Preservings $20 Issue No. 26, 2006 - Home at Plett Foundation

opposed the official party line. He was later
deeply grieved that his brothers had not asked
him to join the attempted coup of 1944. His first
wife was also a remarkable woman. Of Russian-
Jewish background (her grandfather was from
Odessa), she had made a career in aviation,
both as a researcher in aerodynamics, and as
a pilot. Because her work was deemed vital to
the war industry, she and her family remained
relatively immune to persecution. Commissioned
(1937) as a Flugkapitän (air captain) in
the Luftwaffe, she received the Iron Cross II
(1943) and was nominated for the Iron Cross I
(1944). While flying a Bücker 181 trainer on a
visit to her husband on 8.4.1945, she was shot
down by an American fighter. Although she
landed her plane, she died soon afterwards of
bullet wounds.
Claus joined the 17 th Cavalry Regiment in
1926. He was successively promoted as follows:
Leutnant (1.5.1933), Hauptman (1.1.1937), Major
(1.1.1941), Oberstleutnant (1.1.1943) and
Oberst (1.4.1944). In 1938, he served as a staff
officer under Generalleutnant Erich Hoeppner
during the occupation of the Sudetenland. He
served in the Polish campaign (1939) and later
in the French campaign (1940). It was soon after
the Polish campaign, that his uncle, Nicholas,
Graf v. Üxküll, and Fritz-Dietlof, Graf v. d.
Schulenburg, approached Claus to join the resistance
movement. They told him of the persecutions
in Germany and the mass killings behind
the lines in Poland. While sympathetic, he did
not immediately join the resistance. Also that
time (1939), he was approached by Peter, Graf
Yorck v. Wartenburg (his cousin) and Ulrich,
Graf Schwerin v. Schwanenfeld (1902-1944)
to join the resistance movement by accepting
a posting as adjutant to Commander-in-Chief
of the Army, Walther v. Brauchitsch.
On 31.5.1940, he was posted to the Army
High Command, Army General Staff-Organization
Branch. Gradually, and for many reasons,
Claus came to see the necessity of taking an
active role in the resistance. Not the least of
these reasons was the persecution of religious
groups by the Nazis, and Claus was particularly
upset by the persecution of Jews and Catholics.
Claus was also very upset when other reports
reached him of the systematic mass killings of
various groups. Early in 1942, he began criticizing
the Nazi government in an open manner,
and by September, had begun approaching leading
military officials (including Generals and
Field Marshals) to take the lead in overturning
the government. These overtures were mildly
rebuffed, but Claus and his colleagues were
made anxious for his personal security. Claus
decided to escape potentially serious trouble
by applying for and accepting a posting in the
field. On 15.2.1943, he was posted as senior
staff officer to Generalmajor Freiherr v. Broich,
commanding the 10 th Panzer division in Tunisia.
On 7.4.1943, he was seriously wounded, eventually
losing an eye, his right hand, and 2 fingers
of his left hand. In autumn of 1943, Claus met
with various members of the Kreisauer Circle,
and joined the resistance.
Operation Walküre
After recovering from his wounds, Claus
was appointed Chief-of-Staff to the General
Army Office, located in the Bendlerstraβe, in
Berlin, also the headquarters of the Home Army.
On 1.6.1944, he was appointed Chief-of-Staff
to the Commander-in-Chief of the Home Army,
and Chief of Army Supplies, Generaloberst
Friedrich Fromm.
One of the functions of the Home Army was
to carry out “Operation Walküre” in the event of
an internal emergency. This plan, approved by
Hitler, and reworked by Claus v. Stauffenberg,
Olbricht, Quirnheim and Tresckow 2 , was a
contingency plan involving the use of the Home
Army to take temporary control of the government,
in the event of both serious internal disturbances
and a breakdown in communications
with the Armed Forces High Command-the
OKW (the Oberkomando der Wehrmacht), and
the Führer’s Headquarters. Many of the senior
members of the Home Army, were however,
members of the resistance movement, unknown,
of course, to the Nazi government. The members
of this resistance group included members
of the Kreisauer Circle, leading officials of the
military, some recruited by Claus, as well as
Fromm. Claus was recognized as their military
leader, Goerdeler, the civilian leader.
The plan of this resistance group was
to activate Operation Walküre in assuming
emergency control of government, after having
disabled the Nazi government through the
assassination of the leading Nazi officials. It
was originally deemed essential that Hitler,
Göring and Himmler be eliminated at about
the same time. Claus was to play the key role
in the assassination attempt, since he was the
only member of the resistance group with easy
and regular access to Hitler.
