Three members of the White Rose resistance group are executed

The winter of 1942/43 saw siblings Hans (24) and Sophie Scholl (21) take part in the protest actions of a Munich student resistance group called the White Rose. Motivated by their Christian and humanist beliefs, the group distributed leaflets calling on Germans to resist the Third Reich and oppose the war that it had unleashed.

A caretaker doing his rounds at the University of Munich on 18 February 1943 saw some of the students posting flyers and informed the Gestapo. Four days later, the “People’s Court” (Volksgerichtshof) handed down death sentences to Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friend Christoph Probst for high treason and “aiding the enemy”. All three were executed by guillotine on the same day in Munich-Stadelheim prison.