Wilhelm Graf

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Charge:	Treason
Sentence:	Death and Executed
Years Imprisoned:	0.5
Year Crime:	1943
Year Convicted:	1943
Year Cleared:	1983
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Germany
County or Region of Crime:
City of Crime:	Munich
Result:	Legislature Overturned Conviction after Execution
Summary of Case:	"Wilhelm Graf (nicknamed Willi) was one of the White Rose defendants convicted of treason for participating in the production and/or distribution of leaflets in 1942 and 1943 exposing crimes committed by the German government in the name of the German people. In the evening of February 18, 1943, the day the Scholls were arrested, Willi Graf and his sister Anneliesse, who was also studying in Munich, were arrested in their apartment. On April 19, 1943, Roland Freisler, presiding over the 'Volksgerichtshof' (People's Court) that condemned Willi Graf to death along with his co-defendants Professor Kurt Huber and Alexander Schmorell. Ten other codefendants were convicted and given lesser sentences. After months of Gestapo interrogations in a futile attempt to obtain the names of the co-conspirators, Willi Graf was executed by guillotine on October 12, 1943. In the farewell letter to his sister he had the following message to his friends: "They shall continue what we have begun." Source: http://www.jlrweb.com/whiterose/willi.html. On September 8, 2009 the German Parliament unanimously overturned all WWII conviction for treason. So the treason convictions of all White Rose participants were overturned. It is also believed that the White Rose participants convictions had previously been legislatively stripped of any legal force in 1983."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"The White Rose participants convictions were legislatively stripped of any legal force in 1983. Also, on September 8, 2009 the German Parliament unanimously overturned all WWII convictions for treason. So even without the 1983 legislative action the treason convictions of White Rose participants would have been overturned."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	24
Age When Released:	24
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	Willi Graf and The White Rose
Information Location 1:	http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERgraf.htm
Information Source 2:	"“A Noble Treason: The Revolt of the Munich Students Against Hitler,” Richard Hanser, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, NY, 1979, pp. 319, ISBN: 0-399-12041-6"
Information Location 2:
Information Source 3:	"White Rose trial sentencing transcripts, libcom.org"
Information Location 3:	http://libcom.org/library/white-rose-sentencing-transcripts
Information Source 4:	"Germany overturns Nazi-era treason convictions, Associated Press article, Dallas Morning News, September 9, 2009"
Information Location 4:	http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-treason_09int.ART.State.Edition1.4c2d428.html
Information Source 5:	""The Law Under The Swastika - Studies on Legal History in Nazi Germany," Michael Stolleis, The University of Chicago Press (1992), p. 157, and endnote 21 at p. 243."
Information Location 5:
Book About Case:
Book Information:
Book About Case (2):	"“A Noble Treason: The Revolt of the Munich Students Against Hitler,” Richard Hanser, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, NY, 1979, pp. 319, ISBN: 0-399-12041-6"
Book Information (2):
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Wilhelm Graf

Charge:

Treason

Sentence:

Death and Executed

Years Imprisoned:

0.5

Year Crime:

1943

Year Convicted:

1943

Year Cleared:

1983

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Germany

County or Region of Crime:

City of Crime:

Munich

Result:

Legislature Overturned Conviction after Execution

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

24

Age When Released:

24

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

Willi Graf and The White Rose

Information Location 1:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERgraf.htm

Information Source 2:

"“A Noble Treason: The Revolt of the Munich Students Against Hitler,” Richard Hanser, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, NY, 1979, pp. 319, ISBN: 0-399-12041-6"

Information Location 2:

Information Source 3:

"White Rose trial sentencing transcripts, libcom.org"

Information Location 3:

http://libcom.org/library/white-rose-sentencing-transcripts

Information Source 4:

"Germany overturns Nazi-era treason convictions, Associated Press article, Dallas Morning News, September 9, 2009"

Information Location 4:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-treason_09int.ART.State.Edition1.4c2d428.html

Information Source 5:

""The Law Under The Swastika - Studies on Legal History in Nazi Germany," Michael Stolleis, The University of Chicago Press (1992), p. 157, and endnote 21 at p. 243."

Information Location 5:

Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

"“A Noble Treason: The Revolt of the Munich Students Against Hitler,” Richard Hanser, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, NY, 1979, pp. 319, ISBN: 0-399-12041-6"

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

Comments About Case: