everyone should be made to watch sophie scholl...
one of the most powerful and poignant films i've caught this year...
there are just no words to describe the thoughts that were being bottled up in my head...
how far are we willing to go for to stand by our believes?
how much are we willing to sacrifice for our conscious...
in a world that is governed by law and dictatorship...
what is left our our conscious...
are we able to hold on to it?
Sophie Scholl was a student in Munich when the war began...
She and her older brother Hans were horrified at what was happening in their country under the Nazi regime...
along with a few friends and one of their professors...
started a resistance movement called Die Weiße Rose (The White Rose)...
As they met together to discuss what they should do about the Nazi dictatorship, they decided to print up and distribute leaflets...
Each of these leaflets was an articulate condemnation of Nazi dogma, and in the political climate that existed...
it was extremely dangerous to express these views, even privately...
the very first paragraph from the First Leaflet:
"Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be governed without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. It is certain that today every honest German is ashamed of his government. Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one day the veil has fallen from our eyes and the most horrible of crimes - crimes that infinitely outdistance every human measure - reach the light of day?"
They published six such leaflets over the course of 1942 and into 1943...
It was while distributing the sixth leaflet at the University of Munich on February 18, 1943 that Sophie was arrested by the Gestapo...
along with her brother Hans and their friend Christoph Probst...
They were condemned to death on February 22nd and were executed by guillotine only a few hours later...
Sophie Scholl was 21 years old...
"The real damage is done by those millions who want to "survive." The honest men who just want to be left in peace. Those who don't want their little lives disturbed by anything bigger than themselves. Those with no sides and no causes. Those who won't take measure of their own strength, for fear of antagonizing their own weakness. Those who don't like to make waves or enemies. Those for whom freedom, honour, truth, and principles are only literature. Those who live small, mate small, die small. It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you’ll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it’s all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe. Safe?! From what?Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn." ~Sophie Scholl...
only 10 minutes into the movie...
i was sitting at the edge of my seat...
my heart quickened as i saw the tragedy unfolding...
sophie and her brother were distributing their leaflets in the university...
when they were caught by the school's janitor...
in this day and age...
i have to thank all that has been bestowned upon me...
the freedom to think..
the freedom to believe...
the freedom to survive...
the freedom to live...
it is when we look at our past...
we realize how unimportant and frivalous the things in life that we stress over...
it is when we look at our past...
we can change what will happen in the future...
it is when we look at our past...
we know we are living for those people who have sacrificed their lives for their believes...
because of their faith in the future...
to all the sophie scholls past, present and future...
and in everyone of us...
never stop believing...
because if you do...
who will?
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