Sophie Scholl

The above is the name of a young woman who resisted the Nazis during the war. There are many examples of such in the history books, but Ms. Scholl was different to many of those in that she was German, and attending University in Munich in 1943 when events came to a head. I must confess that I am quite a student of the Second World War and yet hers was a story that I was unfamiliar with. And now I know the details I feel a little ashamed about that.

The story was made into a film three times, most recently in the Oscar nominated 2005 version pictured to the left and which I saw for the first time earlier this week. I shan't go into many details of the plot as it's best to discover it for yourselves, but I would urge everyone reading this blog to see it. This is for two reasons, firstly because it is an excellent, thoughtful and beautifully made film. In these days where Transformers 2 is the highest grossing film of the year it's nice to be reminded of how subtle, intelligent and moving cinema can still be. But secondly and most importantly, this is a story that needs to be told, re-told and remembered.

Sophie Scholl and her brother deserve to be remembered as heroes, and very brave ones at that. And we must also never forget the unspeakable cruelty of the Nazi regime, even to its own citizens. It disturbs me when I see that the Nazis have almost become comedy villains, with silly voices and funny goose steps. This film will remind you of what cold hearted, dead eyed monsters they were. This isn't a period of history that any of us would want to repeat, and that's why it must be remembered so accurately.