She defied the Nazis and paid the ultimate price: why I'm in awe of Sophie Scholl's courage
Novelist Simon Scarrow chooses Sophie Scholl as his history hero
In profile
Sophie Scholl was a German student and political activist in the White Rose, a non-violent resistance group opposed to Hitler. After being observed distributing anti-Nazi flyers at her university, Sophie, her brother Hans and their friend Christoph Probst were found guilty of treason and executed by guillotine; she was just 21.
When did you first hear about Sophie Scholl?
While I was doing research for my Nazi-era novels about a fictional German police detective. I came across the White Rose resistance movement, and that led me to Sophie.
What kind of woman was she?
First and foremost, she was an incredibly brave person – as was her brother Hans [co-founder of the White Rose]. She had a huge amount of integrity and wisdom for someone of her age, and understood what they were up against in opposing the Third Reich. I actually consider her a far more impressive figure than someone like Wilhelm Canaris [the German admiral and military intelligence chief executed for treason just before the end of the war], who was a Nazi for a long time before deciding that he wasn’t.
Sophie realised that she and her fellow White Rose activists were involved in a life-and-death struggle for the soul of Germany
What made her a hero?
First, her realisation that she and her fellow White Rose activists were involved in a life-and-death struggle for the soul of Germany. Most students in Nazi Germany did themselves no good in terms of historical reputation – after all, they led the infamous Nazi book burnings. Sophie was one of a tiny minority of students who stood up to be counted. Second, her diehard courage. She pursued her anti-Nazi activism regardless of the consequences, and died a hero. If only there had been more like her in Germany at that time.
- Read more | Simon Schama on British history if Hitler had beaten Churchill: "The Holocaust would have happened here"
What was her finest hour?
Her refusal to flinch under interrogation or in the courtroom when she and fellow White Rose activists were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death by a Nazi judge, Roland Freisler. Her executioner, Johann Reichhart, who lived until the 1970s, later said that Sophie and her co-defendants were among the bravest people he’d ever put to death.
Is there anything that you don’t particularly admire about her?
I struggle to understand why she became ever more blasé in the way she resisted the Third Reich, openly distributing anti-Nazi leaflets around her university despite knowing the fatal consequences of her actions. By all means oppose the Nazi regime, but do so in the most effective way – and that surely means staying alive. Perhaps she was just resigned to the inevitable?
Can you see any parallels between her life and yours?
No. She was infinitely wiser, smarter and braver than I was at her age. However, I can see parallels between her and Greta Thunberg. If Greta had been around [during the Second World War], I think they would have got on like a house on fire.
What would you say to her if you could meet her now?
I’d ask if she ever considered not making a martyr of herself, instead using greater subterfuge in her fight against the regime.
Simon Scarrow is a British author known for his historical fiction. His latest paperback, A Death in Berlin (Headline), is out now
This article was first published in the January 2026 issue of HistoryExtra magazine