The little girl becomes a teenager

1921 - 1935.

I’ve long put off writing about Sophie Scholl. Directly about Sophie Scholl. Not “as part of the larger group,” or as one of the Scholl siblings. But directly about Sophie, the person, not the legend.

I admire the flawed Sophie, not the false heroine of Inge’s fable, but the real Sophie. That real girl who became a woman, a woman imbued with strength she had no idea she possessed. That real Sophie is utterly delightful. She’s that friend you want to throttle one minute and hug the next, the friend who knows how to say exactly the wrong thing, but then turns around and says what you badly needed to hear. Who can do something dumb and ill-advised, then the next minute exhibit backbone you wish you had. That real Sophie is someone we all know, in one way or another. No matter how old we are, where we live, or our political affiliation, we all know a Sophie.

The hesitation has come from the incompleteness of the existing picture. Writing about her is like describing the magnificence of the Alps, but the puzzle only has two corner pieces, half the sky, some of the river, and almost nothing of the flowers and horses. The complete story of Sophie Scholl’s life cannot be written until Scholl Archives are opened (same goes for Hans Scholl).

Therefore, please accept this humble offering. It’s the best I can do with the information we are allowed to access. I hope it’s enough to whet your appetite for more.

Sophie’s childhood was anything but idyllic. Her father Robert Scholl had dabbled in local politics, first as mayor of tiny Ingersheim, then as mayor of slightly-larger Forchtenberg, population 900. A perq of that job: A “roomy” apartment in city hall.

Robert Scholl had been Forchtenberg’s mayor for two years when Sophie was born on May 9, 1921. When Sophie was eighteen months old, her younger brother Werner was born. When she was almost four, her baby sister Mathilde — Tilde, they called her — was born. When she was not quite five, in January 1926, Tilde died.

Sophie’s father seemed to stay embroiled in one controversy after another during his ten-year tenure in Forchtenberg. Tilde’s death occurred around the time that grousing in Forchtenberg evolved into near mutiny. People grumbled when he ran for mayor of the larger, nearby town of Künzelsau in 1927 (he lost by a landslide).

Yet it was his extramarital affairs that finally did him in. After he lost his reelection bid in 1929, the town council indicted and tried him for his “immoral” behavior. Found guilty, they levied a substantial fine and threatened to withhold his pension.

There’s no record exactly how the turbulence affected Sophie and her siblings. Inge dealt with it in her narrative by pretending it never happened.

Time in backwater Forchtenberg and its larger ‘metropolitan’ area of Greater Crailsheim wasn’t entirely wasted. Robert Scholl’s friendships included powerful men in the nascent National Socialist Party, including Ferdinand Dietrich, doctor and eventually NSDAP Kreisleiter in Öhringen.

Dietrich’s friendship with Robert Scholl lasted decades. He was a constant in the Scholl family circle, along with his rabidly antisemitic views. He also would become a highly-respected member of the committee that advocated that Jews and the mentally ill should be euthanized for the good of society. No, Robert Scholl’s time as a big fish in a small pond was not wasted.

Despite his reputation as a womanizer.

From Forchtenberg, Robert Scholl moved his family to the big city. To Ludwigsburg, near Stuttgart. Robert’s wife and kids did not see much of him the two years they lived in Ludwigsburg. Because Robert Scholl worked and studied accounting in Stuttgart. He split his time between classes and his job as Managing Director of the Württembergische Artists’ Society.

His absence became even more pronounced when he purchased the Treuhandbüro or fiduciary offices of “Dr. Mayer” in November 1931. In Ulm. While his family lived in Ludwigsburg, over 60 miles away. No Autobahn for a quick drive home. Magdalena Scholl was left to raise five young children essentially by herself.

Again, Robert Scholl’s networking would profoundly affect his little family. While studying accounting in Stuttgart, he developed two more friendships that lasted decades: Eugen Grimminger, who wanted to set up an accounting practice in Stuttgart, and a Crailsheimer to boot!; and, Friedrich Mussgay, who would later become Gestapo chief in Stuttgart.

On March 2, 1932, Robert Scholl moved his family to Ulm. They were finally all together!

