CFP: Biographical, specific to White Rose resistance

The following are the biographical topics on the subject of White Rose or German resistance we would like to see researched in-depth - in strictly alphabetical order, not in order of priority or interest. Reminder that we accept queries for short-short essays, white papers, and short or long book treatments.

Note: WR-Other means the CFP could apply specifically to the person's connection to White Rose resistance, or their life as a whole. Should you find that people we currently deem "only" White Rose hold significance well outside the scope of those activities, please let us know! We would welcome expanded horizons.

Heinz and Willi Bollinger. Two of the almost-faceless White Rose members who seem to have led fascinating lives, and whose friendship meant a great deal to Willi Graf.
Borchers and Hartert (MDs).Both have long been touted as like-minded to the White Rose resistance efforts. But we have our doubts, due to their high-ranking medical positions during the Third Reich, as well as due to the problematic backgrounds of those who serve as their character witnesses. ("You scratch my back, I will scratch yours...") If we know more about them, then we will know more about the individuals who claimed that Dr. Borchers and Dr. Hartert were anti-Nazi. WR-Other.
Professor Bumke. He is not completely unknown in American circles, as one of the most famous biographies of Prof. Bumke was written by an American. However, several people we interviewed sat through Prof. Bumke's lectures and disagreed with the positive portrayal of him as a closet doubter or dissident. It may be time for a review of conventional wisdom. WR-Other.
Rudolf Degkwitz. He was the de facto leader of a resistance cell in Hamburg. Huge influence on Traute Lafrenz. (A White Rose note: Hamburg resistance was predecessor to, not successor of, the White Rose group in Munich.) His writings survived the war, yet relatively little is known about him, though post-war he became a fairly famous medical doctor. WR-Other.
Harald Dohrn. Usually referred to as the father-in-law of Christoph Probst. However, Dohrn's influence on Christoph Probst has been marginalized, when it should have been emphasized. He was a dissident long before there was a White Rose. Hellerau! WR-Other.
Klaus (alternately Claus) Dohrn. May be one of the most fascinating people on this list. Published an anti-Nazi newspaper in the 1930s and was forced to emigrate to England. WR-Other.
Manfred Eickemeyer. He was allowed to write his own "history" post-war, because of his White Rose arrest for lending them his studio. But: What kind of work did he do for the Generalgouvernement? Is it even possible to figure out where he really stood politically? WR-Other.
Wilhelm Geyer. Only if you have new material. While there is very little English-language material about him, and while he is "the invisible man" in White Rose circles, his life has been thoroughly documented by German art historians. (Note: He and his family are among our favorites!) Book-length treatment should include as much as possible about the political activities that caused Julius Streicher to label him Germany's most dangerous artist.
Robert Gradmann. A Hirzel grandfather - prominent citizen of Württemberg.
Gerhard Graf (Willi Graf's father). Specifically more about his role in the establishment of the Nazi Party in the Saarland. We know generally what he did, because Willi's attorney used Gerhard Graf's ardent and tangible support of the NSDAP in the Saarland as part of his clemency proceedings. (And Willi then refused the clemency offer he was given.) It could only be enhanced by comparison of that record to primary source materials, e.g. the lawsuit that the League of Nations filed against the NSDAP for a Watergate-type infraction that took place in Graf's Gasthaus. WR-Other.
Pastor Ernst Hirzel, father of Hans and Susanne Hirzel, and pastor of the Martin-Luther-Kirche in Ulm. The journal he kept throughout the war has never been published, though the church still has the original. We know that Ernst Hirzel signed the Bonhoeffer/Niemoeller confession even after it meant financial hardship and loss of status, yet he did not like or approve of their "radical" actions. Understanding him could go a long way to comprehending the psyche of the many fence straddlers in Germany under Hitler.
Hans Hirzel. Could be a two-parter: To 1945, and post-war. He is probably the single most puzzling person associated with the White Rose story.
Walter Hirzel. According to Susanne Hirzel, he went from being a nationalist who supported Hitler, to a nationalist who was fired for opposing Hitler's views. Is this an accurate portrayal of his life? His biography would also add knowledge to the operation of the Gau, since his political career was on the state - not national - level.
In-depth interviews with Jewish families who told their stories in Zeugnisse zur Geschichte der Juden in Ulm. (Most live in the USA, a few in Israel.) If you do not have access to this book, please contact us. We will look up the families who live in your region. We will list names and "assignments" as they are spoken for. WR-Other.
