The White Rose Martyrs

THE WHITE ROSE MARTYRS

The White Rose Martyrs were among the small number of known German martyrs of conscience who resisted the tyrannical and murderous Nazi regime of Adolph Hitler.

They fall into the category of martyr, according to our renewed understanding of the term in the case of Saint Maximilian Kolbe. Kolbe was canonized in 1982 as a martyr by Saint John Paul II and therefore holds the official title of martyr in the Roman Catholic Church.

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The question of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s martyrdom was vigorously debated at the time of his canonization precisely because there was no indication that he was put to death out of hatred for the faith (odium fidei), the criterion for martyrdom. At the time of his beatification, St. Maximilian was considered a confessor and not a martyr. However, when it came time to canonize him, Pope John Paul II personally authorized naming him a martyr. His reasoning was that systematic hatred for the human person—such as that displayed by the Nazi regime—constitutes an implicit hatred for the faith.

…There are other indications that in recent decades the Church has been developing its understanding of martyrdom beyond the traditionally strict criterion of odium fidei.

On April 24, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI addressed a letter to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in which he stated:

begin block quote What has changed are the cultural contexts of martyrdom and the strategies ex parte persecutoris [on the part of the persecutors] that more and more seldom explicitly show their aversion to the Christian faith or to a form of conduct connected with the Christian virtues, but simulate different reasons, for example, of a political or social nature.

It is of course necessary to find irrefutable proof of readiness for martyrdom, such as the outpouring of blood and of its acceptance by the victim. It is likewise necessary, directly or indirectly but always in a morally certain way, to ascertain the odium fidei of the persecutor. If this element is lacking there would be no true martyrdom according to the perennial theological and juridical doctrine of the Church. end block quote

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https://www.catholic.com/qa/if-st-maximilian-kolbe-offered-his-life-to-save-a-fellow-prisoner-was-he-truly-a-martyr

—Catholic Answers Staff, “If St. Maximilian Kolbe offered his life to save a fellow prisoner, was he truly a martyr?” Catholic Answers

According to this expanded understanding of martyr, odium fidei may be implicit, that is, it is expressed in forms not consisting in direct or explicit opposition to the martyr’s profession of their Roman Catholic faith, or in the case of Christians who do not formally belong to the Roman Catholic Church, their Christian faith.

Dominican Fr. Benedict Ashley indicates three basic criteria for genuine Christian martyrdom:

begin block quote True martyrdom requires three conditions: (1) that the victim actually die, (2) that he or she dies in witness of faith in Christ which is directly expressed in words, or implicitly in acts done or sins refused because of faith, and (3) that the victim accepts death voluntarily. They are not martyrs who do not actually die, or die from disease, for the sake of merely natural truths, or heresy, or for their country in war, or through suicide, etc. end block quote

https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=8633

—Father Peter Joseph, “True and False Martyrdom,” Catholic Culture, 2022

Based on the above criteria, the White Rose Martyrs are genuine martyrs.

The martyrs were core members of “a group that secretly wrote, printed and disseminated anti-Nazi pamphlets, calling on Germans to resist Hitler and bring about an end to World War II. The White Rose circle included a wide network of individuals who helped to spread the pamphlets and support the resistance. At its heart were five students and an academic in Munich: Hans Scholl (1918-1943), Sophie Scholl (1921-1943), Alexander Schmorell (1917-1943), Christoph Probst (1919-1943), Willi Graf (1918-1943) and Prof Kurt Huber (1893-1943).”

https://catholicherald.co.uk/defying-hitler-the-faith-of-the-white-rose-circle/

—Alexandra Lloyd, “Defying Hitler: The Faith of the White Rose Circle,” Catholic Herald (February 1, 2023)

Not all were members of the Roman Catholic Church at the time of their execution under Hitler.

“The group shared several common interests, including a love of literature, art and music, nature, and a deep engagement with religion and philosophy. Their religious backgrounds were more diverse. The Scholls were Lutherans, while Graf and Huber were Catholics (Graf was an enthusiastic altar server with an interest in liturgy and theology). Schmorell was born in Russia to a German father and Russian mother and was raised Russian Orthodox. Probst had been left to choose his own faith. When his children were born, they were baptised by a Catholic priest, and he himself was baptised in prison shortly before his execution.

“…A cause is now open in the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising for Graf’s beatification. In 2012 Alexander Schmorell was glorified in the Russian Orthodox Church as Alexander of Munich; the official icon shows him in a white robe wearing a white armband with a cross on it, and in his right, he holds a red cross and a white rose.”

—Ibid.

“Most Germans took the traditional position, that once war breaks out, it is the duty of the citizen to support the troops by supporting the government. But Hans and Sophie Scholl believed differently. They believed that it was the duty of a citizen, even in times of war, to stand up against an evil regime, especially when it is sending hundreds of thousands of its citizens to their deaths.”

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-white-rose-a-lesson-in-dissent

—Jacob G. Hornberger, “Holocaust Resistance: The White Rose – A Lesson in Dissent,” Jewish Virtual Library: A Project of AICE

Hans and Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine on February 22, 1943, four days after they were arrested by the Gestapo. Other arrests and executions of members of the dissident group followed.

The White Rose Martyrs resisted the Nazi regime for reasons based on adherence to their Christian faith and were executed for their resistance. The Nazi regime implicitly acted in odium fidei.

The White Rose Martyrs are “martyrs of conscience” because they followed their consciences in resisting the Nazi regime, for which they paid with their lives. Martyrs of conscience under the Nazi regime include witnesses such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor, and Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, a secular Franciscan.

The story of the White Rose Martyrs is well-documented on the internet.

A gripping movie in German, “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days,” was produced in 2005. See:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8aiI_55WS8

—The American Patriot, “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days” YouTube video, 1:55:50 hours, February 18, 2023

Not all martyrs of the Nazi regime were Germans. Kolbe, for example, was Polish, and Father Titus Brandsma was a Dutch Carmelite.