Created and sponsored by Munich’s White Rose Foundation (Weiße Rose Stiftung), the WSU Libraries are hosting Die Weisse Rose: The White Rose Exhibit from Feb. 3 to March 7 in the Terrell Library Atrium. The WSU exhibit is part of the Pacific Northwest itinerary, which also includes the University of Washington and Pacific Lutheran University.
David Clay Large at the White Rose Exhibit opening. Photo taken by Nella Letizia.
In 1942 and 1943, University of Munich students led an underground campaign calling for the German people to actively resist the policies imposed by Nazism. Under the name of “The White Rose,” group members created mimeographed leaflets, leaving them in public spaces and mailing copies to members of the intelligentsia whom they felt might respond to their message of peaceful resistance. At night, the students painted slogans against the Nazi regime in a graffiti campaign around the city. Eventually the movement expanded to other German cities, including Hamburg, Berlin, and Vienna.
On Feb. 18, 1943, White Rose members Hans and Sophie Scholl were arrested by the Gestapo after distributing the leaflets in the University of Munich Atrium. Along with another member, Christoph Probst, a married father of three children, the Scholls were executed by guillotine on Feb. 22. Many White Rose members stood trial and faced execution or imprisonment in the months to follow.
The last leaflet of the White Rose was smuggled out of Germany and ultimately air-dropped in large quantities over the country by Allied Forces.
The courage and resolve of the White Rose members are chronicled and remembered through this exhibit.
Article from WSU News on the White Rose Exhibit.
Opening Reception: 4 pm, Monday, February 3 - Terrell Library Atrium with author David Clay Large
White Rose Film Series: Tuesdays @ 7 pm February 11, 18, and 25th. CUE 203
Lunch Brownbag/Closing Event Panel Discussion: Friday, March 7th, 12 noon: - "Resisting Hate: The Legacy of the White Rose", Honors College Lounge.
David Clay Large, a specialist in German history and the author of several books about the Third Reich, including Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror, and Triumph at the Olympic Games, opened the White Rose Exhibit at 4 pm in the Terrell Library Atrium.