Fabian von Schlabrendorff
Encyclopedia
Fabian Ludwig Georg Adolf Kurt von Schlabrendorff (Halle an der Saale
, 1 July 1907 – 3 September 1980 in Wiesbaden
), was a German jurist, soldier and member of the resistance against Adolf Hitler.
He was the son of Carl Ludwig Ewald von Schlabrendorff (Berlin, 5 April 1854 – Detmold
, 4 February 1923) and wife Ida Freiin von Stockmar (Buch
, 27 September 1874 – 26 March 1944), a great-great-granddaughter of William I, Elector of Hesse
by his mistress
Rosa Dorothea Ritter.
He was trained as a lawyer
, later joining the German Army
. As a lieutenant in the reserves, he was promoted to adjutant to Colonel Henning von Tresckow
, a major leader in the resistance against Adolf Hitler
. He joined the resistance and acted as a secret liaison between Tresckow in Russia and Ludwig Beck
, Carl Goerdeler, Hans Oster
, and Friedrich Olbricht
in Berlin
, taking part in various coup d'état
plans and plots.
On March 13, 1943, during a visit by Adolf Hitler
to Army Group Center Headquarters in Smolensk
, Schlabrendorff smuggled a time bomb
, disguised as bottles of cognac
, onto the aircraft which carried Hitler back to Germany. The bomb detonator failed to go off, however, most likely because of the cold in the aircraft. Schlabrendorff managed to retrieve the bomb the next day and elude detection.
Schlabrendorff was arrested on July 20, 1944, following the failure of the July 20th plot
. He was sent to Gestapo
prison where he was torture
d, but refused to talk. While imprisoned he met fellow imprisoned co-conspirators Wilhelm Canaris
, Hans Oster
, Ulrich von Hassell
, Johannes Popitz
, Carl Goerdeler, Josef Mueller, and Alexander von Falkenhausen
.
In February 1945, Schlabrendorff was brought before the infamous German People's Court (Volksgerichtshof). But, while awaiting his trial, the courtroom took a direct hit from a bomb during an American air raid led by Lt. Col. Robert Rosenthal
. The bomb killed Judge-President Roland Freisler
who was crushed by a beam and still clutching Schlabrendorff's file.
Nevertheless, between February and May 1945, Schlabrendorff was moved from one concentration camp to another: Sachsenhausen
, Flossenbürg
, Dachau, Innsbruck
. In late April 1945 he was transferred to Tyrol
together with about 140 other prominent inmates of the Dachau concentration camp, where the SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on May 5, 1945.
After the war, Schlabrendorff was admitted to the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg), in which he served as Captain of the Order (legal counsellor to the Herrenmeister, head of the Order) from 1957 to 1964. From 1967 to 1975, he was a judge of the Constitutional Court
of West Germany
. Fabian von Schlabrendorff died in 1980.
He married Luitgarde von Bismarck, born in Frankenstein in Schlesien
on 12 May 1914 and had the following children:
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
, 1 July 1907 – 3 September 1980 in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
), was a German jurist, soldier and member of the resistance against Adolf Hitler.
He was the son of Carl Ludwig Ewald von Schlabrendorff (Berlin, 5 April 1854 – Detmold
Detmold
Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
, 4 February 1923) and wife Ida Freiin von Stockmar (Buch
Buch
Buch is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland.-Coat of arms:The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules an Orb Argent banded Or and crossed of the second.-Geography:...
, 27 September 1874 – 26 March 1944), a great-great-granddaughter of William I, Elector of Hesse
William I, Elector of Hesse
William I, Elector of Hesse was the eldest surviving son of Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Princess Mary of Great Britain, the daughter of George II.-Early life:...
by his mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
Rosa Dorothea Ritter.
He was trained as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, later joining the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
. As a lieutenant in the reserves, he was promoted to adjutant to Colonel Henning von Tresckow
Henning von Tresckow
Generalmajor Herrmann Karl Robert "Henning" von Tresckow was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who organized German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassinate Hitler in March 1943 and drafted the Valkyrie plan for a coup against the German government...
, a major leader in the resistance against Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. He joined the resistance and acted as a secret liaison between Tresckow in Russia and Ludwig Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
, Carl Goerdeler, Hans Oster
Hans Oster
Hans Oster was a German Army general, deputy head of the Abwehr under Wilhelm Canaris, and an opponent of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He was a leading figure of the German resistance from 1938 to 1943.-Early career:...
, and Friedrich Olbricht
Friedrich Olbricht
General Friedrich Olbricht was a German general and one of the plotters involved in the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia on 20 July 1944.-Early life:...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, taking part in various coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
plans and plots.
On March 13, 1943, during a visit by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
to Army Group Center Headquarters in Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
, Schlabrendorff smuggled a time bomb
Time bomb
A time bomb is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use time bombs has been for various purposes ranging from insurance fraud to warfare to assassination; however, the most common use has been for politically-motivated terrorism.-Construction:The explosive charge is the main...
, disguised as bottles of cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
, onto the aircraft which carried Hitler back to Germany. The bomb detonator failed to go off, however, most likely because of the cold in the aircraft. Schlabrendorff managed to retrieve the bomb the next day and elude detection.
Schlabrendorff was arrested on July 20, 1944, following the failure of the July 20th plot
July 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
. He was sent to Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
prison where he was torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d, but refused to talk. While imprisoned he met fellow imprisoned co-conspirators Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
, Hans Oster
Hans Oster
Hans Oster was a German Army general, deputy head of the Abwehr under Wilhelm Canaris, and an opponent of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He was a leading figure of the German resistance from 1938 to 1943.-Early career:...
, Ulrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell was executed in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot.- Family :...
, Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz was a Prussian finance minister and a member of the German Resistance against Nazi Germany.- Life :...
, Carl Goerdeler, Josef Mueller, and Alexander von Falkenhausen
Alexander von Falkenhausen
Alexander Ernst Alfred Hermann Freiherr von Falkenhausen was a German general. He was the head of the military government of Belgium from 1940–44 during its occupation by Germany in World War II....
.
In February 1945, Schlabrendorff was brought before the infamous German People's Court (Volksgerichtshof). But, while awaiting his trial, the courtroom took a direct hit from a bomb during an American air raid led by Lt. Col. Robert Rosenthal
Robert Rosenthal (USAF)
Lieutenant Colonel Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal was a highly-decorated pilot in the Eighth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, receiving sixteen awards including the Distinguished Service Cross for "extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against the...
. The bomb killed Judge-President Roland Freisler
Roland Freisler
Roland Freisler was a prominent and notorious Nazi lawyer and judge. He was State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice and President of the People's Court , which was set up outside constitutional authority...
who was crushed by a beam and still clutching Schlabrendorff's file.
Nevertheless, between February and May 1945, Schlabrendorff was moved from one concentration camp to another: Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, Flossenbürg
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
, Dachau, Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
. In late April 1945 he was transferred to Tyrol
Transport of concentration camp inmates to Tyrol
The Transport of Inmates of German Concentration Camps to Tyrol happened in late April 1945 and led to the only time such prisoners were liberated by German troops.- Transfer and liberation:...
together with about 140 other prominent inmates of the Dachau concentration camp, where the SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on May 5, 1945.
After the war, Schlabrendorff was admitted to the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg), in which he served as Captain of the Order (legal counsellor to the Herrenmeister, head of the Order) from 1957 to 1964. From 1967 to 1975, he was a judge of the Constitutional Court
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
of West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. Fabian von Schlabrendorff died in 1980.
He married Luitgarde von Bismarck, born in Frankenstein in Schlesien
Zabkowice Slaskie
Ząbkowice Śląskie is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Ząbkowice Śląskie County, and of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Ząbkowice Śląskie....
on 12 May 1914 and had the following children:
- Herzeleide ... von Schlabrendorff (b. BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, 28 February 1940), married to Andreas Stökl (b. HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, 15 June 1939) - Dieprand Ludwig Carl Hans-Otto von Schlabrendorff (b. Stettin, 18 May 1941), married to Eva von Polenz (b. KarlsruheKarlsruheThe City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, 10 June 1950), without issue - Jürgen-Lewin Hans von Schlabrendorff (b. Lasbeck, 3 February 1943), married to Beate Everth (b. MeldorfMeldorfMeldorf is a city in western Schleswig-Holstein, in the district of Dithmarschen, and straddling the Miele river. It was first mentioned in writing before 1250 ad, and it served as the capital of the Dithmarschen, a peasant republic with Allies in the Hanseatic league dating from 1468...
, 6 November 1946), and had:- Carl-Ludwig Fabian Gustave von Schlabrendorff (b. New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York County, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 8 April 1974) - Moritz Ferdinand Berndt von Schlabrendorff (b. TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, 30 November 1976)
- Carl-Ludwig Fabian Gustave von Schlabrendorff (b. New York City
- Fabian Gotthard Herbert von Schlabrendorff (b. BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, 23 December 1944), married to María de la Cruz Caballero y Palomero (b. PlasenciaPlasenciaPlasencia is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it had a population of 41,447.Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's strategic location along the Silver Route, or Ruta de la Plata...
, 20 December 1954), without issue - Maria ... von Schlabrendorff (b. Buch am Forst, 12 November 1948), married to Christian Eick (b. Baden-BadenBaden-BadenBaden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
, 7 July 1947) - Carl Joachim Henning von Schlabrendorff (b. WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, 18 September 1950), married and 2 children.
Quote
"To prevent this success of Hitler in all circumstances and by all means, even at the expense of a heavy defeat of the Third Reich, was our most urgent task. (Diesen Erfolg Hitlers unter allen Umständen und mit allen Mitteln zu verhindern, auch auf Kosten einer schweren Niederlage des Dritten Reiches, war unsere dringlichste Aufgabe.)" - from his book, Offiziere gegen Hitler (Officers Against Hitler), Zurich: Europa-Verlag, 1946, p.38.Books
- Schlabrendorff, Fabian von "Offiziere gegen Hitler", Fischer Bücherrei, FRG(BRD) 1959
- Schlabrendorff, Fabian von , Hilda Simon. The Secret War Against Hitler (Der Widerstand : Dissent and Resistance in the Third Reich), Westview Press, September, 1994. ISBN 0-8133-2190-5 (English version of the 1959 book – possibly expanded?)
- Roger MoorhouseRoger MoorhouseRoger Moorhouse is a British historian and author. Born in Stockport, Cheshire, he was raised in Hertfordshire and attended Berkhamsted School. Inspired to return to education by the East European Revolutions of 1989, Moorhouse enrolled in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies of the...
, Killing Hitler, Jonathan Cape, 2006. ISBN 0-224-07121-1 - Roger Manvell, The Conspirators: 20 July 1944, Pan Macmillan, 1972. ISBN 0-345-09729-7