An Honourable Defeat (35 page)

Who’s Who

Colonel-General Ludwig Beck: Chief of the Army General Staff 1935-38. Then, in retirement, the leader of the Central Military Resistance. He would have been Head of State in the event of a successful coup. Attempted suicide twice before being assisted. Died in the Bendlerstrasse on the night of 20 July 1944.

George Kennedy Allen Bell: Bishop of Chichester, and contact with Britain for Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg: Hitler’s first Minister of War; disgraced, 1938.

Colonel Georg Freiherr von Boselager: conspirator attached to Tresckow’s group initially on the East Front. Creator of the ‘Boeselager Brigade’. Hanged 27 August 1944.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Evangelical pastor and theologian. Worked with the Abwehr after close association with the Confessing Church. Hanged at Flossenburg concentration camp on 9 April 1945.

Klaus Bonhoeffer: lawyer at Lufthansa; conspirator. Shot dead by an SS special detail on the night of 22 April 1945.

Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch: Commander-in-Chief of the Army, 1938-41.

Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche: junior officer who planned an assassination attempt with Claus Stauffenberg. Survived the war.

Admiral Wilhelm Canaris: head of the Abwehr and key figure in the conspiracy axis Army/Secret Service/Foreign Office. Hanged at Flossenburg on 9 April 1945.

Dr Justus Delbrück: brother-in-law of the Bonhoeffers — his sister married Klaus. Worked for the Resistance in the Abwehr. Survived the war but died soon after in Russian POW camp.

Father Alfred Delp S.J.: prominent Jesuit member of the Kreisau Circle. Executed on 2 February 1945.

Hans von Dohnanyi: senior lawyer and member of the Abwehr. Hans Oster’s right-hand man, and brother-in-law of the Bonhoeffers. Hanged at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, 8 April 1945.

Allen Dulles: American head of OSS office in Berne.

Georg Elser: made a solitary attempt on Hitler’s life in November 1939.

General Fritz Erich Fellgiebel: head of Army Communications and a key figure in the 20 July 1944 attempt. Executed 4 September 1944.

Roland Freisler, Hitler’s hanging judge in the People’s Court. Colonel-General Werner Freiherr von Fritsch, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, 1934-38; disgraced, sought death in action in first days of the war.

Colonel-General Friedrich Fromm: commander of the Reserve Army. Executed for cowardice by Hitler following the 20 July plot.

Clemens August Graf von Galen: Bishop of Münster who spoke out against the Nazi euthanasia programme.

Captain Ludwig Gehre: Abwehr official in the Resistance. Executed at Flossenburg, 9 April 1945.

Kurt Gerstein: SS officer responsible for delivery of poison gas to the concentration camps but also involved in individual Resistance. Committed suicide (?) in Paris, 1945.

Dr Hans Bernd Gisevius: lawyer, civil servant and former Gestapo official, involved with the police and diplomatic areas of the Resistance. Survived the war.

Dr Carl Friedrich Goerdeler: one-time Mayor of Leipzig, and Weimar and National Socialist Price Commissioner. Chief of the Conservative Civilian Resistance, and Chancellor-Designate following a successful coup. Hanged at Plötzensee Prison, 2 February 1945.

Dr Fritz Goerdeler: Carl Fredrich’s younger brother. Formerly City Treasurer of Königsberg (Kaliningrad).

Lieutenant-Colonel Helmuth Groscurth: Abwehr departmental chief and go-between. Committed suicide in Russian POW camp, April 1945.

Karl Ludwig Freiherr von and zu Guttenberg: intellectual monarchist and magazine editor; also an official of the Abwehr. Shot dead by an SS special detail on the night of 22 April 1945.

Lieutenant of the Naval Reserve Hans-Bernd von Haeften: lawyer and Foreign Office official, involved in the Resistance but consistently opposed to the assassination of Hitler. Executed 15 August 1944.

Lieutenant Werner von Haeften: brother of Hans-Bernd; Claus von Stauffenberg’s ADC. Shot dead on the night of 20 July 1944.

Colonel-General Franz Halder: Chief of the Army General Staff, 1938-42.

Nikolaus von Halem: businessman and planner of independent attempt on Hitler’s life. Also involved with the Abwehr. Executed 8 October 1944.

