Language - German
Genre - Drama, War
**ing - Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs and Gerald Alexander Held
Release - 2005
WWII has given us many tales of heroism and sacrifice. Most of the well-known stories revolve around the 'Axis' soldiers fighting against the evil Nazi empire. There have also been heroes in Germany itself who took on the Nazis in an attempt to save their country or for the sake of humanity. The most well-known movies on such heroism that comes to my mind is the brilliant Oscar winning Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg, and the Tom Cruise starrer Valkyrie. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days is the true story of a anti-Nazi student resistance group 'White Rose' (Weisse Rose), with the focus on one of it's greatest and youngest martyrs, the 21 years old Sophie Scholl. Sophie Scholl, along with her brother Hans Scholl were arrested by the Gestapo while distributing pamphlets denouncing the war efforts of the Nazis in 1943, and imploring the German citizens to join the resistance movement in an effort to save Germany. The Scholl Siblings and a friend Christoph Probst, father of three children, were convicted of high treason by the 'mock' public court and executed the same day. Directed by Marc Rothemund and written by Fred Breinersdorfer, the movie chronicles the last days of Sophie Scholl, from her arrest to her execution, along with her brother Hans Scholl and friend Christoph Probst. The movie was highly praised for it's realistic execution. it won the Silver Bear Awards at the German international Film festival for best Director and Best Actress, and also prestigious Lolas (German Film Awards) in the same categories.

![]() |
From left: Hans, Sophie and Christoph |