Student Question
In Hitler Youth, what did Sophie Scholl mean by the "most difficult yardstick" and what standards did she uphold?
Quick answer:
Sophie Scholl referred to the "most difficult yardstick" as the internal moral compass each person must use to determine right from wrong. She believed in following one's inner sense of morality, even when it conflicted with external doctrines, such as those of the Nazis. Scholl upheld standards of justice and integrity, resisting Nazi ideology by distributing anti-Nazi literature with the White Rose group, ultimately sacrificing her life for her beliefs.
Sophie Scholl began to question the tenets of National Socialism, the doctrines followed by the Nazis. She did not believe their ideas about race, religion, and discrimination, and she went on to be part of the White Rose group comprised of students who were opposed to Nazism.
Bartoletti includes this quote by Scholl on page 38 of her book, Hitler Youth. This quote speaks to Scholl's ideas that we have to look inside for the right way to live. Our internal sense of what's right is what can guide us and serve as our "yardstick," or our measure of what's correct and morally right. This is, Scholl thought, the hardest measurement because we have to live with ourselves, and if we do not follow our own internal guidelines about what is right, we will feel corrupted, upset, and less than whole.
Scholl herself used her own internal ideas about what was right by choosing to resist the Nazi ideology and plan. Together with her brother Hans, she distributed anti-Nazi literature in Munich and, as a result, she was executed. Though she knew that resisting the Nazis was dangerous, she was guided by her own internal sense of what was right and wrong and decided to speak out against the Nazis.
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