12 October is the anniversary of the death of Willi Graf, "a fighter against National Socialist tyranny in the Weisse Rose student resistance movement" - this is what is written on the memorial stone at Willi Graf's grave in the St. Johann Old Cemetery in Saarbrücken. Willi Graf was executed by guillotine by the Nazi regime in 1943 at the age of 25. This is the 81st anniversary of the death of the resistance fighter, who grew up in Saarbrücken.
The Saarpfalz district is the school authority for the St. Ingbert vocational training centre named after the martyr. District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo therefore recalls the events of that time.
During his medical studies, Willi Graf decided to actively resist the National Socialist crimes and the Nazi terror as part of the 'White Rose'. A leaflet campaign on 18 February 1943 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich proved fatal for him and his comrades-in-arms, including siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl. After his arrest by the Gestapo, Willi Graf was sentenced to death by the so-called People's Court on 19 April.
District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo: "I can't imagine what this courageous young man had to go through until the sentence was carried out. His spirit of resistance was unbreakable despite torture. He did not reveal the names of any of his companions. Even from prison, he bravely protected all those who believed with him in peaceful coexistence in a free Germany, in a just state and in the community of peace-loving peoples in Europe. Terror and war have always existed in the world, as have peaceful cycles. We in Europe experience the inhumane fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East on a daily basis and almost first-hand - it is difficult to escape the terrible images and news. Many of the names of the tens of thousands of people who have senselessly lost their lives will only be remembered by their closest family circle. It is therefore all the more important that the fate and murder of Willi Graf does not lose its significance, that the memory of him does not fade. I have always been fascinated by the determination that defined his actions and his power of judgement based on his faith. This last point led to the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising initiating a beatification process for the Catholic Church in 2018. True to the motto 'Remember and act', may we honour Willi Graf's memory as he deserves and try to take his conviction that 'each individual bears full responsibility' to heart in our everyday lives."
On 4 November 1946, Willi Graf's mortal remains were transferred to the Old St. Johann Cemetery in Saarbrücken and laid to rest there. In 2009, a Willi Graf memorial was set up in the small mourning hall in the immediate vicinity of the gravesite to familiarise visitors with Willi Graf's life and work and his legacy. The cemetery is open daily from 8 am to 6 pm in October.