The story of Sophie Scholl, a young girl who defied Hitler in 1940s Nazi Germany, still strikes a chord with all who hear it today.

And Jud Newborn came to ASU last week to tell her story one more time — to “celebrate those who dare to stand up and speak out.”

The specialist on extremist movements and co-author of “Sophie Scholl and the White Rose,” addressed a crowd of about 50 in the Pima Room of the MU last Tuesday.

The unforgettable, true story of Sophie Scholl and her brother Hans resonated with the audience, made up of students, alumni and Tempe community members.

Newborn’s book, a best-selling novel-turned-motion picture, continues to inspire “radicals and rebels” around the world.

The author first discovered Sophie Scholl’s story when he was a student conducting research in Munich.

He witnessed a large marble statue carved with a giant rose, listing the names of those who were executed for treason against Hitler’s Third Reich.

Included were Sophie and Hans Scholl — just 21 and 25 at the time of their deaths.

After seeing the monument, Newborn decided he would tell the Scholls’ story again to hundreds of people in an attempt to “adjust their own moral compass.”

Throughout his lecture at ASU, Newborn detailed the determination that was displayed by Scholl and her brother when they realized the horrible acts being committed on the Eastern Front of Germany during World War II.

In 1942, Germany was under the control of Hitler’s regime. Sophie and Hans Scholl took a stand and launched a written campaign against the dictator.

They created a leaflet detailing the crimes that the Nazis were committing against the Jewish people.

Sophie Scholl then made hundreds of copies of the leaflet and began smuggling them in her knapsack across Germany where she handed them out.

Newborn described Sophie Scholl’s effort as “risking her life for words.”

Those who were unaware of the violent acts being committed read the words on the leaflet.

On the page, Sophie Scholl wrote her most famous phrase: “We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace.”

On Feb. 22, 1943, Sophie and Hans Scholl were found guilty of treason and were hanged.

But the revolt did not end there.

When the German Revolution — an underground resistance movement — discovered a sack of leaflets, they flew over Germany dropping the leaflets like bombs from their planes.

Like those “radicals and rebels,” Newborn is heeding Sophie Scholl’s famous last words by telling her story.

As she told the judge who found her guilty, “What does my death matter if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?”

Reach the reporter at kelsey.groetken@asu.edu.