WOMEN WITH A VOICE

By student T. A

When we learn of the Holocaust we are rightly taught about the classic villains and victims, yet we seldom learn of the selfless people who attempted to use their voice for good. There are numerous examples of forgotten people who chose to resist the harsh Nazi regime and sacrificed themselves in order to save another.

Sophie Scholl was a German political activist who became an influential member of an anti-Nazi group called the White Rose. The White Rose was initially set up by Sophie’s brother, Hans Scholl, who like Sophie was a student at the University of Munich. Hans along with some like-minded friends began to create a strategy of passive resistance through which they published leaflets, four of which were distributed in the summer of 1942. Sophie mistakenly learned of her brother’s activities but became greatly influential to the overall success of the group. Sophie, unlike the other boys within the White Rose, was unlikely to be stopped by an SS officer due to her gender and size. On 18th February 1943, Sophie and fellow members of the White Rose began to distribute the sixth leaflet. They were seen by the university maintenance man, who was a self-avowed Nazi. Hans and Sophie were taken into the possession of the Gestapo and Hans was found with the seventh pamphlet, but both Sophie and Hans took full responsibility in an effort to protect the other members. Sophie was recorded in the People’s Court where she proclaimed, “Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did.” For Sophie, her part in the resistance against the Nazis regime resulted in her execution along with her brother Hans, and a friend Christoph Probst. Sophie is an example of a woman who stood up against a formidable opposition, and her sacrifice should be remembered as a powerful voice for good. However, passive resistance was not the only method from which anti-Nazi activists stood up for what they believed.

During the World War, Freddie Oversteegen, who joined a Dutch resistance group along with her sister, Truus, and another young woman called Hannie Shcaft, lured, ambushed and killed German Nazis and their Dutch collaborators. Their mother considered herself a communist and taught her daughters the importance of fighting injustice. In 1939, Jewish refugees were taken into the family home which influenced both girls to commit to the battle against Jewish persecution in the future. This battle began in 1940, when German Nazis invaded the Netherlands. In response, the girls and their mother distributed anti-Nazi newspapers and pamphlets. Shortly after the two girls soon became recruited by a commander from the Haarlem Resistance Group in which they were required to sabotage bridges and railway lines. Freddie and Truus then started assassination missions with key targets being the Dutch collaborators of the Nazi regime. It was here that the girls began working with a young woman named Hannie Schaft. All three planned and implemented devious plans to encourage ignorant officers into the woods, where the girls would ambush and kill them. Unlike Sophie Scholl, Freddie and her sister survived the dangerous life they chose to lead in order to do good for others. Hannie however, was not so lucky and was arrested and killed in 1945. With her memorable last words being “I’m a better shot” to her executioner, who only injured her the first time, Hannie demonstrated the remarkable bravery of these women in the Haarlem Resistance Group. Freddie, Truus and Hannie are key examples of resistors who rose to a challenge in order to punish those who persecuted the innocent, and a great example of women who fought back against unprecedented evil.

Holocaust Resistors deserve to be discussed more in our community spaces and learnt about in schools throughout the world. The way in which they used their voices and actions can be lessons for emerging generations to stand up to injustice and persecution.

Personal note from T. A:

Through my time learning of the Holocaust, I was given the privilege of witnessing (live) a Holocaust survivors testimony, an honourable gentleman named Manfred Goldberg. The testimony that in turn triggered my own research into the way in which we can learn from the people who didn't stand around and watch as innocent lives, families and entire futures were taken away. When listening to Manfred’s testimony one particular phrase stuck with me, “Silence helps the villain, never the victim”. So as you go out into daily life consider the impact your voice could have on someone else’s life.

Edited by Mr L. M. Potts