Shattering the German Night: The Story of the White Rose

In 1942, in wartime Munich, a group of medical students calling themselves the White Rose circulated anti-Nazi tracts aimed at fomenting resistance among Germans. ""We will not be silent, we are your bad conscience; the White Rose will not leave you in peace!'' they declared. Within months, the group's calls for sabotage of the Nazi war machine were heard throughout Germany, prompting an immediate Gestapo crackdown that resulted in the trial and execution of the student leaders. In this detailed, dramatic account, Dumbach and Newborn draw on documents and interviews to re-create the stirring outburst of opposition and its sources in the Catholic and existential beliefs of the students. The White Rose tracts, later distributed throughout Germany and occupied Europe, brought hope and encouragement to prisoners and subjugated peoples. (March 24)