Sophie. ( Born a century ago today, May 9th. 1921)

I press the key.
A face I do not recognise lights up the screen.
A girl with candid eyes,
High chubby cheeks,
                                   roughly scissored hair
Scruffed up by a sudden gust of wind.
                                             A southern girl,
Citizen of the ancient town of Ulm;
Her smile so fierce it could defeat all sorrow,
Disarm all foes,
Force her critics to rewrite their verdicts,
Turn SS Guards to Christ.
Sophie Magdalena Scholl, executed 1943
Because she dared to spell out truth to power,
Tell the Nazis that their war was lost;
Tell out loud the crime of Stalingrad;
Tell out loud the gassing of the Jews.
A girl so honest that even Roland Freisler
Felt the ice of truth skewer through his heart
As she stared back at him and did not waver,
His savage deeds mocked by her gentle words.
Perhaps he was the traitor after all,
Perhaps he was the wrecker of the law,
But he was the judge and therefore must condemn her,
Send her to death at twenty one.

I am ashamed to say that until this Sunday morning
I had never heard of Sophie, or her brother,
Their White Rose Movement that dared to out face Hitler
With Christian Love,
                                  With solid Facts and Reason,
With the fearless honesty of thoughtful youth.
"What we wrote and said is also believed by many others,
They just don`t dare express themselves as we did"
She told Judge Freisler as he screamed the spiteful verdict
And sent her swiftly to the guillotine.-
I was born just two months after she was murdered,
And the freedoms that she cherished built my Europe
Out of the graves and ashes of her era;
Out of the ruined cities, the festering wounds of Auschwitz.
She hoped that through her death thousands would be awakened,
Would face down tyranny with words and actions,
Would outlaw fascism for ever more.
But out of their foxholes and bunkers dark gods are re-emerging,
I hope that I dare face them down as powerfully as she did.


Trevor John Karsavin Potter.
February 10th. - 11th. 2019.

In memory of Sophie and Hans Scholl, young people who made a massive difference.