Lutheran heroine, Sophie Scholl, subject of Academy Award nominee

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service

"Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days" has been nominated for an
Academy Award for best foreign-language film.  Oscar winners will
be named March 5.  The film is based on the true story of a woman
who was executed in 1943 Germany for distributing anti-Nazi
leaflets.  The film stars Julia Jentsch as Sophia Magdalena
Scholl (1921-1943).  The film was released by Zeitgeist Films and
is in German with English subtitles.  It is not rated, but
contains strong language and violence.

Scholl is described in several accounts of her life as a devout
Lutheran who joined the Hitler Youth, but her Christian faith
caused her to question policies of the Nazi Regime.  She and her
brother Hans Scholl formed "White Rose" -- an opposition group
that prepared and distributed leaflets calling for nonviolent
resistance -- with three fellow students and a professor from
Munich University.  All six were arrested, tried, convicted and
executed by beheading.

Links:
"Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days"
http://www.sophieschollmovie.com

Nominated
http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/noms.html

Academy Award
http://www.oscars.org/

Sophia Magdalena Scholl (1921-1943)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Scholl

"White Rose"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose