NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Claus von Stauffenberg

Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf^[1] von Stauffenberg (15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer and one of the leading figures of the failed July 20 Plot of 1944 to kill Adolf Hitler and seize power in Germany. November 15 is the 319th day of the year (320th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 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 Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... July 21 is the 202nd day of the year (203rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The German Army (German: Heer, [IPA: heÉ] ) is the land component of the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence Forces) of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... 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. ...

Image File history File links Stauffenberg-signature-head. ... Image File history File links Stauffenberg-signature-head. ...

Early life

Stauffenberg was the third of three sons (the others being the twins Berthold and Alexander) in the then Stauffenberg castle of Jettingen between Ulm and Augsburg, in the eastern part of Swabia belonging then to the Kingdom of Bavaria, forming part of the German Reich. He was born to the von Stauffenberg family, one of the oldest and most distinguished aristocratic Roman Catholic families of southern Germany.^[2] His parents were Alfred Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the last Oberhofmarschall of the Kingdom of Württemberg, and Caroline Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg (née Countess von Üxküll-Gyllenband). Among his maternal ancestors were several famous Lutheran 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. ... Jettingen-Scheppach is a market community in the GÃ¼nzburg Landkreis in the Schwaben (Swabia) Regierungsbezirk in Bavaria. ... Ulm is a city in the German Bundesland of Baden-WÃ¼rttemberg, situated on the river Danube, about 90 km south-east of Stuttgart and 140 km north-west of Munich. ... Augsburg is a city in south-central Germany. ... Germany. ... The Free State of Bavaria (German: Bayern or Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 kmÂ² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... 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. ... Topics in Christianity Movements Â· Denominations Ecumenism Â· Preaching Â· Prayer Music Â· Liturgy Â· Calendar Symbols Â· Art Â· Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul Â· Church Fathers Constantine Â· Athanasius Â· Augustine Anselm Â· Aquinas Â· Palamas Â· Wycliffe Tyndale Â· Luther Â· Calvin Â· Wesley Arius Â· Marcion of Sinope Pope Â· Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box: The Roman Catholic Church... Southern Germany is the term used to desribe the southern states of Germany: namely Baden-WÃ¼rttemberg and Bavaria. ... Coat of Arms of the (formerly royal) WÃ¼rttemberg family, on a gate of the familys current residence, Schloss Altshausen in Altshausen, Germany // Counts of WÃ¼rttemberg Conrad I 1089-1122 Conrad II 1100-1130 John d. ... The French word nÃ©e (feminine) or nÃ© (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. ... Motto: Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital KÃ¶nigsberg, later Berlin Political structure Duchy, Kingdom, Republic Duke1 - 1525â€“68 Albert I - 1688â€“1701 Frederick III King1 - 1701â€“13 Frederick I - 1888â€“1918 William II Prime Minister1,2... August Wilhelm Antonius Graf[1] Neidhardt von Gneisenau (27 October 1760 â€“ 23 August 1831) was a Prussian field marshal. ...

Like his brothers, Claus von Stauffenberg was carefully educated and inclined toward literature, but eventually took up a military career. In 1926, he joined the Reichswehr, also called in German the "100.000 Mann Armee" and more specificly the Bamberger Reiter- und Kavallerieregiment 17 (17th Cavalry Regiment) in Bamberg, the family's traditional regiment (see also Bamberg Horseman) as a professional soldier. It was around this time that the three brothers were introduced by Albrecht von Blumenthal to poet Stefan George's influential circle, from which many notable members of the German resistance would later emerge. Claus was commissioned as a Leutnant (Lieutenant) in 1929. (ref.>Wunder,"Die Schenken von Stauffenberg") The Reichswehr (helpÂ· info) (literally National Defense or Imperial Defense) formed the military organization of Germany from 1919 until 1935, when the government rebranded it as the Wehrmacht (Defence Force). ... Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ... The Bamberg Horseman The Bamberg Horseman (germ. ... Stefan George (1910) Stefan George (Bingen, Hesse, July 12, 1868 â€“ Locarno, December 4, 1933) was a German poet and translator. ... Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ...

