The White Rose: Munich, 1942–1943

4. Letter from Else Gebel

DOCUMENT 4. Letter from Else Gebel, November 1946, to the Scholl Family Relating the Events and Scenes of Hans and Sophie ScholPs Days in Prison, February 18 to 22, 1943.* To the Memory of Sophie Scholl. I have before me your picture, Sophie, earnest,questioning, standing alongside your brother and Christoph Probst. It is as if you suspected what a heavy destiny you were to fulfill, which was to unite the three of you in death. February 1943. As a political prisoner, I am put to work in the receiving office at the Gestapo headquarters in Munich. It is my job to register those other unfortunates who have fallen into the hands of the secret police and to record their personal data in the card catalogue which grows larger day by day. For days now there has been feverish excitement among the officials. With increasing frequency at night the streets and houses are being painted with signs, "Down With Hitler'" "Long Live Freedom," or simply "Freedom." At the University leaflets have been found strewn about the corridors and on the stairs. At the prison office there is a marked tenseness in the atmosphere. None of the investigative personnel come from the headquarters to the prison; most of them have been detailed on "Special Investigative Duty." Which of the brave fighters for freedom will they snare now? We who are familiar with the methods of these merciless brutes are torn with anxiety for the people who are daily apprehended. Early on Thursday, February 18, there is a telephone call from headquarters: "Keep a number of cells free for today." I ask the official who is my boss who is expected, and he says, "The painters." A few hours later, you, Sophie, are brought in by an *In 1946 Else Gebel sent Inge Scholl the following detailed account of Sophie's last days and hours. Else Gebel was a political prisoner assigned to work duty at the Prison Administration of Gestapo Headquarters, Munich. She was Sophie's cellmate during the four days and nights that Sophie spent there. Sophie had elicited a promise from her fellow prisoners that they would relay the story of her last days to her parents.—ARS 138 Sophie Scholl official to wait in the receiving room. You are quiet, relaxed, almost amused by all the excitement around you. Your brother Hans was brought in shortly before, and he has already been locked up. Every new arrival must hand over his papers and belongings and then submit to a bodily search. Since there are no female guards in the Gestapo, I have to perform this job. For the first time we stand face to face and alone, and I can whisper: "If you have a leaflet on you, destroy it now. I am a prisoner too." Will you trust me, or do you think that the police are laying a trap? Your quiet, friendly manner allays all suspicion. You are not in the least excited. I can feel my own tension giving way. They must have made a big mistake in bringing you here. For surely this sweet girl with the innocent child's face has never been involved in such reckless acts.—You are even assigned the best cell, which is generally reserved for "deviationist" Nazi bigwigs. Its superiority consists of its having a larger window, containing a small locker, and having white covers on the blankets. In the meantime I am ordered, while under surveillance , to get my belongings from the cell I have been in until now, and I am transferred to your cell. Again we are alone for a moment. You lie on the bed and ask how long I've been in detention and how I am getting along. Immediately you tell me that yours is probably an important case and therefore you will not be able to count on an easy outcome. Again I advise you under no circumstances to admit anything for which no evidence exists. "Yes, that is the way I behaved up to now at the university and at the preliminary examination before the Gestapo," you answer. "But there are so many things that they may be able to find." Steps approach the cell door, you are taken away for interrogation, I am sent to my work. It is now close to three o'clock. Various other students, men and women, are brought in, but some of...