It Depends on . . . Me!

Some Christians in Nazi Germany decided action had to be taken against a regime that more and more clearly was recognized as a perpetrator of horrible evils. The White Rose was one such movement in opposition, and its story testifies to the power of conscience and truth. The White Rose was a small group of Christians who wrote leaflets calling for protest against the Nazi state in 1942-3, circulating them anonymously in several German cities. The individuals were caught in 1943 in Munich, and executed immediately. You can read about the White Rose here. There is also a movie about the White Rose, The Final Days.

A key inspiration for the group was the sermon given by Bishop August von Galen, decrying Nazi eugenics practices. The name "White Rose" was taken from a the title of a book banned by the Nazis.

One member, Karl Huber, a university professor in Munich, at his sentencing (they were tried and beheaded the same day) offered this as his motivation:

I acted as an inner voice had me act. . . . I take the consequences upon myself as expressed in the beautiful words of Johann Gottlieb Fichte:

And you must act, as if
On you and your actions alone
The fate of the German matter depends,
And the responsibility were yours.

(quoted from Annette E. Dumbach and Jud Newborn, Shattering the German Night: The Story of the White Rose, at 228.)

Hans and Sophi Scholl's father, Robert, managed to enter the courtroom during their trial. Before being forcibly removed, he shouted, "There is a higher justice!" Ibid, at 209.

Conscience is the voice of higher justice, commanding "you must act" for the fate of all depends on you! Conscience's voice is usually considered a threat by "the powers that be," which want to be the sole, and controlling, voice. Conscience's voice, when spoken in flesh and blood by one who listens, is a martyr's voice, a prophet's voice. It, and only it, makes higher justice visible in this world. But this justice will endure since, in the words of today's gospel (John 12:50), God's law lives eternally.