People of the White Rose

Short biographies or narratives regarding White Rose friends. Enjoy! These people were flesh and blood, not saints or heroes.

Photograph is of Lieselotte ("Lilo") Fürst-Ramdohr, who taught me to see her and her friends as flawed and imperfect humans who loved as fiercely as they could.

  • A Circle of Friends
    • A circle of friendship. White Rose was a circle of friends who knew injustice when they saw it, and knew they had to do something about it. And they chose to do something about it with friends they held near and dear. Lilo was the first person to recognize this aspect of White Rose resistance and to write about it. (2023.12.20) FREE.
    • “My” White Rose families. Wilhelm Geyer. Eugen Grimminger. Tilly Hahn. Susanne Hirzel. Hans Hirzel. Traute Lafrenz. I want you to know the family and friends of White Rose resistance the same way I do. As human. Real. Authentic. Without haloes. Without pedestals. Without censorship. (2024.09.05) FREE.
    • The definition of love. The Schmorells and Probsts argued that the minute a family put their loved one’s life into the public arena, they lost the right to block uncomfortable details. Respekt! (2025.05.28) Free.
    • Willi Graf, Werner Scholl, Otl Aicher, Sophie Scholl, Lisa Grote... and fascism. "There has never been a government based on Christian principles, since the powerless have always been trampled underfoot and the powerful have been honored."-Sophie Scholl. (2025.07.22) Free.
    • The people Inge Scholl erased. If their lives (and deaths) are to have meaning, let them all be real. Let them be flawed. Let them make you angry. Let them thrill your heart. All of them. Not just Hans and Sophie. (2025.06.24) Free.
    • Unplowed ground. It’s a wide-open field! Buckle your seat belts. This is a long post. But if you are working in this field, it should not “feel” long. "Call for Papers," people and events with far too little research. (2025.07.15) Free.
    • "No Greater Love": After the executions. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." Lilo Berndl nee Ramdohr, Gerhard Feuerle, Wilhelm Geyer, Anneliese Graf, Gerhard Graf, Willi Graf, Eugen Grimminger, Lisa Grote, Fritz Hartnagel, Hans Hirzel, Susanne Hirzel, the Hirzel parents, Wolf Jaeger, Traute Lafrenz and Werner Scholl, Carl Muth, Angelika Probst, Herta Probst, The Propaganda Ministry, Gisela Schertling, Alexander Schmorell, and the Scholl family, February 22-24, 1943. (2025.02.25) Free. Footnotes and references (paid).
  • Otl Aicher.
    • An odd Olympic moment. Those days, it truly felt like the ghost of the Shoah had returned to Germany, though the irony was lost on no one that this time, Germans did not play the role of the bad guy. (2025.04.11) Free.
  • Lieselotte ("Lilo") Fürst-Ramdohr
    • Lieselotte Fürst-Ramdohr. In Memoriam. “I would do it all over again, even knowing what it would cost me.” - Unsre liebste Lilo. (2024.05.13) FREE.
    • “My” White Rose families. Lieselotte Fürst-Ramdohr. Lilo and Alex vowed always to be friends, always to be true and honest with one another. “How lucky I am to be alive!” he exclaimed. Statements like these must be shouted for the world to hear. (2024.09.24) FREE.
    • Lilo’s three Christmases. The pain of this dear woman was indescribable. And yet, with what superhuman greatness she bore that sorrow! ‘What kind of poor souls are they who must carry out such a death sentence?’ (2025.12.22) Free.
  • Wilhelm Geyer
  • Willi Graf
    • Chapter Twenty-Nine: God Forbid. Willi Graf and friends, 3 Jan 43: "What if we win the war, God forbid? Then resistance will be more necessary than ever. We are dead either way." (2024.01.02) Footnotes and bibliography for paid subscribers only, rest of post is public.
    • Election shenanigans. “Each individual bears full responsibility." - Willi Graf, 1943. (2024.10.25) FREE.
    • War Hans Scholl Mentor von Willi Graf? Willi Graf stand öfters allein, ohne Unterstützung. Trotzdem machte er das, was recht war, er hat Güte und Treue geliebt, und er ging seinen Weg bis zum Tod in Ehrfurcht mit seinem Gott. (2024.08.30)
    • Was Hans Scholl Willi Graf’s mentor? Willi Graf knew what was right. What was fair. Injustice hurt him. Injustice made him angry and gave him nightmares. (2024.09.03)
