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Exclamation! Publishers
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White Rose Newsletter: Volume 4, Issue 1 ~ March 31, 2005 Center for White Rose Studies, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania White Rose History Volume II: Journey to Freedom (May 1, 1942 - October 12, 1943) has been released... ...and will start shipping the last week of April 2005. This is the story of what they did once they landed in Munich together, along with the development of affiliated "groups" in Ulm, Freiburg, and Saarbrücken. It's an often painful story, devoid of the sugar-coating the legend has bestowed on White Rose resistance over the last sixty years. Contrary to that legend, they were hardly "of one mind," certainly not in agreement over most religious and political matters. It was very difficult to write the chapters about the rift on February 9, 1943, and the disastrous consequences that arose from that rift. It's one thing to take these marvelous students and the adults who learned from them down from their cracked pedestals. Those pedestals will eventually crumble as real historians and real scholars (even in Germany) become increasingly willing to challenge legend and take on the "establishment." But it was quite another to comprehend the damage done to valuable friendships and longstanding relationships at that February 9 meeting. Though few were directly involved, the ripple effect impacted almost everyone arrested. Does the "rift" detract from the things they did? In no way! Rather, it points out a critical aspect of any attempt at informed dissent, namely how one should react when the movement with which one is affiliated strikes out in a direction that makes an individual uncomfortable. There are no pat answers in this book... I also believe ~ we believe ~ that anyone who reads the chapter about the April 19, 1943 trial will fully understand why the legend has been so harmful to the real story of the White Rose. When you "see" all fourteen individuals standing before Judge Freisler, you finally realize how terrible it is when extant 'scholarship' focuses on two or three people to the detriment of everyone else. It's a powerful chapter, one that moved me in the writing, one that will surely stir you in the reading. As with Volume I, I've tried to put their story in context, describing the specific air raids that affected them or their families, the earthquakes of 1943, and progression of the war. Since what they read and heard and observed made a difference in how they thought, I included as much about those things as possible. Most of the detail is in the academic version only. We think you will be surprised as well by the variety of people who moved in this circle. Some were almost rock-star type celebrities, many were among Germany's intellectual elite. There will be names you may know but never associated with the White Rose. Things you will find in the 863 pages of Volume II that you won't likely find in any other White Rose history:
(Note that our goal for Volume III in the series ~ to be released in 2006/2007 ~ is to track down as many of the 180 "suspects" on the Gestapo's hit list as possible. You read right: 180.) Plans for a research center moving right along! We hope that our next newsletter announces the opening of an official research center where you or your colleagues can benefit from my ten-plus years of digging. It's our most immediate goal, setting up shop where our library of primary (and reliable secondary) sources can be open to the public. That includes but is not limited to archival materials and the Access database, enabling research into German resistance (and eventually all manner of informed dissent) in the original German language or in English translation. If you would like to volunteer time (cataloging and organizing documents, assisting researchers), materials (we will badly need good computer equipment and office furniture once we've got the office space), or money (we have a special "research center" fund for your tax-deductible contributions), we would greatly appreciate it. If possible, the research center will be available free of charge to scholars. Supporting friends Just a quick note on behalf of friends in Munich: The German-Jewish Web site www.hagalil.com has recently lost its government funding (not surprising, considering Germany's high rate of unemployment). Since they provide front-line defense against right-wing extremism in Germany, there's a petition drive underway to ask for reinstatement of that funding. The petition is available online in English and German. Check out what they do ~ don't take my word for it! If you would hate to see them disappear, please take a minute to complete the online petition and voice your support: http://verein.hagalil.org/2005/germany.htm Staff email changes (Center for White Rose Studies) If you've got us in your email address book, please note the changes outlined in our "Contact Us" page. Our old emails will work till the end of May 2005. After that, anything sent to dheap@deheap.com and ruth@ruthsachs.com will bounce. Jason will be developing our middle grade and high school projects, along with anything else he dreams up. We're grateful for his creativity! Web Site Updates Please take a minute to check out our newly renovated Web site! Content has not changed drastically, but we consolidated information in a "FAQs" page. Hope it makes for easier navigation! Please let us know if there's a "FAQ" you'd like to see added. Our online catalog got a facelift too. Now all White Rose items are together at the bottom of the table of contents, but separated by primary sources, my histories, and the like. Again, our goal was to make it easier for you to see what is available. I also (finally) updated my author's Web site, especially the journal and the "special message." Oh, and with a new picture that should look a little more like the 'new me.' Keep us in mind for one or two-day seminars, or even a week-long "for credit" course. We believe that the true story of the White Rose is well-suited for Holocaust lecture series, German-Jewish 'reconciliation' events, interdisciplinary discussion, and plain old inspirational gatherings ~ whether held at a university, college, public high school, synagogue, church, civic center, Hebrew day school, parochial school, or anything in between. Ask us how you can book an event in your town. As usual, we welcome input from our readers ~ praise, critique, questions. Thanks for being part of our lives! Ruth Hanna Sachs, Newsletter Editor. |
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Date of last update: 18 March 2008
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