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40th out of 386 books
—
1,416 voters
Sophie Scholl and the White Rose
From beginning to end, the captivating story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose is an uplifting and enlightening account of the largely untold story of German resistance to the Third Reich. With details of Scholl 's arrest and trial before Hitler's Hanging Judge, Rol and Freisler, and including the leaflets that the White Rose circulated throughout the German population,...more
Paperback, 238 pages
Published
March 1st 2006
by ONEWorld Publications
(first published November 1st 1999)
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Strange title as if the book has a central character, it is Sophie's brother Hans. Possibly the title is a publisher's decision to follow on the success of the Sophie Scholl film.
Much is conjecture - particular conversations, scnes and so forth - but robust imaginative insight is crucial to good history. The book charts not only the history of the White Rose resistance movement but the whole network of interior resistance within Nazi Germany. There are also succinct interpretations of German na...more
Much is conjecture - particular conversations, scnes and so forth - but robust imaginative insight is crucial to good history. The book charts not only the history of the White Rose resistance movement but the whole network of interior resistance within Nazi Germany. There are also succinct interpretations of German na...more
I watched the movie Sophie Scholl a couple years ago and, I'll admit it, I was so moved I cried. I knew there had to be books about the true story behind the movie, and found this book secondhand. It then promptly became lost in the shuffle and giant pile of other books I've read since. I wish I had read it sooner.
The book follows the very true and very amazing story of the White Rose, a group of university students who wrote and distributed leaflets calling Germans to revolt against Hitler duri...more
The book follows the very true and very amazing story of the White Rose, a group of university students who wrote and distributed leaflets calling Germans to revolt against Hitler duri...more
My first introduction to the White Rose was via a lecture when I was at university. I was doing a course called 'Europe at War' and we'd reached the Second World War and Nazi Germany. I heard about this group of students who had written and distributed pamphlets resisting the Nazis and how they had tragically been caught and executed. What really stuck with me though was a story about Hans, which is recounted in this book. Hans was coming home from the front by train when he saw a young Russian...more
I reviewed this a while ago on another site and lost the review, but what I remember about it is a solid good. The title is misleading, because the book focuses primarily on the White Rose and not Sophie Scholl herself. I've read other books on The White Rose so was looking for something a little more personal about Sophie so in that respect this book was a disappointment.
What never fails to disappoint and amaze me about The White Rose and Scholl in particular is her tremendous courage. What I c...more
What never fails to disappoint and amaze me about The White Rose and Scholl in particular is her tremendous courage. What I c...more
Nov 19, 2012
Dan Sharber
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fascism-nazis,
own
the beautiful tragic story of students doing whatever they could to stand up against nazi tyranny. they were martyrs to the cause of freedom. their struggle and the struggle of all those against the oppression they faced is an inspiration to all standing against oppression today. they gave their lives fighting to ignite the spirit of resistance the knew must exist within the hearts of the outwardly passive members of their community. they should never be forgotten, "The impact of the White Rose...more
I saw the movie first. Eek! Blasphemy! I know, I know, but it was on Netflix instant watch and I immediately went looking for the book after. I read this on the heels of The Diary of Anne Frank. It's too bad Anne never knew about Sophie and The White Rose. She would have admired them so much. Sophie kicks ass. People like her and books like this should be regularly taught in schools. This girl had giant, basketball sized balls. They all did and what's even more astounding was that they were just...more
Many people assume that at the time of the Second World War, all Germans were dedicated Nazis. In fact, there were plenty of dissenters inside Germany, but their voices were mostly strangled by the suppressive Nazi state. Yet active pockets of anti-Hitler resistance sprang up all over the country. One of them, a group of five students and their professor at the University of Munich, called itself the White Rose. They wrote a series leaflets that implored their fellow citizens to rise up and figh...more
I'm having a bit of a time with this one. It assumes that you know certain things about German history, geography and culture. It seems to be organized strangely. I'm interested though, and so I'm going to finish it.
Update:
This was a difficult book to read. Maybe if I had known more about Germany and it's history, it would have been easier. Nonetheless, it was an amazing story and I'm so glad I read it. I'm so happy to know that there were many German people who knew what was going on was wrong,...more
Update:
This was a difficult book to read. Maybe if I had known more about Germany and it's history, it would have been easier. Nonetheless, it was an amazing story and I'm so glad I read it. I'm so happy to know that there were many German people who knew what was going on was wrong,...more
This book fits in well with my interest in those who resisted Nazi Germany. It's a true story of a small resistance group, the White Rose, formed by a few college students and one professor. Though the title highlights Sophie Scholl, the youngest and the only girl of the core group, the book is really the story of all the members of their group--the struggles they went through, what brought them to the decision to resist, their secret activities against the Third Reich, their arrest, mockery of...more
I first read of Die Weisse Rose when I was in high school. The true story was written in play that I read in my 4th year German class.
