“We will not be silent…The White Rose will not leave you in peace!”
Fourth White Rose Leaflet, 1942
Aegis Students values are influenced by the White Rose movement, a student resistance group in Nazi Germany, which became known for an anonymous leaflet campaign that called for active opposition to German dictator, Adolf Hitler’s regime. The authors did not focus on the ability of every German to act, but rather on the necessity that every German play a part, an idea that we feel remains central to genocide prevention today. The content of their sixth leaflet was smuggled out of Germany, through Scandinavia, to England, and in July 1943 copies of it were dropped over Germany by Allied planes, re-titled “The Manifesto of the Students of Munich.” Tragically its six core members were arrested by the Gestapo and executed in 1943.
What set the members of The White Rose apart was their unwillingness to remain silent and their selfless decision to act on their intuitions. Their actions echo throughout history as evidence of what the courage of young people in the face of overwhelming horror.
At Aegis Students, we aim to imitate the methods, boldness and the responsibility they took. We wish to emulate their challenge to society’s values of indifference to discrimination and genocide, whether at home or across the world. As a result, Aegis Students honours the members of the White Rose by adopting the white rose as our symbol.
