Bust of Sophie Scholl
Bust of Sophie Scholl

They were college students with lives like WSU students might have today. Some studied medicine and did military service. One had a fiancé. One was a married father of three.

But for the unpardonable crime of speaking out, considered treason in Nazi Germany, the University of Munich students and a sympathetic professor were executed. Their story is the subject of a traveling exhibit, “Die Weisse Rose: The White Rose,” at WSU Libraries’ Terrell Atrium, Feb. 3-March 7, on the Pullman campus.

“Very normal people can undertake very major resistance,” said Rachel Halverson, associate professor of German and Marianna Merritt and Donald S. Matteson Distinguished Professor in Foreign Languages and Cultures. “It’s really ordinary people who can make change happen, believing in doing the right thing.”

Find out more about the White Rose movement educational events at WSU.