Who doesn’t remember the childhood ditty:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones 

But words will never hurt me.”

I appreciate that this was an effort by our parents to rise above any name-calling drama going on in our young lives, but even as a child, I didn’t buy it.  

This sentiment downplays the power of words, but we have all witnessed their abilities. We have seen how words of hate belittle their target and sow distrust, while words of caring and compassion build trust and optimism. 

Words. Matter. 

They are powerful, and that is why this recent book,“Words Matter,” by Anita Fitch Panzer and Sophie Casson (2025 Groundwood Books), resonated deeply with me. 

As someone who loves words and is often teased for using too many big ones, I loved the concept of this book and its message: Words may be beautiful, powerful, truthful, infectious. They can spread ideas, spark actions, unite us, and create hope. 

Words have consequences, they matter.

Panzer and Casson tell the story of the White Rose Resistance, an effort by mostly students in Nazi Germany to battle against the Hitler regime’s lies, cruelties and murders using leaflets that told the truth of the war and of Hitler’s vile policies.

“Words Matter” feels especially timely because any time people, especially in high positions, start calling their citizens and people from around the world “garbage”  or “vermin” or other harsh and hurtful words, it is extremely alarming. That kind of language stokes rage and fear. 

Even now we are seeing the effect of these kinds of words. 

But this true story is not about the times we are living in now. 

It is about a resistance movement in Germany that fought against Hitler. Hitler rose to power by making people afraid of those who were different from themselves: people of Jewish faith, in particular, but also Communists, gay people, people of the Romani culture, people with physical or mental disabilities. In short, anyone different and anyone who was not loyal to Hitler. 

Hitler wanted only white people in his world; so-called “Aryans.”

Free exchange of information and ideas was banned. Hitler preached “conformity above all else.”

He banned books he didn’t agree with or like, he imprisoned people who disagreed with him. His words inspired his followers to burn thousands of books — books about science, religion, and other topics that questioned Hitler’s world view. 

Young people joined his movement and marched, sang and chanted. Sophie and Hans Scholl were among the young people who were inspired by Hitler’s youth groups at first.

Then Hans went to medical school and was sent to the Russian front as a medic. There he and his friends saw the truth — the atrocities the Germans were committing and the high number of German soldiers who were dying.

Hitler’s claims of victory were false;  the Germans were losing badly.

Hans and Sophie began to pay attention to the messages they heard about racial purity and conformity of ideas and they disagreed.

So:


“They gathered in groups
They read banned books
They told the truth
They broke the law”

Hans and Sophie helped found the White Rose Resistance. They painted slogans on buildings in the dark of night. They wrote, printed and distributed leaflets (on paper that was in short supply) with facts about what was really happening. 

Well before the days of the internet, each leaflet had to be distributed by hand. Even without the internet, they built a network of resistors throughout the country, not just in Munich. 

This was very risky work. If they were caught, they would be killed. Then they were caught. 

Although this true story ends in tragedy, it remains a powerful reminder of what ordinary citizens are capable of in times of great need, and what happens when people do not speak up.

Today there is a monument to Hans and Sophie outside the Ludwig Maximilian University building in Munich, where both siblings attended school. There are bronze replicas of some of the leaflets. 

I strongly recommend reading some of these leaflets, which can be found at https://www.white-rose-studies.org/pages/the-leaflets