Claus von Stauffenberg

Born into an ancient Swabian noble family on November 15, 1907, Claus von Stauffenberg was steeped in German romantic poetry, the George-Kreis literary circle, and strict Catholic ethics. Joining the 17th Cavalry Regiment in 1926, he rose as a brilliant general staff officer. While initially supporting national revival, the anti-Semitic pogroms of Kristallnacht and the industrial-scale atrocities on the Eastern Front filled Stauffenberg with profound moral revulsion toward Hitler's regime. In April 1943, while serving with the 10th Panzer Division in Tunisia, Stauffenberg was severely wounded in an Allied air attack, losing his left eye, his right hand, and two fingers of his left hand. Refusing retirement, he returned as Chief of Staff to General Friedrich Fromm at the Reserve Army in Berlin, placing him at the nerve center of military coordination. Stauffenberg transformed the army's contingency plan for domestic unrest—Operation Valkyrie—into a blueprint for an anti-Nazi coup. On the sweltering morning of July 20, 1944, Stauffenberg entered Hitler's briefing conference at the Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg, East Prussia, carrying two plastic explosives in his briefcase. Priming one device with special tongs, he placed the briefcase under the oak map table beside Hitler before excusing himself. While the bomb detonated at 12:42 PM, the heavy table leg shielded Hitler from the fatal blast. Believing Hitler dead, Stauffenberg flew back to Berlin and directed the military takeover at the Bendlerblock. As news arrived that Hitler survived, the coup collapsed. Shortly after midnight on July 21, 1944, Stauffenberg was executed by firing squad in the courtyard of the Bendlerblock, crying out with his final breath: 'Long live holy Germany!'.