Speaker 1: The construction of American exceptionalism would have us believe that
Speaker 1: America has always taken the moral high ground, and that
Speaker 1: it has always acted flawlessly in its pursuit of liberty.
Speaker 1: I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being.
Speaker 1: But what makes us exceptional is not our ability to
Speaker 1: flout international norms and the rule of law. It is
Speaker 1: our willingness to affirm them through our actions. The ideals
Speaker 1: of American greatness and superiority require us to believe in
Speaker 1: an America that is good, just, and benevolent. That America
Speaker 1: is unique in that it's built differently. I, an American,
Speaker 1: have seen the myths of exceptionalism unraveled by the realities
Speaker 1: of American injustices, America's similarities to other countries, American hypocrisy,
Speaker 1: and American distortions of history. Slavery happened in the United States.
Speaker 1: Eugenics programs in the United States inspired ones in Nazi Germany.
Speaker 1: Concentration and interment camps have been sites of persecution for
Speaker 1: Indigenous people, black people, Japanese people, immigrants, and dissidents in
Speaker 1: US history. The exaltation of America's values, status, and rarity
Speaker 1: does it not change the truth of the history and
Speaker 1: present of the United States. America's redeeming qualities cannot paper
Speaker 1: over the crimes and moral failings the country has been
Speaker 1: complicit in. The U S is very good at leaving
Speaker 1: misdeeds unacknowledged. It's perfected the art of saying we're not
Speaker 1: as bad as them or better, yet saying what we
Speaker 1: did was justified and we're still above everyone else. A
Speaker 1: lot of Americans have no problem saying that the past
Speaker 1: stays in the past and we can only get better
Speaker 1: by looking forward completely ignoring causality, denialism, and revisionism keeps
Speaker 1: folks in states of ignorance or comfort. America is so
Speaker 1: often unexceptional. There have been many instances where people have
Speaker 1: had to pressure America into being exceptional. There will never
Speaker 1: be a time when the US or whatever country you
Speaker 1: live in, will be perfect or above making poor decisions.
Speaker 1: There will always be a need for dissenters, for protesters
Speaker 1: and rebels who hold a mirror up to society and
Speaker 1: remind us that we are capable of choosing differently. I'm
Speaker 1: each deaf coote and this is unpopular A show about
Speaker 1: people who didn't let the threat of persecution keep them
Speaker 1: from speaking truth to power. Germany was under the oppressive
Speaker 1: rule of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party from nineteen
Speaker 1: thirty three to nineteen forty five. During this period, called
Speaker 1: Nazi Germany or the Third Reich, the country was subject
Speaker 1: to totalitarianism, propaganda, militant and racist foreign policy, suppression of
Speaker 1: rights and opposition, and genocide. Millions of people died in
Speaker 1: the Holocaust and many more were persecuted, displaced, and traumatized.
Speaker 1: The scale and reach that the Holocaust had was huge.
Speaker 1: The Nazis doled out terror and depravity in so many
Speaker 1: different ways, but anti Nazi resistance was strong too, and
Speaker 1: it came from many different angles. People protested and fought
Speaker 1: the Nazi regime on spiritual, economic, political, or moral basis.
Speaker 1: Some helped Jewish people hide from the Nazis and took
Speaker 1: risks to rescue Jewish people. Some focused on raising awareness
Speaker 1: about the vileness and cruelty of the regime. Others planned
Speaker 1: to assassinate Hitler. Resistance forts were active inside Germany and beyond.
Speaker 1: The totalitarian state was powerful, fearsome, and brutal, and survival
Speaker 1: alone was hard enough for the many people being persecuted
Speaker 1: in Europe at the time, but organized and disorganized action
Speaker 1: against the Nazis did happen, from the efforts of individuals
Speaker 1: like Otto and Alisa Hampel, who left postcards denouncing the
Speaker 1: regime in public places, to the resistance of White Rose,
Speaker 1: a non violent anti Nazi resistance group that formed in
Speaker 1: nineteen forty two. This is where today's resistors Hans and
Speaker 1: his younger sister's official come in. The brother and sister duo,
Speaker 1: along with Christoph Props, Billy Groth, and Alexander Schmarrill, founded
Speaker 1: the so called White Rose movement. The group disseminated leaflets
Speaker 1: that denounced the Nazis and attempted to renew the quote
Speaker 1: severely wounded German spirit. The some groups did aspire to
Speaker 1: overthrow Hitler's regime, many others were not as revolutionary, and
Speaker 1: we're sure only military might could topple the current order.
