Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie were students in Munich. They died in 1943 paying with their lives for their active and courageous resistance against Hitler and his regime.

Together with their fellow students Alexander Schmorell, Christoph Probst, Willi Graf and their philosophy professor Karl Huber they organised the resistance group Weiße Rose (White Rose) against Nazi terror and warfare. In 1942 the group Weiße Rose started to write and distribute anti-Nazi leaflets in Munich. With great courage they named the crimes of the Nazi government and appealed to the German people to oppose to Hitler. Establishing contacts to students in other towns in Germany, taking the risk of travelling by train with suitcases full of leaflets, they succeeded to organise the distribution of the leaflets all over the South of Germany.

On February 18th in 1943 the group placed leaflets all over the university. Sophie Scholl tossed hundreds from the top of the university's atrium to reach the students below. Jakob Schmid, a plumber working as caretaker for the university, observed and denounced Sophie. Within a couple of hours Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans Scholl and Christoph Probst were arrested by the Gestapo. After four days of interrogation they were sentenced to death. They were executed the same day. Although Sophie and Hans did not betray any of their friends, all other members of the resistance group were traced by the Gestapo and arrested and executed shortly after.

Hans and Sophie were buried in Perlach Cemetery in south Munich on 24 February. In the town, graffiti appeared on walls: 'Their spirit lives.'