The three young Germans in the photograph were executed by the Nazis in 1943 for their resistance activities, mainly distributing anti-Nazi literature. The reason I post it is that I was exercised by something I'd seen on BBC Channel 4 on Saturday.
For three successive Saturday evenings the BBC has shown a German mini-series, "Generation War: Our Mothers, Our Fathers". It was pretty harrowing stuff, but the so is war, so is enemy occupation.
The story was about five young friends, c.20 years old. Two of them are soldiers about to depart for the Eastern Front. The third male is Jewish, and is planning to leave for France. One of the two females, in love with one of the soldiers, has become a military nurse, the other is a singer, and the lover of the Jewish lad, Viktor. Initially all but Viktor are loyal Germans, accepting Nazi rule without any fanaticism. They accept too the necessity of war while regretting the separation it brings.
Gradually, as the story progresses, disillusion sets in along with the realisation that defeat is inevitable. The struggle to survive becomes the main motivation.

Immediately after the final episode a discussion of the series took place, in true BBC fashion. There was a line to be followed. The main theme of the party line was that it was impossible for Germans of that age to feel as they did, to have second thoughts about the regime and the war. All would have been educated under the Nazis and been enlisted in the Hitler Youth.
The story of the White Rose resistance group gives the lie to the BBC line. That is why I feature it here.
A second gripe from the assembled revisionists; the portrayal of Polish partisans as anti-Semitic. Not so, they claimed. Well there were Jewish partisan groups, and there were Communist partisans who would have suppressed any open anti-Semitism in their ranks. But there were anti-Communist, anti-Semitic partisan groups who regarded Jews and Communists as being out of the same belly. Anti-semitism was prevalent in Poland, as elsewhere in Eastern Europe.To deny this is dishonest, but deny they did.
One member of the panel was Eva Hoffmann, a historian whose work I've enjoyed. She did suggest that anti-Semitism existed in Poland, but didn't make much of it. Perhaps she felt that a little soft pedalling was in order.
Now I have to admit that, being sickened by the falsity of the discussion, I gave up on it after the anti-Semitism, or NO anti-Semitism, discussion.
I had expected a further gripe.
In the final episode Viktor returns to Berlin and begins the search for Greta, his lover. In the course of his enquiries he visits an office run by the occupying Americans. There he comes face to face with the SS officer who had sent him to the death camp (he escaped en route). This man was now working for the Americans. Viktor informed the US officer in charge of the SS man's identity, and was ignored.
The employment of Nazis as administrators by the occupying forces is well known. One reason was that most of those opposed to the former regime were mainly Communists and not trusted by the allies.
I'm sure that this allusion to the reinstatement of the recent enemy would not have been allowed to stand by the historical revisionists. Some things, well known to historians, are not for widespread dissemination. The makers of the film would, I'm sure, have been criticised for that scene, historically accurate as it was.

The following is about the White Rose group.
Today in Mighty Girl history, one of Germany’s most famous anti-Nazi heroes, Sophie Scholl, was born in 1921. As a university student in Munich, Scholl, along with her brother, Hans, and several friends, formed a non-violent, anti-Nazi resistance group called the White Rose. The group ran a leaflet and graffiti campaign calling on their fellow Germans to resist Hilter's regime.
Scholl became involved in resistance organizing after learning of the mass killings of Jews and reading an anti-Nazi sermon by Clemens August Graf von Galen, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Münster. She was deeply moved by the "theology of conscience" and declared, "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."
In 1943, Scholl and the other members of the White Rose were arrested by the Gestapo for distributing leaflets at the University of Munich and taken to Stadelheim Prison. After a short trial on February 22, 1943, Scholl, her brother Hans and their friend Christop Probst, all pictured here, were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.
At her execution only a few hours later, Scholl made this final statement: "How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"
Following the deaths of the White Rose's leaders, their final leaflet was smuggled to England. In mid-1943, Allied Forces dropped millions of copies of the "Manifesto of the Students of Munich" over Germany. Scholl is now honored as one of the great German heroes who actively opposed the Nazi regime.
For two books for adult readers about Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, check out "Sophie Scholl and the White Rose" (http://amzn.to/1pEAtXb) and "The White Rose: Munich, 1942-1943" (http://amzn.to/1jnUEZu).
For an excellent film about Scholl's incredible story, we highly recommend "Sophie Scholl – The Final Days" which received an Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film in 2005. The film, recommended for viewers 13 and up, is an excellent way to introduce teens to the bravery and perseverance of those who resisted the Nazi regime -- learn more at http://www.amightygirl.com/sophie-scholl-the-final-days
For books for both children and teens about girls and women who lived during the Holocaust period, including stories of other heroic resisters and rescuers, check out our post for Holocaust Remembrance Week at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog/?p=2726
For our recommendations of the best books and films about another real-life Mighty Girl who lived during this period, visit our tribute to Anne Frank: "Hope in a Hidden Room: A Mighty Girl Salutes Anne Frank" at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=2815
To browse our entire "WWII/Holocaust", visit http://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/history-world?cat=186
For more true stories of heroic girls and women, visit A Mighty Girl's "Heroes" section in biographies at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography?cat=367
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