Alexander Schmorell interrogation (March 13)

March 13, 1943

II A/So. [Special Commission] – Munich, March 13, 1943

Interrogation.

Led forth from prison, Alexander Schmorell (personal data known) made the following supplementary statements:

If I am accused of having made unclear or incomplete statements regarding the trip from Munich to Stuttgart during my previous interrogations, then I will now make a truthful statement.

I can now recall that I received a special 2-week vacation after I returned from serving on the Eastern Front. It is likely that I visited Scholl in Ulm during this time. In any case, I was gone from Munich for 5 – 7 days.

We (Hans Scholl and I) traveled from Ulm to Stuttgart to look up a certain Mr. Grimminger and ask him for money. Earlier I said that this trip took place in January 1943. That is not correct, as I can now recall that it definitely took place in November 1942, that is, shortly after my service on the Eastern Front. I was in Munich during Christmas and New Year’s 1942/43.

While I was in Ulm, I stayed in the residence of the Scholl parents the entire time. Most of the time I spent with Hans Scholl. We repeatedly contemplated the idea of publishing another leaflet so we could win people over to our cause. For the trip from Ulm to Stuttgart, we left Ulm early in the morning and were home by evening, so we did not have to spend the night in Stuttgart.

How we came to speak to Grimminger: Hans Scholl told me that this man whom he knew well would perhaps help us out financially. Hans Scholl did not tell me anything else about Grimminger. When we arrived at Grimminger’s in Stuttgart, we openly declared that we wished to publish and distribute treasonous leaflets and that to do so, we needed money. During this visit, Grimminger did not give us any money, rather he said that he did not have any at that moment and that Scholl should contact him later, which he did in fact successfully do 2 weeks later.

Scholl received RM 500 [$4,000] from Grimminger. I do not know what conditions Grimminger attached to this donation to Scholl, because I was not present during the second visit. Sophia Scholl reimbursed me (I think) RM 50 [$400] for the approximately RM 230 [$1,840] I had spent. Hans Scholl told me that Grimminger is married to a Jewish woman.

Question:

Who was present during the discussions in the residence of Scholl’s parents in Ulm?

Answer:

With regards to the time in question, I must say in advance that this was not over Christmas, but rather November 1942 [Note 1], because I did not travel to Ulm over Christmas or New Year’s. Additionally, we never included the parents of the Scholl siblings in our discussions. We strictly avoided telling the Scholl parents or Inge Scholl anything about our plans.

I can recall that once a high school student from Ulm named Hans Hirzel took part in our discussions. As best as I can recall, we told Hirzel about our plan only in broad strokes, namely how we wished to usher in another form of government, and asked for his cooperation. In any event, Hirzel did not assume a negative attitude. But I cannot remember his exact words at this moment. Hirzel left after this discussion. I have not seen him since, nor have I had any contact with him.

Question:

Who was additionally involved in these discussions in Ulm? It has been stated that a member of the Air Force, about 170 – 172 cm tall [5’ 6” – 5’7”], slender, dark brown hair, long reddish face, was also present in Scholl’s apartment at that time. [Note 2]

Answer:

I cannot recall that during my stay in this residence any member of the Air Force would have come by and participated in our discussion. I do recall that once when Hans Scholl and I had gone out, someone supposedly came by and asked for him. I cannot state whether this was that particular member of the military or a civilian, because I never learned anything more about it.

I remember the high school student named Hirzel well. If a member of the military had been present during our discussion with him, I would certainly be able to recall that man. But since I have no memory of such a thing, I believe I can state with certainty that we (Hans and Sophia Scholl, Hirzel, and I) never devised our revolutionary plans in the presence of this member of the military.

I cannot recall that such a man ever interrupted [our discussions]. Therefore I cannot possibly give any leads regarding his name. If I were able to do so, I would say so freely and clearly. Since in the interim Hans Scholl never mentioned the military man in question, it can likely be well established that he had no knowledge of our plan and that a co-conspiracy must be out of the question, since otherwise I would have known about it.

I cannot name any additional persons, who could have had knowledge of my crime. I have told the whole truth and am no longer in the position to name any additional friends.

Recorded by: /Signature: Schmauß/ Crim. Secr.

Read aloud and signed by: /Signature: Alexander Schmorell/

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Note 1: Schmauß must have spoken but not written the part about Christmas, because it does not appear in the question recorded in the transcript.

Note 2: In Hans Hirzel’s interrogation, he had stated that this member of the Air Force was present during their discussions over Christmas. Perhaps Schmauß was trying to trip Alex up.

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Source: RGWA (37 – 38)