Speaker 1: The Shoals have become disillusioned with the regime and recognized
Speaker 1: the necessity of opposing it. So they did just that,
Speaker 1: and they called on other people to do the same.
Speaker 1: Here's how their awareness turned into action. Zophie and Hans
Speaker 1: were born to Robert and Magdalena Shoal. Robert was a
Speaker 1: mayor at the time of Zophie's birth, though he later
Speaker 1: lost that position. Both he and Magdalena opposed Hitler, who
Speaker 1: put the propaganda machine to work and was able to
Speaker 1: get a bunch of people behind him and his image
Speaker 1: by drawing division, taking advantage of people's vulnerabilities and prejudices,
Speaker 1: and making people believe that he was putting Germany first
Speaker 1: and that they could win World War Two. Beyond all
Speaker 1: the enthusiastic support he received from adults, Hitler also strove
Speaker 1: to indoctrinate young Germans with allegiance to National Socialism a
Speaker 1: k a. Nazism, So, despite their parents encouragement of critical
Speaker 1: thinking and opposition to the regime, Hans ended up joining
Speaker 1: the Hitler Youth, the Nazi Party's youth organization designed to
Speaker 1: brainwash boys and young men with Nazi ideology and send
Speaker 1: them to war, and Sophie joined the League of German Girls,
Speaker 1: the equivalent indoctrinating body for girls and young women. They
Speaker 1: were part of the Nazi bandwagon, believing that Hitler and
Speaker 1: his ideology would advance the nation. Hans even became a
Speaker 1: squad leader of his young Vaulk Unit something to keep
Speaker 1: in mind. Hitler was at this time espousing the idea
Speaker 1: of a master race, its superiority and its entitlement to
Speaker 1: expand into more territories. But their involvement in the Nazi
Speaker 1: Party did not last long. They had grown distrustful of
Speaker 1: the Nazis and frustrated with the forced discipline and conformity.
Speaker 1: A book by hans favorite author Stefan Zwag was banned
Speaker 1: by the Nazis. Hans even broke off from the Nazi
Speaker 1: youth organization Informed, one of his own, which was later
Speaker 1: banned because its activities were considered subversive. His discontent was growing. Also,
Speaker 1: Zophie was unhappy with school curriculum, which was centered around
Speaker 1: promoting Nazi ideology. She once wrote, sometimes school seems like
Speaker 1: a film to me. I look on, but for all
Speaker 1: intents and purposes, I'm excluded from performing. Zophie, Hans, and
Speaker 1: their siblings Inga and Verner were all either questioned, arrested,
Speaker 1: or jailed for taking actions that were forbidden by the Nazis,
Speaker 1: like freely exchanging opinions, and the siblings father Robert, continued
Speaker 1: to push back against Nazi policy through small acts of resistance,
Speaker 1: like listening to outlawed radio stations that gave war reports
Speaker 1: that nationalized stations did not. Sophie was required to serve
Speaker 1: six months in the Reich National Labor Service, and in
Speaker 1: nineteen forty one she began working as an attendant in
Speaker 1: a kindergarten attached to a munitions factory. While there, she
Speaker 1: had to go to ideological training sessions. Hans was also
Speaker 1: losing faith in the regime's commitment to bettering Germany. He
Speaker 1: built roade for the Autobahn under the National Labor Service,
Speaker 1: and he went on to join the army in study medicine.
