thrill to what these frail, annoying, loving people did, who they were, what they accomplished despite the times they lived in. What they did, said, wrote... MATTERS. (2024.04.30) FREE.

Looking back: October 7, 2013 newsletter. Rita Whitman Steingold and the Last Survivor of Chełmo. Anna Schmidt and All God's Children. Alternate celebrations. A good month for remembering resistance during the Shoah. (2024.04.26) FREE.

A Tale of Two Tax Accountants. This not-a-fairy-tale started off as a flippant, happy-go-lucky look at two tax accountants connected to White Rose resistance. The more I thought about the story, the sadder I got. (2024.04.16) FREE.

Tapestries. Warp and weft. Once you hear Martin Hake's words, 'Sometimes it can be next to impossible to discern the difference between perpetrators and victims,' the tapestry of White Rose resistance begins to make sense. (2024.03.22) FREE.

Places, a reprise. Before you bury yourself too deeply in libraries or archives studying White Rose resistance, spend two or three weeks in this corner of the world. Walk it, bike it, hike it. Eat where locals eat. (2024.03.15) FREE.

Seeing Dachau. Fifty years from now, students may not know who you were, but they will know what you did. (2023.12.08) FREE.

Circles within circles: The beauty of collaborative work. Collaboration works best when credit is shared, when footnotes correctly track source of ideas or information, when communal knowhow is celebrated. (2023.12.06) FREE.

Remembering Thanksgivings past. We are who we have been becoming. White Rose friends, what made them who they became? (2023.11.24) FREE.

Ethical religion. Despite the corruption we see all too often related to religious personalities seeking power, real ethics, real faith *serves*. Reminded of that with the death of Rosalynn Carter... (2023.11.21) FREE.

Ethical, original scholarship (Antonym: Plagiarism). Honor the research and writing of those who have gone before. Build relationships. Build allies. Build bridges. Avoid losing everything just to take the easy way out. (2023.11.16) For paid subscribers only.

Behind the scenes: White Rose histories. One critique of our White Rose histories: TOO detailed. How did we make the decision to widen the scope to include fringe people? What went into decisions regarding digital version? Does it matter? (2023.11.14) FREE.

Our archives project. What we envision: An online, subscription-based archive, German and English, in database format. This would allow anyone researching to access materials and pinpoint information needed for their work. (2023.11.07) FREE.

Shoutout to Jennifer. Fresh eyes on an old story can make a difference. When Jennifer Rosenfeld found an unpublished letter about White Rose in Stanford's archives... Read on! (2023.11.01) FREE.

Found places. "Place" is an important concept in our writing. Birthplace, current hometown, places we go back to again and again ... all of these define elements of our Being. True for White Rose friends as well. (2023.10.30) FREE.

Thanks are in order! Brief recap to the Tagung in Munich, October 10-11, 2023, with profound thanks to friends new and old. (2023.10.24) FREE.

A novel way to “do” White Rose. Please read this post as a call to action: Tell the true story. Pay attention to details. Even if White Rose is tangential or in the background, ensure you get it right. (2024.03.11) FREE.

Charlie Davis, my Super Bowl hero. What does Charlie Davis, defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers and St. Louis Cardinals, have to do with Alexander Schmorell and White Rose resistance? Read on! (2024.02.15) FREE.

Behind the scenes: 2024 goals. Finishing digital version of White Rose History, Volume 2; finding a permanent home for CWRS; acquiring additional archival materials... honoring White Rose friends and family. (2024.01.19) FREE.

Friendships matter. Wrapping up digital version of White Rose History, Volume I. Reminder that White Rose resistance was based on deep and true friendships. Justice mattered. People mattered. Humankindness mattered. (2023.09.20) FREE.

Good housekeeping, part one. There will be a conference in Munich in October, celebrating the life and remembering the death of Willi Graf. We will be there. You want to join us? Read on for more information. (For paid subscribers only.) (2023.08.28)

Egyptian White Rose. The story of White Rose resistance continues to inspire young people today. Ask Kareem Amer, who drew on their words for his informed dissent. In Egypt. FREE.

Freedom versus fascism – a revolutionary lesson. Too often in our fight for liberty and justice, we define political rivals as "socialists-communists" or "fascists." Labels muddy the real issues. Let's look to White Rose for their thoughts. (2023.06.21) FREE.

Freedom. In 1968, Wilhelm Geyer stated of the White Rose students, "Freedom was the alpha and omega for this group." On this Juneteenth, let's consider why freedom matters. To all of us. (2023.06.19) FREE.

Evaluating testimony. Gestapo interrogation transcripts, together with trial transcripts and crime lab reports, comprise the Protokolle so valuable to White Rose research. Evaluating them is critical to good scholarship. (For paid subscribers only.) (2023.06.16) FREE.

Excursus: The Fate of Senta Meyer nee Stern, and her Children. To understand why I often write about the silences surrounding Kristallnacht, here is one example - personal to Eugen and Jenny Grimminger - of the deaths that followed. (2023.05.31) FREE.

Fun notes and serious comments. As respite from the long posts associated with White Rose historiography, here's a collection of fun notes from years past, with some serious comments for balance. Real people! (2023.05.11) FREE.

Things we know from those White Rose expense reports. When the historical record includes boring things like expense reports, we gain valuable data points that affect the story. (2023.02.23) FREE.

The importance of the crime lab. Yes, it was a show trial. But the Gestapo and their crime lab gathered impressive amounts of evidence. What they recorded helps us better understand what the White Rose friends did. (2023.02.18) FREE.

Rejuvenated reboot! It's been a strenuous cross-country move, but getting back to normal. (2023.02.12) FREE.

A very short pause. The move from Las Vegas to Gettysburg. (2022.05.18) FREE.

Political Humor. Jokes formed a release valve of sorts for those who put everything on the line for liberty and justice for all. Without the ability to make fun of their corrupt regime, they could not have kept going. (2022.03.10) FREE.

Dresden, Sowing the Wind. If there are but fifty righteous, will you not spare the city? (2022.02.15) FREE.

Kim's Dad and the White Rose. Why would the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and child of a farmworker be drawn to the White Rose story? Kim explains her reasons. (2022.02.06) FREE.

War: A School Essay. "If anyone thinks that it would have been smarter never to have started the war in the first place, he is called a Social Democrat and sent to jail." (2022.02.03) FREE.

So Madeleine, was it a revolution? A bright young woman working on her National History Day project asked a thought-provoking question: ... (2022.02.01) FREE.

Freedom. January 30, 2022. When a nation is robbed of freedom, no one wins. (2022.01.30) FREE.

Remembering. We remember Auschwitz for the sake of all victims everywhere who suffer. -- Elie Wiesel. (2022.01.28) FREE.

Michael Kaufmann, the White Rose, and Munich. Bita Sheibani is a Disney alumna who worked as graphic designer and promotions expert for Walt Disney Imagineering, and had the supporting role of Leila in The Stoning of Soraya M. This is her story. (2022.01.25) FREE.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? Those who died at the hands of the Nazis remind us what happens when neighbors look the other way. (2022.01.23) FREE.

Old Hate Repackaged. Micha Probst was right: Politics and religion did not unify those we know as White Rose. If anything, those topics divided. They were unified by their moral outrage over injustice. (2022.01.20) FREE.

Historical considerations. Questions for which I do not have hard and fast answers. Opinions, always. Answers, no. (2022.01.13) FREE.

Loaded Words. “Understand history before changing the world” should not be heard as a call to inaction. Rather, our deeds should be based not on ineffective idealism, but on appreciation of the likely outcome. (2022.01.10) FREE.

Excerpts to think about. Every once in a while, researching White Rose resistance, we run across quotes that are just too good to keep to ourselves. (2022.01.09) FREE.

Image is 1903 postcard from Blumberg, Germany. Image is public domain.