In his military career, Stauffenberg had studied modern weapons at the Kriegsakademie in Berlin-Moabit, but remained focused on the use of horses in then modern warfare. In fact, horses carried a large part of transportation duties throughout and at the end of the war, when fuel supplies were short. He was promoted to Rittmeister in 1937. His regiment became part of the German 1st Light Division under General Erich Hoepner who had taken part in the 1938 German Resistance coup plans which were choked by Hitler´s unexspected success, the Munich Agreement. The unit was involved in the occupation of the western part of Czechoslovakia, in Germany then called the "Sudetenland". Once the Second World War started in 1939, Stauffenberg and his regiment took part in the attack on Poland, the "Polish campaign". Fassade Unter den Linden 74, erbaut 1845/25 von Karl Friedrich Schinkel als vereinte Artillerie- und Ingenieurschule Fassade des LehrgebÃ¤udes an der DorotheenstraÃŸe 58/59, entworfen von Franz Schwechten (1883) Lageplan der Kriegsakademie mit dem LehrgebÃ¤ude an der DorotheenstraÃŸe und dem aufgrund der vornehmen Lage 1878... Moabit is a district in the center of Berlin. ... Rittmeister (in German language literally [Horse] riding master or Cavalry master) was the military rank of a commissioned cavalry officer in charge of a squadron, the equivalent of Captain, in the armies of German-speaking states and Austro-Hungarian. ... 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 Chamberlain holds the paper containing the resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on his return from Germany in September 1938. ... It has been suggested that Germans in Czechoslovakia (1918-1938) be merged into this article or section. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

World War II

Stauffenberg found some aspects of the Nazi Party's ideology repugnant, although he agreed with its nationalism. Moreover, Stauffenberg remained a Catholic; the Roman Catholic Church had signed the Reichskonkordat in 1933, the year 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 Concern") of 1937. On top of this, the growing systematic maltreatment of Jews and suppression of religion had offended Stauffenberg's strong Catholic sense of morality and justice; he felt, for instance, that the November 1938 Kristallnacht ("Crystal Night") 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. Count Peter Yorck von Wartenburg and Ulrich Wilhelm Graf 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. The Nazi Party (German: , or NSDAP, English: National Socialist German Workers Party), was a far-right, racist political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... 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). ... Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom[1] against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on November 9â€“10, 1938. ... Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg (born 13 November 1904 in Klein-Ã–ls near Ohlau, Lower Silesia, now OÅ‚awa, Poland; died 8 August 1944 in Berlin) was a German jurist and resistance fighter against the Nazi rÃ©gime. ... 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 rÃ©gime. ... Walther von Brauchitsch in 1939. ... Hitler redirects here. ...

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 LÃ©gÃ¨re MÃ©canique, 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. ... Combatants France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand (French) Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) Leopold III (Belgian) H.G. Winkelman (Dutch) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R... 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 the for him 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 join resistance groups within the Wehrmacht, the only force that had a chance to overcome Hitler´s Gestapo, SD, and SS. Already during the idle months of the so called phony war preceding the military actions of the battle for France, he had been transferred to the organizational department of the Oberkommando des Heeres, the German high command over the Eastern Front. Stauffenberg opposed the so called Commissar Order, which then was canceled by Hitler after one year. He tried to soften the german ocupation 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 from the Caucasus region which had been captured by Heeresgruppe A. As the Soviet Union had not signed the Geneva Convention (1929), German POWs in Soviet hands could not expect treatment according to this convention, and in turn, many Germans were not inclined to treat the millions of Soviet POWs correctly as demanded by the Geneva convention. However, 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. Combatants Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler, Ion Antonescu, C.G.E. Mannerheim, Benito Mussolini, MiklÃ³s Horthy, Jozef Tiso Joseph Stalin Strength ~3. ... This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Sicherheitsdienst (SD) sleeve insignia. ... The (German for Protective Squadron), abbreviated (Runic) or SS (Latin), was a large security and military organization of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) in Germany. ... 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... 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 Wehrmacht of the Third Reich during the Second World War. ... June 2 is the 153rd day of the year (154th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 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. ... The Geneva Convention (1929) was signed at Geneva, July 27, 1929. ... 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. ... 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 rÃ©gime. ...

