by Karen Castellon, AWC Berlin
Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans (right)March is Women’s History Month in the United States. We celebrate the achievements and contributions of women throughout history ‒ and not just the notables who you can already name off the top of your head.
Here in Germany, we celebrate the bravery of a young woman who was voted among the top ten “most important Germans of all time” in a nationwide competition in 2003 and scored higher than notables such as Bach and Albert Einstein.
On this date in history, February 22, 1943, non-violent activist Sophie Scholl, along with her brother, Hans, was beheaded by guillotine after being found guilty of treason. The crime: distributing anti-Nazi leaflets at their university in Munich, Germany. They were part of an organization called the White Rose. Sophie Scholl was only 21 years old when she died.
Sophie was voted “the greatest woman of the 20th century” by readers of Brigitte, a German women’s magazine, in 2003. On May 9, 2014, Sophie Scholl appeared in the Google Doodle in Germany on what would have been her 93rd birthday. (Too bad that Google chose to only use the doodle for her home country.)
What woman is prominent in your country, either today or in history?
Will you write a brief biography so the rest of us can learn about women who are famous in their own places of origin?