Lieutenant Ludwig Freiherr von Hammerstein: junior member of the conspiracy and Beck’s ADC-Designate in the event of a successful coup. Escaped from the Bendlerblock on 20 July 1944 and survived the war.

Colonel-General Kurt Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord: father of Ludwig, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, 1930-34, and one of the earliest opponents of Nazism. Died of cancer in 1943.

Colonel Georg Hansen: Canaris’s successor as head of the Abwehr, and involved in the Resistance. Hanged at Plötzensee, 8 September 1944.

Colonel-General Paul von Hase: uncle of the Bonhoeffers and Commandant of the Berlin garrison, 1940-44. Hanged on 8 August 1944.

Ulrich von Hassell: diplomat and former ambassador to Rome. Involved in negotiations with the Vatican and also a pivotal member of the Beck-Goerdeler group. Hanged on 8 September 1944.

Dr Theodor Haubach: journalist and Social Democrat politician. Associate of Julius Leber and member of the Kreisau Circle. Hanged on 23 January 1945.

Dr Georg Albrecht Haushofer: Professor of Political Geography at Berlin University, involved in the conspiracy and enjoying some influence with Rudolf Hess. Author of a sonnet cycle written in Moabit Prison. Shot dead by an SS special detail on the night of 22 April 1945.

Wolf Heinrich Graf von Helldorf: Senior SA official and President of Police, Berlin, 1935-44. Involved with Nebe and Gisevius especially in the conspiracy. Hanged on 5 August 1944.

Colonel-General Erich Hoepner: tank commander sacked and disgraced by Hitler for refusing to obey stupid and inhuman commands on the Russian Front. Senior member of military Resistance; hanged 8 August, 1944.

Lieutenant-Colonel Cäsar von Hofacker: go-between of the Central Resistance in Berlin and Military Command, Paris. Executed on 20 December, 1944.

Dr Peter Jens Jessen: conservative economist and academic; leading member of civilian Resistance. Executed on 20 November 1944.

Otto John: lawyer at Lufthansa; involved with the Lufthansa Administration/Abwehr/Foreign Office axis of the Resistance. Survived the war.

Captain of the Army Reserve Dr Hermann Kaiser: go-between of Beck and Goerdeler; executed on 23 January 1945.

Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel: head of Overall High Command of the Armed Forces, and Hitler’s lackey.

Otto Kiep: diplomat and member of the Solf Circle. Hanged at Plötzensee, 26 August 1944.

Captain Friedrich Karl Klausing: Claus Stauffenberg’s adjutant; hanged at Plötzensee, 8 August 1944.

Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin: estate owner and conservative opponent to Hitler. Executed 16 April, 1945.

Ewald Heinrich von Kleist: son of the above; junior officer who planned an assassination attempt with Claus Stauffenberg. Survived the war.

Field Marshal Günther von Kluge: senior officer who could never wholly commit himself to the Resistance, finally committing suicide in the wake of the 20 July Plot.

Dr Carl Langbehn: lawyer and associate of Popitz, who attempted to suborn Himmler. Executed 12 October 1944.

Dr Julius Leber: journalist and Social Democrat politician; Claus Stauffenberg’s favoured Chancellor-Designate. Arrested after an abortive attempt to liaise with the Communist Party underground, and executed on 5 January 1945.

Wilhelm Leuschner: trade union leader and close associate of Leber, hanged 29 September 1944.

Major Wilhelm Friedrich Graf zu Lynar: adjutant to Witzleben, executed 29 September 1944.

Hermann Maass: Social Democrat and youth leader. Associate of Leber involved with the Kreisau Circle. Executed on 20 October 1944

Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim: friend of Claus Stauffenberg, and his successor as Chief of Staff to General Olbricht. Shot dead by firing squad, 20 July 1944.

Helmuth James Graf von Moltke: one of the leading lights of the Kreisau Circle, and active in the Resistance; executed 23 January 1945.

Dr Josef Müller: Catholic lawyer and Vatican contact for the Resistance. He variously worked in Bamberg and Munich.

Herbert Mumm von Schwarzenstein: associate of Nikolaus Halem and a member of the Solf Circle, executed in April 1945.

