1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, Technically you're getting two days in history today 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: because we're running two episodes from the History Vault. I 3 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: hope you enjoy. Welcome to this day in history class, 4 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: where history waits for no one. The day was February nineteen. 5 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: German student and anti Nazi activists Sophie Shoal, her brother Hans, 6 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: and their friend Christoph Prost were on trial for treason 7 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: at the People's Court in the Munich Palace of Justice. 8 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: Just four days prior, they had been arrested and indicted 9 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: for treason after they were caught passing out pamphlets at 10 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: the University of Munich that condemned the Nazi regime. So 11 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: on February, the infamous Nazi judge Roland Freisler found all 12 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: three of them guilty and sentenced them to death. The 13 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: verdict came down quote that the accused heaven time of war, 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: by means of leaflets, called for the sabotage of the 15 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: war effort and armaments, and for the overthrow of the 16 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: national socialist way of life of our people, have propagated 17 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: defeatist ideas and have most vulgarly defamed the furor, thereby 18 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,399 Speaker 1: giving aid to the enemy of the Reich and weakening 19 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: the armed security of the nation. On this account, they 20 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: are to be punished by death. Their honor and rights 21 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: as citizens are forfeited for all time. At five PM, 22 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: just a few hours later, executioner Johann Reichart beheaded Sophie 23 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: at the guillotine, followed by Christophe then Hans. The shows 24 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: Improvs were members of the non violent political resistance group 25 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: called White Rose, which formed in Nazi Germany in nineteen 26 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: forty two. The group wrote and distributed leaflets and put 27 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: up graffiti that denounced Nazi policies and encouraged people to 28 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: resist the Nazi regime. But Sophie had not always been 29 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: so fervently anti Nazi. Sophie's parents, Magdalena and Robert Shoal, 30 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: opposed Hitler in the Nazi regime. Robert was even imprisoned 31 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty two after telling his secretary the war 32 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: it is already lost. This Hitler is God's scourge on mankind, 33 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: and if the war doesn't end soon, the Russians will 34 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:42,679 Speaker 1: be sitting in Berlin. But early on the Shoal siblings 35 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: had bought into Nazi ideology, believing that Hitler would improve 36 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: the country. As children, Hans and his brother Werner joined 37 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: the Hitler Youth, the youth organization of the Nazi Party 38 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: that was designed to indoctrinate children with Nazi idiology and 39 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 1: to train members to fight for the Nazis as soldiers. 40 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: Sophie and her sisters joined the League of German Girls, 41 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: a branch of the Hitler Youth movement that aimed to 42 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: train Nazee girls and not see ideology and motherhood. But 43 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: as they grew older, the Shul siblings grew disillusioned with 44 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: Nazi views. After realizing how much Nazi propaganda they were 45 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: learning in school, how much their views were being suppressed, 46 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: and how many of their Jewish classmates were being forced 47 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: to leave school, the siblings changed their tune. Hans had 48 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: even served on the Eastern Front as a medic, where 49 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: he saw the abuse of Jewish laborers and heard rumors 50 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: of the mass murder of Jewish people. So Sophie, Hans 51 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: and other disillusion University of Munich students, including Christoph Prost, 52 00:03:55,200 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: Alexander Schmorell, and Billy Groff, began reading anti Nazi sermons. 53 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: They also attended classes taught by psychology and philosophy professor 54 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: Kurt Huber, whose lectures included bill criticisms of the Nazi regime, 55 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: and in June of nineteen forty two, they decided to 56 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: take action by sending out pamphlets outing Nazi atrocities and 57 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: urging people to reject Nazi ideology and rebel against the regime. 58 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: The movement gained ground as they mailed out leaflets to 59 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: random people, left them at stairwells on campus, placed them 60 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: in phone booths, and took them by train to other 61 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: cities outside of Munich. But the Gestapo Nazi Germany's political 62 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: police were looking to silence any dissenting voices, and the 63 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: creators of the White Rose pamphlets were one of their targets. 64 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: So on February nineteen forty three, Hans and Sophie took 65 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: a suitcase full of copies of White Roses sixth pamphlet 66 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 1: to the University of Munich, throwing some out into a courtyard, 67 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: but a custodian caught them in the act and reported 68 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: them to the Gestapo, who proceeded to interrogate Hans, Sophie 69 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: and other White Roads members. The Gestapo ended up finding 70 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,840 Speaker 1: a leaflet drafted by Kristof probst on Hans Shul incriminating 71 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: his collaborator. So Sophie, Hans and Kristoff stood trial on 72 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: February twenty two, but the so called People's Court that 73 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: held the trial was just a vehicle for the Third 74 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: Reich to hand out a ton of death sentences for 75 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: supposed political crimes, and the trial was really just a 76 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: show trial as there were no witnesses or evidence presented. 77 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: The three were sentenced to death, but were surprisingly courageous 78 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: in the face of their executions, which were set to 79 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: occur that very afternoon in Stotleheim Prison. Just before he 80 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: was beheaded, Hans cried, long Live Freedom. Many other White 81 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: Rose members were tried and executed later that year. I'm Eaves, 82 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know a little more about 83 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 84 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: learn more about the White Rose group, you can listen 85 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: to the stuff you missed in history class classic episode 86 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 1: called the White Rose in Nazi Germany. Get more Notes 87 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: from History on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at T d 88 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,480 Speaker 1: i h C podcast. Thank you for joining me today. 