Social strategy for the fifth leaflet

[Note 1] Due to the scope and relatively large quantity of leaflets that showed up all at once in different places across southern Germany, an uninitiated person would undoubtedly have been of the opinion that this propaganda was being methodically produced by a larger organization. When we mailed the leaflets e.g. in Vienna, Salzburg, Linz, Augsburg, and Stuttgart to local addresses, this was not merely to save money on postage. We also wished to give the impression that there was a local organization that opposed the current regime with this propaganda. We did not ever intend to distract attention away from Munich, that is, the locality where we were working.

Once my brother and I talked about this fact – actually, it was a frequent topic of conversation. We thought that once the leaflets started showing up, especially once they showed up in various places almost at the same time and in relatively large quantities, that the Gestapo would believe that a larger organization was behind this work.

We even frequently made jokes about this deception, primarily once when my brother and I produced 6000 leaflets late at night. All of the leaflets that were produced and distributed were produced by my brother and me alone during two different nights. The first time was for the approximately 6000 leaflets entitled “Leaflets of the Resistance Movement in Germany,” and entitled “Call to all Germans!” Those were produced either the night of January 21/22, 1943 or January 22/23, 1943.

The title “Leaflets of the Resistance Movement in Germany” is missing from part of these leaflets, which otherwise are exactly alike textually. This is because the top of the stencil tore while we were working and we had to tape the stencil back together. Therefore the title did not appear on the rest of the copies, because it had been taped over.

If I am told that at least 8 different stencils had to have been used to produce these leaflets, then I will admit to the same. When we were running off the copies, the stencils kept tearing and had to be re-taped. When we could no longer use a stencil, we typed a new one.

==========

Note 1: This statement does not follow a question.

==========

Source: Third interrogation of Sophie Scholl, February 20, 1943