Ratzinger
But historians and Jewish groups agree that the pope's wartime record, which was very common to young men of his generation, has little if any significance today . . .
New York Times
Few See Taint in Service by Pope in Hitler Youth
April 21, 2005
"The majority went. That does not make all of them Nazis ... I wouldn't say that Ratzinger made a choice. He rather slipped into the Hitler Youth thing."
Father Rupert Berger, a contemporary
of Ratzinger who refused to join the Hitler Youth
Interview with Newsday
April 22, 2005
Haselbeck said Traunstein responded to Nazism as an ordinary Bavarian town would, and Ratzinger responded like an ordinary resident. "I think it was the normal way for a young man," he said.
Washington Post
Pope's Home Town Walked
a Fine Line Under Nazi Rule
April 22, 2005
Ratzinger insists he never took part in combat or fired a shot, because of a badly infected finger.
The Independent
Pope Benedict: His role in the Nazi years
April 21, 2005
"Resistance was truly impossible."
The pope's brother, Georg Ratzinger
Interview with the Times of London
April 17, 2005
The White Rose Society (German, Die Weiße Rose) was a World War II-era resistance movement in Germany calling for nonviolent resistance against the Nazi regime . . . leaflets were sent out in mass mailings from different cities in Bavaria and Austria, since the members believed that southern Germany would be more receptive to their anti-militarist message.
Wikipedia
White Rose
Last updated March 27, 2005
By the summer of 1942, Hans Scholl and Alexander Schmorell were at the center of a close-knit group of friends who shared the same ideals and interests . . . Hans and Alex were soon joined by Christoph Probst (a level-headed, married soldier and father of three who was loved by everyone who knew him) and Willi Graf (another medical student and a devout Catholic who never joined the Hitler Youth and refused to acknowledge those who did) . . . These friends, sometimes joined by popular philosophy professor Kurt Huber, Jürgen Wittenstein and others, formed the heart of The White Rose.
jlrweb.com
The White Rose
July 2004
Therefore every individual, conscious of his responsibility as a member of Christian and Western civilization, must defend himself as best he can at this late hour, he must work against the scourges of mankind, against fascism and any similar system of totalitarianism . . . Do not forget that every people deserves the regime it is willing to endure!
The White Rose
First Leaflet
1942
"Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare to express themselves as we did."
White Rose member Sophie Scholl
Testimony before a Nazi "People's Court"
February 1943
That afternoon, the prison guards permitted Hans, Sophie, and Christoph to have one last visit together. Sophie was then led to the guillotine. One observer described her as she walked to her death: "Without turning a hair, without flinching." Christoph Probst was next. Hans Scholl was last; just before he was beheaded, Hans cried out: "Long live freedom!"
Jacob G. Hornberger
The White Rose: A Lesson in Dissent
January 1996
"It was possible to resist, and those people set an example for others. The Ratzingers were young and had made a different choice."
84-year-old Elizabeth Lohner,
a resident of the pope's home town
Interview with the Times of London
April 17, 2005
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