The White Rose - Albert Klestadt

 
I was sent this fascinating essay by an occasional reader.  The document was found among the effects of Klestadt after his death.  It is quite applicable in the present circumstance when there is much loose talk about killing Qathafi.  pl

Download White Rose Second Prtg

Albert Klestadt (1913 -2006) a former intelligence officer and student of Military History.

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/WORLD-OBITS/2006-06/1149434647

 

Comments

[par4]

For anyone who found this informative and compelling I suggest reading Hans Fallada's 'Every Man Dies Alone'.

[Michael Singer]

Anyone who found this post compelling may also want to read, "The Red Orchestra," which is the story of the Rote Kapelle by Anne Nelson who teaches at Columbia.
Michael Singer

[zanzibar]

What has intrigued me is the apparent ease with which dissent was crushed in Germany. And how large segments of the population were quite capable of becoming part of a machinery that supported the tyranny and ultimately destroyed their country.

The White Rose notes how heroic even some of the smallest acts of conscience were during those dark times. What was it about the German security apparatus that they seemed to be able to penetrate most plots and "subversives"?

Pat has noted that we Americans don't like to dress up so is it possible for our society to fall in line with the tune of a demagogue under a climate of fear? I remember observing with much concern in the lead up to Iraq in 2002/2003 how any dissent was labeled "anti-American". What is anti-American anyway?

[Dick]

Like I commented a few years ago here,when Cheney (yes, the VP) threatened to call out the troops to prevent peaceful protest on the Mall, it may be time for the second burning of the White House.
Well easy for me to say, in this great country of freedom. This writing of German WWII resistance is chilling, in that it shows what a tremendous challenge it is to battle ultimate imposition of power in ones' own country.
I would have long been "taken care of" after uttering the above words.
Let us appreciate - and assist? - those in the ME going up against the Libyan tyrant.

[Ken Hoop]

http://niqnaq.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/two-photos-that-say-it-all/

Speaking of which-the long arm of the American Police State.

[Fred]

Ken,

Police State? Seems thousands were okay in Wisconsin:
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/17/wisconsin-protests-swell-photos-and-video/

[seydlitz89]

I would add a few points for clarification as to the situation in Nazi Germany up to 1939-

The Nazis established scores of "Wild Concentration Camps" throughout the county in 1933 in which thousands were held and brutalized only to be released again with a warning . . .

There were instances of SPD or trade unionists shooting it out with the SA "auxiliary police" as in Berlin Köpenick and elsewhere, they didn't all go down without a fight.

Many who was categorized as "questionable" in terms of political reliability were called to military service in September 1939, thus putting them under military control

[par4]

Fred; Wisconsin is about public employee unions which the police belong to. When Gov.Walker talked about calling out the National Guard it was pointed out that many members of it were public employee unionists in their civilian life.

[William R. Cumming]

Thanks PL for posting. Very informative. And as previously mentioned in my comments and this blog and tragically--the great lessons of the 20th century and its violence is the way Hitler and Stalin have taught theirs and all future generations how a nation-state can use it system to control, punish, and put-to-death dissenters. Those teachings and ethnic cleansing are the real permanent lessons of the 20th Century IMO. We still don't know all we should about how those internal security operations were so successful but this piece gives some insights. And those who think that there are no students hoping to put to use those "lessons" could not be more wrong including in the USA. Sic Semper Tyrannis.

[par4]

So true WRC. This country has gone from Nixon's breaking and entering crew,which forced his resignation, to Bush's torture regime. This alone should be ample evidence that we are in deep political peril.

[William R. Cumming]

par 4! When I applied to Duke Law School the Dean (a Bowdoin Man) toured me around the Law School building. They offered me a small scholarship. I turned Duke down largely because on of my STATE'S law schools was cheaper.
But perhaps not just money. The Dean pointed out the window that Nixon had entered into the building from in order to either edit his grades or see them in advance. That stuck in my craw as to exactly what the DEAN was thinking in pointing that window out to me. DUKE is an excellent law school much larger than when I applied and one center for the study of National Security Law. A field developed to focus on the establishment and operations of the National Security State which continues to grow unchecked in American life. SCOTUS will probably not be a help in checking that growth this decade because they have no background in the types of civil military issues that are the foundation of that National Security State. It is fascinating to me that even in German there is so little analysis of civil military issues during the NAZI regime.

[Mongoose]

I would point out to SST correspondents that Inge Scholl, younger sibling to Hans and Sophie, wrote a poignant book on the activities and the resistance of the White Rose circle. Their father despised Hitler well before 1933 and refused to allow his children to join the Hitler Youth until he was threatened with imprisonment. Members of the White Rose group were undoubtedly quite brave (I wouldn't say naive, for if I remember correctly Hans and/or Sophie actually threw hundreds of leafets off a balcony on campus, knowing full well the consequences of such a public act of resistance).