Seven Were Hanged (1945)

First Edition of Seven Were Hanged, 1945, Recounting the Actions of the White Rose Including the Anti-Nazi Student Revolt in Munich, in Original Dust Jacket

Bayles, William, compiler. Seven Were Hanged. An Authentic Account of the Student Revolt in Munich University. London: Victor Gollancz, 1945.

Slim octavo. Hardcover. 1st Edition.

First edition of this story of the Munich student revolt, best known as the event that preceded the executions of White Rose activists Hans and Sophie Scholl, written by an American journalist, in original dust jacket. A fictionalization of the story of the White Rose, most of the details are broadly correct but details like first names have been altered (e.g. Sophie Scholl has been renamed Maria Scholl and three members of the White Rose were in fact guillotined rather than hanged). The bulk of the narrative concerns the resistance actions of the White Rose--including their Christianity-inspired anti-Nazi pamphleting. Hans and Sophie Scholl remain icons of the Resistance movement, inside and outside of Germany, known for their extreme bravery. With great composure, they faced their fate at the guillotine, earning admiration even from their executioner. Leftist publisher Gollancz published books like this throughout the war, attempting to share inspiring episodes of resistance on the continent. A very nearly fine copy.