    • The value of cherry-tree sitting. It's the stories of brothers sitting in cherry trees and hot chocolate on Christmas that flesh out the more serious parts of the story. Where those loved ones gave all for freedom and justice. (2025.08.27) Free.
  • Eugen Grimminger
  • Tilly Hahn
  • Hans Hirzel
    • “My” White Rose families. Hans Hirzel. I care about Susanne Hirzel and her brother Hans. (2025.09.05) FREE.
    • Explicit abandonment. We cannot explicitly abandon our responsibilities to know the issues and make real decisions, even if our single vote does not radically alter the political landscape. (2025.04.09) Free.
  • Susanne Hirzel
  • Prof. Dr. Kurt Huber
  • Hermann Krings
    • Hermann Krings: Signs versus examples. From Hermann Krings, I learned to think about White Rose resistance in unambiguous language. How do you see the White Rose, as sign or as example? Read on to see what Krings thought. (2023.06.12) FREE.
  • Traute Lafrenz
  • Joyce Light
    • In Memoriam: Joyce Light. Growing up in rural Texas, Joyce assumed all Germans of the Nazi era were evil. She was moved beyond belief when she met those who had resisted, families of those who had died for justice. (2024.04.22) FREE.
  • Nikolay Daniel Nikolaeff-Hamazaspian
  • Christoph Probst.
    • Unvarnished words. Just once, that which is human must be exalted. Then one day, the breakthrough will come. ... We must do this for the sake of life.-Bernhard Knoop, speaking about Christoph Probst. (2026.01.13) FREE.
    • Christoph Probst's Christmas: Hope ever more, and trust. Always and forever, Christoph Probst looked to the future, to the time after the war when life would once again be good. (2025.12.24) Free.
  • Alexander Schmorell
  • Hans Scholl
    • War Hans Scholl Mentor von Willi Graf? Willi Graf stand öfters allein, ohne Unterstützung. Trotzdem machte er das, was recht war, er hat Güte und Treue geliebt, und er ging seinen Weg bis zum Tod in Ehrfurcht mit seinem Gott. (2024.08.30) FREE.
    • Was Hans Scholl Willi Graf’s mentor? Willi Graf knew what was right. What was fair. Injustice hurt him. Injustice made him angry and gave him nightmares. (2024.09.03) FREE.
  • Sophie Scholl
    • The Sophie Scholl you should know. On this day when sappy commemorations that portray White Rose resistance as religious, shallow, and idealistic begin, perhaps it is time that on this day, you're introduced to the real Sophie. Enjoy! (2024.02.18) For paid subscribers only.
    • See Women of the White Rose for additional posts.
  • Josef Söhngen
    • Enigmas wrapped in riddles #1: Josef Söhngen. How do we define dissidence? Who can be labeled as part of the "resistance" during the Shoah? Or are people like Josef Söhngen representative of that great gray mass who just got by? (2023.05.19) FREE.
  • Thomas J. Speelhoffer. Original member of the advisory board for Center for White Rose Studies.
    • In Memoriam: Thomas J. Speelhoffer. Thomas J. Speelhoffer, July 11, 1946 – April 7, 2025, son of Francis and Carolyn, beloved by oh-so-many, your memory is for a great big beautiful, exquisite blessing. We are going to miss you. (2025.07.17) Free.
  • Special White Rose places.
    • White Rose places. Take a hard look at the two photos below, only thirty-two years apart. Before and after Hitler. This is the end result of tyranny. (2025.05.19) Free.
    • Introduction to Munich. It is hard to characterize Bavarian culture as one way or the other, when its many facets combine to form a jewel that is neither diamond nor ruby. (2025.05.30) PAID.
    • Getting around Ulm. Rich and poor, we are all commoners, in the same, common, and honest matters, unconditionally. (2025.09.20) Free.
    • May 20-May 21, as it appeared in Ulm from 1933-1945. Goebbels, 4/19/1945: “The perverse coalition between plutocracy and Bolshevism is breaking apart.” Instead — Germans lived with death and destruction for years to come. (2025.05.20) Free.
  • OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE: JÜRGEN WITTENSTEIN
    • Untelling Wittenstein. White Rose resistance was anything but nice and neat, well-thought-out. Its beginning and its end followed no script, defied all logical plot lines. (2025.09.02) Free.
    • Wikipedia and the White Rose. So many middle and high school students use Wikipedia for their essays about White Rose. They are learning it wrong. Unlearning is hard. (2025.12.17) Free.