Purpose, Preparation, and Methodology

If you have read more than one or two "histories" regarding White Rose resistance, you will have noticed that the telling is almost always Scholl-centric. Even when the lens expands to include a few other friends, the telling airbrushes out the flaws. The reader sees porcelain skin, perfect hair, noble stature, clear eyes, and true hearts.

Indeed, our first drafts followed that pattern.

Following the initial 3-1/2 months in Germany, interviewing people who had not talked before, reading both known archives such as Gestapo interrogation transcripts as well as lesser-known city archives, a clearer view of the group of friends emerged. The surviving family members we talked to urged us to tell that true story. They too had grown weary of seeing brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, children painted in unrealistic tones.

So here is our detailed description of our purpose for writing these histories, the preparation we undertook, and our methodology in determining veracity of oral histories and written documents.

We always welcome your feedback!