Women in Nazi Germany were expected to be housewives and mothers. Women, like Sophie Scholl, who resisted the system and these roles paid with their lives.

When the National Socialists led by Adolf Hitler seized power in 1933, the image of women was dictated by the political leadership. First and foremost, women were to become mothers and give birth to future soldiers for the Nazi empire. But there were women who rebelled and resisted; and the penalty for this was death. One of these women was Hilde Coppi, who together with her husband Hans belonged to the communist “Red Orchestra” resistance group. They were arrested and executed together with their colleagues. One of the best-known German resistance fighters was a student, Sophie Scholl. Together with her brother Hans and fellow students, she founded the “White Rose” group in Munich. In February 1943, the group was discovered distributing leaflets at the university. After lengthy interrogations by the Gestapo and a trial before the People’s Court, Sophie and Hans Scholl – together with their colleague Christoph Probst – were sentenced to death and executed shortly afterwards.