Their first residence was modest, to be sure. But what a view! High up the Michelsberg (photo), what the apartment lacked in space, it more than made up for with space to run and play and explore. It may have been plain, and gray, and yes, tiny, but it had a garden, the street was safe to play in, and the König-Wilhelm-Turm (tower) was right there for them to climb.

Wilhelmsburg, the huge military base that could house 100,000 soldiers, adjoined the Michelsberg. Technically off limits — it was, after all, a working military installation – the Wilhelmsburg had long inspired many young boys (and tomboys) in Ulm.

The absolutely best thing about life on the Michelsberg, however, is the view of the city below. The Münster is prominent, but reduced to something one can hold in the palm of her hand. The happiest photos of Sophie that Inge lets us see? Most were taken up there, high on the Michelsberg, in their garden, playing, carefree.

The Scholl family lived there on Tuesday morning, January 31, 1933, when Adolf Hitler ascended to power. The school-aged siblings had trekked down the mountain to the red brick schoolhouse in town when they heard the news. The euphoria, the dancing in the streets! What a great day to be alive! Overnight, things seemed to improve.

No one worried when one of Hitler’s deputies, Heinrich Himmler opened a “concentration camp” near Munich, in a sleepy little town called Dachau. No one worried when the German Reichstag passed the Enabling Act three days later on March 23, 1933, giving Hitler power to enact legislation without consent of parliament. No one worried when less than a week later, Hitler decreed a boycott of all Jewish stores and businesses in Germany. Or when he posted Storm Troopers outside Jewish stores to block people from entering.

No one worried, because life was good! Unemployment was visibly lower, gangs and murders had all but disappeared (unless you counted beatings and murders of Jews, Socialists, and Communists, which of course you didn’t), and they could once again be proud of being German!

Inge Scholl quickly joined Bund deutscher Mädel (BDM), the girls’ version of Hitler Youth. And quickly rose through the ranks. Elisabeth Scholl followed her big sister, likewise rapidly promoted, although not to the heady positions her older sister achieved. Together, they persuaded little sister Sophie to join. As an ordinary member. Not old enough for BDM, but enthusiastically a member of the preteen-“tween” version, Jungmädel.

Hans and Werner Scholl held out a little longer, resisting big sister Inge’s wheedling. Ever since they’d moved to Ulm, various youth movements had tried in vain to recruit both boys to their ranks. Werner had joined “Volunteer Corps of the Young Nation” at some point in 1932. But after he and one of his friends were sexually assaulted by the leader of that organization, his enthusiasm waned. (Werner was ten at the time. The pedophile was a known rapist who fast moved his allegiance to Hitler Youth in 1933.)

In May 1933, however, both Hans and Werner succumbed to the pressure at home. As of May 1, finally all Scholl children were members of NSDAP youth organizations.

Better said: Hans and Werner succumbed to pressure from their good friend Fritz Hartnagel. Then-twelve-year-old Fritz had joined a bündische youth group in 1932 and had not been able to convince his new friends to follow him. He had nagged a bit, but Magdalena Scholl invented a story about her sons’ being members of the YMCA. They technically were, but only on paper, as they never attended YMCA functions.

Fritz, Hans, and Werner remained close, despite the Scholls’ insistence on not joining either a bündische club or Hitler Youth. All three teenagers were athletic, intense, and intelligent. When they were together, they loved pushing themselves to the limit, always a little higher, a littler further, a little riskier.

And Sophie was the little sister who tagged along on their adventures.

But that May 1, 1933, Hans and Werner surrendered. Fifteen-year-old Hans joined a Kameradschaft or “Friends’ Troop” in Hitler Youth as an ordinary member, while Werner signed up for Jungvolk.

Their timing was perfect. June 22, 1933, the Nazi press secretary published an announcement on behalf of his boss: All non-Hitler Youth youth groups were to be disbanded effective July 15, 1933. All leaders of such groups were required to turn over exhaustive information to Berlin: Membership lists, officers, bank and cash accounts, and organizational structure.

