|
|
Claus von Stauffenberg – The Man Who Tried to Kill HitlerBy Nigel Jones | World War II | 30 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post “Our biggest deprivation was having no news from the outside world,” Berthold said. “There was no radio and no newspapers, and until Christmas 1944 we had no idea whether our mother was alive or dead.” Christmas, however, brought a surprise gift they had not dared to hope for: an unexpected visit from their aunt Melitta, the wife of Claus’s brother Alexander, who—partly because he was posted to occupied Greece and partly because of his dreamy, unworldly nature—had not been made privy to the plot by his two brothers. Subscribe Today
Melitta von Stauffenberg had forged a successful career as an aircraft designer and test pilot in the Luftwaffe, reaching the rank of Flugkapitän and receiving the Iron Cross. Her talents were so extraordinary—she specialized in dive-bombers and had made more than 2,000 test flights—that the Nazis willingly overlooked both her gender and her Jewish heritage. Although she had been arrested along with Alexander under the Sippenhaft decree, Melitta had, with incredible chutzpah, not only persuaded the Nazis to release her, but also insisted, as the price of her continuing work as a test pilot, that she be allowed to visit her husband, her sister-in-law Nina, and the children. Amazingly, the Nazis agreed to these terms. As a result, she blew into Bad Sachsa at Christmas with an armful of presents and the news that Nina, though in detention, was still alive. “That was the best Christmas present we could have wished for,” Berthold recalled. A month later, the sympathetic Fraulein Verch told the children that their mother had given birth to a daughter. She was born the same day, January 27, 1945, that the Red Army occupied both Auschwitz and Hitler’s Wolfschanze headquarters—the scene of Stauffenberg’s abortive bombing. Even as the war neared its end, however, the outlook for the children was darkening. Enraged by the attempt on his life, Hitler had insisted that the very name “Stauffenberg” be wiped from history. The decision was made to rename the children “Meister” and to have them adopted by a loyal Nazi—even possibly SS—family and brought up accordingly. The first step was to remove them from their relatively comfortable quarters at Bad Sachsa and send them to the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp. Only a miraculous twist of fate prevented this. The Stauffenberg children departed for Buchenwald on Easter, 1945, traveling in an army truck to the Nordhausen railway station to board a train for the camp. They were on the outskirts of Nordhausen when an Allied air raid hit the town. “It destroyed the whole quarter around the station, including the station itself,” Berthold remembered. “The Nazis had no option but to take us back to Bad Sachsa, much to our relief.” A few days later, on April 11, the American 104th “Timberwolf” Infantry Division arrived in Nordhausen. But German resistance in the hills and woods around the town was stubborn, and the U.S. Army had to threaten to level those parts of the town still standing before its residents surrendered. “We had a grandstand view of the fighting, with U.S. Mustangs and Lightnings roaring overhead,” Berthold recalled. “Once the war got too close for comfort when the strawberry patch in the chalet’s garden got shot up.” American soldiers searched the chalet, and the mayor of Nordhausen arrived to tell its occupants they were free. Although two nurses remained behind to look after the children, they were largely left to their own devices and spent the time roaming the local woods in search of spent ammunition and other war booty. Then, as if by magic, another aunt came to their rescue. On June 11, the children’s great-aunt Alexandrine arrived in a Red Cross bus. She had come to take them home to Lautlingen, where their world had fallen apart almost a year before. Back in Lautlingen, Berthold and his siblings mourned the deaths of their father, their uncle Berthold, and their great-uncle Nux—all executed by the Nazis—and of their maternal grandmother, who had succumbed to typhus in an SS camp. Their brave aunt Melitta had also perished. In the last days of the war, the plane she’d been flying to visit her husband had been strafed by an American fighter. Although she had managed to land the plane, her leg was severed and she bled to death. Still worse for the children, their mother was missing. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: 20th - 21st Century, People, World War II
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||
What is HistoryNet?The HistoryNet.com is brought to you by the Weider History Group, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. If you are interested in a specific history subject, try searching our archives, you are bound to find something to pique your interest. |
From Our Magazines
|
Weider History Group |
Weider History Network: HistoryNet | Armchair General | Great History | Achtung Panzer! Terms of Use | Copyright © 2009 Weider History Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |
||
Loading ...
30 Comments to “Claus von Stauffenberg – The Man Who Tried to Kill Hitler”
What happened to the other four Stauffenberg children (what careers did they have and where do they live?)
By Rita Neutze on Dec 27, 2008 at 9:02 pm
As a former member of the Berlin Brigade (1979-1981) I was once permitted to spend the night in the building that once housed the U.S., French, British and Soviet Commanders (the Allied Komandantura). The building was left largely vacant following the pull-out of the Soviet Commander in 1948, and the U.S. military police who maintained a presence in the building were convinced it was haunted with the spirits of the Valkyrie Conspiritors.
Although I admit some some very strange sounds that I heard through the night I have never been able to verify the history of the building as being involved with the Valkyrie Conspiracy. Perhaps you can help?
