White Rose was a nonviolent resistance group that struggled against the government and policies of Nazi Germany during World War II (1939-1945). The group was active at the University of Munich from 1942 until 1943. The White Rose was founded by the siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl along with several other students. The group chose the white rose as a symbol of purity and innocence.
The White Rose began as a group of friends with a shared dislike of Nazi policies, including the widespread mistreatment of the Jews . The group bought a typewriter and a duplicating machine to print pamphlets criticizing Nazi policies. The pamphlets alerted readers to the horrific murders of Jews. They also called for Germans to resist the Nazis. The group mailed pamphlets to German scholars and other prominent people. They also marked buildings in Munich with anti-Nazi graffiti . The Scholl siblings were eventually caught by a university worker. They and other White Rose members were arrested by the Gestapo , the Nazi secret police.
The Scholls and fellow White Rose member Christoph Probst were quickly put on trial and sentenced to death. All three were beheaded by a guillotine on Feb. 22, 1943. Other members of the White Rose were later sentenced to prison or executed.