89 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: See you same place, same time tomorrow. Hey, I'm Eats 90 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: and you're listening to This Day and Street Class, a 91 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,279 Speaker 1: podcast where we bring you a slice of history every 92 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: day m h. The day was February twenty two, eighteen 93 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: seventy six. Native American activist and writer Zikala Shaw, also 94 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnen, was born on the Yanktin 95 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: Reservation in South Dakota. Zitkala Shaw's mother, named Reaches for 96 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: the Wind, was a Yankdin Sioux. Her father was a 97 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: white man named Felker, but Felker abandoned the family early on, 98 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: and Zikala Shaw's mother eventually married another man named John 99 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: Hastings Simmons. Zikala Shaw gave herself her name, which means 100 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: red bird in the Lakota language. Zitkala Shaw spent her 101 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: early childhood on the reservation. There, she listened to traditional 102 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: stories with characters that she would later include in her 103 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 1: first book, But when she was around eight years old, 104 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,720 Speaker 1: she left the reservation to go to a Quaker missionary 105 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: school in Indiana. Collishaw's mother did not support her attending 106 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: this school because she did not trust the missionaries to 107 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: educate Native American children. Did. Collishaw returned to South Dakota 108 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: after three years of study, but four years later she 109 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: left the reservation again to go back to school. One 110 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: of the schools she went to in the following years 111 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: was Earlham College in Indiana. While there, she got second 112 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,719 Speaker 1: place in a statewide oratory contest, which resulted in her 113 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:38,319 Speaker 1: first publication. She also studied music and played the violin. 114 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: This led her to study at the New England Conservatory 115 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: of Music in Boston and teach at the Carlisle Indian 116 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: School in Pennsylvania. She did not really care for the 117 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: time she spent at Carlisle, and she disagreed with the 118 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: school's founder, Richard Henry Pratt, who supported teaching Native American 119 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: students a grarian and domestic skills rather than academics objects. 120 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: Around this time that college, Shaw began publishing her work 121 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: in magazines like Harper's and Atlantic Monthly. In nineteen oh one, 122 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: the publisher Gin and Company released her first full length book, 123 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: Old Indian Legends. That year, when she visited her mother, 124 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: she met another Yanktons who named Raymond Bonnen. They got married, 125 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: had a child, and moved to her reservation in Utah. 126 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: Collishaw worked as a clerk and teacher. Her musical and 127 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: writing careers took a backseat to the rest of her work, 128 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: though she did collaborate with composer William Hanson on an 129 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: opera called Sun Dance that premiered in Utah and nineteen thirteen. 130 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: At this point that Collishaw was turning more toward activism. 131 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: She became involved with the Society of American Indians or 132 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,199 Speaker 1: s AI, a reform organization formed at Ohio State University 133 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven. The group was run by Native Americans, 134 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: and it aimed to preserve their way of life while 135 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: advocating full American citizenship. It focused on government reforms as 136 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: well as activities like increasing Native American employment in the 137 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: American Indian Service, which was the agency that managed Native 138 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: American affairs that Collishaw wrote a poem that was published 139 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: in the Society's quarterly magazine, and in nineteen sixteen she 140 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: was elected secretary of the organization, a position she held 141 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: until nineteen nineteen did Collishaw and her family moved to Washington, 142 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,439 Speaker 1: d c. There, she became involved with many other organizations 143 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: concerned with Native American rights and reforms. She served as 144 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: editor of essayi's publication, American Indian Magazine, writing essays about 145 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: issues such as land retention and self determination. She lobbied 146 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: lawmakers and toured across the US in support of Native 147 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: American citizenship. She spoke out on the conditions of poverty 148 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: on reservations, detailing how food was scarce and opportunities for 149 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: education and employment were few. But because she had one 150 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: foot in white society and the other in Native American communities, 151 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: she did garner the distrust of some Native Americans. After 152 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: the SAI disbanded and the Indian Citizenship Act past said, 153 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: Collishaw and her husband founded the National Council of American Indians. 154 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: Its goal was to make a quote constructive effort to 155 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: better the Red race and make its members better citizens 156 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: of the United States. It promoted pay an Indianism as 157 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: opposed to tribalism, so the organization foundered that Collishaw continued 158 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: to lecture on Native American reforms and rites. She died 159 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: in ninety eight. Her writing is noted for describing the 160 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,559 Speaker 1: tension between her Native American roots and her white education. 161 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,200 Speaker 1: Her advocacy has been criticized by some people who note 162 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: the impact of assimilation on cultural identity, but she is 163 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,720 Speaker 1: considered an influence activists in Native American history as she 164 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: advocated for Native American civil rights, women's rights, education, and 165 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: the preservation of Native American culture. I'm Eve Steffcote and 166 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 167 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you haven't gotten your fill of 168 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,560 Speaker 1: history yet, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and 169 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d i h C podcast And if 170 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 1: you would like to write me a letter, you can 171 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 1: scan it, turn it into a PDF, and send it 172 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: to us via email at this day at I heeart 173 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: media dot com. I hope you liked this show. We'll 174 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: be back tomorrow with another episode. For more podcasts from 175 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,199 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 176 00:12:57,280 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.