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The White Rose

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The SixPack

The format for this task on The White Rose is the SixPack. The Sixpack ia a format for inquiry-oriented activities to develop research and information literacy skills. It is therefore a combination of the webquest (an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that  students interact with comes from resources on the internet) and the Big6 (a process model of how people of all ages solve an information problem.

The six steps in a SixPack:

1. Task
In some SixPacks students will investigate a given main question and (leading) sub-questions, in other SixPacs students will have to think of their owm main question and subquestions. 

2. Resources
In some Sixpacks the resources will be given to the students in other SixPacks the students have to find their own resources and evaluate these resources on usability and relialbility.

3. Acquire information
Students acquire and select form the resources the information they need.

4. Use information
Stduenst use the selected information to answer subquestions and main question.

5. Presentation
Students present the results of the investigation in a way that suits the task or the target group.

6. Evaluation
Students evaluate the process and the results of thei investigation acoording to a given format or with their own format

In the introduction to the SixPack students are told how this task is related to the history curriculum. In assessment students can read how this task will be assessed and teacher is for necessary or interesting additional information and tips for teachers who like to use the SixPack. 

In this SixPack the students write an essay about the German youth and Hitler: enthusiasm, doubt and resistance. To  collect and select the material they need to write this essay they will make four tasks:

1. In the first three tasks students answer questions to extracts of the book 'The White Rose' and the least leaflet of the resistance group.

2. To get a deeper understanding of the subject students answer in the fourth task questions using different resources.

Students will work in small groups (3 students) to further discussion and understanding.

You can download the resources as a Word-file here.


Attainment targets

The White Rose (German: die Weiße Rose) was a non- violent / intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor. The group became known for an anonymous leaflet campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943, that called for active opposition to dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.

The six core members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo (German secret police) and they were executed by decapitation in 1943. The text of their sixth leaflet was smuggled by Helmuth James Graf von Moltke out of Germany through Scandinavia to the United Kingdom, and in July 1943 copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes, retitled "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."

Five students from Munich University and one of their professors made a promise to Stand up to Hatred by challenging the Nazi regime. They formed the White Rose group and began a secret campaign. They challenged the German people to react to the violence and oppression which were all around them by standing up and fighting for freedom. In June 1942 four leaflets, published in quick succession, with the title ‘Leaflets of the White Rose’ appeared all over the city of Munich. They were anti Nazi messages which had been typed on both sides of a piece of paper and duplicated on a hand cranked machine. They were delivered through the post to people all over the city. The Nazi authorities had no idea who had written these messages nor who had posted them. At the end of the first three leaflets was a message to the reader. “Please make copies of this leaflet and pass them on.” At the end of the fourth was a statement. “We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!”

In January 1943 a second series ‘Leaflets of the Resistance’ appeared. These were printed in secret, at night, and thousands of copies were made. The leaflets declared that Hitler was a liar and drew attention to the suffering of the Jews. The Nazis knew that they had to stop people reading these messages. They did not want anyone to hear the truth about their activities. The Gestapo was instructed to seek out the writers, printers and distributors of the leaflets and put an end to their campaign.
The students worked hard to get their message to as many people as possible. They stuffed hundreds of leaflets into rucksacks, bags and cases. Each student caught a train out of Munich to post them in another town. Bags of leaflets were left in one part of the train and the student sat in another carriage. The students secretly posted the leaflets in the quietest parts of each town.

The White Rose group had other ways to pass their message to the German people. In February 1943 they crept out at night and painted statements about freedom and the words “Down with Hitler” on city walls for everyone to see the following morning.
On February 18th a brother and sister walked together towards Munich University. They were Hans and Sophie Scholl, members of the White Rose. Hans was carrying a large suitcase. They entered the building whilst most of the students were attending lectures. They took a large number of leaflets from the suitcase and put them in prominent positions. They climbed to the top floor and threw the remaining leaflets into the hall. Their task over, the suitcase was empty and they were ready to go home. However, just as the doors of the lecture theatre opened and large groups of students began to leave their lectures, a voice echoed around the building. “You are under arrest!” Hans and Sophie had been spotted by Jakob Schmid, a building caretaker. He was a loyal member of the Nazi party and this was his chance to prove it.
Hans and Sophie had no chance to escape. Hans had a draft copy of the next White Rose leaflet in his pocket. The Gestapo was called. By February 22nd they had been interrogated, imprisoned, put on trial and beheaded for treason. Other arrests, trials and executions followed. The Nazis wanted to make an example of anyone who had helped the students in order to discourage others from taking part in resistance activities.

However they were too late to contain the message of the White Rose. By April 1943 news of the students’ fate and their call for the German people to Stand up to Hatred had reached the New York Times and it was reported that on the walls of the city of Munich new messages had appeared. They read “Scholl lives! You can break the body but not the spirit”.
Source: http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/education/case-study-the-white-rose  

Movies

Websites on the White Rose  

 The White Rose


 Sophie Scholl


 Hans Scholl


Copyright:  Albert van der Kaap, 2010