Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf^[1] von Stauffenberg (15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer and Catholic aristocrat who reached the rank of colonel and one of the leading officers of the failed July 20 plot of 1944 to kill German dictator Adolf Hitler and seize power in Germany. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (833x1139, 90 KB) Summary Photo by User:Adam Carr, May 2006 Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Jettingen-Scheppach is a market community in the Günzburg Landkreis in the Schwaben (Swabia) Regierungsbezirk in Bavaria. ... For German colonial territories, see German Colonial Empire. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Albstadt is a city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Elisabeth Magdalena (Nina) Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (27 August 1913 – 2 April 2006) was the wife of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of the failed plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944. ... The Stauffenbergs are an old Catholic south German family, whose best known member was Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, an Army officer who was the central figure in the July 20 plot to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944. ... Insignia of a United States Air Force Major General German Generalmajor Insignia Major General is a military rank used in many countries. ... Berthold Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (born 3 July 1934 in Bamberg) is a retired German Bundeswehr officer. ... is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1907 (MCMVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The German Army (German: [1], [IPA: heɐ]  ) is the land component of the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence Forces) of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... For other uses, see Colonel (disambiguation). ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... Hitler redirects here. ...

Early life

Stauffenberg was the third of three sons (the others being the twins Berthold and Alexander) of Alfred Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the last Oberhofmarschall of the Kingdom of Württemberg, and Caroline Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (née Gräfin (Countess) von Üxküll-Gyllenband). Claus was born in the Stauffenberg castle of Jettingen between Ulm and Augsburg, in the eastern part of Swabia, at that time in the Kingdom of Bavaria, part of the German Reich. The von Stauffenberg family is one of the oldest and most distinguished aristocratic Roman Catholic families of southern Germany.^[2] Among his (Protestant) maternal ancestors were several famous Prussians, including Field Marshal August von Gneisenau. It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (born 15 March 1905 in Stuttgart - died 27 January 1964 in Munich) was a German aristocrat and historian. ... The von Stauffenbergs are an aristocratic Roman Catholic family from Swabia in Germany, whose best known member was Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg - the key figure in the 1944 July 20 Plot to kill Adolf Hitler. ... Coat of Arms of the (formerly royal) Württemberg family, on a gate of the familys current residence, Schloss Altshausen in Altshausen, Germany // Counts of Württemberg Conrad I 1089-1122 Conrad II 1100-1130 John d. ... The French word née (feminine) or né (masculine) (or the English word nee) is still commonly used in some newspapers when mentioning the maiden name of a woman in engagement or wedding announcements. ... Jettingen-Scheppach is a market community in the Günzburg Landkreis in the Schwaben (Swabia) Regierungsbezirk in Bavaria. ... For other uses, see Ulm (disambiguation). ... For other meanings for Augsburg: See Augsburg (disambiguation) , Augsburg is a city in south-central Germany. ... Germany, showing modern borders. ... Anthem Königsstrophe Kingdom of Bavaria within the German Empire. ... The history of Germany is, in places, extremely complicated and depends much on how one defines Germany. ... The von Stauffenbergs are an old Roman Catholic family from Swabia in Germany, whose best known member was Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg - the key figure in the 1944 July 20 Plot to kill Adolf Hitler. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... Southern Germany is the term used to desribe the southern states of Germany: namely Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. ... The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... For other uses, see Prussia (disambiguation). ... August Wilhelm Antonius Graf[1] Neidhardt von Gneisenau (27 October 1760 – 23 August 1831) was a Prussian field marshal. ...

Like his brothers, Claus was carefully educated and inclined toward literature, but eventually took up a military career. In 1926, he joined the family's traditional regiment, the Bamberger Reiter- und Kavallerieregiment 17 (17th Cavalry Regiment) in Bamberg. (See also Bamberg Horseman.) It was around this time that the three brothers were introduced by Albrecht von Blumenthal to poet Stefan George's influential circle Georgekreis, from which many notable members of the German resistance would later emerge. George dedicated Das neue Reich ("The new Reich") in 1928, including the Geheimes Deutschland ("secret Germany") written in 1922, to Berthold[2]. The work outlines a new form of society ruled by hierarchical spiritual aristocracy. George rejected any attempts to use it for mundane political purposes, especially Nazism. Bamberger Reiter Bamberg Cathedral, 1820 The Bamberg Horseman (German: ) is a life-size stone equestrian statue by an anonymous medieval sculptor in the cathedral of Bamberg, Germany. ... For other uses, see Bamberg (disambiguation). ... The Bamberg Horseman The Bamberg Horseman (germ. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Stefan George (1910) Stefan George (Bingen, Hesse, July 12, 1868 – Locarno, December 4, 1933) was a German poet and translator. ...

Claus was commissioned as a Lieutenant (second lieutenant) in 1930. In his military career, Stauffenberg studied modern weapons at the Kriegsakademie in Berlin-Moabit, but remained focused on the use of the horse—which continued to carry out a large part of transportation duties throughout the Second World War—in modern warfare. His regiment became part of the German 1st Light Division under General Erich Hoepner, who had taken part in the plans for the September 1938 German Resistance coup, cut short by Hitler's unexpected success in the Munich Agreement. The unit was part of the troops that moved into the Sudetenland, the part of Czechoslovakia that had a German-speaking majority, as agreed upon in Munich. Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service or police officer rank. ... Fassade Unter den Linden 74, erbaut 1845/25 von Karl Friedrich Schinkel als vereinte Artillerie- und Ingenieurschule Fassade des Lehrgebäudes an der Dorotheenstraße 58/59, entworfen von Franz Schwechten (1883) Lageplan der Kriegsakademie mit dem Lehrgebäude an der Dorotheenstraße und dem aufgrund der vornehmen Lage 1878... Moabit is a district in the center of Berlin. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... 1st Light Brigade 1st Light Division 6th Panzer Division The German 1st Light Brigade was a mechanized unit established in October 1937 in imitation of the French Division Légère Mécanique, intended to take on the roles of army-level reconnaissance and security that had traditionally been the... Erich Hoepner Erich Hoepner (September 14, 1886 - August 8, 1944) was a German general in World War II. Hoepner was born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany and served in the German Army during World War I. He remained in the army in the post-war years and reached the... Bust of Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Memorial to the German Resistance, Berlin) The German Resistance refers to those individuals and groups in Nazi Germany who opposed the regime of Adolf Hitler between 1933 and 1945. ... For the annual global security meeting held in Munich, see Munich Conference on Security Policy. ... Sudetenland (Czech and Polish: Sudety) was the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the Western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia. ...

