It was from watching a movie about Sophie Scholl (I think it must have been “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days”) that I first heard of The White Rose, a non-violent youth resistance group formed in Munich in 1942. Britannica says of its members:

Coupling youthful idealism with an impressive knowledge of German literature and Christian religious teachings, the students published their beliefs in a series of leaflets under the name “the White Rose” (and later as “Leaflets of the Resistance”).

In the movie we meet not only Sophie and her brother Hans, but also friends and other members of The White Rose, one of whom is named “Alex.” A couple of years ago I learned that this was Alexander Schmorell, an Orthodox Christian and co-founder of the group.

There is a very memorable scene — one of only two that I can bring to mind from that film — in which Hans and Sophie are throwing leaflets from the upper story of a university building. They were seen by a Nazi Party member and arrested, on February 18, 1943.

The leaflets were like nothing the Gestapo had ever seen—not rigid ideological tracts aimed at the working classes, but passionate, erudite manifestos that quoted Friedrich Schiller, Plato and Laozi. “The guilt of Hitler and his accomplices goes beyond all measure,” read the group’s fifth leaflet. “Tear up the cloak of indifference you have wrapped around your hearts. Make your decision before it is too late!” –Smithsonian

Hans and Sophie were beheaded four days later, along with medical student Christoph Probst. In succeeding months, many other people were arrested in relation to The White Rose, and among them was Alexander Schmorell, who was executed on July 13, 1943. In 2012 he was glorified in the Orthodox Church as a saint and passion-bearer.

Memory eternal!