Hitler Youth: Chapters 7–8

The field trip left an indelible mark on Karl. “It was horrible,” he said.

To prevent such birth defects, Nazi doctors forcibly sterilized men and women considered too mentally or physically unfit to produce desirable children.

The euthanasia, or “mercy death” program, targeted physically and mentally disabled infants, children, teenagers, and adults living in hospitals and institutions.

The patients included those who suffered with epilepsy, mental illness, blindness, deafness, mental disabilities, and severe physical deformities.

Nurses administered large doses of sedatives that put the victims to sleep permanently.

Although many abhorred the killings, others favored these deaths, especially in cases of severely mentally ill or disabled children.

During that summer, prominent Catholic bishop Clemens von Galen railed against the killings in his sermons.

Bishop von Galen warned the German people about the implications of such murder. Who would be the next “unfit” victims? Soldiers wounded in battle? Workers injured on the job?

Many Germans joined with priests, bishops, and other clergy to lobby against the euthanasia action.

The leaflets had a profound effect on Hans Scholl.

A former Hitler Youth, Hans was now a student at the University of Munich, and he had grown deeply disillusioned with Hitler, National Socialism, and the war.

They also killed non-Jews whom they considered “enemies” of Germany. These people included Communists; political leaders; Polish intellectuals; homosexuals; and itinerant people, whom the Nazis called Gypsies.

A small percentage included men awaiting court-martial, who joined to escape punishment.

He heard the shovels clang as the Jews dug their own graves, and then he heard the machine-gun salvo.

The Nazis suppressed the information, but it proved difficult to keep the mass murders a secret.

It’s hard to know how many Hitler Youth were aware of the atrocities being committed in the concentration camps.

One thing is certain: The situation for Jews had grown progressively worse in Germany and other German-occupied territory.

Four weeks later, Bert was elated to receive a postcard from his father.

Before them, the concentration camp at Auschwitz spread out, a desolate flat place surrounded by heavy chain-link fence, topped with coils of barbed wire.

The slightest infraction—an upturned collar, a missing button, dirty clothing, unshined shoes, too shiny shoes, faulty bed making—could mean a beating or death.

“This beautiful, natural spectacle gave us hope and almost a sense of triumph. There was, after all, a force in this world far superior to our oppressors. I was sure this force would ultimately prevail.”

During the summer of 1942, a group of courageous University of Munich students took action when they heard about the plight of the Jews.

The leaflets called shame on the German people, stating: “[W]e want to cite the fact that since the conquest of Poland, three hundred thousand Jews in this country have been murdered in the most bestial way. Here we see the most frightful crime against the dignity of man, a crime that is unparalleled in the whole of history. For Jews, too, are human beings....”

One day, he urged his squad to design a distinctive banner that would stand out among the others, even though it was breaking the rules.

“He quietly stepped from his place in the ranks and slapped the cadre leader,” recalled his sister Inge.

They resented the loss of individual rights and personal freedoms.

In the woods, they built hideouts and sang forbidden songs, making up irreverent lyrics for the Hitler Youth songs.

The guards imposed harsh discipline, consisting of compulsory physical exercise, denial of evening meals, solitary confinement, and corporal punishment.

To avoid getting caught, they used earphones, which were sold at exorbitant prices.

The three boys made a pact, promising one another that if one boy got caught, he would take all the blame and not implicate the other two.

An earnest and eager student, he signed up for an overload of classes.

Sophie liked them right away: Alexander Schmorell, tall, lean with tawny brown hair and gray eyes; Christoph Probst, tall, good-looking, athletic and, at twenty-three, already married with two young sons; and Willi Graf, young, levelheaded, with thinning blond hair and deep blue eyes.

As the evening wore on, the talk turned to politics, a dangerous subject since even casual banter or a joke about the war or Adolf Hitler was considered treason.

“Offer passive resistance,” urged the leaflet.

It is likely that Hans never intended to involve Sophie in the White Rose resistance activities, but once she found out, he could not dissuade her.

Others speculate that the name was chosen for its obvious symbolism: White often represents purity, and a rose often symbolizes love, peace, or the beauty of nature and life.

In Warsaw, Poland, they saw emaciated Jews living behind thick ghetto walls topped with barbed wire, and men, women, and children thrust into cattle cars, marked for the concentration camps.

While en route to military service in Russia, Hans saw the deplorable Warsaw ghetto conditions in Poland.

Furious at the affront to female students, the White Rose friends increased their resistance.

Three days later, at a special assembly, a Nazi student leader gave a speech, deriding the White Rose group for their resistance activities.