European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 29, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                From he Eft hons on Sophie Schoy a of the Whie Rose Moremen on co. Coon Coos Yon sentence Tyyho temp a a to esses sine a a of a hiter. A amps files amps files amps file heroes of the German resistance Quot they came first for the communists and i did t speak up because i was t a communist. Then they came for the jews and i did t speak up because i was t a jew. Then they came for the Trade unionists and i did t speak up because i was t a Trade unionist. Then they came for the catholics and i did t speak up because i was a protestant. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak  a Martin Niemoller Banner hanging in German resistance museum by Norm Zeigler travel outdoor writer the students listen in silence. Periodically their eyes follow the guide s hands As she Points out some of the photographs that line the Walls. In their Blue jeans and Adidas these teen agers seem Light years removed from the Black and White scenes of Jack booted soldiers and rows of prisoners. The Young people from a High school in Leve Kusen West Germany Are in West Berlin to learn some painful yet uplifting lessons about their nation s history. The Quot classroom Quot this Day is the German resistance museum Geden Statte Deutscher wide stand. The museum near the tie Garten at Stauffenberg Strasse 13-14, is both a memorial to and a photo documentation of the most important groups and individuals who fought the nazis. It occupies 26 rooms in the Bendle Block which served As the Headquarters of the German Navy in world War i and of the world War ii German High command. It was in the Bendle Block that Hitler in 1933 revealed to the German general staff his plans for seizing Lebensraum in the East. It was also there that the plot was hatched for operation Valkyrie a the attempted assassination of Hitler and the overthrow of the nazis. Today the Complex contains Federal and municipal government offices. Nearly everyone knows about the reign of terror and violence that engulfed Germany and eventually plunged the world into War. But few know there was a Broad based German resistance to the nazis that was 10 stripes Magazine March 29, 1990 never completely broken. Those in the resistance were intellectuals and factory workers members of political parties unions and Church organizations groups of friends. Sometimes they were Small groups whose members had Little More in common than a hatred of tyranny. Some of them like the White Rose movement employed peaceful methods such As distributing pamphlets. Others like the wehrmacht officers who plotted to assassinate Hitler used More deadly weapons. Many paid with their lives for having the courage to oppose the tyranny. Throughout cities in West Germany you will see their names on Street signs. Claus von Stauffenberg Wilhelm Leuschner Hans and Sophie Scholl Hans Leipelt. When Hitler became Chancellor on Jan. 30, 1933, those who had opposed the nazis knew they would be in for trouble. But few had any inkling of How fast the dictator would move to crush the opposition or How brutal and insidious his methods would be. One fact that made it easier for Hitler to achieve near absolute control was that there was never a United front against the nazis. The two other major pre-1933 political parties were bitter enemies. The social democrats bitterly opposed the communists As stalinist and anti democratic. The communists contemptuously dismissed the social democrats As Bourgeois and pro capitalist. Both competed for the support of various unions. Church groups pursued their own Agenda. The opposition groups were singled out and All but eliminated one by one. The first big wave of state terror began soon after the Reich Stag fire of feb. 27, 1933. This terrorist act by a single demented dutch communist provided Hitler with an excuse to assume dictatorial Powers and move swiftly and brutally against those termed a threat to the state. Prominent communists social democrats and other opposition leaders were rounded up and sent to prisons or concentration Camps. That was Only the initial stage in the reign of terror torture and intimidation that characterized the totalitarian state. Only those who fled into exile could feel momentarily secure from Hitler s Gestapo. Later As the German War machine rolled across Europe even Many of them were no longer Safe. The threat of imprisonment torture and execution depleted the ranks of the opposition groups. Others defected for reasons other than self preservation. Especially within the Trade unions there were Many who at first believed that the nazis were fulfilling the demands of the workers rights movement. Some of the rooms at the resistance museum resemble a portrait gallery. The faces that line the Walls Are filled with passion Defiance fear. A few have smiles or sneers but some Are surprisingly Neutral. Many Are Youthful. The photographs Are much More than character studies they Are a chronicle of courage and human resilience during the darkest period of German history. In one picture a half dozen men stand resignedly in a basement their hands shackled to the Wall above their Heads. In another rows of shabbily dressed prisoners Are lined up in a Cobblestone courtyard. Grim faced men in uniform stand guard. The Centrepiece of the exhibit is the former offices of col. Count Claus von Stauffenberg. Stauffenberg was an aristocrat and a War hero who had lost an Eye his right hand and several fingers of his left hand while with the afrika Korps. After recovering torn his wounds he was assigned to the wehrmacht general staff in Berlin in september 1943. On july 20, 1944, he placed the bomb that demolished Hitler s Wolf s Lair Headquarters in East Prussia. Stauffenberg returned to Berlin under the mistaken impression that the assassination attempt had succeeded. Unfortunately for Germany and the world the dictator survived to take terrible revenge. Stauffenberg and three of his co conspirators were shot in the courtyard at Bendle Strasse that same night. Others involved in the plot were not fortunate enough to be granted Quick death a number of them were hanged with piano wire. In the end More than 180 were executed. Today a Bronze statue of a Young Man with bound hands stands in the Center of the courtyard where Stauffenberg was murdered. The Cornerstone for a memorial at the