White Rose Histories

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com October 18 - October 19, 1942. Storybook: The soldier students in Sosnovka are treated to a corny, slapstick movie starring Marte Harell. The movie — Opernball , or Opera Ball — attracts the town’s young people. Willi Graf is puzzled by the comment of one young man, who says he wants to see the war. Willi l...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com October 15 - October 17, 1942. Storybook: Sophie Scholl and Otl Aicher seem to operate on the same frequency. Their letters in mid-October 1942 independently express similar thoughts and desires. Sophie writes Fritz that he will surely breathe easier when everything is behind him. Hans Hirzel contacts Sophi...

October 14 - October 15, 1942. Storybook: Josef Söhngen receives Hans Scholl’s September 11 letter. Hans’ letter delights Söhngen so much that he immediately responds — on his personal stationery, not business! He is pleased that Hans opened up his inner being for Söhngen. Söhngen agrees to send Hans the Dostoevsky books he requested, but argues that the truly great Russian writers were Pushkin, G...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com October 10 - October 13, 1942. Storybook: Sophie Scholl goes into town, taking a short break from helping Dr. Muth store his books. She visits Josef Söhngen, who expresses his disappointment that Hans has not written him yet. Sophie defends Hans by saying that he writes very little. She tells Söhngen that h...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com October 3 - October 10, 1942. Storybook: Sophie Scholl goes to the Schmorells’ home in Harlaching under the pretense of looking for a book in Schurik’s room. The words she had written the previous day come back to haunt her, thoughts of not being able to love and not being loved . She chides herself for thi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com October 7 - October 9, 1942. Storybook: Weather in Sosnovka turns stormy, fickle, drawing Willi Graf outdoors. Clouds, sunshine, windstorm, all make Willi wish he could strike out on a long, unconstrained walk. Hubert, Alex, and Willi enjoy their time in Sosnovka together. In addition to the serious dialog...

October 4 - October 7, 1942. Storybook: Prison officials notify Magdalena Scholl that her husband has lost his right to receive the Frankfurter Zeitung . Inge Scholl has broken prison rules with her sloppy penmanship. Prison censors can no longer dedicate extra time to deciphering her letters. Mrs. Scholl reacts with strong words defending her husband’s rights , stating that Robert Scholl should n...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com October 2 - October 4, 1942. Storybook: Willi Graf and Hubert Furt­wängler say their goodbyes to people on the front lines. They enjoy the “stroll” through birch forests back to their home at HVP Plankenhorn. The reunion with Alexander Schmorell delights the two soldier students. They are happy to catch up...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com October 1, 1942. Storybook: Hans Scholl’s birthday present arrives over a week late. Since he is leaving for the front lines, he shares the box of candy with his bunker-mates. Hans leaves for the front lines without saying goodbye to many people. He does manage to meet up with Werner, likely a terse convers...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com September 18 - September 30, 1942. Storybook: Magdalena Scholl asks Fritz Hartnagel to submit a clemency petition on behalf of Robert Scholl. Fritz writes Sophie, “Perhaps there is a chance for success if a ‘Captain’ asks for it. That sounds a little bit like a dignified person. Those in charge will never k...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com September 9 - September 16, 1942. Storybook: Fritz Hartnagel confronts the issue of alcoholism among German soldiers on the Russian front. Lieutenants from a neighboring unit awaken him at 4 a.m. on September 9, demanding he hand over his store of alcohol. He’s also tasked with administering officer’s candi...

September 22 - September 30, 1942. Storybook: Willi Graf describes his position on the front lines for his sister Anneliese. He tells her they are in the middle of a forest, only a few meters from the Russian side of the front. “For security, there is a strand of barbed wire running square down the middle of the terrain.” Hubert calls Willi and they discuss the announced changes for their studies....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com September 15 - September 22, 1942. Storybook: Otl Aicher is now entrusted with radio transmission duties on the Russian front. As German reconnaissance planes overfly Russian positions, they radio coordinates back to Otl, for him to pass on to artillery units. Otl quickly discovers another use for the radio...

