Sunday, February 22, 2009

...among the thorns...


Greetings from an overcast Chester County Sunday! I hung out with my friend CLS last evening and caught up. We have both been on the run for weeks and I wanted to hear about her job, life, etc. All is well with her I am happy to report. Sometimes the weather makes sense and on this grey, misty morning we could all take a quick moment to think about the brave students who were killed on this day in 1943. They were members of White Rose, a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. Students from the University of Munich, they teamed up with their philosophy professor and became known for an anonymous leaflet campaign, lasting from June 1942 until February 1943. These leaflets called for active opposition to German dictator Adolf Hitler's regime.
The six core members of the group were arrested by the Gestapo and executed by beheading today in 1943. The text of their sixth leaflet was smuggled out of Germany through Scandinavia to the UK, and in July 1943 copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied airplanes, and renamed "The Manifesto of the Students of Munich."

Today, the members of the White Rose are honoured in Germany as among its greatest heroes, since they opposed the Third Reich in the face of almost certain death. Talk about taking a stand for something one believes in. They knew what was going on was wrong and had the courage to do something about it.

I am hoping for nicer weather today as I have planned to spend the afternoon with my nephew. If it does continue to rain that will be ok too. He likes to do indoor things such as painting, playing on the piano and running around with the various animals who also live here. I ordered some more drapery weight fabrics yesterday at the shop and am glad for the Internet. I can check stock and place orders even when there are no humans at those fabric houses. Life can be very good. Less than 70 years ago atrocities were being committed and today we can order fabrics with the punch of buttons. It would have been nice to punch some faces back in Germany. Have a great day. Make it as good a day as possible and maybe even do something for someone that turns out to be white rose worthy.
'Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.' Voltaire