After the leaflets had been read aloud, Mr. Roder J.R. [Justizrat] resigned from his position as defense counsel for the accused Huber. He said that he had never had knowledge of the contents of the leaflets before that moment, and that he could no longer defend Huber.
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The presiding judge read the verdict of the People’s Court against Scholl and 2 others dated February 22, 1943 aloud – 1H 47/43 – as well as the leaflets that had been written or distributed by the accused. However, he read only excerpts from the 4 leaflets of the “White Rose” [Note 1]. Continue reading
Public Session – Berlin, /Handwritten: Munich/, February 22, 1943
Of the First Council of the People’s Court
——— Continue reading
The representative of the Chief Prosecutor of the Reich then advised the accused, whose ____ excused recited the indictment against the accused. Continue reading
National Criminal Police
Police Headquarters Munich
Crime Lab – Munich, February 21, 1943 Continue reading
V – V2
German Students! Continue reading
Copy.
Professor Harder – Munich 22, February 18, 1943
Ludwig Str. 14, 1st staircase
Confidential.
After two leaflets (A and B) were submitted to me yesterday, I received four additional leaflets (Leaflets of the White Rose No. I – IV) today. I will designate these with the letters C – F and once again use line numbers. In addition I have been advised that it has been proven through technical means that the author of A B is identical to the author of C – F. Continue reading
… I picked up one of these leaflets and stuck it in the inside pocket of my coat without reading it. It was only later, namely while I was being held in the trustee, that I read this leaflet. … Continue reading
Scholl was taken into temporary custody in the University of Munich on February 18, 1943 around 11 am for suspicion of disseminating the leaflets “Fellow Students!”. He was then taken to the prison of the State Police Headquarters in Munich.
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Source: Initial interrogation of Hans Scholl, February 18, 1943.
On February 18, 1943, he [Hans Scholl] and his sister also scattered additional inflammatory leaflets. On this occasion, he was observed by the witness Schmied (sic) and was apprehended. [Note 1] … Continue reading
Question: Did you see leaflets in any other place inside the university today?
Answer: Yes. Namely on the balustrade on the third floor, near the columns of the stairwell. Continue reading
When we – that is, I – left the lecture, there was a pile of these leaflets in front of the door. I immediately knew that these leaflets came from Hans Scholl. Continue reading
I would also like to tell the truth about the events in the University of Munich this morning. I hereby confess that my brother and I brought these leaflets into the university in the suitcase that was confiscated upon our apprehension. We also scattered the leaflets. Continue reading
I left the remaining leaflets in my desk until Thursday, February 18, 1943. On that day, early in the morning I discussed distributing the leaflets at the university. I packed the leaflets in a suitcase and the briefcase. We left for the university together around 10:30 am. Continue reading
I did not receive any assignment to distribute the leaflets in any other manner. Hans Scholl did indeed tell me that the leaflets would be mailed and distributed at the University [of Munich] in the following days, but he did not additionally ask me to help him. Continue reading
On Tuesday, February 16, 1943, she [Gisela Schertling] and Sophie Scholl placed a larger number (around 50) [of these leaflets] in a mailbox belonging to the Reichspost at the corner of Franz Josef Str. and Leopold Str. Continue reading
She and Sophie Scholl mailed a number (about 50 pieces) of leaflets addressed to students (“Fellow Students”) on Tuesday, February 16, 1943 and therefore distributed them. Continue reading
I also knew that it would be completely useless and futile to try to convince Hans Scholl not to distribute the leaflets. Therefore I did not try to argue my viewpoint.
That is also why I did not object when Sophie Scholl took the leaflets to be mailed. When I helped her put the leaflets in the mailbox, I thought it simply had to take its course. I thought there was nothing else I could do. Continue reading
I must also admit that once Sophie Scholl and I mailed those kinds of leaflets in a mailbox at the corner of Leopold and Franz Joseph Streets. It was a lot, maybe 50. Sophie Scholl was carrying the leaflets in a briefcase. The leaflets about half-filled the briefcase. Continue reading
Sophie Scholl and I mailed a larger number of these kinds of leaflets in a mailbox at the corner of Franz Josef and Leopold Str. I did not count the leaflets. There may have been 20 (sic). It was a handful. I did not count them.
