Journey to the White Rose in Germany [Paperback]

Ruth Bernadette Melon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2007

In Munich 1942-43, handbills appeared-some in mailboxes-some left secretly on parked cars-others still, surfaced in city phone booths. The words condemned Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime and called Germans to passive resistance. The message, penned and distributed by a handful of student-soldiers and other youthful associates who had come of age during the twelve-year catastrophe of the Third Reich, hoped to stir the conscience of a nation. The regime had tempted them with promises of power and prosperity. In time, the youths made their way through a labyrinth of propaganda, confusion, and personal conflict, arriving at the threshold of their own inner convictions-a passage bringing them to a destination called the White Rose. Among the recipients of the Leaflets of the White Rose were teachers the group hoped would spread the call to resistance. A university professor accepted their challenge. Sixty years later, an American teacher felt compelled to learn and follow the story, not knowing when she began, that it would lead her to the spirit of the White Rose that lives yet today. Along with three fellow educators, Ruth traveled to Germany to dialogue with schools now named for members of the White Rose. On a quiet country lane or a busy city street, teachers toil daily, urging students to think critically, stay informed, and develop skills that will nurture and renew the freedoms the White Rose could only imagine. Journey to the White Rose in Germany is an invitation to encounter a past that inspires the present and the future. Ruth Bernadette Melon recently celebrated more than three decades as a New Jersey middle school educator. During her tenure, she taught Humanities, World Cultures, and writing. Now enjoying the "writing life," she considers herself a life-long learner. Having received a BA in English from Rutgers University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Goucher College in Maryland, she is currently a candidate for a D.Litt degree with a concentration in writing. Ruth was named a 2003 Morris County Teacher Fellow by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Ruth lives with her husband Ira in New Jersey and enjoys the frequent company of her children and the larger family circle.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing, LLC (January 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598582496
• ISBN-13: 978-1598582499
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,956,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Staying true to the arts = FREE THINKING, March 22, 2007

By 

J. G. Harris "Boceef" (Huntington Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Journey to the White Rose in Germany (Paperback)

I must be honest, this book was on my "to read" list, but with spring here, and things warming up, I wasn't ready to digest the honors of such a dark time. HOWEVER, I am about half way through the book right now, and have been finding myself sneaking a few minutes wherever I can to get a few pages in.

This book doesn't waste time on horrific facts we already know. It gets right to untold stories of free-thinkers who refused to crumble to the Third Reich's conformist idealogies. Perhaps the will of Holocaust survivors themselves can only be compared to that of those brave individuals of the White Rose, who risked their lives for the humanity they so strongly believed in.

A great read that transcends the confines of history and speaks to all people who stand by what they believe despite all odds.