Oh! The Places You'll Go!: Munich, Sophie Scholl & The White Rose

The Gold Line in Viscardigasse, Munich *1)

While we have 'freedom trail' in Boston, we have another famous trail in Germany

: The Gold Line in Viscardigasse, Munich.

Hitler established a monument for the 16 Nazis who died in a battle, and made a law to force the citizens to salute in the way of Nazis in front of the monument. As an act of resistance, some citizens in Munich did not pass the way where the monument was, but chose to take a side way, namely, Viscardigasse. Munich later painted the trail in gold to commemorate the spirit, which became The Gold Line as you can see in the photo. *2)

Speaking of civic resistance against the Nazis, there was a famous student resistance movement known as 'The White Rose.' The White Rose distributed leaflets accusing the Nazis of unjust acts. The movement was first started by Hans Scholl and his friends, but Sophie Scholl wanted to join and fight together for the cause. The Scholl's brother and sister, Sophie Scholl and Hans Scholl, are well-known for their courage and strong conviction for justice. *3)

Sophie Scholl (1942) *4)

One day in 1943, Sophie Scholl and her brother, Hans Scholl, were putting some leaflets in the building of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich before going to class, but got caught, and put to death penalty by the court that the Nazis had a strong influence on. *3)