Following the outbreak of war in 1939, Stauffenberg and his regiment took part in the attack on Poland. Afterwards he expressed support for the way the occupation of Poland had been handled by the Nazi regime and for the use of Poles as slave workers to achieve German prosperity^[3][4] and systematic German colonisation of Poland.^[5] Slave redirects here. ...

World War II

Stauffenberg found some aspects of the Nazi Party's ideology repugnant; although he agreed with its nationalistic aspects, he never became a member of the party. Moreover, Stauffenberg remained a practicing Catholic; the Roman Catholic Church had signed the Reichskonkordat in 1933, the year Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power, but soon the Nazi government violated this agreement and German Catholic bishops and the papacy protested against these violations, culminating in the papal encyclical "Mit brennender Sorge" ("With Burning Anxiety") of 1937. On top of this, the growing systematic maltreatment of Jews and suppression of religion had offended Stauffenberg's strong personal sense of religious morality and justice; he felt, for instance, that the November 1938 Kristallnacht ("Night of the broken glass") had brought shame upon Germany. While his uncle, Nikolaus Graf von Üxküll, had approached him before to join the resistance movement against the Hitler regime, it was only after the Polish campaign in 1939 that Stauffenberg's individual conscience and his religious convictions made him consider joining. Peter Yorck von Wartenburg and Ulrich Schwerin von Schwanenfeld urged him to become the adjutant of Walther von Brauchitsch, then Supreme Commander of the Army, in order to participate in a coup against Hitler. Stauffenberg declined at the time, reasoning that all German soldiers had pledged allegiance not to the institution of the presidency of the German Reich, but to the person of Adolf Hitler due to the Führereid having been introduced in 1934. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... The National Socialist German Workers Party, (German: , or NSDAP, commonly known as the Nazi Party), was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945. ... Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolizing French nationalism during the July Revolution 1830. ... The Reichskonkordat is the concordat between the Holy See and the German Reich, signed in 1933. ... An encyclical was a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Christian church. ... Mit brennender Sorge (German for With deep anxiety, word by word: With burning worry) is an encyclical of Pope Pius XI, published on March 10, 1937 (but bearing a date of Passion Sunday, March 14). ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Reichspogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of the Broken Glass, was a pogrom that occurred throughout Nazi Germany on November 9–November 10, 1938. ... IkÅ¡Ä·ile was center of ancient Livonia, and is also known by the German name of Ãœxküll. ... Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (born 13 November 1904 in Klein-Öls near Ohlau, Lower Silesia, now OÅ‚awa, Poland; died 8 August 1944 in Berlin) was a German jurist and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. ... Ulrich Wilhelm Graf von Schwerin und von Schwanenfeld (born 21 December 1902 in Copenhagen; died 8 September 1944 in Berlin) was a German landowner, officer, and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. ... Walther von Brauchitsch in 1939. ... Hitler redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Stauffenberg's unit was reorganized into the 6th Panzer Division, and he served as officer of its General staff in the Battle of France, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Like many others, Stauffenberg was impressed by the overwhelming military success, which was attributed to Hitler. 1st Light Brigade 1st Light Division 6th Panzer Division The German 1st Light Brigade was a mechanized unit established in October 1937 in imitation of the French Division Légère Mécanique, intended to take on the roles of army-level reconnaissance and security that had traditionally been the... A General Staff is a group of professional military officers who act in a staff or administrative role under the command of a general officer. ... Belligerents France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III H.G. Winkelman Władysław Sikorski Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Bundeswehr, Germanys Armed Forces. ...

After Operation Barbarossa (the German invasion of the Soviet Union) was launched in 1941, mass executions of Jews, Poles, Russians and others as well as what he believed was an already apparent deficiency in military leadership (Hitler had assumed the role of supreme commander in late 1941 after sacking Hoepner and others) finally convinced Stauffenberg in 1942 to sympathize with resistance groups within the Wehrmacht, the only force that had a chance to overcome Hitler's Gestapo, SD, and SS. During the idle months of the so called Phony War, preceding the military actions of the Battle of France (1939-40), he had already been transferred to the organizational department of the Oberkommando des Heeres, the German army high command, which directed the operations on the Eastern Front. Stauffenberg opposed the Commissar Order, which Hitler wrote and then cancelled after a year. He tried to soften the German occupation policy in the conquered areas of the Soviet Union by pointing out the benefits of getting volunteers for the Ostlegionen which were commanded by his department. Guidelines were issued on 2 June 1942 for the proper treatment of prisoners of war (POWs) from the Caucasus region which had been captured by Heeresgruppe A. The Soviet Union had not signed the Geneva Convention (1929). However, a month after the German invasion in 1942, an offer was made for a reciprocal adherence to the Hague convention. This 'note' was left unanswered by Third Reich officials.^[6] Stauffenberg did not engage in any coup plot at this time. Hitler was at the peak of his power in 1942. The Stauffenberg brothers (Berthold and Claus) maintained contact with former commanders like Hoepner, and with the Kreisau Circle; they also included civilians and social democrats like Julius Leber in their scenarios for a time after Hitler. Belligerents Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia Croatia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Franz Halder Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt Ernst Busch Erich Hoepner Alfred Keller Georg von Küchler Günther von Kluge Heinz Guderian Hermann Hoth Albrecht Kesselring Adolf Strauss Carl-Heinrich von... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... Sicherheitsdienst (SD) sleeve insignia. ... SS redirects here. ... British Ministry of Home Security Poster of a type that was common during the Phony War The Phony War, or in Winston Churchills words the Twilight War, was a phase in early World War II marked by few military operations in Continental Europe, in the months following the German... Belligerents France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III H.G. Winkelman WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H... The Oberkommando der Heeres (OKH) was Germanys Army High Command from 1936 to 1945. ... The Commissar Order (German: Kommissarbefehl) was a written order given by Adolf Hitler on 6 June 1941, prior to Operation Barbarossa. ... Ostlegionen or Ostgruppen (literally Eastern Legion) were conscripts and volunteers from occupied territories who fought in the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) of the Third Reich during the Second World War. ... is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Caucasus Mountains. ... Army Group A was the name of a number of German Army Groups during World War II. // During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of General Gerd von Rundstedt, and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Geneva Convention (1929) The Geneva Convention (1929) was signed at Geneva, July 27, 1929. ... The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague, Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international... The Kreisau Circle (German: Kreisauer Kreis) was the name the Gestapo gave to a group of Germans centered at the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke in order to envision an alternative to Nazism. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... Julius Leber (born 16 November 1891 in Biesheim, Alsace), died 5 January 1945 in Berlin) was a German politician and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime. ...

In November 1942, the Allies landed in French North Africa, and the 10th Panzer Division occupied Vichy France (Case Anton) before being transferred to the Tunisian Campaign, as part of the Afrika Korps. Combatants United States United Kingdom Free French Forces Vichy France Commanders Dwight Eisenhower Andrew Cunningham François Darlan Strength 73,500 60,000 Casualties 479+ dead 720 wounded 1,346+ dead 1,997 wounded Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast) was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in... The 10th Panzer Division was created in 1939, and served in the Army Group North reserve during the invasion of Poland (1939). ... Motto Travail, famille, patrie French: Unoccupied zone of Vichy France (until November 1942) Capital Vichy Capital-in-exile Sigmaringen (1944-1945) Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholic Government Dictatorship Chief of state  - 1940 — 1944 Philippe Pétain President of the Council  - 1940 — 1942 Philippe Pétain  - 1942 — 1944 Pierre Laval... Case (or operation) Anton was the code-name for the Nazi-German occupation of Vichy France during World War II. Anton was invoked at Hitlers order after the allied landings in French Morocco (Operation Torch) in November 1942. ... The seal of the Deutsches Afrikakorps. ...

In 1943 Stauffenberg was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on a general staff (Oberstleutnant i. G. (im Generalstab)), and was sent to Africa to join the 10th Panzer (tank) Division as its Ia or "First Officer in the General Staff." There, while he was scouting out a new command area, his vehicle was strafed on 7 April 1943 by British fighter-bombers and he was severely wounded. He spent three months in hospital in Munich, where he was treated by Ferdinand Sauerbruch. Stauffenberg lost his left eye, his right hand, and the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand. He jokingly remarked to friends never to have really known what to do with so many fingers when he still had all of them. Oberstleutnant is the German Army (Bundeswehr) equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ernst Ferdinand Sauerbruch (3rd July 1875– 2nd July 1951) was a German surgeon. ...

For his injuries, Stauffenberg was awarded the Wound Badge in Gold on 14 April 1943 and for his courage the German Cross in Gold on 8 May 1943. A black version of the Badge A silver version A gold version Wound Badge (Das Verwundetenabzeichen) is a German military award for wounded or frost-bitten soldiers of Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service organisations (after March 1943 due to the increasing number of allied bombings — also for civilians). ... is the 104th day of the year (105th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... German Cross (in Gold) The German Cross (German: Deutsches Kreuz) was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 16 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

For rehabilitation, Stauffenberg was sent to his home, Schloss Lautlingen (today a museum), then still one of the Stauffenberg castles in Southern Germany. Initially he felt frustrated not to be in a position to stage a coup by himself. But by the beginning of September 1943, after a somewhat slow recuperation from his wounds, he was positioned by the conspirators, mainly Tresckow as a staff officer to the headquarters of the "Ersatzheer" (Home Army), located on Bendlerstrasse (later Stauffenbergstrasse) in Berlin. Albstadt [] is a city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... Henning Hermann Robert Karl von Tresckow (January 10, 1901 – July 21, 1944) was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who is known for organizing German resistance against Hitler. ... For other meanings of Home Army see: Home Army (disambiguation) The Armia Krajowa or AK (Home Army) functioned as the pre-eminent underground military organization in German-occupied Poland, which functioned in all areas of the country from September 1939 until its disbanding in January 1945. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ...

There, one of Stauffenberg's superiors was General Friedrich Olbricht, a committed member of the resistance movement. The Ersatzheer had a unique opportunity to launch a coup, as one of its functions was to have Operation Valkyrie in place. This was a contingency measure which would let it assume control of the Reich in the event that internal disturbances blocked communications to the military high command. Ironically, the Valkyrie plan had been agreed to by Hitler and was now secretly prepared to become the means, after Hitler's death, of sweeping the rest of his regime from power. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... General Friedrich Olbricht Friedrich Olbricht (born 4 October 1888 in Leisnig, Saxony; died 21 July 1944 in Berlin) was a German general and one of the plotters involved in the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolfs Lair in East Prussia on 20 July 1944. ... The July 20 Plot was a failed coup détat which involved an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ...

For after the suicide assassination to be committed by Axel von dem Bussche in November 1943 a detailed military plan was developed not only to occupy Berlin but also to take the different headquarters in East Prussia by military force. Stauffenberg had von dem Bussche transmit these written orders personally to Major Kuhn once he would have arrived at Wolfsschanze. The assassination plan of von dem Bussche failed. Kuhn hid these compromising documents in the nearby OKH under a watch tower. (Kuhn became a POW of the Soviets after the July 20 plot. He led the Soviets to the hiding place of the documents in February 1945. In 1989 Gorbachev returned these documents of the resistance against Hitler as a present to the then German chancellor Dr Helmut Kohl.). These documents are of importance because having been produced in 1943 they are evidence of the materially uninterested motivation of the resistance group, which had been doubted and matter of discussion for years in Germany after the war. Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst (24 April 1919 - 26 January 1993), usually referred to as Axel von dem Bussche in English, was a German Army officer and member of the German Resistance to Adolf Hitlers regime. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Remains of largest bunker (Adolf Hitlers) at Wolfsschanze. ... Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: ; Pronunciation: mih-kha-ILL ser-GHE-ye-vich gor-bah-CHOFF) (born March 2, 1931), was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. ... Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (born April 3, 1930) is a German conservative politician and statesman. ...