Thank you for you time.
Raymond Gibson
By Raymond Gibson on Dec 29, 2008 at 4:48 pm
this was an excellent article; it made for insightful reading. thank you for posting it.
By Dilbert on Jan 5, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I just saw the new movie Valkyrie and I was very much moved. It made me understand how much hitler was pure evil. I know now that the Col. was a good and breave man and a good father. I understand I didn’t know him as a person, but what he did tells all.
Clarence A. Seals
By clarence seals on Jan 7, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Call me a cynic if you will but I find it ‘funny’ how these german officers only started having issues with the nazi’s once the war turned against Germany.
By Peter on Jan 8, 2009 at 8:45 am
I just got out of the theatre aftre watching VALKYRE. One questiion, WHY DOES TOM CRUISE’S VON STAUFFENBERG HAVE RED STRIPES ON HIS TROSERS? I was under the belief that only generals had red stripes.
By Gerard Malavenda on Jan 8, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I caught that also but if memory serves that was standard issue for officers attached to the general staff
By v. roark on Jan 8, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Not to beat a dead techie horse to death but I loved how real the filming was done.Remember Lee Marvin in the “Big Red One” when he spotted an ambush because the “dead” Germans had the white piping of an infantry unit? Wars,battles,and war movies turn on details. A year ago I could have nudged “TomKat” over a cliff but we’ll be breaking down this movie for a long time. And were those like the only 2 flyable ME109Gs in the world?
By v. roark on Jan 8, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Re the Me109’s… there are quite a few around. The spanish & czechs built them under licence postwar with a variety of engines. About a dozen were available for the movie “battle of Britain” alongside loads of Spanish made CASA copies of He 111 bombers. There are also limited number of replica Stukas and Spitfires being built with small 150hp engines. They look perfect but obviously handle differently.
By Peter on Jan 9, 2009 at 8:25 am
Gerard…
A German General officer wore bright-red stripes on his trousers; a school-trained General Staff Officer (i.g.) wore carmen colored stripes. V. Staffenberg started the War Academy course in 1936.
Also note Cruise’s lapel insignia, it is the silver gilt of an OKH stafff officer. One interesting thing was Cruise’s uniform-it looks almost dove grey, like the Luftwaffe, in comparison to the gray-greeen of the standard Army uniform. The director probably had
him wear this color in order so the audience could recognize him. I really enjoyed the movie and think all concerned did a good job.
By Al on Jan 14, 2009 at 7:37 am
German officers, like officers in most militaries, are trained to obey orders from their superiors including their govt. So it’s not surprising no German officers attempted to assassinate Hitler until late in the war when it became apparent Hitler had lead Germany to destruction. US officers obeyed orders to exterminate American Indians & to violently supress the independence movement in the Philippines. Some American soldiers opposed the Vietnam War on moral grounds but no active duty soldiers attempted to overthrow the US Govt. It’s not exactly easy to convince soldiers to commit treason even when they believe their govt is immoral & their leaders’ actions are inhumane.
By Derek on Jan 14, 2009 at 3:02 pm
i do not find the world war very funny at all!
By journey on Jan 15, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Al had a good point and there was some mix of colors in the German army. The dove grey was the parade or mess dress, a more formal attire. More like our current “class A” . The grey/green was the common issue during the war.There was also the faded olive and tan colored fabrics of Afrika and Italian based divisions.
By v. roark on Jan 21, 2009 at 11:03 pm
The army began planning for a coup against Hitler in 1938 with the Sudeten crisis followed by the general takeover of Czechoslovakia. The army needed for Hitler to have a foreign policy failure before they could hope to execute a successful coup that would not result in a full scale civil war, i.e. they knew they could not succeed while Hitler was successful, by 1938 the army had gone from a small professional army with loyalty to the army to an army with a large component of the general population with loyalty to the NSDAP and Hitler. The army was relying on the French and British to provide the failure that they needed to overthrow Hitler and at least generate a degree of doubt about Hitler’s judgment among the people. The attempt under Valkyrie was the last attempt, and after it the resistance was so badly crippled that there was no practical hope of another attempt before the end of the war.
By Christopher Steuart on Jan 31, 2009 at 10:40 pm
why did Claus Von Stuaffenberg all of a sudden turn against Adolf Hitler? please e-mail me as soon as possisble Thanks.
By Paul Vaccaro on Feb 17, 2009 at 9:31 pm
PV:
there was nothing sudden about Stauffenberg’s condemnation of Hitler. True, he felt bound by duty to his country, to the oath he had taken as a German officer, to support the war effort in the late 1930s. but from at least 1939 on he despised Hitler’s moral and military “leadership,” and considered the removal of the madman essential to Germany’s survival. Nigel Jones’s “Countdown to Valkyrie”(2009) and Peter Hoffmann’s “Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1905-1944″ (1995) both provide excellent descriptions of Stauffenberg’s evolution from loyal soldier to hero would-be assassin.
