Sophie Scholl

To be shown: 27 January 2007
Screened to mark Holocaust Memorial Day

Germany 2005
117 minutes
Director: Marc Rothemund
Starring: Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs, Gerald Alexander Held.

Synopsis

Die Letzen Tage (The Final Days). In early 1942, 21-year-old Sophie Scholl (Julia Jentsch) and her brother, Hans (Fabian Hinrichs) – members of the White Rose resistance group - produced and distributed leaflets to students of the Ludwig-Maximilian University.

They were arrested by the Gestapo, convicted of treason and executed.

At her trial Sophie said in her defence: ‘Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did.'

This film, directed by Marc Rothemund, tells the story of Sophie's and Hans' last days and the White Rose resistance movement by drawing on interviews with survivors and transcripts that had remained hidden in East German archives until 1990.

Sophie and Hans Scholl were the children of Robert Scholl, Mayor of Forchtenberg. In 1933 the family moved to Ulm where Sophie, like so many patriotic young Germans swept along with tide of the Fuhrer cult, joined the Hitler Youth. However, it was not long before disillusionment set in and she and Hans became increasingly critical of the Nazis. In 1937 Hans was briefly imprisoned for subversive activities. In 1942 their father was also imprisoned for daring to criticise Hitler.

By 1942 the siblings were studying at the University of Munich where Hans formed the White Rose group that was committed to opposing the Nazis by passive resistance. The members – students, artists and philosophers - published leaflets calling for the restoration of democracy and social justice that were distributed throughout central Germany.

In February 1942 Sophie, Hans and Christoph Probst (Florian Stetter) were distributing the group's sixth leaflet when they were spotted by Nazi Party member Jakob Schmid (Wolfgang Pregler) who shopped them to the Gestapo. On 22 February all three were guillotined.

Hans' last words were: ‘Long live freedom!' Sophie's were: ‘The sun still shines' – a metaphor for God and her commitment to hope for the future.

Screened for Holocaust Memorial Day in association with the Holocaust Memorial Day Committee Jersey.