Statement regarding US organization “The White Rose Resistance”
We are deeply upset about the activities by the group “The White Rose Resistance”, which are clearly distorting history. Under the name of the White Rose and using photographs of Sophie Scholl, they are aggressively soliciting donations and support for radical causes.
The resistance of the White Rose against the Nazi dictatorship and its crimes is being used in videos and texts by Seth Gruber under the label “White Rose Resistance” to promote a position that stands in clear contradiction to the historical record. Quotes from Sophie Scholl are presented out of context, and are therefore distorted. Quotes as well as facts are inaccurately presented. The name, reputation and popularity of the White Rose resistance group are being exploited for radical political ends and misused for mundane fundraising purposes.
We therefore wish to state unequivocally:
The resistance of the White Rose, undertaken at great personal risk, was directed against the National Socialist dictatorship and its crimes. In their leaflets, the members of the White Rose advocate for human rights and a diverse society. They emphasize the value of all people, who should be free to shape their lives individually. At no point did the White Rose address the topic of abortion. The reference to this, and the claim that the Scholl siblings conducted a Christian “culture war”, is simply false.
We emphasize that the courage of people in resistance to a dictatorial regime and the immeasurable suffering of the Holocaust must not be instrumentalized or trivialized.
Statement regarding “White Rose UK” groupings and activities
The White Rose Foundation received outrageous news about a “White Rose UK” operating in England, Ireland and Holland, a group of persons who strictly refuse current measures to contain the Coronavirus pandemic. Vaccinations are likewise refused. The group’s name with reference to the White Rose resistance group is clearly intended to increase the credibility of these messages. We disapprove of this reference and see it as a deliberate misdirection. The White Rose resistance group courageously opposed the dictatorship of the National Socialist state with leaflets. Seven members of the group paid with their lives for their resistance, which was based on free expression of opinion.
The use of the good name of the White Rose resistance group is a deliberate misrepresentation in light of the historical facts, because protesting against measures enacted by the democratic state today is protected by law.
Dr. Hildegard Kronawitter, Chairwoman of the White Rose Foundation / Weiße Rose Stiftung e.V.
(09/08/2021)
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We also gratefully received the following statement from Dr. Alexandra Lloyd, lecturer in German at the University of Oxford and creater of Oxford University’s White Rose Project (White Rose Project – A research and engagement initiative at the University of Oxford, UK)
“The White Rose Project at the University of Oxford has been made aware of groups using the banner of the White Rose resistance circle to campaign against Covid-19 measures such as vaccination, lockdowns, and face coverings. These examples highlight precisely why the study of history and languages is so important: what for one individual will be an obvious source of encouragement and legitimation from a past movement, will be to another a reductive and appropriative historical parallel. I would always encourage people to read the writings of Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Kurt Huber, Willi Graf, and others, in their pamphlets and personal correspondence. If we truly listen to their voices in a spirit of enquiry, we will find inspiration to make positive change in the world.”