In November 1942, the Allies landed in North Africa, and the 10th Panzer Division occupied Vichy France (Case Anton) before being transferred to Tunis to support Rommel's Afrikakorps. Combatants United States United Kingdom Free French Forces Vichy France Commanders Dwight Eisenhower Andrew Cunningham FranÃ§ois 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: Work, family, fatherland Unoccupied zone of Vichy France (until November 1942) Capital Vichy Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholic Government Dictatorship Head of state - 1940 â€” 1944 Philippe PÃ©tain President of the Council - 1940 â€” 1942 Philippe PÃ©tain - 1942 - 1944 Pierre Laval Legislature National Assembly... 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 Deutsches Afrikakorps (often just Afrika Korps or DAK) was the corps_level headquarters controlling the German Panzer divisions in Libya and Egypts Western Desert during the North African Campaign of World War II. Since there was little turnover in the units attached to the corps the term is commonly...

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 had still ten 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 rehab, Stauffenberg was sent to his home, Schloss Lautlingen, then one of the Stauffenberg castles in Southern Germany. Initially, he felt frustrated as he felt to be in no position to stage a coup by himself. But beginning of September 1943, after slowly somewhat recuperating from his wounds, he was sent by the conspirators as a staff officer to the headquarters of the "Ersatzheer" (Home Army), located on Bendlerstrasse in Berlin. Albstadt [] is a city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden-WÃ¼rttemberg, Germany. ... 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. ... Location of Berlin within Germany / EU Coordinates Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DE3 City subdivisions 12 boroughs Governing Mayor Klaus Wowereit (SPD) Governing parties SPD / Left. ...

Here, 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 of internal disturbances with communications to the military high command blocked. 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. For the assassination to be committed by von dem Bussche in December 1943 a detailed military plan had been created to occupy Berlin and the different headquarters in Eastern Prussia by military force, once Hitler had died. Claus had handed over to Axel von dem Bussche part of this plan, who gave it once arrived at Wolfsschanze following the orders of Claus to Major Kuhn. After the plot of von dem Bussche failed, Kuhn hid these documents in the nearby OKH under a watch tower. Kuhn after the July 20 plot became a POW of the Russians. He showed them in January 1945 the hiding place of these documents. 1990 Gorbatschow returned Clausen´s orders as a present to the German chancler Helmut Kohl . 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. ... 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. ... Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (born April 3, 1930) is a German conservative politician and statesman. ...

As odds in 1944 were increasingly turning against the conspirators, they were forced to switch from meticulous planning to improvisation.

Stauffenberg had been for years convinced by the criminal nature of the Hitler regime, but since early 1943 he believed, that Hitler´s strategies would ruin Germany and cost millions of additional innocent lives. He felt like many people around him, that there had to be an attempt on Hitler's life. Later he, like his friend Treskow believed, that this attempt had to be tried even if there were no chances for success, if this would be the only means to prove to the world, that the Hitler regime and Germany were not necessarily identical and to state that not all Germans agreed to tolerate Hitler´s crimes. In June 1944 the Allies had landed in France on D-day. Stauffenberg, like most German military professionals had absolutely no doubt, that the war was lost. Only an immediate armistice could avoid grand scale bloodshed and further damage. Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ...

Stauffenberg was aware, that by German law (then and now) he was about to commit high treason. He openly told young Axel von dem Bussche in a meeting 1943, that he was in the "business of high treason, no doubt about that" ("Ich bin im Hochverratsgeschaeft, kein Zweifel..."). He justified his project to Bussche by reference to the right under natural law (in German, "Naturrecht") to defend millions of peoples life against the criminal agressions of Hitler ( in German:"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. ...

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. ... 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. ...

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 having to both kill Hitler far away from Berlin and organize the military machine in Berlin at practically the same time. 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 knew most of the German military leaders personally, which gave him the best chance convincing them to throw in with the coup once the assassination had taken place. 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. ... This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ...

Therefore, in 1944, Stauffenberg (by this time 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 other attempts ( e.g. the one of Axel von dem Bussche) had failed. The attempt after several trials by stauffenberg would, through chance, ultimately take 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 20 July 1944. Hess had met Claus during some of the meetings at the Berghof and at Wolfsschanze during the summer of 1944. He described the heavily mutilated 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. ... Wolfs Lairs location in the old East Prussia (modern borders shown) FÃ¼hrerhauptquartier Wolfsschanze (English: Wolfs Lair, Polish: ) was the codename used for a major Eastern Front military headquarters of Adolf Hitler during World War II. One of the larger bunkers in Wolfsschanze complex. ... 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). ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Stauffenberg's briefcase contained two small bombs, each with a simple, soundless, chemical timer that could be set with a ten- to fifteen-minute detonation delay once activated. He entered the briefing room before Hitler had shown up (which, unexpectedly to Stauffenberg, had been changed from the subterranean "Führerbunker" to the wooden barrack or hut of Speer). He told Hitler's butler that he needed to go to the restrooms and therefore left the meeting room, taking his briefcase with him. Once in the restroom he began the difficult task (owing to the lack of his right hand and only three remaining fingers on the left) to arm the first bomb. Somebody knocked on the door and urged him to hurry up as the meeting was due to begin immediately. Stauffenberg could only arm one of the two bombs, placing it back into his briefcase. He left the restroom, giving the second, unarmed bomb over to his assistent, and proceeded back to the briefing room where he placed his briefcase under the conference table not far from Hitler. After some minutes he excused himself, pretending to need to make an urgent phone call to Berlin, and quickly 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. Some researchers have speculated that if Stauffenberg had placed the briefcase in a slightly different location that 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 supposedly deflected any of the blast 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 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 bunker (the "Fuhrerbunker"), instead of the wooden hut that doubled as Speers barracks and makeshift briefing room.^{[citation needed]} 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. Since some of the blast escaped the room, only those who were in the immediate path of the blast were killed or severly injured, where as had the room been able to contain the blast then others in the room, while not immediately adjacent to the blast, might not have fared so well. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb produced in the United States. ... 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. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... For other uses, see Solid (disambiguation). ... The term conference can be used to describe any meeting of people that confer about a certain topic. ... Look up table in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 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, and some related genera, notably Cyclobalanopsis and Lithocarpus. ... 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. ...

Stauffenberg and his aide-de-camp, Leutnant 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 airfield. In a small forest nearby they got rid of the second bomb, then flew back to Berlin in a Heinkel He 111 specially prepared by Stauffenberg. Stauffenberg only learned of the failure to kill Hitler several hours after, some hours after he had returned to Berlin. While he was 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. Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ... 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. ... He 111K 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. ...

After his arrival in Berlin, around 4.30 p.m., Stauffenberg, still mistakenly believing Hitler to be dead, began to motivate his friends to initiate the second phase of the project: to organize the military coup against the Nazi leaders. However only a little later Joseph Goebbels announced by radio that Hitler had survived an attempt on his life; Hitler at 7 p.m. 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: ) (29 October 1897 â€“ 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ...

General Friedrich Fromm, Commander-in-Chief of the Replacement Army present in the Bendlerblock (Headquarters of the Army) and who had been involved in the conspiracy, in an attempt to save his life arrested the conspirators, held an impromptu court martial and condemned the ringleaders of the conspiracy to death. Stauffenberg, along with fellow officers General Olbricht, Leutnant von Haeften and Oberst Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, were shot around 1 p.m. that night ( 21st of July 1944) by a makeshift firing squad in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock lit by a truck . This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... 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. ... Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. ...

As his turn came, Stauffenberg spoke his last words: "Es lebe unser heiliges Deutschland!" ("Long live our sacred Germany!"). Fromm had given orders that the executed officers (and his former co-conspirators) receive an immediate but honorable burial in the Matthäus Churchyard in Berlin's Schöneberg district. Today there is a stone in memory 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 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (878 Ã— 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 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolution (878 Ã— 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 Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg. Berthold was tried before Roland Freisler in the special court established by Hitler for political offenses (called "People's Court" Volksgerichtshof) on 10 August and was one of eight conspirators executed by slow strangulation in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin, later that day (reputedly with piano wired used as the garot). More than a thousand fellow conspirators were condemned in show trials and executed. Berthold Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (1905-1944), the elder Berthold Berthold Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg is the name of both the brother and the son of Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, a German aristocrat and army colonel during World War II. // The Brother The brother of Claus and uncle of... Judge Freisler Roland Freisler (October 30, 1893 â€“ 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. ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... PlÃ¶tzensee is a lake in Berlin with an area of 7. ...

Many members of the Stauffenberg family, including Stauffenberg's wife and children, were arrested by the SS. Most of them passed through concentration camps like Dachau. Nina and her family escaped execution when the SS decided not to carry out the order because they had become aware that British troops had approached to within 500 yards of their location.^{[citation needed]} It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about the town in Bavaria. ...

Some years after the end of the war the Bendlerblock was transformed by the German government into a memorial for the failed anti-Nazi resistance movement. Bendlerstrasse was renamed into 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 21st 1944 is now a site of rememberance with a plaque commemorating the events, and includes a memorial bronze figure of a young man with his hands symbolically bound which resembles Claus. 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. ...

Family

Stauffenberg married Nina Freiin von Lerchenfeld in November 1933 in Bamberg. They had five children: Berthold, Heimeran, Franz-Ludwig, Valerie and Konstanze. Konstanze was born after Claus´s death in a concentration camp, as Nina was interned in a concentration camp after her husband's execution. She died aged 92 on 2 April 2006, at Kirchlauter near Bamberg and was buried there on 8 April. 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 member of both the German and European parliaments. Elisabeth Magdalena (Nina) Schenk GrÃ¤fin von Stauffenberg (27 August 1913 â€“ 2 April 2006) was the wife of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the leader of the failed plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944. ... Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ... Berthold Maria Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg (born 3 July 1934 in Bamberg) is a retired German Bundeswehr officer. ... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Kirchlauter is a municipality in the Bavarian Administrative Region of Lower Franconia in the District of HaÃŸberge. ... Bamberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 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 armed forces of Germany. ...

Popular culture

Claus von Stauffenberg The July 20 Plot was an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, on July 20, 1944. ... 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. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Red Dwarf is a British science fiction comedy franchise, the primary form of which comprises eight series of a post-watershed television sitcom that ran on BBC2 between 1988 and 1999, and which has achieved a global cult following. ... 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 â€”) 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. ...

Notes

^ Note regarding personal names: Graf is a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin.
^ The family's original name was Stauffenberg, and they held the noble titles of Schenk and Graf =Count. After 1918, when the Weimar Republic abolished all noble titles, the Stauffenberg family, like the other formerly noble german families added the words Schenk and Graf to their surname. Stauffenberg's formal surname was thus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. By convention he is usually referred to in English simply as von Stauffenberg.
^ Quoted from Burleigh (2000).

Graf 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 Anglo-Saxon title derived from the Viking title Jarl). ... A count is a nobleman in most European countries, equivalent in rank to a British earl, whose wife is also still a countess (for lack of an Anglo-Saxon term). ... 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. ... Graf 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 Anglo-Saxon title derived from the Viking title Jarl). ... 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 Adolf Hitler (last) Legislature Reichstag...

Literature

Roger Moorhouse (born 14 October 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

Contents

Early life GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");