Comment by Dr. Jud Newborn--"Sophie Scholl" on Saturday, Jun 23 at 12:32 PM

I'm so glad Horace Barker mentioned my book, SOPHIE SCHOLL AND THE WHITE ROSE, in the first posting--and with such insight. The book was just reissued in an expanded and updated form as the companion to the Oscar-nominated German film of 2005, "Sophie Scholl: The Final Days." A 2nd new edition is available any day. I do dramatic and inspiring multi-media lectures on this subject across the world. If Charlie's producers read the following, perhaps they'd take up Barker's suggestion for a program. Astoundingly, when you think of Riefenstahl, Sophie and her brother Hans Scholl of the White Rose student resistance were former Hitler Youth leaders who tranformed to become perhaps the greatest heroes of the Nazi resistance. Although unsung in the USA, in Germany in a national month-long TV competition, the Scholls and the White Rose student resistance were recently voted the 4th most important Germans of all time, winning over Goethe, Gutenberg, Bach, Willy Brandt, Bismarck and Einstein! Their resistance was not only the most daring, but also the most inspiring of any offered against Hitler by non-Jews. Their resistance came from a great love of democracy and from a deep-seated Christian humanism. Only 21 at the time of her arrest and beheading at Hitler's personal behest, Sophie Scholl spoke and acted in the name of freedom and humanity. "We will not be silent," their leaflets proclaimed to Germans, "We are your bad conscience--the White Rose will not leave you in peace!" Their words and example have incredible relevance today, with genocide and fanaticism abroad, and the repression of dissent and abuse of our democratic system right here in the USA today. Hitler's secretary, Trude Jungl, offered an insight similar to Horace's. She said she began working for Hitler at about the same age as Sophie Scholl--and realized, therefore, that ignorance and youth was no excuse. Guenter Grass was also an avid youth supporter of the SS when Sophie and the White Rose--the scales dropping from their eyes--decided to reject Nazism and rejoin humanity. As the original founding Historian and curator of New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage, and now Special Projects Curator at the Cinema Arts Centre (LI), I want to thank Horace and offer the suspenseful, dramatic and inspiring story of "Sophie Scholl and the White Rose" to all interested in the book, lectures, or public appearance. This story has been unsung in the USA too long--and today's controversies swirling around the Bush Administration and rising fanaticism abroad demand that we take their message to heart--and take action. Jnewbo@aol.com

Comment by Horace Barker on Tuesday, Jun 19 at 03:56 AM

The interview with Bach about Leni reminded me of another book called Sophie Scholl & The White Rose. I wondered if you had ever done a show on this book, which tells the true story of a small group of non-Jewish students at Munich University who risked their lives to write and publish anti-Nazi leaflets and distribute them in more than a dozen German cities. Ultimately the Nazis executed the students in 1943. The courage and authenticity of the students' lives as contrasted with the void of Leni's story could not be more stark. Mr. Rose, I hope you have already done a show on the White Rose. If not, you need to do it. It is far more deserving of public discussion than the Bach book.