THE WHITE ROSE

In Honor of the 70th Anniversary of the Munich Students Movement – Die Weiße Rose – 2nd Leaflet

Someone asked me, why bring this up now? Why remind ourselves of things better forgotten?
First, because it is after all, the 70th anniversary of an heroic event, and what we remember makes us who we are, makes us the people we wish to be.

Secondly, of course, it is because throughout history there are lights, great beacons in the dark seas of time, that stand out for us as examples of what it is to be human. Such examples are frequently not ‘successful’ in the estimation of the world. More often than not they give up their lives, one way or the other, in quiet or with some notice, but often for the sake of their conscience.

Sometimes they even die ignobly, flanked on the right and left by common thieves. We are so perverse and low in our thinking, in our expectations for ourselves, that if Mother Theresa or Dorothy Day had given up their great work for the poor and the dying, and left to become an actress in Hollywood, we would smugly say, ‘oh, well that is only human.’

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