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Sophie Scholl and her anti-Nazi resistance movement are spotlighted in ‘White Rose: The Musical’
(New York Jewish Week) — In the summer of 1942, a group of determined students and faculty at Germany’s University of Munich banded to speak out against the Nazi regime.
Led by Sophie Scholl and her older brother, Hans, they called themselves the White Rose. The fervently Christian siblings led the resistance group in sounding the alarm about the Nazis’ atrocities and the mass murder of Jews in Europe by dispersing anti-Nazi leaflets across German cities and embarking on a graffiti campaign throughout Munich and the surrounding region.
But in February 1943, less than a year after the White Rose’s inception, the Scholl siblings were caught scattering leaflets in the university’s main atrium. They were reported to the Gestapo and, just days later, at ages 21 and 24, they were executed by guillotine. Several other founding members were also executed for treason and many of their young collaborators were imprisoned.
Despite the tragic ending of the White Rose movement, their nonviolent acts of resistance have galvanized generations of young people to speak out. And now, the story has inspired “White Rose: The Musical,” a new 90-minute show that opens off-Broadway on Thursday.
The musical, starring Jo Ellen Perlman (Netflix’s “The Prom”) as Sophie Scholl and Mark Cefalo (Broadway’s “New York, New York”) as Hans Scholl, spotlights the courage and plight of the resistance group. “To me, it is the ultimate ally story,” the show’s creator, Brian Belding, told the New York Jewish Week. “We need more of those stories of people stepping out of the comfort and privilege that they have and actually standing up for people that are oppressed.”
Belding added that he dreamed of making a show about the White Rose since he first heard their story as a college student 35 years ago — he even wrote a screenplay for a movie at the time. “It was something that grabbed me from a young age, when I was basically the age of the students in the White Rose,” he said. “It was a story that I felt I should have known, but I didn’t.”
But life, as it often does, had other plans, and Belding became a high school history teacher in the Bay Area — where every year he taught his students about the bravery of the White Rose.
Teaching students year after year is what really “kicked me into action,” Belding told the New York Jewish Week.
“The students just always responded and they were engaged in stories, not just about the White Rose, but resistors, and especially young resistors, people they could identify with,” Belding said. “Too many history lessons are these guys in powdered wigs, you know, making speeches. We can study these dates and names of battles. But these were young people who were frustrated with what was going on, who were upset and angry and were trying to figure out a way to cope and, most importantly, to see if they could change it. That’s what my students identified with.”
Belding eventually decided to take time off from teaching in 2019 to pursue the project in earnest. He first tried to write a historical novel but found the idea came to life the most when he imagined it as a musical, so he set to work on writing the book and lyrics.
Though Belding is not Jewish, he said he worked carefully with Jewish dramaturg Emily White to make the show culturally, religiously and historically sensitive. With White’s guidance, Belding developed a (fictional) Jewish character in the White Rose who is forced to hide their identity in order to stay safe.
White said that working on the show as a Jew — and the fact that it is a true story — was “deeply important” to her. “When I have the ability to utilize historical documents and research in my process, helping to guide a story, it adds both a layer of authenticity and a unique responsibility in approaching the work,” she said.
White added that, while working on the script, she kept a quote from Holocaust survivor and “Night” author Elie Wiesel at top of mind: “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”
“I have always been taught this is an essential part of being Jewish, but also an essential part of being a citizen of the world,” White said. “We are all bound in each other’s oppression, and we all have a responsibility to help stop oppression from happening.”
“The incredible efforts put forth by the young people in the White Rose, who weren’t direct targets of Nazi discrimination cannot be understated,” the dramaturg added. “These people could exist today, and make an impact.”
Belding concurs with White’s sentiments, saying the main message of the musical is to “stand up for what you believe in, even if it means standing alone” — quoting none other than Sophie Scholl.
“White Rose: The Musical” opens Thursday, Jan. 25 and runs for 12 weeks at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd St.) Tickets start at $37.50.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.