Munich is dotted with many memorials to its historic past, including the plaque to Kurt Eisner, the ‘Wunden der Errinnerung' series and also some to the White Rose Movement. Of course, not all the memorials are related to the second world war, but it’s something that Munich was a major part of, with Hitler starting his campaigns in the city and where the beer hall putsch took place, along with many other significant events.
The White Rose was founded by brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, other students at the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) and Professor Huber who illegally distributed leaflets under the Nazi regime in a bid to encourage Germans to resist Hitler. At first they were cautious and crept through Munich painting slogans on walls decrying Hitler. Later, as they grew bolder, they printed and distributed leaflets around Munich and sent them to sympathisers in other cities. Nearing the end of the war, Allied planes dropped these leaflets informing German citizens of the extermination of the Jews and other Nazi crimes.
The end came to the movement when Hans and Sophie went to the top floor of the university foyer and dropped a stack of leaflets into the courtyard for students to read, but they were seen by a janitor who reported them. This led to their arrest, along with a friend of theirs, Christian Probst. A quick trial was held and all three were found guilty and beheaded that afternoon. Unfortunately, their deaths didn’t cause a rise up against the regime, with some university students applauding their deaths. The group lasted from June 1942 until February 1943.
So not only is Munich known as the birthplace of the Nazi party it is also famous for one of the bravest resistant movements of the war, in a city that was closely watched these people gave their lives for freedom and are remembered throughout Munich and the world.
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