Sophie Scholl: The Real Story Behind German's Resistance Heroine [Hardcover]

Frank McDonough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2009

Sophie Scholl was one of the members of an underground German protest movement against Hitler rule, based at Munich University, during World War II. Drawing on a fascinating variety of sources, including original documents, Frank McDonough tells the dramatic, absorbing, and inspirational story of her brave struggle against the Nazi regime and examines her legacy of heroism in Germany. This important new biography shows that not all Germans blindly followed Hitler’s regime and her refusal to be silent in the face of injustice is a story that deserves to be remembered and honored.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frank McDonough is the author of Chamberlain and Appeasement, Hitler, Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party, The Holocaust, Nazi Germany, and Opposition and Resistance in Nazi Germany.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: The History Press (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752446754
• ISBN-13: 978-0752446752
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brave Woman, September 27, 2009

By 

BOOKLOVER "BOOKLOVER" (GB) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Sophie Scholl: The Real Story Behind German's Resistance Heroine (Hardcover)

Sophie Scholl is the most famous German resistance heroine and was voted 4th in Greatest Germans. This biography tells the story of her short life which ended in 1943 by execution by the Nazi regime for taking part in a group called the White Rose, a group of Munich University students who distributed six leaflets between June 1942 and February 1943. The book draws extensively on Sophie's letters and diaries and I particulary liked the way the author set the book within the context of the history of the Third Reich. The author offered a sensitive and restrained treatment of Sophie. I liked the way the book took me into the life of an ordinary family in Nazi Germany. The period when Sophie was working as a Kindergarten teacher and in Labour Service revealed her personal thoughts very well. The book was very well written and there is no padding here. Every word counts. I particularly enjoyed the very clever ending to the book. I was very pleased that the leaflets were printed and that I could find out what happened to the other members of the group in a seperate appendix. This is a really magical book which takes the reader on a journey through the life of this remarkable young women whose death made her a herione. Overall, I found this a really terrific biography. I would recommend it is read by nyone interested in finding out about the life of an ordinary persion in Hitler's Germany who showed Germans as her sister Elisabeth says 'What Germand should have done during the Nazi era'

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sophie Scholl Biography Book Review, June 2, 2009

By 

Jeanette Stingley (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sophie Scholl: The Real Story Behind German's Resistance Heroine (Hardcover)

I have always been fascinated by the history of World War 2. I think it is because the number of family members I had serve during the time combined with working at an assisted living facility when I was in my early 20's where the majority of the residents were Jewish. I used to love listening to their stories. When author Frank McDonough wrote to me asking if I would like to read and review the book Sophie Scholl: The Real Story of the Woman who Defied Hitler, I of course accepted!

Sophie Scholl was a member of an underground, non-violent protest movement against Hitler's rule in Nazi Germany called the White Rose (die Weisse Rose). Mr. McDonough was offered to read through the diaries, personal letters written by Sophie and the transcript of her interrogation by the Gestapo. He compiled this intriguing biography from information gathered during his reading.

Scholl, a student who was 21 at the time of her death in February 1943, is a legend in Germany. The White Rose movement, which opposed Nazism by circulating thousands of leaflets telling German Christians that they had a "moral duty" to rise up against Hitler, the "messenger of Anti-Christ". The leaflets were dropped between 1942 and 1943 at Munich University. In February 1943 when Sophie Scholl along with her brother, Hans, and friend, Christoph Probst, were beheaded in Stadelhein Prison, Munich, for urging German students to rise up against Nazi terror.

Overall this was an excellent book. The historical events described catch your attention. The relationships between the Scholl children, their parents and various friends of the family is touching. If you don't like reading about historical happenings, this book may seem a little flat when you read it. I was looking forward to reading a great book about Sophie but to me it seemed that the first half of the book focused more on her brother Hans and her boyfriend Fritz and what happened to them while they were fighting in the war.

[...]

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Definitive biography of "Sophie Scholl", July 11, 2009

By 

Robert J. Nuxoll "Bob Nuxoll" (Bayside, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Sophie Scholl: The Real Story Behind German's Resistance Heroine (Hardcover)

Although most Americans know little or nothing about the White Rose Movement, to young Germans the brother and sister, Hans and Sophie" Scholl are the great heroes of the resistence to Hitler. Much romanticized literature of doubtful accuray has been ptoduced for the popular market. This, on the other hand, is by far the most exhaustively researceg historical record of their lives. It is inspiring to see that such an objective account does not diminish their status as heroic figures. This should become part of the cannon on Hitler and the holocaust. It is an equal to Anne Frank's Diary and El;ie Weisel's Night.