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Sophie and I left the apartment around 3 pm without telling Hans we were leaving. On that occasion, Sophie took along the briefcase with the leaflets. About half an hour later, we deposited them in the mailbox on Leopold Str. Continue reading
She additionally admits that she helped Hans Scholl hide the leaflets in the desk, and that on the following Monday (sic) she and Sophie Scholl placed around 50 leaflets in a mailbox. In so doing, she knew that they were treasonous and seditious leaflets. Continue reading
Schmauβ: On February 16, 1943, several hundred treasonous leaflets with the title “Fellow Students!” were mailed from several post offices in Munich as so-called “bulk mail” or as regular post. In several of these mailings, the leaflet named above was accompanied by another of the “Resistance Movement”. Continue reading
When we were finished duplicating our leaflets, we took the duplicating machine to the property Leopold Str. 38, studio, cellar, purely out of security considerations. Hans Scholl /added by hand: and/ I carried this out. In so doing, we were in agreement that production of leaflets would be only temporarily suspended and that should the appropriate occasion arise, we would do it again. Continue reading
Together, Hans Scholl, Willi Graf, and I took the finished leaflets to various post offices and posted them in the late evening hours of February 15, 1943. It was probably around 10 p.m. Continue reading
I did not go to Scholl’s apartment till the next day around 6 pm. Hans and Sophie Scholl were busy sealing the leaflets that had already been addressed (Fellow Students) and getting them ready to mail. Continue reading
It also appeared suspicious to me when Hans and Sophie Scholl went to Eickemeyer’s studio on the Monday of the week they were arrested. Sophie Scholl told me they worked there that morning. They did not tell me what they were working on.
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When my sister returned to Munich on Sunday, February 12 14, 1943, I showed her the leaflets I had produced and determined that she was in agreement with their content.
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Source: Hans Scholl’s second interrogation, February 18, 1943 (after 4 a.m.)
I am stating so much detail about this work to demonstrate that the work needed to produce the leaflets could actually be carried out by only my brother and me within the scope of the set-up that we had available to us. It took more time and labor to procure and address the envelopes than it did to run off copies of the leaflets. Continue reading
Once I saw Hans Scholl leave with the rucksack. However, I do not know what he was hiding in it. On that occasion, Hans Scholl additionally took the portable typewriter with him. Schmorell also left with Hans Scholl. I saw that the rucksack was fairly full, but I could not tell what it contained. I was not present when they packed it. Continue reading
These were taken away the following day by Hans Scholl and Schmorell. The two of them must have taken care of packing them. I do not know what they did with the leaflets they took away. Continue reading
I certainly did not learn about this leaflet until Thursday or Friday before the week of Scholl’s arrest. I can specifically recall that it was the leaflet “Students” [Kommilitonen]. Continue reading
When I read the leaflet that evening, I thought, “This is terribly radical and caustic, something to really be worried about.” I told him that too. But he said he knew what was right, and I could not pass judgment on it. Continue reading
But I did not stuff these in the envelopes nor did I do anything else to get them ready to mail. I only helped put away the leaflets and store them in the desk.
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When Hans Scholl’s political activity became especially evident the week before his arrest and he and his accomplice Schmorell stayed in the apartment nights, Schertling became convinced that the two of them were involved in treasonous activity. Her suspicions were strengthened when she was with Hans Scholl daily (and spent the night there) the week before his arrest when Sophie Scholl was gone. Continue reading
I only know about the leaflet “Fellow Students”. I admit that I helped Hans Scholl hide these leaflets in his desk.
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Schertling admitted that on the occasion of a visit with Hans Scholl on February 12, 1943, she saw a copy of the leaflet “Fellow Students” in Hans Scholl’s room immediately after it had been printed. Continue reading
After I have been urgently admonished to tell the truth, I must admit that I saw the leaflets to students called “Students” [Kommilitonen] in Hans Scholl’s room. This was the day before they took these things (that is, the leaflets) out of Scholl’s apartment. Continue reading
Schertling also learned about the existence of the leaflets on February 12, 1943.
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Source: April 5, 1943 Gestapo memorandum
On the evening when I discovered the leaflets, I saw a large number of envelopes contained lying on the table. As I saw for myself, some of these already contained leaflets. Some of them were lying [there] folded.
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White Rose History: January 1933 - October 1943 