MoonglotexasAmanda Barratt’s novel “The White Rose Resists” is inspired by true events that take place during World War Two in Germany. It is as eye opening as it is heartbreaking, thoroughly captivating and harrowing.
Annelise and Kirk are added, as fictional characters, to a cast of real-life heroes who stand up against the Nazi regime through their leaflets which dispute the government’s war propaganda and share the true horror of the treatment of Jews and those who fight back.
“My footsteps on the cobblestones are too loud. My heart drums inside my ears. What if I’m stopped? Searched? They’ll read the words we’ve written to rouse our deaf countrymen and call it sedition. It will mean arrest. Imprisonment. I can’t think beyond that. If I do, I might stop walking altogether.”
From “The White Rose Resists” by Amanda Barratt
My school education focused a lot of our time on World War Two but from the Allies perspective and to read about how the Germans felt, trapped in their homeland, silenced and abused, helpless to aid friends and neighbours is fascinating and chilling. I had never seen this side before.
“My vater is one of the few Confessing Church pastors remaining—a dwindling group of dissidents who refuse to bend to Reich Church policies. A crucifix, rather than a portrait of Hitler hangs on the chapel wall, a Bible, not a copy of Mein Kampf, rests on the altar in the run-down building Vater rents for services.“
From “The White Rose Resists” by Amanda Barratt
As one can imagine, the Nazi government does not respond kindly to what amounts to treason in their eyes and the ending is so sad. Whilst the impact of these brave young activists lives on, the loss of their lives is tragic.
Despite the pain and the anguish, the book is one of hope. It is filled with Christian insights and the belief that good overcomes evil. The leading characters each have a deep faith born of wrestling well with God over the atrocities of war. As we face COVID-19 around the world, I was encouraged by their testimony that through all this we will triumph,
It is beautifully written, keeping me hooked on every word from the start. This is one that will live with me for a long while. It’s a five out of five on the enJOYment scale!
From the back cover:
Inspired by the incredible true story of a group of ordinary men and women who dared to stand against evil
The ideal of a new Germany swept up Sophie Scholl in a maelstrom of patriotic fervor–that is, until she realized the truth behind Hitler’s machinations for the fatherland. Now she and other students in Munich, the cradle of the Nazi government, have banded together to form a group to fight for the truth: the White Rose. Risking everything to print and distribute leaflets calling for Germans to rise up against the evil permeating their country, the White Rose treads a knife’s edge of discovery by the Gestapo.
Annalise Brandt came to the University of Munich to study art, not get involved with conspiracy. The daughter of an SS officer, she’s been brought up to believe in the Führer’s divinely appointed leadership. But the more she comes to know Sophie and her friends, the more she questions the Nazi propaganda.
Soon Annalise joins their double life–students by day, resisters by night. And as the stakes increase, they’re all forced to confront the deadly consequences meted out to any who dare to oppose the Reich.
A gripping testament to courage, The White Rose Resists illuminates the sacrifice and conviction of an unlikely group of revolutionaries who refused to remain silent-no matter the cost.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Independent Publishers Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
