Sophie Scholl

The Young Woman Who Defied Hitler

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Sophie Scholl was born in Forchtenberg, Germany on 9 May 1921, the fourth of six children. Her father, Robert, was the Burgermeister (Mayor) of Forchtenberg am Kocher, in Baden-Württemberg. Raised a Lutheran Christian by her devout mother, Magdalene, Sophie, together with her siblings, enjoyed a relatively happy and carefree childhood, something that was threatened when, in 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power and began controlling all aspects of German society. Initially, Sophie herself was unaffected, but her father and brothers were strongly critical of the Nazi regime and this eventually filtered through to leave a strong impression on Sophie as a young woman.

It is important to realise that at this time Hitler was looked upon by most German people as the man to save the nation and restore the country’s prestige after the humiliation Germany suffered at the hands of the Allies in the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War. Robert Scholl, however, was more clear-sighted than most, and must have wondered how such a poisonous regime – led by a second-rate artist who had been a lowly corporal in the German army – could have arisen in a country steeped in centuries of Christian faith.

Her family’s reservations about the regime did not stop twelve-year-old Sophie – like many other young people, she and her siblings were initially caught up in the nationalistic fervour that had invaded Germany – from joining a pseudo-Nazi organisation, the League of German Girls. But although she enjoyed the activities of the group and was promoted to the position of Squad Leader, Sophie gradually became uneasy about the conflict between her conscience and the creeping Nazi ideology of the organisation.