'The White Rose' tells story of incredible courage in face of evil

There is a line in the “The White Rose” that not only sums up what the play is about, but applies to the many atrocities human beings have witnessed throughout history.

“If you don’t have the courage to speak up, then you are just as bad as the people that are doing it.”

Each year, the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and Prime Stage Theatre join forces to produce a play that enables people to have a deeper understanding of the atrocities of genocide. This year’s play is a virtual performance of “The White Rose,” the story of a handful of brave students and a teacher who led a national resistance movement in Germany against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.

The performance, recorded in front of a live audience at the New Hazlett Theater on April 14, dramatizes the life of 21-year-old German university student Sophie Scholl, who was put to death for her anti-Nazi activities with the nonviolent, underground resistance group called “The White Rose.”

She was executed, along with her brother Hans, by guillotine on Feb. 22, 1943 – four days after their arrest. The siblings and their friends Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willie Graf – all college students at the University of Munich – and their professor Kurt Huber were the driving forces behind the resistance group.

The play can be seen virtually from now through May 8. It was directed by Art DeConciliis and stars Julia Paul as Sophie and Jared Lewis as Hans.

“The story goes along with the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh’s mission of not being a bystander when you see something that’s not right,” said Prime Stage Theatre artistic director Wayne Brinda.

“The interesting thing is Sophie Scholl and Hans Scholl were in the Hitler Youth movement and said, ‘Wait a minute, there is something very wrong here.’ And (later) when they were college students, they got together with other kids and said, ‘We’ve got to resist.’ So, they started The White Rose movement under the radar,” said Brinda.

In the summer of 1942, Sophie and the others left leaflets calling for resistance against the Nazi regime. The leaflets began appearing in and around the city of Munich. They were found on trains and buses, in phone booths, theater lobbies and in the mail.

Eventually, the leaflets appeared in other German cities. It was some of the very first overt resistance against the Nazi regime, acts that were considered high treason.

“They were eventually found out and Sophie and her brother were given the opportunity to renounce what they did and they said, ‘No, I did what I needed to do. I’m standing up for my country.’ Unfortunately, she and her brother paid the ultimate price,” said Brinda.

Lauren Bairnsfather, director of the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, said the play is especially relevant today considering Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“In light of what’s happening in the world, it’s always been a relevant story and I think that it will really resonate now,” she said. “How could something like the Holocaust have come out of Germany, such a sophisticated society?

“But there’s also the corresponding question about the people who do the right thing in those circumstances. That’s what the characters in ‘The White Rose,’ the people upon whom the play is based, that’s what they were reacting to,” said Bairnsfather. “They could have gotten by in that sick society. But they decided it was not acceptable. They were heroic.”

Brinda said “The White Rose” is a play that should inspire today’s college students who feel they are too young to wield any power.

“They have power,” said Brinda. “In a positive way, people have more power than they think they do, to band together, to work together, to change something. You can stand up for what you believe. This is an amazing, inspirational play. I’m so glad that we chose to do this.”

A recorded stream of the play is available on-demand through May 8. The link for tickets is primestagecom.anywhereseat.com.