Heroic Prisoners of Nazi Germany: the stories of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Sophie Scholl

Oliver Dickens (C2 Hu)

The Nazi Party under Adolf Hitler dominated Germany from January 1933 to the end of the Second World War in 1945. When we consider the atrocities that the Party committed, opposition was scarce. Indeed, the intuitive mind of Joseph Goebbels covered up many of such atrocities with the use of propaganda; yet, Bonhoeffer and Scholl proved that the appetite for a free democratic society remained. The acts of defiance they performed merit the heroic status they have today.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906 to a Protestant upper-middle-class family. At the age of 14, he decided he wanted to become a Lutheran pastor; before being ordained, he studied and taught in the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. It was at this time that Bonhoeffer was exposed to social and racial injustice. He observed the division and oppression of factions of the Christian Church, and this persuaded him to embrace ecumenism (the practice of bringing Christian factions together). His interest in ecumenism eventually proved to be invaluable to the German resistance.

Throughout his short life during the Nazi regime, Bonheffer performed many acts of defiance. Only a few days after Hitler’s rise to power, he gave a damning address on radio. His main message to the German people was that the Führer (Hitler) would one day become the Verführer (seducer): this was the first instance of resistance from the Church. At this time, the Deutsche Christen (Nazi-influenced) faction of the German protestant Church was rapidly gaining power. In September 1933, the Aryan paragraph was approved, effectively removing any pastors and officials with Jewish blood from their posts. Bonhoeffer immediately joined the Pfarrenotbund (Pastor’s Emergency League), which later became the Confessing Church: with support from around 20-25% of German Pastors, Bonhoeffer and others engineered the ‘Barmen Declaration’ which stated that Christ was the head of the Protestant Church, not the Führer.

However, Bonhoeffer became resigned to the fact that the Confessing Church didn’t have the power to rid Nazi influence from the Church. He even said, ‘it was time to go into the desert for a while’, before moving to London for a two-year position at a German church. Although he still encouraged people to oppose the Nazi regime, his influence was insubstantial – he felt guilty throughout his two-year stay in London and his short visit to America in 1939. This guilt shaped Bonhoeffer’s conscience, and he realised action had to be taken to stop further Nazi oppression of the Church. On his return to Germany in 1935, Bonhoeffer bravely continued his vital work, as his fellow members of the Confessing Church were being arrested around him. Bonhoeffer himself was affected by the intense Nazi suppression of the Confessing Church. His teaching licence at Berlin University was revoked, and he was branded “an enemy of the state. Thus, his mission to teach was made more difficult after a decree to make the education of Confessing Church ministers illegal was passed. Therefore, up to the start of the Second World War, Bonhoeffer continued to teach in secret.

In February 1938, Bonhoeffer began down the path of more substantial resistance. He contacted members of the German Resistance who informed him of the imminent war in Europe. During these discussions, Bonhoeffer learnt that joining the military intelligence (Abwehr) was the only way to avoid conscription, and this allowed him to continue his teaching. He joined his brother-in-law Hans von Dohnányi, who was an active member of many plots to assassinate Hitler in the early stages of the war. He used his privileges to travel and helped Dohnányi by contacting allied representatives. Bonhoeffer realised that there were factions in Germany that wanted to overthrow Hitler, and sought their help; however, the Allies were uninterested in such initiatives. Thus, Bonhoeffer had to explore other avenues of resistance.

Bonhoeffer eventually joined his brother-in-law in planning ‘Operation Seven’, his most notable act of resistance. The Operation facilitated the escape of 14 Jews to Switzerland in the autumn of 1942. Bonhoeffer was integral in supplying funds and resources to the escapees during this time. However, the Gestapo caught wind of the transfers Bonhoeffer made and arrested him and his brother-in-law in April 1943. 29

At first, Bonhoeffer’s charge consisted solely of corruption, but, further inquiries into his role in the resistance during his eighteen months at Tegel Prison meant the charge became more serious. Conspiracy to rescue Jews; using travel for non-intelligence matters; misusing his Abwehr position to keep Confessing Church pastors out of the military – these charges could have potentially led to the death penalty. But the failed July 20th assassination plot on Hitler condemned Bonhoeffer to his fate, as he was part of the early group of conspirators in the Abwehr, and so Bonhoeffer was charged with association.