As also several other assassination attempts organised by Stauffenberg ( von dem Bussche, von Kleist , von Gersdorff, von Breitenbuch ) failed because of the unpredictable behavior of Hitler, the tide during 1944 was increasingly turning against the conspirators; they were forced to switch from meticulous planning to conspiratorial improvisation. Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst (24 April 1919 - 26 January 1993), usually referred to as Axel von dem Bussche in English, was a German Army officer and member of the German Resistance to Adolf Hitlers regime. ...

Stauffenberg had long been convinced of the criminal nature of the Hitler regime, but from 1942 onwards he believed that Hitler's policies were totally ruining Germany and costing millions of innocent lives. Like many of his associates, he felt that there had to be an attempt on Hitler's life. From early September 1943, Stauffenberg was actively involved in the plot and became its driving force. Later, following several failed attempts by others to kill Hitler, Stauffenberg decided, in July 1944, to personally kill Hitler. By then he had great doubts about the possibilities of success. His friend Tresckow convinced him to attempt the plot even if it had no chance of success at all, as this would be the only way to prove to the world that the Hitler regime and Germany were not one and the same and to demonstrate by this act that not all Germans supported the regime. Henning Hermann Robert Karl von Tresckow (January 10, 1901 – July 21, 1944) was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who is known for organizing German resistance against Hitler. ...

In June 1944 the Allies had landed in France on D-Day. Like most German military professionals, Stauffenberg had absolutely no doubts that this war was lost. Only an immediate armistice could avoid more unnecessary bloodshed and further damage to Germany, to its people and to most of the other European nations. However in 1943, he had written out demands with which he felt the Allies had to comply as a condition for Germany to agree to an immediate peace. These demands included Germany retaining its 1914 Eastern borders, including the Polish territories of Wielkopolska and Poznań.^[7] Other demands included Germany maintaining such territorial gains as Austria and the Sudetenland within the Reich, giving autonomy to Alsace-Lorraine, and even expansion of the current wartime borders of Germany in the southern direction by annexing Tyrol as far as Bolzano and Merano. Non-territorial demands included such points as refusal of any occupation of Germany by the Allies, as well as refusal to hand over war criminals by demanding the right of "nations to deal with its own criminals". These proposals were only directed to the Western Allies—Stauffenberg wanted Germany only to retreat from Western, Southern and Northern positions, while demanding the right to continue military occupation of German territorial gains in the East.^[8] This article is about the assault phase of Operation Overlord. ... Greater Poland (also Great Poland; Polish: Wielkopolska, German: Grosspolen, Latin: Polonia Maior) is one of the historical regions of Poland. ... Coordinates: , Country Voivodeship Powiat city county Gmina PoznaÅ„ Established 8th century City Rights 1253 Government  - Mayor Ryszard Grobelny Area  - City 261. ... Sudetenland (Czech and Polish: Sudety) was the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the Western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia. ... Imperial Province of Elsaß-Lothringen Alsace-Lorraine (German: , generally Elsass-Lothringen) was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 after the annexation of most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War. ... Bolzano (Italian Bolzano; German: Bozen, archaic Botzen; Ladin: Bulsan; Latin: Bauzanum; many of the regions Italian languages/dialects use Bolzan or Bulsan) is a city in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy. ... Merano (Italian, now most common in English; German: Meran, also used in English; Ladin: Meran; Archaic (857 AD): Mairania; Latin: Merona; many of the regions Italian languages/dialects use Meran), is a town in the province of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy. ...

Stauffenberg was aware that by German law (then and now) he was about to commit high treason. He openly told young conspirator Axel von dem Bussche in a meeting late 1943: "Let's be blunt, I am committing high treason with all my might and main...." ("Gehen wir in medias res, ich betreibe mit allen mir zur Verfügung stehenden Mitteln den Hochverrat...").^[9] He justified his project to Bussche by reference to the right under natural law ("Naturrecht") to defend millions of people's lives from the criminal aggressions of Hitler ("Nothilfe"). {{main|Treason}} High treason, broadly defined, is an action which is grossly disloyal to ones country or sovereign. ... Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst (24 April 1919 - 26 January 1993), usually referred to as Axel von dem Bussche in English, was a German Army officer and member of the German Resistance to Adolf Hitlers regime. ...

From the beginning of September 1943 until July 21, 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg was the driving force behind the plot. His resolve, his organisational (organizational) abilities, and his radical revolutionary approach put an end to inactivity caused by doubts and long discussions on hitherto military virtues made obsolete or not by Hitler's behavior. Helped by Henning von Tresckow, he united the conspirators and drove them into action.^[10] is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Henning Hermann Robert Karl von Tresckow (January 10, 1901 – July 21, 1944) was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who is known for organizing German resistance against Hitler. ...

July 20 plot

Main article: July 20 plot

Stauffenberg's part in the original plan required him to stay at the Bendlerstrasse offices in Berlin, from where he would phone regular Army units all over Europe and the Reich in an attempt to convince them to arrest leaders of Nazi political organizations such as the Sicherheitsdienst and the Gestapo. Unfortunately, he found himself forced to do both, to kill Hitler far away from Berlin and to trigger the military machine in Berlin during the office hours of the very same day. He was the only conspirator who had regular access to Hitler (during his briefing meetings) by mid 1944, as well as being the only officer among the conspirators who was considered to have the resolve and persuasive power to convince German military leaders to throw in with the coup once Adolf Hitler was dead. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... Sicherheitsdienst (SD) sleeve insignia. ... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...

Thus in 1944 Stauffenberg, who by this time was promoted to Oberst (colonel), agreed to carry out the assassination of the German Führer, Adolf Hitler himself — a need that became further apparent to him after several suicide attempts (e.g. the ones of Axel von dem Bussche and Ewald von Kleist) had failed. The attempt after several trials by Stauffenberg to meet Hitler, Göring and Himmler at the same time and at the same place would, through chance, ultimately took place at a briefing hut at the military high command in Eastern Prussia called Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) near Rastenburg, East Prussia (today Kętrzyn, Poland) on July 20, 1944. Albert Speer had met Claus in some of the meetings near Berchtesgaden and in Eastern Prussia during summer 1944. He described the tall colonel in his memoirs as a person of "mystical good looks." ... Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst (24 April 1919 - 26 January 1993), usually referred to as Axel von dem Bussche in English, was a German Army officer and member of the German Resistance to Adolf Hitlers regime. ... Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (born 1922 in Schmenzin, Pomerania (now SmÄ™cino near Koszalin in Poland)), sometimes known simply as Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist or Ewald von Kleist, is a former Wehrmacht officer and resistance fighter, active in the Third Reich against Adolf Hitler. ... Remains of largest bunker (Adolf Hitlers) at Wolfsschanze. ... Church in KÄ™trzyn KÄ™trzyn (Polish ; German: ) is a town in northeastern Poland with 28,351 inhabitants (2004). ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Church in KÄ™trzyn KÄ™trzyn (Polish ; German: ) is a town in northeastern Poland with 28,351 inhabitants (2004). ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the son of Albert Speer, also an architect, see Albert Speer (the younger). ...

On July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg's briefcase contained two small bombs, each with a British-made pencil detonator that could be set with a ten to fifteen minute detonation delay once activated. After having traveled that morning from Berlin to Eastern Prussia (today, Poland) by a special plane, he entered the briefing room before Hitler had shown up. The meeting had unexpectedly been changed from the subterranean "Führerbunker" to the wooden barrack or hut of Speer. He told Hitler's butler that he needed to change his shirt and thus left the meeting room, taking his briefcase with him. Once in a small room Stauffenberg, in the presence of his aide-de-camp lieutenant Haeften, armed the first bomb with specially adapted pliers. The pliers were used to activate the pencil detonator, a task made difficult by Stauffenberg not having a right hand and only having three fingers on his left hand. A guard knocked and opened the door, urging him to hurry as the meeting was about to begin. As a result, Stauffenberg was able to arm only one of the two bombs, which he placed back into the briefcase. He left the small room, handing the second, unarmed bomb in the briefcase to his aide-de-camp Haeften and proceeded back to the briefing room, where he placed his briefcase under the conference table, as near as he could get to Hitler. After some minutes he excused himself, pretending to need to make an urgent phone call to Berlin, and left the meeting room. He waited in a nearby shelter until the explosion tore through the hut. From what he saw, he was fully convinced that no one in the room could have survived. Although four people were killed and almost all present were injured, Hitler himself was injured only slightly as he was shielded from the blast by the heavy, solid oak conference table. is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Bomb (disambiguation). ... Introduced during World War II, a pencil detonator or time pencil is a chemically activated time fuze designed to be connected to a detonator or short length of safety fuse. ... Albert Speer Albert Speer (March 19, 1905 - September 1, 1981), sometimes called the first architect of the Third Reich, was Hitlers chief architect in Nazi Germany and became in 1942 minister of armament in Hitlers cabinet. ... An aide-de-camp (French: camp assistant) is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state. ... Werner Karl von Haeften (9 October 1908 - 20 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht, who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Hitler known as the July 20 Plot. ... For the Jamaican singer, see Pliers (singer). ... An aide-de-camp (French: camp assistant) is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state. ... Hitler redirects here. ...

Stauffenberg and his aide-de-camp, Oberleutnant Werner von Haeften, who carried the second bomb, quickly walked away and talked their way out of the heavily guarded compound. They were driven to the nearby airfield. On their way to the airfield, passing through a small forest they got rid of the second bomb. Then they flew back to Berlin-Rangsdorf in the same Heinkel He 111 which had brought them in the morning. Stauffenberg only learned of the failure to kill Hitler at 7 p.m., three and a half hours after he had landed in Rangsdorf airport south of Berlin at around 3:30 p.m. At Rangsdorf he was met by his brother Berthold. While he was still in transit, an order was issued from the Führer's headquarters to shoot Stauffenberg and Haeften immediately, but the order landed on the desk of a fellow conspirator, Friedrich Georgi of the air staff, and was not passed on. Oberleutnant is a rank of the German military which dates from the early 19th century. ... Werner Karl von Haeften (9 October 1908 - 20 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht, who took part in the military-based conspiracy against Hitler known as the July 20 Plot. ... The Heinkel He 111 was the primary Luftwaffe medium bomber during the early stages of World War II, and is perhaps the most famous symbol of the German side of the Battle of Britain. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ...

After his arrival at Bendlerstrasse in Berlin around 4:30 p.m., Stauffenberg, who still mistakenly believed Hitler to be dead, immediately began to motivate his friends to initiate the second phase of the project: to organize the military coup against the Nazi leaders. A short time later however, Joseph Goebbels announced by radio that Hitler had survived an attempt on his life. At 19:00 Hitler himself personally broadcast a message on the state radio, and the conspirators realized at that point that the coup had completely failed. The conspirators were tracked to their Bendlerstrasse offices and were shortly thereafter overpowered in a short shoot-out during which Stauffenberg was shot in the shoulder. Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ; English generally IPA: ) (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ...

Alternative possibilities

Some researchers have speculated that if Stauffenberg had placed the briefcase in a slightly different location the bomb might have had its intended effect on the primary target, since the bomb was supposedly placed behind a very thick leg of the heavy oak wood conference table. The leg apparently deflected the blast and prevented the force from reaching Hitler. This thesis is supported by the fact that others seated in less fortunate positions were killed or more seriously injured than Hitler. There is also speculation that had Stauffenberg left the second bomb in his briefcase, even without arming it, the detonation of the first bomb could have triggered the explosion of the second bomb (by sympathetic detonation) and the combined force of the two bombs going off nearly simultaneously might have killed Hitler. An alternate analysis is that the single bomb might have been effective had the meeting been held as originally planned in Hitler's reinforced and subterranean bunker (the "Führerbunker"), instead of the wooden hut that doubled as Speer's barracks and makeshift briefing room. Both compact bombs were designed to kill by expansion inside a room encased with reinforced walls. Speer's wooden hut with open windows did not correspond to these specifications, as it allowed a substantial amount of the blast force to escape to the outside by the open windows. Since some of the blast escaped the room, only those who were in the immediate path of the blast were killed or severely injured. In the Discovery Channel Unsolved History series from ca. 2005, each scenario was simulated in a detailed reconstruction with test dummies. The results supported the conclusion that Hitler would have been killed had any of the three other scenarios occurred [2nd bomb, stronger shelter, moving briefcase to the other side of the strong table leg]. Species See List of Quercus species The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of several hundred species of trees and shrubs in the genus Quercus (from Latin oak tree), which are listed in the List of Quercus species, and some related genera, notably... For the son of Albert Speer, also an architect, see Albert Speer (the younger). ... Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel founded by John Hendricks which is distributed by Discovery Communications. ...

Execution

In a futile attempt to save his own life, the co-conspirator Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm, Commander-in-Chief of the Replacement Army present in the Bendlerblock (Headquarters of the Army), charged other conspirators, held an impromptu court martial, and condemned the ringleaders of the conspiracy to death. Stauffenberg and fellow officers General Olbricht, Lieutenant von Haeften, and Oberst Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim were shot before 01:00 a.m. that night (July 21, 1944) by a makeshift firing squad in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock, which was lit by the headlights of a truck. Colonel General is a senior military rank which is used in some of the world’s militaries. ... Friedrich Fromm (October 8, 1888 - 1945) was a German army officer, best known as the main person responsible for the executions of the conspirators to assassinate Adolf Hitler. ... The Bendlerblock is a building in Berlin, near Tiergarten. ... ... Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim (born 25 March 1905 in Munich; died 20 July 1944 in Berlin) was a German officer and a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany who was involved in the July 20 Plot against Hitler. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ...

Memorial at Bendlerblock

As his turn came, Stauffenberg spoke his last words: "Es lebe unser heiliges Deutschland!" ("Long live our holy Germany!") Fromm ordered that the executed officers (his former co-conspirators) receive an immediate burial with military honors in the Matthäus Churchyard in Berlin's Schöneberg district. Today there is a stone in memorial of this event. The next day, however, Stauffenberg's body was exhumed by the SS, stripped of his medals, and cremated. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 491 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (878 × 1072 pixel, file size: 494 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture taken Feb 17, 2007 I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 491 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (878 × 1072 pixel, file size: 494 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Picture taken Feb 17, 2007 I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms... The Bendlerblock is a building in Berlin, near Tiergarten. ...

Another central figure in the plot was Stauffenberg's eldest brother, Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. On 10 August 1944, Berthold was tried before Judge-President Roland Freisler in the special "People's Court" (Volksgerichtshof). This court was established by Hitler for political offenses and Berthold was one of eight conspirators executed by slow strangulation (reputedly with piano wire used as the garrote) in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin, later that day. More than two hundred (others speak of more than a thousand fellow conspirators) were condemned in mock trials and executed. It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Judge Freisler Roland Freisler (October 30, 1893 – February 3, 1945) was a prominent and notorious Nazi German judge. ... The Volksgerichtshof (German for Peoples Court) was a court established by Hitler after the Reichstag fire to handle those accused of political criminal offences, such as treason. ... A garrote or garrote vil (a Spanish word; alternative spellings include garotte and garrotte) is a handheld weapon, most often referring to a ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone to death. ... Plötzensee is a lake in Berlin with an area of 7. ...

One generation later, 35 years after the end of the war, the German government established a memorial for the failed anti-Nazi resistance movement in a part of the Bendlerblock, the remainder of which currently houses the Berlin offices of the German Ministry of Defense (whose main offices remain in Bonn). The Bendlerstrasse was renamed the Stauffenbergstrasse, and the Bendlerblock now houses the Memorial to the German Resistance, a permanent exhibition with more than 5,000 photographs and documents showing the various resistance organisations at work during the Hitler era. The courtyard where the officers were shot on July 21, 1944, is now a site of remembrance with a plaque commemorating the events and includes a memorial bronze figure of a young man with his hands symbolically bound which resembles Count von Stauffenberg. A plaque in the inner courtyard of the Memorial to the German Resistance, near the spot where Stauffenberg and others were executed in July 1944 The courtyard in the Bendlerblock where the July 20 conspirators were executed. ... is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Family

Stauffenberg married Nina Freiin von Lerchenfeld in November 1933 in Bamberg. They had five children, one of whom was adopted: Berthold, Heimeran, Franz-Ludwig, Valerie and Konstanze. Konstanze was born in the concentration camp where Nina was interned after her husband's execution. Not told of what their father had done, Berthold, Heimeran, Franz, and Valerie were placed in foster home for the remainder of the war, but they were forced to use new surnames, as Stauffenberg was now considered unacceptable. She died aged 92 on April 2, 2006, at Kirchlauter near Bamberg and was buried there on April 8. Their eldest son, Berthold Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, became a general in West Germany's post war army, the Bundeswehr, while his brother Franz-Ludwig became a member of both the German and European parliaments. Elisabeth Magdalena (Nina) Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (27 August 1913 – 2 April 2006) was the wife of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of the failed plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944. ... For other uses, see Bamberg (disambiguation). ... Berthold Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (born 3 July 1934 in Bamberg) is a retired German Bundeswehr officer. ... Foster care is a system by which adults care for minor children who are not able to live with their parents. ... is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kirchlauter is a municipality in the Bavarian Administrative Region of Lower Franconia in the District of Haßberge. ... For other uses, see Bamberg (disambiguation). ... is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Berthold Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (born 3 July 1934 in Bamberg) is a retired German Bundeswehr officer. ... The Bundeswehr (German for Federal Defence Force;  ) is the name of the unified armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. ...

Stauffenberg's widow Nina described her late husband:

"He let things come to him, and then he made up his mind ... one of his characteristics was that he really enjoyed playing the devil's advocate. Conservatives were convinced that he was a ferocious Nazi, and ferocious Nazis were convinced he was an unreconstructed conservative. He was neither."^[11]

Assignments, promotions and decorations

A German stamp of Stauffenberg and Helmuth James Graf von Moltke in commemoration of their 100th birthdays.

Assignments Helmuth James Graf von Moltke Helmuth James Graf von Moltke (born 11 March 1907 in Kreisau bei Gräditz, Lower Silesia [now Krzyżowa in Poland]; died 23 January 1945 in Berlin) was a German jurist, a member of the opposition against Hitler in Nazi Germany, and a founding member...

• 01.Jan.1926 17th (Bavarian) Cavalry Regiment, Bamberg
• 17.Oct.1927 Infantry School, Dresden
• 01.Oct.1928 Cavalry School, Hannover
• 30.Jul.1930 Pioneer Course
• 18.Nov.1930 Mortar Course
• 01.Oct.1934 Cavalry School, Hannover / Adjutant
• 06.Oct.1936 War Academy, Berlin
• 01.Aug.1938 1st Light Division (18.Oct.1939 renamed 6th Panzer Division) / Second Staff Officer (Ib)
• 31.May.1940 OKH / General Staff / Organization Branch / Section Head II
• 15.Feb.1943 10th Panzer Division / Senior Staff Officer (Ia)
• 07.Apr.1943 Seriously wounded in Tunisia, assigned to Officer Reserve Pool
• 01.Nov.1943 OKH / General Army Office / Chief of Staff
• 20.Jun.1944 OKW / Chief of Replacement Army / Chief of General Staff
• 04.Aug.1944 (Posthumous) Expelled from Wehrmacht by the Führer at recommendation of the Army Court of Honour

Promotions

• 18.Aug.1927 Fahnenjunker-Gefreiter
• 15.Oct.1927 Fahnenjunker-Unteroffizier
• 01.Aug.1929 Fähnrich
• 01.Jan.1930 Leutnant
• 01.May.1933 Oberleutnant
• 01.Jan.1937 Rittmeister (from 01.Nov.1939 Hauptmann i.G.)
• 01.Jan.1941 Major i.G.
• 01.Jan.1943 Oberstleutnant i.G.
• 01.Apr.1944 Oberst i.G.

Decorations & Awards

• 17.Aug.1929 Sword of Honour
• 02.Oct.1936 Distinguished Service Badge, IVth Class
• 01.Apr.1938 Distinguished Service Badge, IIIrd Class
• 31.May.1940 Iron Cross, Ist Class
• 25.Oct.1941 Royal Bulgarian Order of Bravery, IVth Class
• 11.Dec.1942 Finnish Liberty Cross, IIIrd Class
• 14.Apr.1943 Wound Badge in Gold
• 20.Apr.1943 Italian-German Remembrance Medal
• 08.May.1943 German Cross in Gold

In popular culture

Stauffenberg memorial site in Altes Schloss in Stuttgart

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3264 × 2448 pixels, file size: 2. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (3264 × 2448 pixels, file size: 2. ... Old Castle in Stuttgart The Old Castle (German: Das Alte Schloss) is located in the centre of the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart. ...

German movies

• 1955: de:Der 20. Juli movie IMDB
• 1989: Stauffenberg. 13 Bilder über einen Täter von Hans Bentzien und Erich Thiede, Eine Dokumentation, DDR
• 1990: Stauffenberg – Verschwörung gegen Hitler
• 2004: Die Stunde der Offiziere Semi-documentary movie IMDB [3]
• 2004: Stauffenberg (Film) by de:Jo Baier IMDB [4]
• 2005: Stauffenberg (Fernsehdokumentation) TV documentary

Die Stunde der Offiziere (German: ) is a German semi-documentary movie of 2003 telling in chronologic order about the German resistance attempts to kill Adolf Hitler and size power in Germany in the July 20 plot of 1944. ... Stauffenberg is the title of a German-Austrain TV movie of 2004 that was broadcast in 2004 by Das Erste (German TV ARD). ...

Other media

• Eduard Franz played Stauffenberg in the film The Desert Fox which starred James Mason as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel another leading figure in the plot. He is shown as missing his right eye, when in fact it was his left.

• Gérard Buhr played Stauffenberg in the film "The Night Of The Generals" (1967), which included as a subplot a recreation of the July 20th bomb plot.

• Stauffenberg was played by Brad Davis in the television film The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990).

• In the episode of the British TV sitcom Red Dwarf entitled Timeslides, Lister steals Hitler's briefcase, which inside, a "package" from von Stauffenberg is found.

• Von Stauffenberg was portrayed by German actor Sky du Mont in the 1988 television miniseries version of Herman Wouk's War and Remembrance, which included a dramatization of the July 20 plot.

• Stauffenberg was a character in a 1997 episode of Highlander.

• Tom Cruise is set to play Stauffenberg in the movie Valkyrie or sometimes also called Rubicon which is based on the plot and events leading up to the attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler. The film is slated for a 2009 release, will be directed by Bryan Singer and will co-star Kenneth Branagh. Referring to Cruise in an interview for Süddeutsche Zeitung, Stauffenberg's eldest son Berthold, a retired German Bundeswehr general stated, "He should leave my father alone. He should go climb a mountain or go surfing in the Caribbean. I don't give a hoot as long as he keeps out of it."^[12]. One of the family's principal objections is Cruise's support for the Church of Scientology.^[13] Filming started almost on the exact anniversary of the failed assassination, on 19 July 2007 in Brandenburg (^[14][15]).

• Projekt recording artist Thanatos on the An Embassy To Gaius album has a song called "Von Stauffenberg" as the first track on the CD.

• Melodic death metal band Heaven Shall Burn dedicated Von Stauffenberg and the German Resistance in a song from their 2008 release of Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance) entitled A Quest For Resistance.

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... James Neville Mason (May 15, 1909 – July 27, 1984) was a three-time Academy Award nominated English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. ... Note: This article is about the military usage of the word marshal. For other usages, see the end of this article. ... Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ) (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was perhaps the most famous German Field Marshal of World War II. He was the commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps and also became known by the nickname The Desert Fox (Wüstenfuchs,  ) for the skillful military campaigns he waged... Robert Creel Davis (November 6, 1949 - September 8, 1991), better known as Brad Davis, was an American actor. ... This article is about the British sitcom. ... Timeslides was the fifth episode to air in the third series of Red Dwarf. ... For the origami historian, see David Lister (Origami Historian). ... Sky du Mont (b. ... Herman Wouk (May 27, 1915 —) is a bestselling American author with a number of notable novels to his credit, including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ... Valkyrie is a 2009 historical thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and starring Tom Cruise. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Bryan Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American film director. ... Kenneth Charles Branagh (born December 10, 1960) is an Emmy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated Northern Irish-born actor and film director. ... The Süddeutsche Zeitung is one of the largest German newspapers. ... The Church of Scientology is the largest organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. ... For the similarly spelled Brandenberg, see Brandenberg (Austria) or Brandenburg (disambiguation) Location Coordinates , , Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE4 Capital Potsdam Minister-President Matthias Platzeck (SPD) Governing parties SPD / CDU Votes in Bundesrat 4 (of 69) Basic statistics Area  29,479 km² (11,382... Heaven Shall Burn (named after the Marduk album of the same name) is a deathcore/metalcore band from Saalfeld, Germany. ... Bust of Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Memorial to the German Resistance, Berlin) The German Resistance refers to those individuals and groups in Nazi Germany who opposed the regime of Adolf Hitler between 1933 and 1945. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notes

For other uses, see Graf (disambiguation). ... Coronet of a count This article is about the style or title of nobility. ... Graf (from the Latin Grafio scribe from the Greek) is a German noble title equal in rank to a count (derived from the Latin Comes, with a history of its own) or a British earl (an original Anglo-Saxon title). ... The von Stauffenbergs are an old Roman Catholic family from Swabia in Germany, whose best known member was Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the German Army officer who was the central figure to kill Adolf Hitler in the July 20 plot of 1944. ... For other uses, see Graf (disambiguation). ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... Languages Historical Jewish languages Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, others Liturgical languages: Hebrew and Aramaic Predominant spoken languages: The vernacular language of the home nation in the Diaspora, significantly including English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian Religions Judaism Related ethnic groups Arabs and other Semitic groups For the Jewish religion, see Judaism. ... A knout (rhymes with boot) is a heavy scourge-like whip, usually made of a bunch of rawhide thongs attached to a long handle, sometimes with metal wire or hooks incorporated. ... For other uses, see Daily Express (disambiguation). ...

Literature

• (German) Christian Müller: Oberst i.G. Stauffenberg. Eine Biographie. Droste, Düsseldorf 1970, ISBN 3-7700-0228-8. (First great biography)
• Hoffman, Peter (1995). Stauffenberg : A Family History, 1905-1944. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-45307-0. Translation of the German-language original, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg und seine Brüder.
• Roger Moorhouse (2006), Killing Hitler, Jonathan Cape, ISBN 0-224-07121-1
• Wheeler-Bennett, John; Overly, Richard (1968). The Nemesis of Power: German Army in Politics, 1918-1945. New York: Palgrave Macmillan Publishing Company (New Impression edition). ISBN 0-333-06864-5.
• (German) Hoffmann, Peter (1998). Stauffenberg und der 20. Juli 1944. München: C.H.Beck. ISBN 3-406-43302-2.
• Burleigh, Michael (2000). The Third Reich: A New History. Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-64487-5.
• Stig Dalager, "Zwei Tage im Juli", documentary novel dealing with the 20th of July. Aufbau Taschenbuch-Verlag 2006.
• Gerd Wunder, "Die Schenken von Stauffenberg". Stuttgart 1972, Mueller und Graeff
• Claus Von Stauffenberg, the July 20 plot, and its aftermath are the subject of Paul West's novel The Very Rich Hours of Count von Stauffenberg, New York: Harper & Row, 1980, First Edition. (ISBN 0060145935).
• Claus Von Stauffenberg featured as a character in Justin Cartwright's 2007 novel, The Song Before It Is Sung

Roger Moorhouse (born 1968) is a British historian and author. ... Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett, GCVO, MCG, OBE, FRSL, FBA, (October 13, 1902-December 9, 1975) was a conservative British historian of German and diplomatic history. ...

External links

• Stauffenberg and the Assassination Attempt of July 20, 1944 – Featured topic at the Memorial to the German Resistance's website
• Emerging from the Nazi shadow? – BBC report of 60th anniversary of the 20 July plot; by Clare Murphy, BBC News Online
• Photos of the 20th July 1944 Memorial in Berlin – Part of the photo collection of Ian J. Sanders
• German Defense Minister Bans Tom Cruise from playing Stauffenberg
• Long Live our Sacred Germany: The Claus von Stauffenberg Story
• (German) Stauffenberg-Memorial in Stuttgart [5] inaugurated in presence of son [6]
• Photos from the German Stern magazine to the July 20 plot
• Interview with Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (the son) concerning the Tom-Cruise-movie
• Germany imposes ban on Tom Cruise filming (BBC)
• World at War Biography of Claus Von Stauffenberg

A plaque in the inner courtyard of the Memorial to the German Resistance, near the spot where Stauffenberg and others were executed in July 1944 The courtyard in the Bendlerblock where the July 20 conspirators were executed. ...

Related movies

• Operation Walküre (West Germany, 1971) (TV) 199 min. long documentary by Joachim Fest
• Untergang, Der (Germany, 2004)
• Stunde der Offiziere, Die (Germany, 2003) (TV) "The Hour of Officers"
• 20. Juli, Der (West Germany, 1955)
• Es geschah am 20. Juli (West Germany, 1955) "It happened July 20th"
• The Night of the Generals (1967)
• Stauffenberg (Germany, 2004) (TV)
• The Plot to Kill Hitler (USA, 1990) (TV)
• The Restless Conscience (USA 1991)

Joachim Clemens Fest (December 8, 1926–September 11, 2006), German historian, journalist, critic and editor, is best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including an important biography of Adolf Hitler and books about Albert Speer and the German Resistance. ... The Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is a 2004 German / Austrian film depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker and Nazi Germany in 1945, written by Bernd Eichinger, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, and based upon the books: Inside Hitlers Bunker, by historian Joachim Fest; portions...