On 9.1.1944, Helmuth James, Graf v.
Moltke, was arrested and meetings of the Kreisauer
group came to an end. Despite v. Moltke’s
reservations, most members of the group supported
the planned assassination. Later, in July
1944, Julius Leber and Adolf Reichwein were
arrested. At that time, Claus decided to personally
carry out the assassination, after several
prior attempts had miscarried.
At a meeting with Hitler on 11.7.1944, at
the Berghof, Berchtesgaden, Claus was advised
not to activate the bomb he carried because
neither Göring nor Himmler were present.
On 15.7.1944, at the Führer’s headquarters
“Wolfsschanze” (Rastenburg, East Prussia),
Claus was ready to set the bomb and so advised
the military principals in Berlin, who requested
that Claus delay the attempt because Himmler
had not appeared at the Wolfsschanze. Preliminary
activities in Berlin were camouflaged as a
“practice drill”.
On 20.7.1944, Claus and his adjutant, Werner
v. Haeften, flew to the Wolfsschanze. They
succeeded in activating only one of two planned
bombs. At 12.35, he entered the conference
room, placed the bomb, but not exactly where
he had wished, as the room was crowded, and
left “to answer an urgent call from Berlin.” The
bomb exploded at 12.42, killing 4 of the 24
persons in the room, wounding the rest, some
seriously. By an odd happenstance, Hitler had
been protected by the massive oak conference
table and was only lightly wounded. Nevertheless,
Claus thought, from what he had seen, that
the attempt was successful and flew to Berlin,
where a conflicting report had already reached
Olbricht. At 15.00, Operation Walküre was
finally activated, but with Fromm withdrawing
his support. At 17.00, a radio broadcast announced
that Hitler had survived the attempt,
and military support for the coup melted away.
At 22.30, Claus was arrested by officers loyal to
the regime, and Fromm ordered the immediate
execution of the known conspirators. This was
due, perhaps, to camouflage his own involvement,
and that of others.
During the night, the following were shot
on orders of Fromm and buried (in uniform with
their decorations). A day later, Hitler ordered
the bodies dug up and burned.
Generaloberst (ret.) Ludwig Beck (1880-
20.7.1944), former Chief-of-Staff to the Commander-in-Chief
of the Army, Generalleutnant
Werner Freiherr v. Fritsch, later Generaloberst
Franz Halder. He had resigned (18.8.1938)
because of Hitler’s policies in the Czech crisis,
and was then asked to take retirement.
Oberst Claus Schenk v. Stauffenberg
(1907-20.7.1944), Chief-of-Staff, Home Army
Leutnant Werner v. Haeften (1908-20.7.1944),
Adjutant to v. Stauffenberg General Friedrich
Olbricht (1888-20.7.1944), Commander, General
Army Office
Oberst Albrecht Ritter Mertz v. Quirnheim
(1905-20.7.1944), Chief-of-Staff, General
Army Office
Other members of the resistance group were
arrested soon afterwards, including Berthold v.
Stauffenberg. Many suffered a slow and terrible
death by strangulation in Plötzensee prison
(Berlin). Those executed a few days later in
Plötzensee included:
Generalfeldmarshall Erwin v.Witzleben
(1881-8.8.1944)
Generaloberst Erich Hoeppner (1886-
8.8.1944)
Generalmajor Helmuth Stieff (1901-
8.8.1944)
Generalleutnant Paul v. Hase (City Commander-Berlin)
(1885-8.8.1944)
Oberstleutnant Robert Bernardis (1908-
8.8.1944)
Hauptmann Friedrich Karl Klausing (1920-
8.8.1944)
Oberleutnant Albrecht v. Hagen (1904-
8.8.1944)
Oberleutnant (res.) Dr. Peter, Graf Yorck v.
Wartenburg (1904-8.8.1944)
Dr. Berthold Schenk, Graf v. Stauffenberg
(1905-10.8.1944) Marine Oberstabsrichter
(navy court judge)
Oberleutnant (res.) Fritz-Dietlof, Graf v. d.
Schulenburg (1902-10.8.1944)
Korvettenkapitän Alfred Kranzfelder
(1908-10.8.1944) (Commander-Navy)
Family members of the resistance group
were also arrested. Some were also to have
been killed but many escaped death owing to
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