This book was really, really good, and I shed tears towards the end over the incredible bravery of these young students. Their courage in the face of the horrific Third Reich is inspiring.
This book reads like a novel in parts, but what really captured my attention was the detail that has been uncovered in recent years, and the translation of the pamphlets themse...more
This book was really, really good, and I shed tears towards the end over the incredible bravery of these young students. Their courage in the face of the horrific Third Reich is inspiring.
This book reads like a novel in parts, but what really captured my attention was the detail that has been uncovered in recent years, and the translation of the pamphlets themse...more
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Despite the title, this book is more about the White Rose in general and less about Sophie Scholl in particular. The book covers the background and actions of all the core members of the White Rose and as such provides a good summary of the events surrounding them. The writing is good overall although a bit tedious in places. There are several good black and white photographs in the center of the book as well as all the White Rose leaflets (including a draft published here for the first time) an...more
My main criticism of this book is the title: it's a bit misleading. I've read other books on the White Rose, and I thought this was more focused on Sophie's life. I read this a year ago, and if I remember correctly it does focus on her more than the other members of the White Rose, but its focus is still the resistance.
That said, it is an immensely interesting, terrifying and inspiring account of some tremendously brave people. I also recommend the movie The Last Days of Sophie Scholl -- it adds...more
That said, it is an immensely interesting, terrifying and inspiring account of some tremendously brave people. I also recommend the movie The Last Days of Sophie Scholl -- it adds...more
Talk about a handful of people making a difference! "Sophie Scholl and the White Rose" is the incredible true story of a group of five university students and their professor who resisted the Third Reich, by spreading leaflets and flyers in cities throughout Nazi Germany calling for people to rise up and resist the Nazi Regime. "We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience!" was their powerful declaration of freedom. This book is so well written and their story so amazing - couldn't stop re...more
A surperbly well researched and presented account of an act of honour and bravery by conscientious young German students, who dared to stand up against the mind numbing machine of Nazism and the Nationalist Socialist movement during World War II.
In 1989, I visited an exhibition in the Reichstag, where there were a variety of uniforms for every aspect of life -- the postman, the milkman -- one for everyone! It was as if all German society was so bound up in this regimented and unforgiving mode of...more
In 1989, I visited an exhibition in the Reichstag, where there were a variety of uniforms for every aspect of life -- the postman, the milkman -- one for everyone! It was as if all German society was so bound up in this regimented and unforgiving mode of...more
This book is more about The White Rose resistance movement than about Sophie Scholl. Nevertheless, it did follow her experience, her brother's experience, and the organization that printed leaflets crying out against the wrongness of the Nazis.
There are other examples from outside the White Rose of resistance against the social and political will of the Nazi regime. Eugenic cleansing was halted to some small degree after a Catholic bishop denounced the killing of people considered unfit from nu...more
There are other examples from outside the White Rose of resistance against the social and political will of the Nazi regime. Eugenic cleansing was halted to some small degree after a Catholic bishop denounced the killing of people considered unfit from nu...more
Great, great account of Die Weisse Rose, the student-led resistance movement from Munich in 1942-1943. The book is a quick read and had a great appendix in the back with the six flyers the group wrote, as well as the draft of the seventh (the one Hans Scholl tried to swallow when being interrogated by the Gestapo). There is also court documents that show just how evil Roland Freisler's Berlin court (moved to Munich for this case) really was. After reading this book (and see the movie with Julia...more
My new hero. I'm so glad I read Traudle Junge's memoirs. If not for her story, when, or even would I of ever heard this inspiring, heroic, horrific tale of these University Students ready and willing to take on Hitler, even unto death. A quote from one of their leaflets, "We will not be silent. We are your bad conscious." They were known collectively as "The White Rose." Sophie and her brother Hans along with Christophe Probst and their teacher/advisor Karl Huber were beheaded. Sophie was 21.
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The New York Times said about this book, "The animated narrative reads like a suspense novel." I don't agree with this opinion. The outcome of the book is announced within the first few pages for those who don't know the history and the book reads like a history account. I hardly EVER say this, but this book would probably be better as a movie.
