Memories VIIII

The sun was going down quickly, and the night air was chilly. Clutching my thin cardigan around my shoulders, I hurried through the half dark streets, always keeping Sophie in sight. She was hurrying with her head down, not looking at anyone. Rounding a corner, I stopped suddenly. Sophie was entering a book shop. I looked up at the gloomy awning, which was nearly invisible in the waning light. As soon as the door had clanged shut behind Sophie, I sprinted to the entrance, and peered through. Sophie was speaking to the owner. Nodding at her, he pointed a finger to one of the bookshelves, and made a pulling motion with his hands. Sophie walked over and grasped the shelf, pulling it towards her. Suddenly it slid back, revealing a hidden door. Hunching over, Sophie opened the door and entered. The store keeper closed the door behind her, and thrust the shelf back to its original position, and then returned to his post behind the counter. Making up my mind, I reached out and opened the shop’s door. I held my shoulders erect, and walked confidently up to the counter. The man peered suspiciously at me through his thick glasses. Glaring right back, I said

“I’m looking for my friend – Sophie Scholl. We were supposed to meet here to, ah, discuss some classes.” He snorted.

“Listen, lady – I haven’t seen your friend, and if you want to study in my place, come back at more of a reasonable hour. I don’t like keeping these late hours just so stragglers can come in and cram the night before a test.” I was furious. He was outright lying to me now. I had just seen Sophie enter the shop. Glancing at him, with a sneer on his face and his arms crossed over his thick chest, I knew I would get nowhere arguing with him. Finally I huffed

“Fine.” And stomped out of the store. Leaving the building, I sat down on the wall of a building opposite it. I was so tired. I figured I’d just take a little rest before heading home, when suddenly, another shadowy figure sailed past me and into the bookshop. I watched as it talked to the shopkeeper, and then entered the secret passage. Running over to the building, I heard the secret door click. Suddenly, I heard a voice. Looking around, I saw that the streets were completely deserted, and the shopkeeper was keeping vigil at his desk again. The voice started again, from somewhere below me. Looking down, I realized I was sitting on a grate. The faintest of lights was visible below me. Peering down into the gloom, I saw the top of two heads – one of them was speaking.

“Christoph. Finally. Next time, be a little more on time. Sophie has something to tell us,” Said the larger head, gesturing to the smaller one. From this I deduced that the larger person was Hans, and the smaller was Sophie. The person who had just entered was one of their group, Christoph Probst. Other voices jeered at him, and I made out the voices of Alex Schmorell and Traute Lafrenz, others belonging to their clique. Sophie cleared her throat.

“Alright, let’s get to business. I’m now calling to order the fourth meeting of the White Rose Society.” I gasped, clapping a hand over my mouth. That was why Sophie had been so interested in my book title – it had been a contender for the name of her secret society! I had heard about them, of course. They’d distributed numerous anti-Hitler pamphlets. I never suspected that the name of the group and the name of my book being the same were anything more than a coincidence. I pressed my face against the grate, eager to catch every word that was said. Sophie began talking again.

“Though we’ve been doing well with distributing the pamphlets and graphitizing on buildings, I feel as though we may need something special, just an extra kick to get our cause noticed. I’ve had this idea in mind for a while, and I think it will really bring attention to our movement.” A few groans were heard, and Alex said,

“Sophie, just spit it out. Enough with the dramatization. We don’t have enough time for your theatrics.” I could just see Sophie’s answering glare.

“Alright then,” she sniffed, “Here it is. We have to take our pamphlets inside the school and distribute them between classes. People won’t be able to ignore our logic when it is literally right on their front doorstep.”

“Fantastic idea, Soph, absolutely phenomenal! I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of that before!” Hans chuckled. “It’s perfect! All we need is someone to stand guard, someone to make a distraction if anyone who may report us gets near. We must take precautions.” Someone snorted, and said,

“Funny, Hans, it did seem like it could have been your idea. It’s stupid enough. Sophie, I’m surprised at you. Distributing pamphlets during school hours is practically guaranteeing you a spot in jail. And as for precautions, that’s rich, coming from the man who brought his Nazi girlfriend to one of our meetings, and always carries condemning evidence on his person. For God’s sake Hans, must you be a hypocrite all the time?” Hans lunged at the unseen speaker, and from where I was, all that could be heard were a few sickening thuds and some muffled yelling. Other members rushed out of my sight to help the scuffling pair, but their assistance proved to be unnecessary, A thud on the secret door and a few harsh words whispered were enough to silence the brawlers.

Hans stood back underneath me, and continued as though he’d never been interrupted.

“I say it’s a swell idea. I volunteer to distribute the leaflets, and as Sophie thought of the idea, it’s only fair that she gets to go too. As for a lookout, Soph, what about your friend, the pretty blonde one… what’s her name – Beatrix, right? She could stand watch. Just tell her you’re doing a prank, or something. She’ll believe you.” I stiffened in surprise, but Hans wasn’t finished.

“Now let’s have a vote. All in favor raise your hand.” Some movement could be heard from below. Hans fell backwards suddenly, as if someone had thrown him.

“Hey now, what’s that for?” he demanded self righteously. A new head moved into my view. From the angle I was at, I couldn’t see any features on the nameless person below. Hans continued to whine

“And why didn’t you vote yes? I thought you’d agree with the plan!” The figure slowly shook its head.

“No. I don’t. I wholeheartedly disagree.” And then my world fell apart. It wasn’t because I’d just realized that Sophie was waist deep in a plot that could get her and her whole family put in jail – maybe even killed. It wasn’t the fact that she and Hans were now implicating me in this plot that I was sure would lead them to a guillotine of their own making. It was because I knew that voice. The voice that had told me, so many times that it would always be careful, the voice that had told me a hundred times that it loved me. The voice below belonged to Willi Graf.