Speaker 1: While a soldier on the Eastern Front, he witnessed Nazi
Speaker 1: terrorism of Jewish people and heard of the massive deportations
Speaker 1: to concentration camps. On top of this, in nineteen forty two,
Speaker 1: his father was sentenced to four months in prison for
Speaker 1: professing to a colleague his hatred of the Nazi regime.
Speaker 1: By the time Hans returned from war, his disillusionment, dislike
Speaker 1: of Nazi ideology, and consciousness of the horrors of concentration
Speaker 1: camps all piled on one another to inspire his anti
Speaker 1: Nazi resistance. The Grand Facade of Hitler's better Germany and
Speaker 1: better world had dissolved for Zophie too. When we get
Speaker 1: back from the break, we'll get into Hans and Zophie's
Speaker 1: risky resistance efforts. Tons of Germans supported Hitler and wrote
Speaker 1: the Nazi wave right into the Holocaust. Those were not
Speaker 1: just extremists and power hungry politicians, but your regular townsfolk
Speaker 1: to shop owners, doctors, teachers. Hitler gained support through indoctrination, terror, propaganda, coercion,
Speaker 1: ideological pandering, personality, cult building, and exploiting and dismantling systems.
Speaker 1: People who are already vulnerable, impressionable, polarized, or disillusioned can
Speaker 1: be easily influenced into taking a morally questionable stance. The
Speaker 1: status quo can change in an instant, even if it's
Speaker 1: taken years to get to a point, say one where
Speaker 1: gay marriage is legal or children are being forcefully separated
Speaker 1: from their parents by the state. Major changes will happen
Speaker 1: during our lifetime and will be presented with an opportunity
Speaker 1: to either embrace the change or not. Hans and Zophie
Speaker 1: at first joined the masses who were receptive of Nazism
Speaker 1: and supported Hitler's vision as they dove deeper into the
Speaker 1: ideology and were exposed to the horrible, brutal reality of
Speaker 1: its extremity. They realized that it did not align with
Speaker 1: their worldview, and they chose to rejected. And then they
Speaker 1: went beyond rejecting the new status quo of fascism, racism
Speaker 1: and extreme nationalism to raise others awareness and push them
Speaker 1: toward resistance. The degeneration of Germany under Nazism is a
Speaker 1: serious and drastic shift in society. It's the type of
Speaker 1: change that seems impossible before it's happening, and then you're
Speaker 1: in the middle of figuring out how to deal with it.
Speaker 1: But as history has proven, these kinds of unfathomable changes
Speaker 1: do happen. They happen all over the world. There is
Speaker 1: no place that is above reproach. In early twentieth century Germany,
Speaker 1: the status quo quickly became genocide and oppression. There were
Speaker 1: those who welcomed or condoned the new normal, and then
Speaker 1: there were those who chose to challenge and disrupt it.
Speaker 1: Hans was studying medicine at the University of Munich. There
Speaker 1: he linked up with other people who questioned Nazi ideology,
Speaker 1: including Christoph Popes Alexander Schmorell and Billy Groth Court Ubert,
Speaker 1: a professor at the university, inserted veiled criticism of the
Speaker 1: Nazis and his lectures and his classes also became a
Speaker 1: point of congregation for students who opposed the regime. The
Speaker 1: group of students that held anti Nazi discussions and meetings
Speaker 1: became known as the White Rose. For reasons that remain unclear,
Speaker 1: Hans emerged as a leader of the group Tauta. The Friends,
Speaker 1: Lela Ramdar and Jesula Schertling also soon became involved in
Speaker 1: the White Rose group. But facilitating political and intellectual discussion
Speaker 1: groups was not enough in the face of Nazi persecution
Speaker 1: and execution of Jewish people, Pish people, gay people, people
Speaker 1: with disabilities, and others deemed unfit or inferior to the
Speaker 1: so called Master race. The Nazis were also executing communists
