Hans Scholl and his younger sister Sophie entered the atrium of the University of Munich with about 1,700 copies of their sixth anti-Nazi leaflet packed into a suitcase. It was February 18, 1943—the same day Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, seeking to boost morale after the German Army’s defeat at Stalingrad, held a fanatical rally calling for “total war.” The hall, with its classical colonnades and skylight, was empty but would remain so for only ten more minutes. Quietly, the siblings placed stacks of leaflets outside classroom doors on every floor.
On their way to the exit, the Scholls realized they still had around 100 pamphlets left. Mounting the stairs again, they reached the atrium’s highest gallery. From there, the pair pushed the flyers over the balustrade, sending them floating down to the floor. Below, a janitor named Jakob Schmid spotted the leaflets. As he bounded up the stairs, determined to catch the culprits, the bell rang for the change of class, and students began pouring into the atrium. Schmid reached the third floor, where he stopped Sophie and Hans. “You are under arrest!” he cried out. The two siblings froze.
The school I went to was named after them. I always admired their bravery
The way it ended for them breaks my heart, I wish they would have seen the end of the war. I bet they would have had a bright, impactful future in a post-war Germany
Londonsw8 on September 24th, 2025 at 08:14 UTC »
Hans Scholl and his younger sister Sophie entered the atrium of the University of Munich with about 1,700 copies of their sixth anti-Nazi leaflet packed into a suitcase. It was February 18, 1943—the same day Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, seeking to boost morale after the German Army’s defeat at Stalingrad, held a fanatical rally calling for “total war.” The hall, with its classical colonnades and skylight, was empty but would remain so for only ten more minutes. Quietly, the siblings placed stacks of leaflets outside classroom doors on every floor.
On their way to the exit, the Scholls realized they still had around 100 pamphlets left. Mounting the stairs again, they reached the atrium’s highest gallery. From there, the pair pushed the flyers over the balustrade, sending them floating down to the floor. Below, a janitor named Jakob Schmid spotted the leaflets. As he bounded up the stairs, determined to catch the culprits, the bell rang for the change of class, and students began pouring into the atrium. Schmid reached the third floor, where he stopped Sophie and Hans. “You are under arrest!” he cried out. The two siblings froze.
eip2yoxu on September 24th, 2025 at 08:28 UTC »
The school I went to was named after them. I always admired their bravery
The way it ended for them breaks my heart, I wish they would have seen the end of the war. I bet they would have had a bright, impactful future in a post-war Germany
Ok_h0tmess on September 24th, 2025 at 08:47 UTC »
"Das Gesetz ändert sich, das Gewissen nicht"