Christoph Probst
Christoph Probst (November 6, 1919 - February 22, 1943) was a student of medicine at the University of Munich during Adolf Hitler's reign in Germany. During his studies, Christoph Probst became acquainted with Hans Scholl, founder of the White Rose (Weiße Rose) resistance group. Probst and Scholl shared a dislike for fascism, for Hitler, and for the unfair treatment that the Jews were receiving at the time. The "White Rose" consisted of Hans and his sister, Sophie Scholl, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graff, and Professor Kurt Huber. Probst soon became a member, but because of his young family, he was kept from doing anything that could raise suspicion. Probst, along and a member of the White Rose (Weiße Rose) resistance group.
Life
Christoph Probst was blessed by a family who believed in equality, education, and the right for freedom and liberty for all. Christoph's father, Hermann Probst, was Christoph's greatest influence. He shared his ideas about cultural and religious [[Freedom (philosophy)|freedom], and taught his son to treasure these ideas and hold to them throughout life. Hermann Probst earned his living through Sanskrit research. He was also regarded highly as a scholar. Throughout his interactions with other scholars and researchers, Hermann came in contact with several artist that the Nazis deemed "decadent." He was married twice. The first marriage ended soon after it began. His second marriage, to Christoph's mother, resulted in a family. Hermann was a political man, an honest man, and an open man. He shared his ideas with Christoph, and from a young age, Christoph knew the Nazi ideals of an Aryan race were wrong, cruel, and violated human dignity. Christoph's sister, Angelika, remembers how forcefully Christoph opposed the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.
As a young man, Christoph Probst attended liberal and philosophical boarding schools at Marquartstein and Schondorf. The method used in educating the young men did not foster the ideas of the Nazi Third Reich. At the age of 17, Probst completed his Abitur (the test given in Germany that denotes a graduation from secondary education, and ability to enter the university). He was required to offer time in the military service, and afterwards he began his medical studies with great earnestness. Christoph Probst was regarded by the members of the "White Rose" as being very mature for his age. In The White Rose by Inge Scholl, she states, "Christl admired and greatly respected his late father, a self-taught scholar. It may be that his father's early death accounted in large measure for Christl's exceptional maturity. He alone of the group of students was married; he had two sons, aged two and three. For this reason he was carefully excluded from political acts which might bring him into danger." [1]. Christoph's wife was Herta Dohrn.
White Rose
The "White Rose" consisted of Hans, Sophie, Christoph, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, and Professor Kurt Huber. They produced six leaflets in all. The main purpose of their leaflet production was to denounce the rise of the Nazi regime. They began by anonymously mailing the leaflets to doctors, scholars, pub owners and other names that they took from the phone book. Their actions took on a level of more danger, however, when they personally began leaving them on two different campuses, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, where they studied, and the University in Hamburg. They plead with the German citizens to actively resist the measures and tactics that were being used to govern their country.
Christoph joined the "White Rose" resistance group after it had already begun making leaflets. He was careful not to write any of the five leaflets printed because he wanted to protect his family. The members of White Rose put together, printed and distributed, at the risk of their lives, six leaflets in all. On 18 February 1943, the Scholls were distributing the sixth leaflet at the university when they were discovered by the caretaker, who delivered them to the Gestapo.
The only thing Christoph wrote for the "White Rose" was the design for the sixth leaflet that Hans Scholl had in his pocket at the time of his arrest. On February 18, 1943, Sophie and Hans went to the University of Munich to distribute the sixth leaflet published by the White Rose. A member of the Nazi Party, Jakob Schmidt, said that he saw the two throwing leaflets off the third floor of a building, into the courtyard below. Schmidt called for the Gestapo and the two were arrested. They were searched and the police found a handwritten draft of another leaflet in Hans' pocket. The police took this letter from Hans, went to the Scholl apartment until they found the matching handwriting, and issued an arrest for Christoph Probst. Both Hans and Sophie Scholl tried to deny any part that Christoph had in their actions. They begged for his freedom. They asked for clemency during interrogation and the trial for the sake of Christoph's wife and his two little boys, and his newly born daughter. Herta Probst was sick with childbed fever at the time Christoph was arrested.
Death
After intense interrogation, Hans, Sophie, and Christoph were brought before the People's Court on February 21, 1943. The notorious Judge Roland Freisler presided over the hearing. The outcome of the trial declared that all three were guilty of treason and condemned to death. Lawfully, there was a ninety day waiting period before the death sentence could be carried out, enough time to appeal the decision, but the rules were not followed. The three students were executed by guillotine by executioner Johann Reichhart in Munich's Stadelheim Prison. The executions were supervised by the enforcement chief, Dr. Walter Roemer.
Shortly before Christoph was executed, he was allowed a visit from a Catholic Priest. Christoph requested baptism into the Catholic faith; he was probably influenced by the devoutness of his friend, Willi Graf. Shortly after Christoph embraced the Catholic faith, he was executed by guillotine on February 22, 1943 by executioner Johann Reichhart. The executions were supervised by the enforcement chief, Dr. Walter Roemer. Their sentences were carried out on the very same day at Stadelheim Prison in Munich.
Christoph never saw his third child, a baby girl.
He is buried at Perlach Cemetery, Stadelheimer Strasse, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
Their grave may be found in the graveyard bordering the execution place, "Am Perlacher Forst."
Legacy
A trafficway in Innsbruck was named for Christoph Probst. Two signs in the square in front of the university indicate Christoph-Probst-Platz.[1]
Notes
- ↑ [Scholl, Inge, and Dorothee Sölle. 1983. The White Rose Munich, 1942-1943. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press]
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Melon, Ruth Bernadette. 2007. Journey to the White Rose in Germany. Indianapolis, IN: Dogdeer Publishing. ISBN 1598582496
- Hanser, Richard. 1979. A Noble Treason: the revolt of the Munich students against Hitler. New York: Putnam. ISBN 0399120416
- Scholl, Inge, and Dorothee Sölle. 1983. The White Rose Munich, 1942-1943. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0585371008
External links
- Christoph Probst Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- Hornberger, Jacob G. The White Rose: A Lesson in Dissent Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- Christoph Probst Jlrweb.com. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- Ginder, John. 2001. The White Rose: Student Resistance in Germany During WWII Wagingpeace.org. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- Photos: The White Rose Fcit.usf.edu. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- Keeler, Bob. 1993. Anti-Nazi Movement Still Inspires Germans recall rare courage of White Rose Jlrweb.com. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
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