Personal letters and diaries provide an intimate view into the hearts and minds of a brother and sister who became martyrs in the anti-Nazi resistance during World War II.
Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie Scholl were active in the White Rose, a small group of students that spoke out against the rise of Nazism in Germany. Both were captured, tried, and executed by the Nazis in 1943. Inge Jens, a German literary scholar, bestselling author, and journalist, was born in 1927 in Hamburg and lives in Tübingen. She edited the letter of Hans and Sophie Scholl and of Thomas Mann.
"For anyone still bewitched by World War II, these tormented,
poetic letters and diaries make engrossing reading." — Los
Angeles Times
"A well-chosen selection of personal documents, this book
illuminates the intellectual and emotional development of two
students who were at the center of the idealistic but futile
anti-Nazi conspiracy at Munich University in 1942-43. . . .
Children of a family of pacifist sentiment and cosmopolitan
intellectual interests, Hans and Sophie Scholl were affected in
their opposition to Nazism by a variety of influences ranging from
those of Nietzsche, Rilke, and Stefan George to Catholic
philosophers such as Augustine, Aquinas, and their personal mentor
and friend, Carl Muth. Especially striking is the Scholls' growing
attraction to Christian mysticism. . . . Smooth translation;
excellent explanatory notes and illustrations; fairly good
index." — Choice
"The Scholls’ writings glow with all the idealism, naiveté, and
self-importance of youth. . . . In the context of their authors’
martyrdom, they constitute a compelling, heart-wrenching testament
to courage and goodness in the face of evil." — Kirkus
Reviews
"The details of daily living, as noted in these letters and diaries
of Hans and Sophie Scholl, take on heartrending significance in
light of the tragic circumstances that eventually took the lives of
the German brother and sister during World War II. . . . With
unaffected sincerity, the letters not only express their growing
distrust of Hitler's increasing strength, but also shed light on
their individual personalities from Sophie's naiveté and schoolgirl
enthusiasms to Hans' dedication and deliberateness. In addition,
the book lends considerable insight into the moral underpinnings of
political resistance in Nazi Germany." — Booklist
"Representing six years’ worth of diaries and letters, these
well-edited extracts suggest how, over time, both brother and
sister subconsciously prepared for the brave work they eventually
undertook. It is simultaneously uplifting and agonizing to witness
their gradual moral/philosophical development and their speedy
capture and execution." — Library Journal
"This book conjures up an uncanny sense of the spiritual and
physical world inhabited by young Germans during the war. It is
both a major historical document and (I can think of no better way
of putting it) a testimony to the human spirit." — Paul
Robinson, Stanford University
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