Marcia Kahn, primarily her assistance to Inge Scholl during Inge's fundraising tours throughout post-war America, and subsequent falling out with Scholl. Understand Ms. Kahn could contribute to understanding U.S. apprehensions (both during the war and after it) about those who were or who claimed to have been part of the resistance. WR-Other.
Keller, Prior of the Benedictine Cloister in Beuron. The description of this man comes from an unreliable source, so you may find he wasn't that at all. He has also been held up as someone who was anti-Nazi, but we have our doubts. WR-Other.
Hermann Krings. Friend of Willi Graf. After the war, philosophy professor. He participated in Neudeutschland, but did not join White Rose efforts. Yet he was safe haven for Willi Graf. A thorough biography of Krings could help us understand those who agreed with resistance efforts, but who chose not to participate.
Traute Lafrenz. One of our personal favorites (for her life both then and now), much too little is known about her.
Trude Maisch-Schefold, Ulm. She was "just" a music teacher (Hans and Susanne Hirzel), but she made an enormous impression on their lives. Interestingly, Maisch-Schefold also taught according to the Dalcroze Method; Harald Dohrn was the other educator associated with the White Rose who did so. An interdisciplinary application of this biography could be the study of Dalcroze methodology in the Third Reich. WR-Other.
Bishop Meyser of Bavaria. A religious leader who was not unnoticed by White Rose students. WR-Other.
Robert Mohr. Looking for specific information about his Einsatzgruppen activities. What career path did he take in the NSDAP? How was he able to convince people post-war that he was a sympathetic character when he definitely was not? Book length treatment should deal with the light judgments handed down to Gestapo agents in post-war trials. To understand more about the reasons he is problematic, check out his post-war memorandum.
Carl (alternately Karl) Muth. Before, during, and after his association with a few "members" of the White Rose. Most references to Muth focus solely on his mentorship of White Rose students, yet the man had lived a full and meaningful life before he met Otl Aicher.
Any of the Nathan family from Ulm: Especially August (father), Luise, and Erich. Could be combined with a biography of the Dannhauser family, since Nathans were a liberal, assimilated German-Jewish family, while Dannhausers were shomer Shabbat. Life in Ulm and emigration to England (and Israel for the Dannhausers) should be focal points. WR-Other.
Hermann Ramdohr. He resigned his judicial position after Hitler came to power and in so doing strongly influenced Lilo Ramdohr (whom the Nazis deemed one of the more dangerous people in the White Rose). Yet little is known of his life. WR-Other.
Professor Fritz-Joachim von Rintelen. The real story, not the Wittenstein legend. WR-Other.
Gisela Schertling. The betrayal and the redemption. She was single-handedly responsible for most of the White Rose arrests, yet in prison she recanted and was nearly single-handedly responsible for the acquittals at the third White Rose trial on July 13, 1943. After the war, she dedicated her life to atonement. - Since her father published the local newspaper in Pöβneck-Thüringen, there should be a good or at least decent paper trail about her life as child and teenager.
Günther Schmich. The story of a so-called "half-Jewish" Catholic priest during the Third Reich has got to be worth telling, especially since he was Willi Graf's friend. WR-Other.
We want a riveting, "unauthorized", well-researched, biting, nailed-down, kryptonited biography of Inge Scholl. If you think you are up to this, we will require an X-Ray of your backbone, proof of insurance, and a DNA sample + dental records. You watch Law & Order. You know why.
And we can tell you right now: Anyone who will research the life of Werner Scholl in-depth is "in"! It is very odd that the first Scholl to practice active resistance has been completely ignored by Inge. And by White Rose establishment.
Katharina Schüddekopf. Like Bollingers, Käthe has been anonymous too long. According to Traute Lafrenz - who counted her among her dearest friends - she was far more important to White Rose than has been reported so far (and some of those activities are in Ruth Hanna Sachs's White Rose History, Volume II). Who was this brilliant young woman?
Josef Söhngen. And not just White Rose activities. Like Eickemeyer, he got to write his own autobiography post-war. His proclamations of dissidence and affiliation with White Rose do not seem to mesh well with how he was known during the war. Many open questions remain about this enigmatic gay man who seemed to be a magnet for those in the White Rose (and outside the White Rose) who repressed their "illegal" sexual orientation.
Bishop Sproll of Rottenburg. We know only that he was evidently a "rogue priest" - and nothing more. Was he really? WR-Other.
Ernst Wiechert. With special emphasis on his 1935 speech in Munich. How well did he operate in Nazi Germany? His works were not completely banned. We need to know more about this fence-straddler. Or was he truly a dissident? WR-Other.
Bishop Wurm of Württemberg. In Susanne Hirzel's memoirs (Vom Ja Zum Nein), Bishop Wurm seems to vacillate between courage and cowardice. WR-Other.