Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, the leaders of the German youth group Weisse Rose (White Rose), were arrested by the Gestapo for opposing the Nazi regime. The White Rose was composed of university students who spoke out against Adolf Hitler and his regime. During the summer of 1942, Scholl and a friend composed four leaflets which exposed and denounced Nazi and SS atrocities, including the extermination of Jews and Polish nobility, and called for resistance. On February 18, 1943, Hans and Sophie left a suitcase filled with copies of yet another leaflet in the main university building. The pair were spotted by a janitor, reported to the Gestapo and arrested. Turned over to Hitler’s People’s Court', the Scholls, along with another White Rose member who was caught, were sentenced to death. They were beheaded on February 23, but not before Hans Scholl proclaimed 'Long live freedom!'