Werner’s Jungvolk group had continued the bündische traditions of the earlier Volunteer Corps. After the June announcement, nothing changed. Throughout that summer, Werner was the only Scholl exposed to bündische ways. That changed in September. Werner introduced Hans to his Jungvolk leader, Max von Neubeck. Werner wanted his big brother to see something outside the strict confines of Hitler Youth. Max could possibly expand Hans’ horizons.

What an introduction! Max invited Hans to join the next Jungvolk camping trip that September. Hans enjoyed the attention, but Max was assessing his leadership potential. Hans passed with flying colors.

September and October 1933 were very good months for the Scholl siblings. Inge Scholl was promoted to Ringführerin, responsible for education of all Jungmädel leaders in the Ulm region. She immediately set about finding creative ways to teach Nazi racial ideology and antisemitic doctrine. This promotion may have had something to do with her forcing Hitler’s car to stop in the middle of a parade, so her troop could salute him.

Hans Scholl likewise was made a leader in Hitler Youth. Max gave him a small troop of 10-15 Jungvolk boys, once again assessing his leadership potential. Max also ensured that Werner and Werner’s friend were assigned to Hans’ troop, away from the pedophile who had harmed them earlier.

Everyone in Ulm took notice of the Scholl children. Newcomers, they had promptly made themselves indispensable.

No one worried in November 1933 when the NSDAP quietly established a “concentration camp” for political dissidents and Socialists on Oberer Kuhberg in Ulm. No one worried, because life was good!

It didn’t hurt that Robert Scholl’s accounting practice was thriving. When the State of Württemberg took over that gray stone house high up the Michelsberg in early 1934, it didn’t matter. Their father found them a wonderful home on Olga Straβe. A prestigious apartment, home to some of Ulm’s movers and shakers. Albert Einstein’s cousins lived there. The building was owned by Jakob Guggenheimer, a wealthy businessman. (Photo is house in 1995.)

Yes, they were the only non-Jewish residents in that structure. But the March 1933 boycott had pretty much failed. It was such a prestigious address!Olga Straβe was one of Ulm’s most beautiful streets. The houses had large gardens in front, facing onto a greenbelt. The Scholls’ residence sported a balcony overlooking the garden. It may not have had a view, but it had so much more. Plus, it was now only a short walk to school.

When Sophie was confirmed in the Pauluskirche in May 1934, she caused a stir. That particular church had banned the wearing of Hitler Youth uniforms. Sophie paid no heed to the rules. She proudly wore her uniform to her confirmation. Once again, everyone present took notice.

Photo of Pauluskirche at bottom of essay.

No one worried when, in June 1934, Hitler and his surrogates arrested and murdered over sixty men who were on his enemies list. No one worried when Hitler passed another “emergency measure” and made it retroactive to his purge, giving himself the right to determine who was a traitor. No one worried about Hitler’s two-week wait to make an official statement about the Röhm purge, aka Night of the Long Knives.

No one worried, because life was good! The government was more stable than it had been in a long time. With Hitler’s enemies eliminated, he could enact his full agenda.

But violence breeds violence. In Ulm, the Catholics of St. Georg Kirche (photo) had ignored the Konkordat between their church and Hitler’s government. They also ignored the government’s orders to shut down all youth organizations not named Hitler Youth. Catholic boys continued to meet as the Knights of St. George, proudly carrying their green banner.

Summer of 1934, their audacity exceeded all limits. They held a celebration at Ulm’s Saalbau, the city’s festival theater. Bands of Hitler Youth waited for the young boys to exit. One eyewitness noted that “one of Ulm’s most esteemed citizens danced like a crazy man as the hysteria and frenzy rose.”

When the boys exited the auditorium, Hitler Youth minions fell on them, beating them, ripping the clothes off their backs. Another prominent young citizen on Ulm led the fray, beating the eyewitness’ little brother over the head with a flagpole. That prominent young citizen? Hans Scholl.

Hans was not the only Scholl involved in beating up teenagers who did not join Hitler Youth. Lilli Holl, friend of Otl Aicher and Werner Scholl, recalled daily beatings at the hands of BDM and Jungmädel girls, simply because she wouldn’t join. Those beatings were encouraged by Inge.

Even in 1934 as the noose tightened for Jewish Germans, many held out hope that Hitler wouldn’t exact the worst of the NSDAP platform. One Jewish teenager named Isidor remained an active member of Hitler Youth in Ulm, yes, in 1934.

