Alexander Schmorell

Alexander Schmorell was born in Orenburg, Russia, on 16 September [O.S. 3 September] 1917 (Russia still used the Julian calendar when he was born). Schmorell's father was Hugo Schmorell, a German-born physician who was raised in the Russian Empire. Schmorell's mother was Natalia Vedenskaya, a Russian and the daughter of a Russian Orthodox priest. Schmorell was baptised in the Russian Orthodox Church. His mother died of typhus during the Russian Civil War when he was two years old. In 1920, his widowed father married a German woman, Elisabeth Hoffman, who, like him, was raised in Russia. In 1921 the family fled from Russia and moved to Munich, Weimar Germany, Schmorell was four years old at the time. In Germany, he grew up with his step-siblings Erich Schmorell (born 1921) and Natalie Schmorell (born 1925), as well as his Russian nanny, Feodosiya Lapschina. She took his late mother's place in his upbringing.

His nanny never learned how to speak German. Because of this, Alexander Schmorell grew up bilingual, speaking both German and Russian natively. His friends gave him the nickname 'Schurik', a nickname he would be called by his closer friends for the rest of his life. He was an Eastern Orthodox Christian who considered himself both German and Russian. As declared in the Gestapo's interrogations, he was a convinced Tsarist and then an archenemy of the Bolsheviks.

Work in the White Rose, Summer 1942

After his military service, the artistically gifted Schmorell began studies in medicine in 1939 in Hamburg. In the autumn of 1940, he returned with his student corps to Munich where he came to know Hans Scholl, whom he met through Christoph Probst, his life-long friend.

In June 1942, Schmorell, together with Hans Scholl, began the Nazi resistance movement "The White Rose". Their form of resistance was simple but dangerous: writing leaflets. Quoting extensively from the Bible, Aristotle and Novalis, as well as Goethe and Schiller, the iconic poets of German bourgeoisie, the leaflets appealed to what Schmorell and Scholl considered the German intelligentsia, believing that these people would be easily convinced by the same arguments that also motivated the authors themselves. These leaflets were left in telephone books in public phone booths, mailed to professors and students, and taken by courier to other universities for distribution.

Work in the White Rose, November 1942 – January 1943

In December 1942, Schmorell, along with Hans Scholl, sought contact with Professor Kurt Huber. Together in 1943 they wrote the fifth leaflet, "Aufruf an alle Deutschen!" ('Appeal to all Germans!'), which Schmorell then distributed in Austrian cities.

On 19 April 1943, Alexander Schmorell was put on trial, along with 13 other members of the White Rose group. Schmorell, Willi Graf, and Kurt Huber were sentenced to death. The others received prison sentences.

Unlike the first trial, where the death sentences had been carried out the same day as the verdict, Alexander's execution was delayed as his family petitioned for clemency. After about two months of deliberation, a letter came to the prison that said: "I reject all petitions for mercy." It was signed "Adolf Hitler".

On 13 July, Alexander and Kurt Huber were alerted that their execution would happen later that day. After receiving the Eucharist from an Orthodox priest, he was allowed to write a last letter to his family. Alexander wrote to his parents:

I am going with the awareness that I followed my deepest convictions and the truth. This allows me to meet my hour of death with a conscience at peace. Think of the millions of young men who have lost their lives out on the field—their fate is the same as mine...In a few hours I will be in a better life, with my mother, and I will not forget you; I will ask God to grant you solace and peace. Yours, Shurik.

The executions were supposed to be carried out at 5 pm, but as Schmorell prepared himself, he learned that the execution would be delayed. Several SS officers had appeared at Stadelheim under orders to observe the execution to see how long it took for each man to die; the SS officers were then supposed to report back to their superiors with suggestions on how to shorten or prolong the suffering of the man being hanged. The officers were put off when they learned that the execution was to be by guillotine and not hanging. They then demanded a detailed explanation of how the guillotine worked, so their time was not wasted. The execution was delayed until the SS officers left.

The guards came for Alexander a little after 5 pm. He was led out of his cell and into the courtyard, walking to his death with his head held high, he said to his lawyer, "I'm convinced that my life has to end now, early as it may seem, for I have fulfilled my life's mission. I wouldn't know what else I have to do on this earth." In the execution chamber, the state attorney asked if his name was Alexander Schmorell, to which he replied, "yes", and then the blade fell. Kurt Huber was executed a few minutes later.