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The White Rose

Acquire and select information

To collect all the information you need to write the essay on the question: Why were the Scholls at first so excited about Hitler to end up in the resistance? by doing taks 1 - 4.

1.  One member of the group will do task 1, another task 2, and a third member of the group task 3

2.  Exchange the acquired information

3.  You will do task 4 as a group

Task 1 Enthusiasm

This task is about the period in which Hans and Sophie are still enthusiastic about Hitler. Use resources 1-4, extracts from the book The White Rose by Inge Scholl.

1. 'Everything will be better from now on',  radio and newspapers told the German people when Hitler came to power in january 1933. Select three causes in resource 1 and resource 4 for the enthusiastic reaction by the German people.

2. Why was it attractive, according tot resource 3, for young people like Hans and Sophie Scholl to join the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth)?

3. Why did the father of Hans and Sophie Scholl compare Hitler to the Pied Piper of Hamelin?  (resource 2)

Task 2 Doubt

These questions cover the period in which Hans and Sophie had doubts about Hitler's regime. Use the sources 5 to 12, excerpts from the book by Inge Scholl.

1. Sources 5 to 10 make clear that Hans Scholl increasingly began to question the Hitler regime. What causes this doubt according to each source?

2. Why would the singing of Russian and Norwegian songs have been banned?

3. Why is het according to father Scholl certain that Hitler had knowledge of the concentration camps? (source 11)

4. Father Scholl recognizes in source 12 that Hitler put an end to unemployment. But he criticized the way this happened. Why?

Task 3 Resistance

These questions cover the period in which Hans and Sophie became involved in the resistance against Hitler. To asnwer these questions use the sources 13 to 23, the latest pamphlet 'Die Weisse Rose "and excerpts from the book by Inge Scholl.

1. Read source 13. Who is the audience of the members of "The White Rose" in this pamphlet?

2. Which three complaints ared made on Hitler in this pamphlet?

3. What does this pamphlet calls for?

4. Hitler and the Nazis were guided by values that had great influence on the German youth. But, as you can read from source 13 and sources 16 to 22, there were young people who had other ideas about society.
Below, the left column contain values of the National Socialists. Put in the right column the opposite which values of the members of the resistance group 'The White Rose'.

National-socialists	The White Rose
A country with only one leader
The use of violence is seen as normal
Own people superior to other nations
Against democratic rights
The government regulates the entire life of every human
The Aryan race is the best, no rights for Jews and persecution of Jews
"Lebensraum" for Germans: conquests in Eastern Europe

5. In February 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl, together with some friends, were sentenced to death and executed. Why will they have been sentenced to death?

6. The sources 14 and 23 contain a number of causes for the rise to power of Hitler. These causes are mentioned by the father of the Scholl's and the author of the book, Inge Scholl.
Are the causes mentioned here facts or opinions? Give reason for your answer.

Inge Scholl fact / opinion,

Father Scholl fact / opinion,


Task 4

In this task you wille explore whether other causes confirm or deny the causes mentioned by Inge Scholl and her father.
Use the sources A to G

1. Create a line graph of the unemployment figures (indices) in Germany between 1919-1939. Use the data from source A (you can use excel to make the graph)

2. Create a line graph of the percentage of votes for the NSDAP from 1924 to 1933. Use information from source B (you can use excel to make the graph)

3. For whom is Hitler, according to source C, the last hope?

4. Do the unemployment rates correlate, according to sources A, B and C, with the percentage of votes the NSDAP achieved?

5. Did the prediction on the poster of the Social Democrats (source D) come true? Use the data from source A.

6. Give one reason why the poster (source D) can not be made after 1933?

7. Which cause for the rise of Hitler mentioned in source H is supported y sources A to D?

8. Sources E, F and G relate to propaganda speeches by Hitler. In their propaganda the Nazis made use of various techniques, for example:

• Exaggeration and lies. In their speeches the truth was not important for the Nazis.

• Massive majority. They created the impression that a large majority of the people stood behind their ideas. You would be crazy not to participate.
  

• Simplification. One likes to use short, powerful slogans.
  

• Scapegoats. It points to a group that gets all the blame.
  

• Respond to feelings. It responds to the fear in people and their prejudices.

9. What techniques do you recognize in source E? Illustrate your answer each time with a short quotation from the text.

10. The author of source E is not objective about Hitler and National Socialism. Work this out with an example from the text.

11. Was Hitler a successful orator? Use detail from the sources in you answer.

12. How was the public, waiting for Hitler;s speech, (source F) fooled?

13. For what purpose, the public was misled?

14. The heading of source G 'The grip on the youth " could have read " indoctrination "(brainwashing). Why?

15. Which passage from source G is a striking illustration of source I? 

 

 Die Weisse Rose