Klaus Bonhoeffer
Encyclopedia
Klaus Bonhoeffer was a German
jurist
and resistance fighter against the Nazi
régime who was executed after the July 1944 plot
to kill Hitler.
Klaus Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, now Wrocław, Poland
, to Karl Bonhoeffer
, a professor of psychiatry
and neurology
, and his wife Paula (née
von Hase), as their third son. His younger brother was the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945). As a child, he went to the Grunewald-Gymnasium
in Berlin with Hans von Dohnanyi
.
He studied law at Heidelberg
and received a doctorate for his thesis, "Workers' Committees as an Organ of the Workers' Coöperative" (Die Betriebsräte als Organ der Betriebsgenossenschaft). He also had further training in Berlin, at the University of Geneva
, and in Amsterdam
. On 3 September 1930, he wed Emmi Delbrück, who was Hans Delbrück
's daughter, and Justus and Max Delbrück
's sister.
He worked as a lawyer
and from 1935 as a legal adviser for Deutsche Luft Hansa
, serving from 1937 to 1944 as chief syndic
. This job took him on many business trips, even during the war.
In the years 1940-1944, he systematically forged contacts with various resistance groups working against the Nazi régime. Through his brother Dietrich, he had contacts with the church resistance, and through his brothers-in-law, Justus Delbrück, Dohnanyi and Rüdiger Schleicher
, he had many contacts in the military resistance to Hitler, especially in the circle about Wilhelm Canaris
in the Abwehr
of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
. Through his wife's cousin Ernst von Harnack
, he was connected to the social-democratic resistance. Klaus Bonhoeffer also led his colleague Otto John
, among others, into the resistance. He used his travel opportunities to further the cause against the Nazis.
He was dedicated to the plan
to assassinate Hitler on 20 July 1944 and overthrow the government.
According to the detention book kept at the Lehrter Straße prison
in Berlin, where the Gestapo had a special section for political prisoner
s, Bonhoeffer was arrested on 1 October 1944 and sentenced to death by the German "People's Court" (Volksgerichtshof) on 2 February 1945. On the night of 22-23 April, as Soviet
troops were already reaching Berlin's eastern outskirts, he was taken forth by a special squad from the RSHA and killed with a gunshot wound to the neck.
The only eyewitness to these murders was Herbert Kosney, who managed to move his head at the last moment so that the shot meant for his neck missed.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
jurist
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
and resistance fighter against the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
régime who was executed after the July 1944 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...
to kill Hitler.
Klaus Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, now Wrocław, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, to Karl Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer family
The Bonhoeffer FamilyKarl Bonhoeffer was a prominent psychiatrist/neurologist in Germany. Bonhoeffer opposed the ideas of Freud and Jung and, although initially in favour of sterilization programmes, it is said he refused to participate in the Nazi-sponsored sterilization programme started before...
, a professor of psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
and neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
, and his wife Paula (née
NEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
von Hase), as their third son. His younger brother was the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. He was a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plans by members of the Abwehr to assassinate Adolf Hitler...
(4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945). As a child, he went to the Grunewald-Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Berlin with Hans von Dohnanyi
Hans von Dohnanyi
Hans von Dohnanyi was a German jurist, rescuer of Jews, and German resistance fighter against the Nazi régime.-Early life:...
.
He studied law at Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and received a doctorate for his thesis, "Workers' Committees as an Organ of the Workers' Coöperative" (Die Betriebsräte als Organ der Betriebsgenossenschaft). He also had further training in Berlin, at the University of Geneva
University of Geneva
The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...
, and in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. On 3 September 1930, he wed Emmi Delbrück, who was Hans Delbrück
Hans Delbrück
Hans Delbrück was a German historian. Delbrück was one of the first modern military historians, basing his method of research on the critical examination of ancient sources, the use of auxiliary disciplines, like demography and economics, to complete the analysis and the comparison between...
's daughter, and Justus and Max Delbrück
Max Delbrück
Max Ludwig Henning Delbrück was a German-American biophysicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Delbrück was born in Berlin, German Empire...
's sister.
He worked 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...
and from 1935 as a legal adviser for Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and throughout the Third Reich.-1920s:Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded on 6 January 1926 in Berlin...
, serving from 1937 to 1944 as chief syndic
Syndic
Syndic , a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or powers.The meaning which underlies both applications is that of...
. This job took him on many business trips, even during the war.
In the years 1940-1944, he systematically forged contacts with various resistance groups working against the Nazi régime. Through his brother Dietrich, he had contacts with the church resistance, and through his brothers-in-law, Justus Delbrück, Dohnanyi and Rüdiger Schleicher
Rüdiger Schleicher
Rüdiger Schleicher was a German resistance fighter against the Nazi régime.Born in Stuttgart, Schleicher was married to Ursula Bonhoeffer , Karl Bonhoeffer's daughter and Dietrich and Klaus Bonhoeffer's sister...
, he had many contacts in the military resistance to Hitler, especially in the circle about 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 :...
in the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...
. Through his wife's cousin Ernst von Harnack
Ernst von Harnack
Ernst Wolf Alexander Oskar Harnack , granted the title von Harnack in 1914, was an official of the Prussian provincial government, a German politician, and a resistance fighter...
, he was connected to the social-democratic resistance. Klaus Bonhoeffer also led his colleague Otto John
Otto John
Otto John was the first head of the West German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution from 1950 to 1954...
, among others, into the resistance. He used his travel opportunities to further the cause against the Nazis.
He was dedicated to the plan
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...
to assassinate Hitler on 20 July 1944 and overthrow the government.
According to the detention book kept at the Lehrter Straße prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in Berlin, where the Gestapo had a special section for political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s, Bonhoeffer was arrested on 1 October 1944 and sentenced to death by the German "People's Court" (Volksgerichtshof) on 2 February 1945. On the night of 22-23 April, as Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
troops were already reaching Berlin's eastern outskirts, he was taken forth by a special squad from the RSHA and killed with a gunshot wound to the neck.
The only eyewitness to these murders was Herbert Kosney, who managed to move his head at the last moment so that the shot meant for his neck missed.
External links
See also
- List of members of the July 20 plot
- German ResistanceGerman ResistanceThe German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
- Ernst Ludwig Heuss
- Emmi Bonhoeffer