Artur Nebe: senior SS official and head of the Criminal Investigation Police. Involved with Helldorf and Gisevius in the Resistance, and executed on 3 March 1945.

Martin Niemöller: Evangelical priest and founder member of Church Resistance to Nazism; closely involved with the Confessing Church. Survived the war in concentration camps.

General Friedrich Olbricht: head of Army Central Administration Office and chief successively to Claus Stauffenberg and Mertz von Quirnheim. A senior Army officer involved in the Resistance in a key position; shot dead by firing squad on 20 July 1944. Major-General Hans Oster, Canaris’s right-hand man in the Abwehr and one of the most important men in the Resistance, an indefatigable opponent of the Nazi regime. Hanged at Flossenburg, 9 April 1945.

Dr Friedrich Justus Perels: lawyer closely involved with the Confessing Church, executed by SS special detail, April 1945.

Professor Dr Johannes Popitz: Prussian Finance Minister 1933-44. Senior member of the conservative Resistance, executed 2 February 1945.

Professor Dr Adolf Reichwein: Social Democrat, educationalist and traveller, associated closely with Julius Leber, executed 20 October 1944.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel: who joined the conspiracy late as a potential Head of State. Forced to commit suicide by the Nazis on 14 October 1944.

Dr Karl Sack: head of Overall Army High Command Legal Department, and an undercover friend to the Resistance; executed at Flossenburg, 9 April 1945.

Anton Saefkow: leader of undercover Communist Party.

Hjalmar Schacht: politician and economist; originally pro-Nazi; survived the war.

Lieutenant Fabian von Schlabrendorff: lawyer and close associate of Tresckow. Survived the war.

Professor Dr Rüdiger Schleicher: brother-in-law of the Bonhoeffers, and an official in the Air Ministry. Shot dead by an SS special detail, on the night of 22 April 1945.

Hans Scholl: medical student in Munich, member of the White Rose student anti-Nazi group. Beheaded in February 1943.

Sophie Scholl: student of biology and philosophy, sister of Hans, member of the White Rose; beheaded with her brother.

Friedrich (Fritz) Dietlof Graf von der Schulenburg: highly connected former Nazi and deputy President of Police of Berlin, also involved with the Kreisau Circle; executed 10 August 1944.

Captain Ulrich Wilhelm Graf von Schwanenfeld: Adjutant to Witzleben and an important liaison officer in the Resistance; executed 8 September 1944.

General Walter von Seydlitz-Kurzbach: commander on the East Front and involved as a POW with the National Committee for Free Germany. Survived the war.

Berthold Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg: lawyer and naval officer, brother and adviser of Claus; hanged on 10 August 1944.

Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg: leader of Resistance in its latter stages and the chief actor in the 20 July 1944 plot. Shot dead on the night of 20 July 1944.

Major-General Helmuth Stieff: head of Organisation Office, Army High Command, and involved in the procurement of explosives for 20 July Plot. Executed on 8 August 1944.

General Karl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel: Military Governor of France 1942-44, and involved with the Resistance on the West Front. Hanged on 30 August 1944.

Elisabeth von Thadden: educationalist and intellectual whose involvement with the Solf Circle led to her execution on 8 September 1944.

Lieutenant-General Fritz Thiele: commander of Overall High Command Signals Department, in liaison with Fellgiebel. Executed on 5 September 1944.

Major-General Henning von Tresckow: leader of the Resistance on the East Front and later associated with Stauffenberg. Committed suicide on 21 July 1944.

Adam von Trott zu Solz: lawyer and diplomat heavily involved in Resistance missions abroad. Executed 25 August 1944.

Sir Robert Vansittart: British Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, removed by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on account of his anti-appeasement stance.

Ernst Freiherr von Weizsäcker: State Secretary at the Foreign Office, involved in the Resistance.

Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben: senior military figure in the Resistance after Beck, and overall Commander-in-Chief-Designate in the event of a successful coup. Hanged 8 August 1944.

Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg: co-leader with Moltke of the Kreisau Circle; hanged on 8 August 1944.

Colonel-General Kurt Zeitzler: Chief of the Army General Staff, 1942-44.

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