Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg

November 15, 1907 (age 36)

Jettingen, Bayern, Germany

He opted for a military career, joining the army as an officer cadet in 1926 in the famous Bamberger Reiter, the Seventeenth Bamberg Cavalry Regiment. Promoted to the General Staff in 1938, von Stauffenberg served with distinction as a staff officer in General Hoepner's Sixteenth Panzer Division during the Polish and French campaigns. Transferred to the Army High Command in June 1940, his disillusionment came during the Russian invasion where he was sickened by the brutality of the SS and the mass slaughter of Jews, Russians and prisoners of war. His experiences in the Soviet Union, where he was responsible for recruiting Russian prisoners of war, turned him into a socialist and it was under his influence that the German Resistance took on a leftist slant and, for a time, a pro-Russian orientation. After he had made contact in Russia with Henning von Tresckow' and Fabian von Schlabrendorff, von Stauffenberg quickly became one of the leading conspirators, concentrating on building up an organization that could take over power once Hitler had been removed. Posted in February 1943 to Tunisia as Operations Officer of the Tenth Panzer Division, von Stauffenberg was gravely wounded on 7 April of the same year when he walked into a minefield, losing his left eye, his right hand, half of his left hand and part of his leg. For a time it seemed he might be totally blinded, but he was restored to life at a Munich hospital by the famous physician. Dr Ferdinand Sauerbruch. During his recovery, von Stauffenberg resolved to put his qualities of will, energy, military flair and clarity of mind wholly at the disposal of the Resistance and to remove Hitler at all costs. Convinced that the war was lost and determined not to allow Hitler to drag the army and the Fatherland down with him to the tomb, von Stauffenberg devised the ‘Valkyrie’ plans to assassinate Hitler and set up a military government in Berlin, which would immediately neutralize the most dangerous Nazi organizations: the Gestapo, the SS and SD. After his recovery, von Stauffenberg was posted back to Berlin and appointed Chief of Staff to General Olbricht, Deputy Commander of the Reserve Army. This gave him access to important secret information concerning the military and political operations of the German army, which he utilized in drawing up his plans for seizing power and preparing a necessary network of action. In June 1944 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and made Chief of Staff to General Fromm, the head of the Reserve Army, which gave him an official reason for visiting Hitler’s headquarters. I le was chosen to carry out the assassination since he was the only conspirator who could attend Hitler’s staff conferences without being searched. It was arranged that he would kill Hitler, together with Goering and Himmler, at Berchtesgaden on 2 July 1944, but as the Führer was alone the attempt was called off; another plan on 15 July was also postponed. Finally, von Stauffenberg resolved to take the next opportunity even if Himmler and Goering were absent, before the Allies could win a decisive victory in Normandy which would still further weaken the chances for a compromise peace. On 20 July he attended a meeting at Hitler’s headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia, carrying a bomb in his briefcase. It was detonated to go off ten minutes after he had deposited it unobtrusively against the table support in the map room where Hitler and his chiefs were discussing the military situation. As previously arranged, von Stauffenberg was called away to the telephone, made his way to the exit, passed through two checkpoints after the explosion had taken place and succeeded in reaching Berlin by plane, convinced that Hitler was dead. Unfortunately when the bomb exploded, it was farther from the Führer than intended, the briefcase having been moved by one of the officers present after von Stauffenberg’s departure. Though four officers were killed and seven seriously wounded. Hitler suffered only minor injuries. The fellow conspirators in Berlin made only half-hearted efforts to execute the coup d'état, uncertain whether Hitler was dead or alive. Moreover, von Stauffenberg’s associate at Hitler’s headquarters failed to sabotage the communications centre, enabling the Führer to learn what was happening in Berlin and a broadcast to be made confirming that he had survived the assassination attempt. Goebbels in Berlin was able to act against the conspirators, who had lost precious time in consolidating their positions, and General Fromm, head of the Reserve Army as well as von Stauffen- berg's superior, refused to join the coup. After some confusion following his own arrest, Fromm alerted a group of his staff, loyal to the régime, who quickly arrested von Stauffenberg after an exchange of gunfire in which he was wounded. A drumhead court-martial was set up by General Fromm; von Stauffenberg and others, including Olbricht, were taken downstairs into the courtyard of the War Ministry in Berlin, stood up against the wall in the light of a lorry's headlamps and shot. Von Stauffenberg's last words before the bullets hit their mark were, ‘Long live our sacred Germany’.

Background

Claus von Stauffenberg was born in Greifenstein Castle, Upper Franconia, on 15 November 1907, the descendant of a long line of military aristocrats.

On his mother’s side he was a great-grandson of the Prussian General von Gneisenau, and he was also related to another celebrated general of the period, Yorck von Wartenburg. His father was Privy Chamberlain to the last King of Württemberg, and the young von Stauffenberg grew' up in a cultivated and devoutly Roman Catholic family atmosphere.

Education

Posted to the War Academy in Berlin in 1936.

Career

He opted for a military career, joining the army as an officer cadet in 1926 in the famous Bamberger Reiter, the Seventeenth Bamberg Cavalry Regiment.

