Sophie Scholl Sophia Magdalena Scholl ( 9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943 ) was a German student and revolutionary , active within the White Rose non - violent resistance group in Nazi Germany . She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti - war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans . As a result , they were both executed by guillotine . Since the 1970s , Scholl has been celebrated as one of the great German heroes who actively opposed the Third Reich during the Second World War . Early life . Scholl ' s father , Robert , was the Bürgermeister ( or mayor ) of Forchtenberg am Kocher in northern Baden - Württemberg when she was born . She was the fourth of six children : Scholl was brought up a Lutheran . She entered junior or grade school at the age of seven , learned easily , and had a carefree childhood . In 1930 , the family moved to Ludwigsburg and then two years later to Ulm where her father had a business consulting office . In 1932 , Scholl started attending a secondary school for girls . At the age of twelve , she chose to join the " Bund Deutscher Mädel " ( League of German Girls ) , as did most of her classmates , but her initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to criticism . She was aware of the dissenting political views of her father , of friends , and also of some teachers . Political attitude had become an essential criterion in her choice of friends . The arrest of her brothers and friends in 1937 for participating in the German Youth Movement left a strong impression on her . She had a talent for drawing and painting and for the first time came into contact with a few so - called " degenerate " artists . An avid reader , she developed a growing interest in philosophy and theology . Her firm Christian belief in God and in every human being ' s essential dignity formed her basis for resisting Nazi ideology . This belief was the foundation of her view of the world around her , that fundamentally differed from the one expounded by National Socialism , which at the time of her death , was the only one approved or allowed within the Nazi State . In spring 1940 , the secondary school graduated her . The subject of her essay was , " The Hand that Moved the Cradle , Moved the World " . Being fond of children , she became a kindergarten teacher at the Fröbel Institute in Ulm - Söflingen . She also had chosen this kindergarten job hoping that it would be recognized as an alternative service to " Reichsarbeitsdienst " ( National Labor Service ) , a prerequisite to be admitted to the university . This was not the case , though , and in spring 1941 she began a six - month stint in the auxiliary war service as a nursery teacher in Blumberg . The military - like regimen of the Labor Service caused her to think very hard about the political situation as well as to begin practicing passive resistance . After her six months in the National Labor Service , in May 1942 , she enrolled at the University of Munich as a student of biology and philosophy . Her brother Hans , who was studying medicine there , introduced her to his friends . Although this group of friends eventually was known for their political views , they initially were drawn together by a shared love of art , music , literature , philosophy , and theology . Hiking in the mountains , skiing , and swimming were also of importance to them . They often attended concerts , plays , and lectures together . In Munich , Scholl met a number of artists , writers , and philosophers , particularly Carl Muth and Theodor Haecker , who were important contacts for her . The question they pondered the most was how the individual must act under a dictatorship . During the summer vacation in 1942 , Scholl had to do war service in a metallurgical plant in Ulm . At the same time , her father was serving time in prison for having made a critical remark to an employee about Hitler . Origins of the White Rose . Based upon letters between her and her boyfriend , Fritz Hartnagel ( reported and analyzed by Gunter Biemer and Jakob Knab in the journal , " Newman Studien " ) she had given two volumes of Cardinal John Henry Newman ' s sermons to Hartnagel when he was deployed to the eastern front in May 1942 . This discovery by Jakob Knab shows the importance of religion in Scholl ' s life and was highlighted in an article in the " Catholic Herald " in the UK . The White Rose was founded after Scholl and others read a stern anti - Nazi sermon by Clemens August Graf von Galen ( the " Lion of Münster " ) , the Roman Catholic Bishop of Münster . Although she was Lutheran , Scholl was motivated by it . She and they had been horrified by Hartnagel ' s reports of the behavior of the Germans on the Eastern Front where Hartnagel witnessed Soviet soldiers being shot in a pit and learned of the mass killings of Jews . Her correspondence with Hartnagel deeply discussed the " theology of conscience " developed in Newman ' s writings . This is seen as her primary defense in her transcribed interrogations leading to her " trial " and execution . Those transcripts became the basis for a 2005 film treatment of her final days , " Sophie Scholl – The Final Days " . Activities of the White Rose . The core members initially included Hans Scholl ( Sophie ' s brother ) , Willi Graf , and Christoph Probst . In early summer 1942 , this group of young men co - authored six anti - Nazi political resistance leaflets . Contrary to popular belief , Sophie Scholl was not a co - author of the articles . Initially her brother had been keen to keep her unaware of their activities , but once she discovered them , she joined him and proved valuable to the group because as a woman , her chances of being randomly stopped by the SS were