Mid-September 1942. Storybook: Since Munich is boring with Alexander Schmorell, Lilo Berndl heads to Chemnitz on a whim to visit Falk Harnack. When she sees him, she immediately knows something is wrong. Falk tells her about the arrests of Mildred and Arvid Harnack. Lilo worries about Muhmi, mother of Falk and Arvid. How will she hold up? Lilo also recalls her farewell as Alex left for the Russian...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com September 6 - September 14, 1942. Storybook: Alexander Schmorell finds a Russian plane that has crashed. The pilot has a photograph in his pocket, which Alex takes as a remembrance. Alex also makes a friend of a Russian POW named Andrejeff entrusted to their care. They exchange addresses and Alex promises t...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com September 7 - September 14, 1942. Storybook: With his close friends elsewhere, left to his own devices, Hans Scholl first attempts a letter-writing campaign to Lisa Remppis, Rose Nägele, and Josef Söhngen. This does not bring him out of his negative mental state. He therefore pens a diary entry that is one...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com September 4 - September 11, 1942. Storybook: Kurt Gerstein begins his efforts to alert the Allies to the gassings and other atrocities being committed at extermination camps. No one will listen to him. On September 7, 1942, the Harnack-Schulze-Boysen resistance movement is uncovered and its members arrested...

September 1 - September 5, 1942. Summary: Magdalena Scholl demands that the jail in Ulm relax the conditions attached to her husband’s sentence and permit him to receive multiple letters from their sons on the Russian front — even if it is past the usual deadline. Her request is granted. Sophie visits her father in jail and says he looks so “young” in his prison uniform. She also writes Lisa Rempp...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com September 1 - September 4, 1942. Summary: On September 1, 1942, the soldier students learn they are being split up. Hubert Furtwängler and Willi Graf are transferred to the 461st Infantry Regiment, while Hans Scholl and Alexander Schmorell stay at HVP Plankenhorn. Their exit is postponed by a day, so Willi,...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com August 21 - August 31, 1942. 2007 update, Fritz Hartnagel and Sophie Scholl Summary: On August 21, 1942, Fritz Hartnagel recalls that “yesterday was three months since we said our goodbyes in Munich.” He becomes more realistic about Sophie, understanding that the previous semester in Munich had changed her....

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com August 31, 1942. Summary: Hans Hirzel takes the money Sophie Scholl had given him. He travels to Tübingen to visit his maternal grandfather, Robert Gradmann. While there, he buys a simple duplicating machine along with supplies. Hans Hirzel employs the same methodology used by White Rose friends - he purcha...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com August 28 - August 31, 1942. Summary: Even as Russian bombers pause their air raids near Ržev, the RAF intensifies its missions on the home front. The British audaciously undertake two air raids on the same night, August 28, attacking Nuremberg and Saarbrücken at the same time. Neither is successful. Willi...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com August 24 - August 28, 1942. Summary: Robert Scholl’s prison term begins on August 24, 1942 at precisely 4 p.m. He is prisoner 147/42. Hans writes his mother a “comforting” letter, reminding her of his own incarceration. He tells Magdalena Scholl that his father is strong and will emerge from prison stronge...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit deniseelaineheap.substack.com August 18 - August 23, 1942. Summary: Rain finally stops and the HVP Plankenhorn bunker dries out. This brings a new pest: Gnats. The night of August 18 into the morning of August 19, a lone Mosquito bombs Hamburg. Two are dead, thirty-two wounded, thirty-one homeless. Russian bombers step up their air raid...

August 11 - August 18, 1942. Summary: Anton Wagner buys a Russian revolver while fulfilling his clinical rotation on the Russian front. The soldier who sells it to him tells him it is plunder. Fritz Hartnagel receives another distant letter from Sophie Scholl. She tells him little about her circumstances or how she’s doing, but does let him know she has started sketching again. He notes that her p...