Student Publications Student Scholarship Spring 2014 “Long Live Freedom!”: Moral Motives Behind the White Rose Resistance Katelyn M. Quirin Gettysburg College Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship Part of the European History Commons, Military History Commons, and the Social History Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Quirin, Katelyn M., "“Long Live Freedom!”: Moral Motives Behind the White Rose Resistance" (2014). Student Publications. 235. https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/235 This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/ 235 This open access student research paper is brought to you by The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The uC pola. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. “Long Live Freedom!”: Moral Motives Behind the White Rose Resistance Abstract This paper examines the motives behind the White Rose resistance group. Active from 1942-1943, the White Rose consisted primarily of university students who produced anti-Nazi leaflets. By examining documents such as letters, diaries, the leaflets themselves, and Gestapo interrogations, the motives of the group are evident. The members resisted the Nazi regime for moral and ideological reasons, specifically in relation to the failures World War II, atrocities committed by Nazis in Poland and the Eastern Front, the restriction on personal rights, and an inner duty to oppose the regime. Keywords The White Rose, Resistance, Nazism, World War II, Propaganda, Regime, Gestapo Disciplines European History | History | Military History | Social History Comments This History Senior Thesis was written for Professor William Bowman's course HIST 418: Nazism in the Spring of 2014.