much smaller . Calling themselves The White Rose , they instructed Germans to passively resist the Nazis . She and the rest of the White Rose were arrested for distributing the sixth leaflet at the University of Munich on 18 February 1943 . In the People ' s Court before Judge Roland Freisler on 22 February 1943 , Scholl was recorded as saying these words : On 22 February 1943 , Scholl , her brother Hans , and their friend Christoph Probst were found guilty of treason and condemned to death . They were all beheaded by a guillotine by executioner Johann Reichhart in Munich ' s Stadelheim Prison only a few hours later , at 17 : 00 hrs . The execution was supervised by Walter Roemer , the enforcement chief of the Munich district court . Prison officials , in later describing the scene , emphasized the courage with which she walked to her execution . Her last words were : Fritz Hartnagel was evacuated from Stalingrad in January 1943 , but did not return to Germany before Sophie was executed . He later married Sophie ' s sister Elisabeth . Legacy . Following her death , a copy of the sixth leaflet was smuggled out of Germany through Scandinavia to the UK by German jurist Helmuth James Graf von Moltke , where it was used by the Allied Forces . In mid - 1943 , they dropped over Germany millions of propaganda copies of the tract , now retitled , " The Manifesto of the Students of Munich " . In a historical context , the White Rose ' s legacy has significance for many commentators , both as a demonstration of exemplary spiritual courage , and as a well - documented case of social dissent in a time of violent repression , censorship , and conformist pressure . Playwright Lillian Garrett - Groag stated in " Newsday " on 22 February 1993 , that " It is possibly the most spectacular moment of resistance that I can think of in the twentieth century . . . The fact that five little kids , in the mouth of the wolf , where it really counted , had the tremendous courage to do what they did , is spectacular to me . I know that the world is better for them having been there , but I do not know why . " In the same issue of " Newsday " , Holocaust historian Jud Newborn noted that " You cannot really measure the effect of this kind of resistance in whether or not X number of bridges were blown up or a regime fell . . . The White Rose really has a more symbolic value , but that ' s a very important value . " Honors . On 22 February 2003 , a bust of Scholl was placed by the government of Bavaria in the Walhalla temple in her honor . The Geschwister - Scholl - Institut for Political Science at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich ( LMU ) is named in honour of Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans . The institute is home to the university ' s political science and communication departments , and is housed in the former Radio Free Europe building close to the city ' s Englischer Garten . There is also an ongoing effort by the LMU Students ' Committee ( AStA ) to rename the university to Geschwister Scholl University of Munich ( Scholl Siblings University ) . Many local schools as well as countless streets and squares in Germany have been named after Scholl and her brother . In 2003 , Germans were invited by television broadcaster ZDF to participate in " Unsere Besten " ( Our Best ) , a nation - wide competition to choose the top ten most important Germans of all time . Voters under the age of forty helped Scholl and her brother Hans to finish in fourth place , above Bach , Goethe , Gutenberg , Bismarck , Willy Brandt , and Albert Einstein . If the votes of young viewers alone had been counted , Sophie and Hans Scholl would have been ranked first . Several years earlier , readers of " Brigitte " , a German magazine for women , voted Scholl " the greatest woman of the twentieth century " , winning over such figures as Madeleine Albright . Film , book , and theatrical portrayals . In February 2005 , a movie about Scholl ' s last days , " Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage " ( " " ) , featuring actress Julia Jentsch in the title role , was released . Drawing on interviews with survivors and transcripts that had remained hidden in East German archives until 1990 , it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in January 2006 . For her portrayal of Scholl , Jentsch won the best actress at the European Film Awards , best actress at the German Film Awards ( Lolas ) , along with the Silver Bear for best actress at the Berlin Film Festival . Jud Newborn and Annette Dumbach ' s 1986 book about the White Rose , " Shattering the German Night " ( Little , Brown ) was reissued in an expanded , updated , and illustrated edition in 2006 , " Sophie Scholl and the White Rose " , to accompany the new film ' s release and provide an account of the history behind the White Rose . In February 2009 , The History Press released " Sophie Scholl : The Real Story of the Woman who Defied Hitler " by Frank McDonough . In February 2010 , Carl Hanser Verlag released " Sophie Scholl : A Biography " ( in German ) , by Barbara Beuys . There were three earlier film accounts of the White Rose resistance . The first film was financed by the Bavarian state government and released in the 1970s , entitled " Das Versprechen " ( " The Promise " ) . In 1982 , Percy Adlon ' s " Fünf letzte Tage " ( " Five Last Days " ) presented Lena Stolze as Scholl in her last days from the point of view of her cellmate Else Gebel . In the same year , Stolze repeated the role in Michael Verhoeven ' s " Die Weiße Rose " ( " The White Rose " ) . In an interview , Stolze said that playing the role was " an honour " . American playwright Lillian Garrett - Groag ' s play " The White Rose " features Scholl as a major character .