Bill Horne
Editor, World War II magazine
By B. Horne on Feb 28, 2009 at 5:57 pm
what al was saying about soilders not trying to assinate hitler is not true. There were more than a dozen attempts that all failed. Like at the begining of the move valkyrie with the bomb on the plane. Another one done about a year before a soilder (his name slips my mind) try to suicide bomb hitler but failed because hitler was in a hurry. Another attempted happened were a bomb was placed were hitler would adress some soilders but his adress was extremely short and the bomb went off after he left.
By drew on Mar 13, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I am writing a novel that starts with the last attempt on Hitler life. It was successful and hitler was killed and the war if anyone can help with ideas or insight into what would the Nazi high command have dont o cover it up I would greatly appreciate response from any and all history readers. the article gave me great inspiration
By Jon T on Mar 22, 2009 at 8:34 am
I say “good for Claus Von Stauffenberg’”. Hitler needed someone to hate him. Thank Goodness He Comited Suicide!!!! He was a horrid man… So mean to Jewish People. I mean He went throgh so much troble to build death camps for Jewish people for no reason. Sydneyann age 10
By Sydney ann on Mar 28, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Tom Cruise is horrid and what I saw of Valkyrie did not impress me at all. I’m with Berthold on this one: he said that “Cruise should keep his fingers off my father”! Could not understand why shrimpy TC, who is about five-seven, was cast to play a man who was six foot three! And was noted for his height – Hitler had to look up to him (Hitler and TC are the same height). Claus Stauffenberg towered over most of his German colleagues, except for Fromm (who ordered the execution). Stauffenberg deserved better than to be cast in a cheesy American movie on a topic that Bryan Singer doesn’t have a clue about. If you want an American actor, should have cast Jim Caviezel – a good actor, an innate understanding of Claus’s psyche as he too is a devout Catholic, same height and build as the tall, striking young Count, same colouring too (piercing blue eyes). When I read Hoffman’s bio of the Stauffenberg family I said, “if a movie on the plot is made, someone should cast “The Passion of the Christ”guy: Jim Caviezel! A man with experience in playing a martyr!
By kyrie on Apr 10, 2009 at 12:03 am
I recently watched ” Valkyrie “, I have always been interested in history. I find it interesting that there are so many events in our past, and yet here we are, sixty years later after the war, and there is still events that happened, that most people are unaware of that happened during this awful period in our history. It makes me wonder sometimes, why certain events in our past were never brought to light when I attended school. Sure, we all learned about the world wars and the crimes committed, but why was there never any mention of assination plots against Hitler, by his own officers. I’m glad now that I know a little more about this period in time and that not all of the german people had ill feelings towards others.
By Les K on May 21, 2009 at 1:34 pm
There were 6,000,000 Jews killed and 11,000,000 other war prisoners killed by Hitler’s regime. Remember, there was general prejudice against Jews, Gypsies, all Slavic people including Polish. If they didn’t gas them, the worked them to death. von Stauffenberg had a conscience and a relgious conviction that killing these people was immoral and below what he hoped for a strong and free Germany.
By Jeana on May 23, 2009 at 6:38 pm
One of the reasons I became curious about the family Stauffenburg was because I have always felt sorry for the Germans who so feared Hitler and was afraid to be brave except for the desperate attempts to have him killed…you only hear of the awful executions and the terrible things done….I am glad they made the movie and it raises the fact that not all the German people supported the man called Hitler.I would love to see more on the history of this family and what they have done with their lives since their Dad and Mom was so noble and of fine character.Thank you,M.H.
By Murwyn Hancock on Jun 11, 2009 at 9:42 pm
yes, but why did he do it is the queston?
By robert on Jun 23, 2009 at 1:46 am
excellent reading nigel
By sheila jewell on Jun 27, 2009 at 7:10 pm
While working at Bolling AFB (fleet Ing Command) there was a older guy working there named Edward Fox. He use to tell me storys about how he got out of Germany with his mom because his Dad was part of a group who tryed to kill Hitler. I wish I had more information on who this man was and how true his storys were. I heard he passed away a few years ago.
By paul flynn on Jul 5, 2009 at 9:37 am
There were many germans who stood up against Hitler and the nazis. I know this because my family who lived in germany and were german told me about how the nazis would take whatever they wanted from whoever they wanted, germans included.
They took me to see alot of land and buildings that belonged to my family and was taken from them during ww2. The nazis almost completley impoverished my family. When my german family members protested they were imprisioned. My german grandmother spoke out publicly against Hitler and the nazis, she had to flee to switzerland where she had an aunt so she would not be killed. She returned after the war.
Men and boys were forced into the army whether they wanted to go or not.
Most americans have no idea of the real story of how and why Hitler came to power, the germans that were killed and imprisioned so that he could come to power and what was going on in germany for this to happen.
By Richard Allen on Sep 30, 2009 at 1:22 am