Favorite quotes from the book:
"Despite all the powers closing in, hold yourself up." -- Goethe
"When the powerless and the oppressed, no matter how hopeles...more
Favorite quotes from the book:
"Despite all the powers closing in, hold yourself up." -- Goethe
"When the powerless and the oppressed, no matter how hopeles...more
I bought this book immediately after having seen the film years ago and have only now gotten 'round to reading it.
This is a very well-written book that covers not just the story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, but all of the background on the full situation in Germany through-out the war that inspired the actions of this group.
It's an incredible story of courage. The movement started by these students was one of such strength against what must have seemed insurmountable odds. It's an inspir...more
This is a very well-written book that covers not just the story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, but all of the background on the full situation in Germany through-out the war that inspired the actions of this group.
It's an incredible story of courage. The movement started by these students was one of such strength against what must have seemed insurmountable odds. It's an inspir...more
The story the authors are telling is a wonderful one, but it goes into too much detail about things that are not crucial to the subject indicated by the title. I wanted the book to focus more on Sophie and the thoughts and feelings of the others in the White Rose group. It's not a bad book if you're interested in Sophie Scholl or the German resistance to the Nazi regime, but the way it's written here seems a little disjointed.
Around the World in 52 Books: Germany
This true story is necessary reading for anyone who has wondered what non-Jewish German families knew and thought during the Holocaust, and what they faced when they decided to do something about it.
The people and the story are inspiring and interesting, but the writer of this book did not blow me out of the water. In fact, at times, she bored me with gratuitous tangents about political history.
Despite some slow spots, this book is a worthwhile read in its re...more
This true story is necessary reading for anyone who has wondered what non-Jewish German families knew and thought during the Holocaust, and what they faced when they decided to do something about it.
The people and the story are inspiring and interesting, but the writer of this book did not blow me out of the water. In fact, at times, she bored me with gratuitous tangents about political history.
Despite some slow spots, this book is a worthwhile read in its re...more
This is an updated version of "The Shattering of the German Night," recommended to me by Dr. George Wittenstein, a personal friend of the Scholls.
The story is a moving one, no matter who writes it, but this new edition was more carefully researched yet maintains an extremely compelling narrative.
The story is a moving one, no matter who writes it, but this new edition was more carefully researched yet maintains an extremely compelling narrative.
This book is extremely thought provoking. It is a true testament to some young people who stood in opposition to the horror of Nazi Germany and paid for it with their lives. I have read at around the same time I was exploring Bonhoeffer.
It isnt easy read, but it is worthwhile.
It isnt easy read, but it is worthwhile.
The Scholls have become icons of righteousness in a wrong thinking world and Sophie Scholl, for her youth and commitment, impervious to personal danger, is almost unbelievable. Annette Dumbach's factual prose dispels that and presents Sophie, the human being. And yes, she was an extraordinary human being when hers and the efforts of her comrades in the tiny group, The White Rose are considered against the cowering indifference of her compatriots, in the face of Nazi tyranny. This is a good read.
This is a wonderfully written book chronicling the Nazi resistance group called the White Rose. Though most of the members were executed by the regime, their efforts exemplify the willingness of people to sacrifice everything for their beliefs. The authors make it a story rather than a list of facts, starting with the childhood of Sophie and Hans Scholl and really giving the reader a feel for what made these two different growing up in the Hitler Youth and what ultimately caused them to resist t...more
I already knew this story, but this book is one of the most astounding things I've read in a long time. It's extremely tangible, evocative, personal, enlightening, haunting, beautifully sad and, ultimately, incredibly inspiring. Everyone should read this.
I read something about this group in another WW II history. It's an interesting story. Tragic, really. But there is something off about the prose. It is as if the writers are too interested in the matyrdom to give any real sense of people.
This is a story worth telling and reading about, but I didn't love the author's writing style, and I felt the story was cramped into a fairly short book. I think a lot more time could have been spent on the individual members of the White Rose and the reasons that drove them to commit what Nazi Germany saw as high treason. They definitely touch on these topics, but I felt I could have used a little more information.
A wonderful book about a group of college students who demonstrated extreme bravery in Nazi Germany. They were willing to risk their lives for something they believed in and they ended up paying with their lives. Very powerful!
Jan 15, 2009
booklady
marked it as to-read
Saw the excellent movie about her, her brother and their resistance to Hitler. They were also mentioned in the recent book I read about Bonhoeffer; they were executed while he was still imprisoned.
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“In a universe where all values have been shattered, where religions and histories and literatures and social structures have lost their meaning, man has to stand up again, accept his condition, accept that he is alone, and has no protection, and proceed to create his own world, his own values, his own decisions, his own actions—and be willing to pay the consequences, to be responsible for everything he thinks says, and does.”
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