White Rose Histories

In 2002, we published Volume I of our White Rose Histories, followed quickly by Volume II.

• Volume I,  Coming Together, covers the period from January 31, 1933 when Hitler came to power, to April 30, 1942, when most who would join forces to become known as the White Rose had finally settled in Munich.
• Volume II, Journey to Freedom, encompasses the days between May 1, 1942 and October 12, 1943, the latter date marking Willi Graf's execution.
• Volume III, Fighters to the Very End, focuses on continued efforts of others to overthrow the Nazi regime, such as Harald Dohrn (father of Christoph Probst) or chemistry students in Munich.

All three volumes bear the sub-subtitle: The Unfinished Story.

In 2008, we published a combined version of these histories on CD-ROM, at the time the most current technology. The CD-ROM version allowed us to add  updated information - clearly identified as updates - as it became available, and provide more in-depth analysis and explanatory passages, without disrupting the flow of the text. We used hyperlinks instead of footnotes or endnotes.

But now, we need your help. We want to convert the Ultimate CD-ROM into technology more appropriate for The Twenties - for twentysomethings who communicate so differently, and for the 2020s, when technology keeps moving at such a rapid pace, it's hard to keep up. How can we publish the combined histories in the best possible way? Note, we have thought about Kindle or Google Books, but it's challenging to add updates as needed. 

Please contact us with your thoughts and suggestions.

Finally, if you are new to Center for White Rose Studies and Exclamation! Publishers, a word of explanation regarding the "style" of these histories. Our goal has been to create a historical narrative that is 100% accurate, verified and verifiable, a historical narrative that relates what happened without glossing over human imperfections or uncomfortable truths. At the same time, the White Rose histories were written as if the author were sitting in the same room with a 20-year-old college student and telling the story of what made these teenagers see through National Socialism, what drove them to a willingness to live as outsiders, and eventually to offer their lives for the crazy notion that liberty and justice matter. And not just for Aryans. For all.

We do have an "academic version" of the histories to make those of you who educate our young people happy. The academic version is sufficiently dry and prosaic, footnoted to the billionth degree, because what we write is not what you will read in the standard White Rose history. We want to convince our worst skeptics.

But the "regular version"? The one for high school and college students? It's fairly conversational. Doesn't skimp on hard facts, hard truths, but not prosaic. Also, once individuals have been introduced, they are referred to by their given names, not by their more bookish family names.

This is a clear tactic in our overall strategy of getting this relatable history into the hands of teenagers and young adults. First, because these students and the adults who joined them were people. They were not born heroes. They fought, argued, they lied to one another, they fell in and out of love. Calling them Traute or Willi or Christl honors their personhood, their humanity that should never be overlooked.

Secondly, to us most of these people are flesh and blood. We were lucky enough to start our research and interviews while they were still alive, and well enough to talk and reminisce. We are relating the story of amazing human beings who held high a torch of honor in a dark, dark era, and we are humbled to know them in all their magnificent frailty.

Please contact us if you want to know more. We enjoy welcoming new friends on our journey.