While Sophie remained a regular member of Jungmädel, and Elisabeth was a low-ranking Jungmädel leader, Hans and Inge savored their success. Hans especially, as he learned bündische traditions like the Kohte, a Nordic tent favored by the d.j.1.11. crowd. His leader Max von Neubeck made Hans a member of his personal “A-Team,” boys he was grooming for bigger and better positions. Max publicly honored Hans during a leadership hike in Spring 1934, giving him a coveted blue bündische cord to wear alongside green Hitler Youth braids.

Max also tested Hans by giving him de facto leadership of a platoon of Jungvolk boys. Instead of responsibility for 10-15 boys, Hans now directed 150 boys! And when Max was promoted to Tribe Leader, the male equivalent of Inge Scholl’s Ringführerin position, he gave Hans that platoon outright.

Fritz Hartnagel, on the other hand, resigned from membership in Hitler Youth that same summer, because of the prohibition against contact with bündische leaders.

That summer of 1934, no one worried when Lutheran and Catholic churches in Ulm displayed Hitler’s portrait and closed their worship services with prayers for and to him. No one worried when Hitler made himself both Chancellor and President following Hindenburg’s death on August 2, 1934 (technically by means of a nationwide vote). No one worried when, in the runup to the “election,” Hitler ordered police surveillance and harassment of political dissidents, with armored vehicles following protesters and police shining lights into and onto the homes of suspected agitators. No one worried when military men were required to swear an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler and not to country.

No one worried, because life was good! The parades and pageantry were so much fun! They were proud to be German!

When the Saarland ‘returned to Germany’ in January 1935, the national humiliation was lessened by … well, by a lot.

But now, there were billboards, placards, and posters around Ulm. “Jews are our misfortune and are not welcome here.” Political prisoners were herded through Ulm’s streets. Dean Kapus of Ulm distributed pro-Hitler sermons he expected every pastor to read aloud. We know that Adolf Hitler in all humility — one of his greatest attributes — is giving God the glory [for this victory]. God must truly love our people, otherwise He would not have given us this Führer.

No one worried. Except perhaps Isidor, who was no longer welcome in Hitler Youth.

In celebration of the return of the Saar to Germany, Jungvolk boys assembled for a rally on Münsterplatz in Ulm. They were ordered to appear on the square wearing their short-pants uniforms.

Most sensible German mothers in Ulm were taken aback by such absurdity. It may have been March, but there was still snow on the ground, and it was very cold. Helmut Gerstlauer was one of the many boys whose mother made him wear long pants in defiance of the Jungvolk order. Helmut was not in Hans Scholl’s squad, but he knew Hans by reputation. He said that when Hans Scholl showed up in short pants, “he aroused suitable respect.”

The aligned newspaper in Ulm latched onto the cult-like mania surrounding Hitler’s win in the Saarland. Launched with an editorial bemoaning the lack of strong antisemitism in Ulm, the editors of the Ulmer Sturm began a campaign that would have made Goebbels proud. Antisemitism took firm root, with such hostility towards Jewish citizens of Ulm as had never been seen. Ulm had been a safe place for Jews since before the Spanish Inquisition, when many left Spain to settle in safe-safe Ulm. Safe no longer.

In early 1935, Sophie Scholl became friends with another smart, pretty girl in Jungmädel, a girl who shared many of Sophie’s interests, although none of her personality: Susanne Hirzel.

Unlike Robert Scholl, Ernst Hirzel had initially forbidden his children to join Hitler Youth organizations. He had been a signer of the Bonhoeffer-Niemöller Confessions, both times, but his objection wasn’t political. He simply wanted his children to excel in school. He didn’t see how they could study and have fun.

Eventually he gave in and Susanne found herself in a Jungmädel circle.

Once she sat among friends around the campfire, she could not understand all the fuss about Hitler Youth or the League of German Girls. How could any adult brand this a political organization? They went on hikes, cooked outdoors, learned old folk songs (and new folk songs composed by loyal National Socialists), and studied astronomy.