Speaker 1: and people who resisted the regime. Though the group was
Speaker 1: at first about the Friends shared interests in things like art, music, literature,
Speaker 1: and philosophy, the oppression, crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the
Speaker 1: government were unavoidable. The Friends could not ignore the deterioration
Speaker 1: of society under Nazi rule. In favor of remaining loyal
Speaker 1: to Germany. In n years after World War Two and
Speaker 1: the end of the White Rose, Jurgen Wittenstein said that
Speaker 1: it was not good enough to keep to oneself one's
Speaker 1: beliefs and ethical standards, but that the time had come
Speaker 1: to act. The group got ahold of a secondhand duplicating machine,
Speaker 1: a typewriter, printing paper, and stencils. In June of nineteen
Speaker 1: forty two, they began producing leaflets called Leaves of the
Speaker 1: White Rose that called out the regime for brutality and
Speaker 1: encourage people to resist. Here's a translation of part of
Speaker 1: the first leaflet. If the German people are already so
Speaker 1: corrupted and spiritually crushed that they do not raise a
Speaker 1: hand frivolously trusting in a questionable faith in lawful order
Speaker 1: of history, If they surrender man's highest principle, that which
Speaker 1: raises him above all other God's creatures, his free will,
Speaker 1: If they abandoned the will to take decisive action and
Speaker 1: turn the wheel of history, and thus subjected to their
Speaker 1: own rational decision, If they are so devoid of all individuality,
Speaker 1: have already gone so far along the road towards turning
Speaker 1: into a spiritless and cowardly mass, then yes, they deserve
Speaker 1: their downfall. The leaflet also urged people to offer passive
Speaker 1: resistance to quote forestall the spread of this atheistic war
Speaker 1: machine before it is too late. There were literary and
Speaker 1: historical allusions in the text. They wanted people to recognize
Speaker 1: the catastrophe that was Nazism, to reject indifference in silence,
Speaker 1: and take action against Nazi ideology and warfare. And the
Speaker 1: text asked people to make copies of the leaflet and
Speaker 1: distribute them. After Zophie enrolled at the University of Munich
Speaker 1: in mid nineteen forty two, she found out about the
Speaker 1: leaflets and White Rose and decided to join the effort.
Speaker 1: The first four leaflets were written in June and July
Speaker 1: of nineteen forty two. The White Rose mailed the leaflets
Speaker 1: to people in Germany, put them in telephone boxes, and
Speaker 1: took them via train two cities outside of Munich. Many
Speaker 1: of the leaflets were turned over to the Gestapo or
Speaker 1: the secret State police, who were becoming more concerned about
Speaker 1: the effect the content have on Germans. The people in
Speaker 1: the White Roads were also using graffiti to express their
Speaker 1: opposition to the regime, Painting graffiti on buildings in Munich
Speaker 1: that said things like freedom and down with Hitler. Students
Speaker 1: in Berlin, Friburg, Hamburg and Vienna heated the call to
Speaker 1: protest the regime and helped spread the resistance. After the break,
Speaker 1: Hans and Sophie, like many others in the Nazi resistance,
Speaker 1: are caught. The last two leaflets were labeled as leaflets
Speaker 1: of the Resistance Movement of Germany and written in early
Speaker 1: nine By this point, the Gestapo considered the leaflet a
Speaker 1: huge problem and we're investigating involvement in the White Rose.
Speaker 1: But at the University of Munich there was an apparent
Speaker 1: spirit of rebellion. So on February eighth, nineteen, Hans and
Speaker 1: Sophie took a big risk in deciding to distribute leaflets
Speaker 1: throughout the university. They put stacks of the sixth leaflet
Speaker 1: in the school's hallways and through the leftover leaflets off
Speaker 1: the top of a staircase and into the entrance hall.