Promoted to the General Staff in 1938, von Stauffenberg served with distinction as a staff officer in General Hoepner's Sixteenth Panzer Division during the Polish and French campaigns. Transferred to the Army High Command in June 1940, his disillusionment came during the Russian invasion where he was sickened by the brutality of the SS and the mass slaughter of Jews, Russians and prisoners of war.

His experiences in the Soviet Union, where he was responsible for recruiting Russian prisoners of war, turned him into a socialist and it was under his influence that the German Resistance took on a leftist slant and, for a time, a pro-Russian orientation. After he had made contact in Russia with Henning von Tresckow' and Fabian von Schlabrendorff, von Stauffenberg quickly became one of the leading conspirators, concentrating on building up an organization that could take over power once Hitler had been removed.

Posted in February 1943 to Tunisia as Operations Officer of the Tenth Panzer Division, von Stauffenberg was gravely wounded on 7 April of the same year when he walked into a minefield, losing his left eye, his right hand, half of his left hand and part of his leg. For a time it seemed he might be totally blinded, but he was restored to life at a Munich hospital by the famous physician. Dr Ferdinand Sauerbruch. During his recovery, von Stauffenberg resolved to put his qualities of will, energy, military flair and clarity of mind wholly at the disposal of the Resistance and to remove Hitler at all costs. Convinced that the war was lost and determined not to allow Hitler to drag the army and the Fatherland down with him to the tomb, von Stauffenberg devised the ‘Valkyrie’ plans to assassinate Hitler and set up a military government in Berlin, which would immediately neutralize the most dangerous Nazi organizations: the Gestapo, the SS and SD.

After his recovery, von Stauffenberg was posted back to Berlin and appointed Chief of Staff to General Olbricht, Deputy Commander of the Reserve Army. This gave him access to important secret information concerning the military and political operations of the German army, which he utilized in drawing up his plans for seizing power and preparing a necessary network of action. In June 1944 he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel and made Chief of Staff to General Fromm, the head of the Reserve Army, which gave him an official reason for visiting Hitler’s headquarters. I le was chosen to carry out the assassination since he was the only conspirator who could attend Hitler’s staff conferences without being searched. It was arranged that he would kill Hitler, together with Goering and Himmler, at Berchtesgaden on 2 July 1944, but as the Führer was alone the attempt was called off; another plan on 15 July was also postponed. Finally, von Stauffenberg resolved to take the next opportunity even if Himmler and Goering were absent, before the Allies could win a decisive victory in Normandy which would still further weaken the chances for a compromise peace. On 20 July he attended a meeting at Hitler’s headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia, carrying a bomb in his briefcase. It was detonated to go off ten minutes after he had deposited it unobtrusively against the table support in the map room where Hitler and his chiefs were discussing the military situation. As previously arranged, von Stauffenberg was called away to the telephone, made his way to the exit, passed through two checkpoints after the explosion had taken place and succeeded in reaching Berlin by plane, convinced that Hitler was dead.

Unfortunately when the bomb exploded, it was farther from the Führer than intended, the briefcase having been moved by one of the officers present after von Stauffenberg’s departure. Though four officers were killed and seven seriously wounded. Hitler suffered only minor injuries. The fellow conspirators in Berlin made only half-hearted efforts to execute the coup d'état, uncertain whether Hitler was dead or alive. Moreover, von Stauffenberg’s associate at Hitler’s headquarters failed to sabotage the communications centre, enabling the Führer to learn what was happening in Berlin and a broadcast to be made confirming that he had survived the assassination attempt. Goebbels in Berlin was able to act against the conspirators, who had lost precious time in consolidating their positions, and General Fromm, head of the Reserve Army as well as von Stauffen- berg's superior, refused to join the coup.

After some confusion following his own arrest, Fromm alerted a group of his staff, loyal to the régime, who quickly arrested von Stauffenberg after an exchange of gunfire in which he was wounded. A drumhead court-martial was set up by General Fromm; von Stauffenberg and others, including Olbricht, were taken downstairs into the courtyard of the War Ministry in Berlin, stood up against the wall in the light of a lorry's headlamps and shot.

Von Stauffenberg's last words before the bullets hit their mark were, ‘Long live our sacred Germany’.

Politics

Not satisfied with the conservative, colourless regime envisaged by Beck, Goerdeler and Hassell, he favoured a new' dynamic social democracy and was politically closer to the socialist Julius Leber, whom he advocated as the Chancellor of a post-Hitler Germany.

Views

A monarchist in his early years and a profound believer in the rebirth of Germany's grandeur, von Stauffenberg was not initially anti-Nazi, though doubts in his mind were sown by the Crystal Night anti-Jewish pogrom and later reinforced by his experiences. Von Stauffen- berg's devout Catholicism also contributed to his growing conviction that Hitler was the incarnation of evil and that the Nazi régime must be liquidated to preserve Germany's honour and save it from destruction.

Personality

Handsome, brilliant, with a passion for the arts and literature as well as horses and sports, von Stauffenberg was strongly influenced in his youth by the poetic mysticism of Stefan George.

Connections

Great-grandfather:: August von Gneisenau

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