Best of all, they sang. They sang by night and by day, they sang about the Fatherland, they sang about nature, and of course they sang about war. But to Susanne, whose love for music guided every waking moment, the most important thing was that they sang.

She was impressed too that they managed to integrate all social classes so seamlessly into a single organization. It was hard to tell whose father owned a factory and whose mother worked in one. In BDM, the League of German Girls, Germans were Germans, period.

The torchlight ceremony inducting her into the mysteries of Hitler Youth remained one of Susanne Hirzel’s fondest memories. A young 19-year-old Hitler Youth leader presented her — her personally, Susanne Hirzel! — with the traditional black scarf. This charismatic though soft-spoken leader looked deeply into her eyes as she handed Susanne the scarf and ceremoniously tied the braided leather knot that held it together. Susanne immediately knew that she wanted to get close to this young woman who stirred her soul. From that night on, she looked for ways to make contact with Inge Scholl.

Inge moved in circles far above Susanne’s reach. Susanne’s efforts did however establish contact with the Scholl family, and especially with Inge’s younger sister Sophie, who was about the same age as Susanne.

Two things stood out for Susanne in those initial months when all was still fun and games. First, the emphasis on the significance of the flag. One song they sang taught the girls that “the flag means more than death.” Only in hindsight could she see how toxic this concept was.

More importantly, they were indoctrinated with the mysticism of “Blood and Earth.” I belong to the earth, so the theory went, in which my ancestors are buried. This cycle of life — my being born of the same soil that is home to the graves of my forefathers — connected past and future for the young listeners. Our virtuous lives in the present, according to Nazi doctrine, honor the memories of my forebears. The girls were to assume that their dead grandparents and great-grandparents would have been proud of Hitler’s restoration of honor and grandeur to the German Reich.

Nazi leaders were careful not to overload their young charges with too much heavy philosophical stuff. Sophie Scholl’s natural tomboyish character thrived in the athletically challenging atmosphere that added “fun” to their adventures. While on a field trip to caves and rocks southwest of Ulm, she went rock-climbing by herself. Perched atop a high flat rock, she mused about the ability that birds had to always see such beautiful sights.

Both Susanne and Sophie were soon asked to take over a small group of even younger girls, what was called a Mädelschaft, or “Schaft” for short. Though they were only fourteen (or not quite fourteen) themselves, they each headed up a team of around twelve pre-teen girls. They were allowed great latitude in how they planned the events, but periodic inspections of their so-called home evenings ensured that Nazi guidelines were properly followed.

For the first time, Susanne began to comprehend the political nature of Hitler Youth. The Thursday evenings spent at “educational evenings” for leaders of all levels turned out to be transparent propaganda events. One week the current issue of Our Way might discuss racial theory — which races were inferior and why — the next it could cover what forms obedience and loyalty took in the Fatherland.

Inge Scholl skillfully led these educational evenings for “Circle Seven,” the group that included Susanne Hirzel and Sophie Scholl. Inge’s enthusiasm for the cause attracted a devoted following, and many girls (including Susanne) were disappointed when she graduated to the women’s societies a few years later. Her serious demeanor, combined with a native intelligence lacking in subsequent leaders, made her a commanding presence in BDM and a force to be reckoned with.

A friend of the Scholls related a story to me regarding how Sophie Scholl managed to shock the parents of the girls entrusted to her. It seems that Sophie would have her girls place all their lunches in a pile and then reach in to the stack and take one of the wrapped sandwiches. This woman said some of the parents thought Sophie had gone too far with her style of “socialism” and protested.

Susanne Hirzel told the story a little differently. This practice was one encouraged by National Socialists in their attempts to shape German society into a community of “we,” effectively quashing individualism. Before taking a sandwich from the pile, the girls would say a ‘Fatherland blessing’ — a substitute for grace before meals — such as “you are nothing, your people are everything,” or “whoever pledges the oath of allegiance to our flag no longer owns anything himself.” In other words, the sandwich grab-bag was a visual lesson in National Socialism!

Susanne reported that it could be a problematic undertaking, despite the Nazis’ best intentions. As the girls learned that they would not end up with the food they had brought, they started to tell their mothers not to worry about packing a good meal for their excursions. Yet they did not oppose the practice, as it was only a minor irritation, after all.

