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Rating: 
Summary: A call to conscience from 1942, Nazi Germany.
Review: As a Jewish child growing up, I often heard the horror storiesof those who collaborated with Hitler and the National Socialistagenda. It wasn't until much later in life that I began to hear about those who resisted. This book, written by the surviving sister of two such resisters, gives us a compelling account of the stories of a small group calling itself the White Rose consisting of students, soldiers and teachers who examined their consciences and engaged in rebellious activity. Included here are the texts of many of the leaflets distributed by the White Rose. One wonders how modern readers would relate to such eloquence that draws from the poetry of Goette and other sources utilizing vocabulary beyond what is common in our dumbed down institutions. Ms. Solle's introduction to this book provides a context in which we might examine our own complicity with modern structures of annihilation. I would highly recommend this book as text for classes in social or political history. If the purpose of education is to encourage us to examine our contexts and choices, this book is an imperitive read.
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Summary: In All My Life
Review: In all my life I don't think I have read a book about such courageous people as Hans and Sophie Scholl. They are involved in an anti-fascist resistance movement and know they can be killed at any hour of the day. They are in constant fear of the people around them, wondering if they are Nazi spies, and yet they keep going. This inspiring book, so full of tears, fearfulness, joy, anxiety, and love should be read by every young person. Janice Wipf, ninth grade.
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Summary: A chronicle of heroism
Review: In this slim book, Inge Scholl chronicles the heroism of her brother and sister, Hans and Sophie Scholl, and their friends in Germany during World War II. The Scholls were students at the University of Munich who had slowly become aware of the horrors their government was perpetrating. They decided that they had to do something, anything to stop the Nazis, and so they printed leaflets denouncing the government and providing information about atrocities. They distributed these leaflets throughout the University and the city, and created a network to distribute them even farther. They identified themselves only as The White Rose. The Nazis eventually tracked down the Scholls and their collaborators and executed them. Inge Scholl tells the story beautifully, in spare and simple prose. She wrote the book originally for German youth after the war, so it is not a scholarly book, but it is even more affecting because of that. After Scholl's narrative are the texts of the six leaflets themselves, as well as a series of fascinating documents -- the Nazi indictments and sentences of the White Rose group, contemporary newspaper accounts ("Just Punishment of Traitors to the Nation at War"), and some deeply affecting testimonials, including a powerful letter written by a fellow prisoner of Sophie Scholl. There are also a number of photographs of the primary members of the White Rose group.
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Summary: Important book - but NOT 100% accurate...
Review: Inge Scholl tells this story as an outsider, the sister of two members of the White Rose - NOT as an active participant. The reader must remember Inge Scholl told this story after-the-fact and had no knowledge of the events as they took place. Her memories which are told in this book are just that - her memories - and are not always 100% accurate. Several other books have been written which are far more in-depth and accurate, but this slim volume remains a favorite among teachers and students wishing to learn more. If you purchase this book - and you should - please follow up with additional resources. This shouldn't be the only source of facts regarding The White Rose.
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Summary: You Could Die if You Knew!
Review: Would you be willing to join a cause, knowing that you could be killed for even associating with members of that cause? Would you be ready to leave family and friends for something that is almost impossible to achieve? The young people of the White Rose movement did just that. Sophie and Hans Scholl lived in Germany during the reign of the cruel dictator Adolph Hitler. They and several other young people and their teacher stood up to Hitler's brutal rulership and tried to bring about peace and justice in a country devoid of almost everything but propaganda, hate, and bloodshed. Exactly what steps these young people took is not as important as the great Idea they stood for, the vision of peace, love, and justice. Writing such things as "Freedom"and "Down with Hitler" on walls and streets took courage that only the most devout and focused person could have. These people, who were killed for their beliefs, should have more than just a book about them with the name of their group, The White Rose. They should be known and honored world-wide for their nonviolent stand against the most wicked and horrible dictatorship in modern history! Please get this great little book, read it, and pass it on!
Kenneth Zimmerman
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