Hans Hirzel

Hans Hirzel (30 October 1924 – 3 June 2006) was a German resistance fighter. He was a member of the Ulm high school graduate group around which the White Rose resistance group formed.[1]

Early life

Hans Hirzel, the son of the pastor Ernst Ulmer Hirzel, was born in Untersteinbach, Germany, on 30 October 1924.[2] He was the younger brother of Susanne Hirzel, who was childhood friends with Sophie Scholl. His family moved to Ulm, where Hirzel's family quickly became best friends with the Scholl family. While Hirzel was closer in age to Sophie Scholl,[3] he became good friends with Hans Scholl, who he greatly admired.[4]

Work in the White Rose

"Hans Hirzel liked to visit the Scholl house to listen to Robert talk about what was going on in the world and to be around Hans Scholl, whom he looked up to and admired. Quick to grasp the implications of what he heard, Hans Hirzel early felt the same rumblings of rebellion that had seized Hans Scholl. In his own way and own time, he came to the same conclusion: Something has got to be done."

— Excerpt from “A Noble Treason” by Richard F. Hanser

After hearing of the White Rose from Hans Scholl, Hirzel, with schoolmate Franz J. Müller and his sister Susanne, began a group based on the White Rose. This group would receive the leaflets of the White Rose, which they would then copy and distribute in Ulm and the surrounding areas.[5][6][7]

In 1943, he was arrested by the Gestapo, but was initially released again. After his release, Hirzel went to Hans and warned him that the Gestapo had files on him and his sister Sophie. Hirzel suggested that Scholl escape before he was captured by the Gestapo, but Scholl did not flee, as there was no way to leave Munich without endangering his family.[3][8]

Hirzel, along with his sister Susanne, were arrested again shortly after the Scholl siblings' capture on February 18, 1943.[5] At his trial on 19 April 1943, Hirzel was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released when the Nazi Dictatorship fell in May 1945.[1]

Death and legacy

Hirzel died, after a long serious illness, in Wiesbaden in June 2006. His grave is located in Wiesbaden-Dotzheim in the forest cemetery there. His name is featured on the memorial to the White Rose members in Ulm.[4]

References
  1. Stern, Fritz; Hanser, Richard (1979). "A Noble Treason: The Revolt of the Munich Students against Hitler". Foreign Affairs. 58 (2): 426. doi:10.2307/20040455. ISSN 0015-7120. JSTOR 20040455.
  2. "Hans Hirzel". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  3. Bush, Elizabeth (2016). "We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler by Russell Freedman". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 69 (8): 414–415. doi:10.1353/bcc.2016.0312. ISSN 1558-6766. S2CID 201771219.
  4. "Hans Hirzel". Spartacus Educational. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  5. Scholl, Inge (2011). The White Rose : Munich, 1942-1943. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0-8195-7272-1. OCLC 767498250.
  6. Staff, CWRS (8 April 1943). "The indictment". White Rose History: January 1933 - October 1943. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  7. "German Resistance Memorial Center -15 The White Rose". www.gdw-berlin.de. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  8. Newborn., Jud (2017). Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. Oneworld Publications. OCLC 1038628416.


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