But as spring turned into summer, and as Sophie turned fourteen on May 9, all was not sweetness and light for the three Scholl siblings whose stature in Hitler Youth continued to grow. During an Easter 1935 Jungvolk encampment, Hans Scholl sexually assaulted Werner’s friend for the first time. It would not be the last time. Throughout the spring and summer, Hans’ rape of that preteen grew ever more aggressive. No matter how often the boy said no, Hans would not stop.

Allegedly unrelated to those assaults, Max von Neubeck dissolved his A-Team and signaled his disapproval to Hans by excluding him from leadership excursions. He took Helmut Gerstlauer, pointedly not extending an invitation to Hans Scholl.

Hans compensated for his plight by becoming an aggressive Jungvolk leader. Summer 1935, he developed into a vigilante on behalf of Hitler Youth. He would “inspect” (raid) the summer encampments of other organizations, including those of his own Lutheran church youth groups. Hans Scholl may have been drifting away from Max von Neubeck, but he certainly curried favor with the more important Hitler Youth bosses.

No one worried when Adolf Hitler used the annual Party Day Rally in Nürnberg to introduce laws that signaled the beginning of the end for Germany’s Jewish citizens. This man who should not be “a great danger to a nation with enough intelligent people who could put a stop to his activities,” this man declared that Germans could not marry Jews; that proof of “Aryan descent” was henceforth required for those in civil service; that non-Aryans had lost all basic rights and were at the mercy of the Volk.

No one worried, because of course those laws did not apply to them! They were Germans! And proudly so.

Hans Scholl had left Ulm in glory that September 1935, representing the garrisoned city at the Party Day Rally in Nürnberg as its designated flag bearer, one of the highest honors bestowed on any who wore the Führer’s colors. But he returned home reserved, reticent, out of character for this normally garrulous young man.

Susanne Hirzel visited Sophie in the Scholls’ home on Olga Straβe shortly thereafter. The mood was somber, not the usual Scholl chaos. Sophie led her to believe that Hans was disappointed in the “discipline and blind obedience” he witnessed, and that he was “disappointed that the individual had lost its individuality.”

The truth of the matter? Being in a place surrounded by nothing but virile young men — all of whom (at least outwardly) believed that homosexuality was a crime deserving to be severely punished — would have been a psychological nightmare for Hans. It didn’t help any that at that Party Day Rally, Hitler’s “Paragraph 175” got special notice — a section of the law that specifically banned homosexual acts. The inner battle over sexual orientation likely drove him to the brink of despair.

But the Scholls apparently did not talk about such things. After all, Magdalena Scholl had walked in on Hans raping that preteen boy in his bedroom. She merely turned around and walked out. No wonder that Sophie told Susanne Hirzel that Hans had had issues with discipline, blind obedience, and loss of individuality. That’s evidently how the family dealt with difficult matters.

The somber mood did not last long. Well into 1939, Inge, Hans, and Sophie would remain firmly in the Nazi camp, proud of their rank, coming into their own.

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Excerpted from White Rose History, Volume I. See below for copyright information. Please contact us for permission to quote.

Image credits: Top photo--That is NOT Sophie. But all images of Sophie Scholl are heavily restricted, even ones that are public domain (she died over 75 years ago). Instead of getting into an argument with Scholl Archives over copyright, I used a 1919 photograph of my paternal grandmother. Photo derivative © 1999 Denise Elaine Heap. Please contact us for permission to use.

Fourth photo--Scholls' apartment on Olgastrasse. Photo © 1995 Denise Elaine Heap. Please contact us for permission to use. Fifth photo--St. Georg Kitche, Ulm. Photo © 1995 Denise Elaine Heap. Please contact us for permission to use.

The above information is fully footnoted in our White Rose histories. Please purchase them for access to that material! To order digital version of White Rose History, Volume I: Coming Together (January 1933-April 30, 1942), click here. To order digital version of White Rose History, Volume II, click here. WRH1 is © 2002, 2003, 2007 by Denise Elaine Heap. WRH2 is © 2002, 2007 by Denise Elaine Heap.

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