Bonhoeffer’s execution took place on 9th April 1945, tragically close to the war’s conclusion. Bonhoeffer’s last words were, ‘this is the end – for me the beginning of life’. These last words were fitting for a man who devoted his life to God and defeating the scourge of oppression upon his beloved Church.

Sophie Scholl

Sophie Scholl was an unsung hero during the later stages of the Second World War; scholars have recognised her work as part of ‘The White Rose’ group as symbolic, rather than necessarily influential in the struggle. Although Bonhoeffer may be more well known for resisting Nazism, Scholl’s passive resistance symbolised the changing views in Germany at the war’s impending climax.

Sophie Scholl was born on the 9th May 1921 into a large upper-middle-class Lutheran Protestant family, much like Bonhoeffer. Her parents were anti-Nazi and at first, she took little interest in German politics. However, at the age of 12 in 1933, she joined the BDM (League of German Maidens), and her brother Hans also joined the Hitler Youth, much to the disappointment of their father Robert Scholl.

As Scholl went through secondary school, her beliefs began to change. As a result of the concerns of her friends about the Nazis, she herself began to question the Party’s intentions. For example, she disagreed with the Nazi influence in the classroom and education in general. However, after working as a teacher for a short time, she was forced to join the Reich Labour Force to do her obligatory six-month service before university. The period that she was forced to work ignited Scholl’s dislike of the Nazi regime. Like Bonhoeffer, she was a pacifist, so the military-like procedures she endured during her service left her alienated from Nazi beliefs.

Once enrolled at Berlin University, Scholl met people who shared the same views as she did. She was very cultured and enjoyed the outdoors, and during the early stages of the war, she and her friends focused primarily on philosophy and theology. They discussed the current political climate, in terms of dictatorship and morality. However, her dislike towards the Nazi regime turned into a hunger to passively resist once she learned of ‘The White Rose’ group.

Her attention turned to resistance once she found out that her brother – Hans Scholl – among others, met to discuss the same issues that were troubling her. Hans Scholl and his friends were religious, and were interested in the arts and philosophy. However, they also discussed ways to passively resist the Nazi regime: pamphlets and letters were decided to be the safest way to get their message across to the public. Sophie Scholl’s boyfriend was fighting at Stalingrad at the time, and his letters home about the atrocities proved invaluable. His testimonies along with biblical and philosophical quotations formed the main messages in the pamphlets.

In total, ‘The White Rose’ produced and distributed six pamphlets from 1941 to February 1943. The pamphlets were derogatory about the Nazis and urged the public to resist the oppressive regime. Evidence was given to support their claims, such as the atrocities that took place on the Eastern Front, where Jews were forced to dig their own graves, and in concentration camps. The product of the group’s endeavours were six brilliant pieces of writing which were efficiently distributed across Germany by Scholl and her brother.

Scholl and the group’s downfall came on the 18th February 1943. Sophie and Hans were placing heaps of leaflets around the entrance hall of Munich University. However, on their escape, they noticed there was a pile still left to distribute. In a vividly portrayed act in the film ‘The Final Days’, Scholl scattered the pamphlets into the middle of the forum in a sight reminiscent of heroic mythology. Unfortunately for Scholl, she and her brother were caught and subsequently arrested.

Scholl was first interrogated by Robert Mohr, where she denied the accusations, hoping for acquittal. However, when her brother confessed, she sacrificed herself for the safety of the other members. In a tense confrontation with Mohr, she valiantly stuck by her values and beliefs until the very end. She refused to be intimidated and expressed her disgust towards the Nazi regime. Her trial followed days later on the 21st February, and against the bias of the People’s Court and its fearsome judge Ronald Freisler, her last remarks proved that, symbolically, her passive resistance was just as powerful as Bonhoeffer’s. As she said, ‘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.’

Scholl, along with her brother, were executed hours later by guillotining. Today, a memorial, of the pamphlets she dispersed, lies in the university forum. This is a fitting gesture for a woman who spoke out when many could not.

Epilogue

The stories of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Sophie Scholl are fascinating and moving. Apart from their age, they were similar in stature: both were Lutheran Protestants, both had families who were unconvinced by Nazi intentions, and both were imprisoned and killed for the expression of their beliefs. Although neither of them substantially affected the war effort, their acts of heroism should not be underestimated: they managed to challenge the Nazi lockdown of a free society. Hence, the legacy of their heroism lives on with us today and inspires us all to fight against such adversity.

April 2020 by Mr E.F.J. Twohig