Love Blooms Among the Ruins in Hohenstaufen

Historical Context: January, 1939. The city of Ulm is a part of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a German province that was the seat of the Hohenzollern dynasty located in the Swabian Alps.  Hitler makes a speech at the Reichstag that in the event of war, it would mean the "annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe." Ulm's local Nazi-run newspaper only reports the growing enthusiasm for NS events and programs.

The below excerpt is taken from With You There Is Light's Chapter Two. Fritz and Sophie often walked together in the Swabian Alps, including a day trip to the medieval ruins at Hohenstaufen.

Despite the freezing temperatures, Fritz parked the warm car beside the side of the road. The crisp snow crunched under their boots. He pointed out the deer tracks, and Sophie watched a cardinal perch in an empty tree.

The frosty air bit at her face. "I can't feel my fingers," she complained. Fritz took her hands and rubbed them together with his. She looked up at him and found the courage to begin.

"What do you want from me? You should tell me, because I don't know myself. I don't know what is right or wrong between us any more."

He didn't let go of her hands. They looked at one another, searching for the same answer to the same question.

He began in a voice so low and deliberate she had to strain to hear.

"Sophie, how can I express things that I myself don't understand? I only know that I am moved by something that must be bigger than me. I can't analyze and define it because it is not this or that, it is everything."

He paused for a moment, collecting his feelings.

Based on the true story about Fritz Hartnagel and Sophie Scholl, "WITH YOU THERE IS LIGHT" is ultimately a love story about two brave individuals caught on opposite sides of war." - Author Alexandra Lehmann

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