They were guillotined 72 years ago today. And they deserve remembering

Sophie Scholl's last words were, “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause? Such a fine sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”

Hans Scholl's last words shouted from the guillotine were, ”Long live freedom!”

I can recommend the film made about Sophie Scholl and the White Rose group called "Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage" (The last days)

German literary figure Gunther Gräss recalls his days as a young conscript into the Waffen SS:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/06/04/how-i-spent-the...

One of his peers finds the strength to resist -- and the witnessed struggle is a heartbreak.