Speaker 1: Thousands of copies of White Rose leaflets had been passed
Speaker 1: out by this point, but this action was the one
Speaker 1: that would get Hans and Sophie captured. Jacob Smid, a
Speaker 1: janitor at the university spotted them distributing the leaflets, and
Speaker 1: they were turned into the Gestapo. Christoph Props was also
Speaker 1: arrested when a draft of a leaflet he wrote was
Speaker 1: found in Hans's pocket. Hans, Sophie, and Christoph stood trial
Speaker 1: at Munich's Palace of Justice on February, just four days
Speaker 1: after they passed out the leaflets at the university. They
Speaker 1: were all found guilty of high treason. Judge Holland Freisler
Speaker 1: sat the following. The accused have, by means of leaflets,
Speaker 1: in a time of war, called for the sabotage of
Speaker 1: the war effort and armaments, and for the overthrow of
Speaker 1: the national socialist way of life of our people, have
Speaker 1: propagated defeatist ideas, and have most vulgarly to fame the
Speaker 1: for thereby giving aid to the enemy of the Reich
Speaker 1: and weakening the armed security of the nation. On this
Speaker 1: account they are to be punished by death. Their honor
Speaker 1: and rights as citizens are forfeited for all time. The
Speaker 1: two show siblings and Christoph were executed by guillotine hours
Speaker 1: after they were sentenced to death. Other people involved in
Speaker 1: the White Rose for Existance were arrested and executed, including
Speaker 1: court uber Billy Groff and Alexander Schmorell. After the sixth
Speaker 1: White Rose Leaflet was smuggled out of Germany, Allied forces
Speaker 1: intercepted them and dropped copies over Germany. Germany didn't surrender
Speaker 1: in World War Two until May of nineteen Hans Zophie
Speaker 1: and the White Rose Leaflets were a small part of
Speaker 1: the larger resistance to Nazi domination. Their denouncement of the
Speaker 1: regime and exposure of its atrocities helped create a network
Speaker 1: of agitators who refused to stay silent while Germany descended
Speaker 1: into depravity. The White Roses sixth leaflet proclaimed a day
Speaker 1: of reckoning. It said this freedom and honor. For ten
Speaker 1: long years, Hitler and his coadjutor have manhandled, squeezed, twisted,
Speaker 1: and debased these two splendid German words to the point
Speaker 1: of nausea, as only dilettants can casting the highest values
Speaker 1: of a nation before swine. They have sufficiently demonstrated in
Speaker 1: the ten years of destruction of all material and intellectual freedom,
Speaker 1: of all moral substance among the German people what they
Speaker 1: understand by freedom and honor. The frightful bloodbath has opened
Speaker 1: the eyes of even the stupidest German. It is a
Speaker 1: slaughter which they arranged in the name of freedom and
Speaker 1: honor of the German nation throughout Europe, in which they
Speaker 1: daily start anew. The name of Germany is dishonored for
Speaker 1: all time. If German youth does not finally rise, take
Speaker 1: revenge and a tone, smash its tormentors and set up
Speaker 1: a new Europe of the spirit. Students, the German people
Speaker 1: look to us, as in eighteen thirteen the people expected
Speaker 1: us to shake off the Napoleonic yoke, so in nineteen
Speaker 1: forty three they look to us to break the national
Speaker 1: socialist terror through the power of the spirit. Berezina and
Speaker 1: staling Grod are burning in the east. The dead of
Speaker 1: Stalin Grod implore us to take action. Up up by people,
Speaker 1: Let smoke and flame be our sign. It is clear
Speaker 1: that beyond being motivated by the restriction of their personal freedoms,
Speaker 1: Hans and Zophie felt responsible to help in the horror
Speaker 1: of Nazi rule for the sake of people's futures. Society
Speaker 1: had reached a tipping point, and they were compelled to
Speaker 1: act and call others to action. Zophie and Hans risked
Speaker 1: their lives to dissent and sadly died young. Though their
Speaker 1: lives were cut short before their activism could incite widespread
Speaker 1: and active opposition against the regime, they left behind a
Speaker 1: legacy of resisting despite odds, and a model for encouraging
Speaker 1: collective action. Hans Zophie and White rose you direct action
Speaker 1: tactics to affect change from where they stood. The message
Speaker 1: find a way to contribute to the resistance rather than
Speaker 1: sit back and find out what the world will become
Speaker 1: if you do nothing at all. Our producer is Andrew Howard.
Speaker 1: Holly Fry and Christopher Hasiotis are our executive producers, and
Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, the
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week with another episode of Unpopular