List of members of the 20 July plot

Carl Wentzel appearing before Judge Roland Freisler at the People's Court, 1944

On 20 July 1944, Adolf Hitler and his top military associates entered the briefing hut of the Wolf's Lair military headquarters, a series of concrete bunkers and shelters located deep in the forest East Prussia, not far from the World War I Battle of Tannenberg.[1] Suddenly there was an enormous explosion, which killed three officers and a stenographer, and injured everyone else.[1] This assassination attempt was the work of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, an aristocrat who had been severely wounded – losing his right hand, left eye, and two fingers of his left hand – while serving in the North African theater of war.[1]

The bomb plot was a carefully planned coup d'état attempt against the Nazi regime, orchestrated by a group of disillusioned army officers.[1] Their plan was to assassinate Hitler, seize power in Berlin, establish a new pro-Western government and save Germany from the total defeat.[1]

Immediately after arresting and executing the plot leaders in Berlin, the Gestapo, the secret police force of Nazi Germany, began arresting people involved or even suspected of being involved.[2] The opportunity was also used to eliminate other Nazi critics remaining.[2] In total, an estimated 7,000 people were arrested of which approximately 4,980 were executed, some slowly strangled with piano wire on Hitler's insistence.[3] Among those executed were three field marshals, nineteen generals, twenty-six colonels, two ambassadors, seven diplomats, one minister and three secretaries of state, as well as the head of the Berlin police.[3] This is a list of people who were identified at the time as being involved in the coup attempt.

A

  • Major Wolfgang Abshagen (1897–1945)
  • Colonel Otto Armster (1891–1957), Head of the counterintelligence ("Abwehr") station in Vienna; arrested on 23 July 1944 and held captive until the end of the war. Liberated but was later arrested and imprisoned by NKVD until 1955.

B

C

  • Oscar Caminecci, farmer
  • Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Chief of German Military Intelligence (1887–1945); hanged at Flossenburg concentration camp, 9 April 1945. No evidence found directly linking him to the plot, but was known to be closely associated with many of the conspirators.[6]
  • Walter Cramer, Industrialist; hanged at Plötzensee Prison, 14 November 1944

D

  • Professor Alfred Delp, Pater S.J. (1907–1945); executed 2 February 1945[7]
  • Dr. Wilhelm Dieckmann (1893–1944), Ministry Official. Arrested by Gestapo on 25 July 1944. Died in pretrial confinement on 13 September 1944.
  • Major General Heinrich Graf zu Dohna-Schlobitten (1882–1944); Chief of the Acting General Command; executed by hanging 14 September 1944.
  • Court official Hans von Dohnanyi (1902–1945); arrested for treason, 1943; executed 9 April 1945[8]
  • Lieutenant Hans Martin Dorsch
  • Captain Max-Ulrich Graf von Drechsel

E

  • Professor Fritz Elsas, Deputy Mayor of Berlin
  • Lieutenant (General Staff) Karl-Heinz Engelhorn
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hans Otto Erdmann

F

  • General Alexander Freiherr von Falkenhausen, Military Commander of Belgium and Northern France (1878–1966); freed by American troops from Niederhorf on 4 May 1945, before Gestapo could carry out death sentence; imprisoned until 1951 for war crimes[6]
  • General Erich Fellgiebel, Chief of the Military Signals (1886–1944); in charge of cutting off communications on 20 July, hanged on 4 September 1944
  • Colonel (General Staff) Eberhard Finckh, Chief Quartermaster to Günther Blumentritt (1899–1944); executed by hanging 30 August 1944
  • Professor Max Fleischmann
  • Reinhold Frank, Lawyer (1896–1945); executed by hanging 23 January 1945
  • Ehrengard Frank-Schultz
  • Colonel (General Staff) Wessel von Freytag-Loringhoven, (1899–1944), who provided the explosives for the plot. Plot failure, resulted in his suicide, within 6 days
  • Walter Frick, Salesman
  • Colonel General Friedrich Fromm (1888–1945). Aware of the conspiracy, betrayed and executed conspirators, including Stauffenberg, on 20 July. Arrested on orders of Himmler the next day, and executed by firing squad for "cowardice" on 12 March 1945[9]
  • Joseph-Ernst Graf Fugger von Glött (1895–1981): designated to be administrator of Bavaria; arrested on 3 September 1944 by the Gestapo; convicted to 3 years in prison; Unlike the majority of conspirators, Fugger von Glött was sentenced to penal servitude rather than execution. He was freed by American troops in April 1945. after the war one of the founders of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria and delegate in different parliaments.

G

H

J

  • Colonel Friedrich Gustav Jaeger (1895–1944); executed by hanging 21 August 1944.
  • Max Jennewein, technician
  • Professor Jens-Peter Jessen
  • Hans John, Lawyer (1911–1945); executed by firing squad 23 April 1945
  • Otto John (1909–1997), 20 July 1944 was in Spain, escaped to Britain. Survived.

K

  • Hermann Kaiser, grammar school teacher
  • Jakob Kaiser, CDU co-founder and Chairmen of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (DDR) (1888–1961), was member of the Resistance and close to the conspirators but was not directly involved in the plot. Went into hiding and survived.
  • Franz Kempner, Retired Ministry Official (Undersecretary of State)
  • Albrecht von Kessel, Diplomat, Mission Adviser at the Vatican
  • Otto Kiep, Envoy and Chief of the Reich Press Office (1886–1944), executed 23 August 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Georg Conrad Kißling, farmer
  • Lieutenant Colonel Bernhard Klamroth, executed 15 August 1944 by hanging, Plötzensee Prison
  • Major Hans Georg Klamroth (1898–1944); executed 26 August 1944 by hanging, Plötzensee Prison
  • Captain Friedrich Karl Klausing (1920–1944)
  • Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, Diplomat (1890–1945) Executed 16 April 1945[5]
  • Lieutenant Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (1922–2013)
  • Field Marshal Günther von Kluge (1882–1944) whilst not directly involved knew about the plot and so committed suicide when Hitler asked him for a meeting.
  • Major Gerhard Knaack
  • Dr. Hans Koch, lawyer (1893–1945); murdered by a Sonderkommando 24 April 1945.
  • Heinrich Körner, Union Leader
  • Lieutenant Commander Alfred Kranzfelder (1908–1944); executed by hanging 10 August 1944
  • Richard Kuenzer, Councillor
  • Major Joachim Kuhn, (1913–1994)
  • Elise Auguste Kutznitzki, née von Liliencron
  • Elizabeth Kuznitzky, (1878–1944), guillotined 30 November 1944, Plötzensee Prison

L

M

  • Hermann Maaß (1897–1944), Leading Social Democrat, executed 20 October 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Colonel Rudolf Graf von Marogna-Redwitz (1886–1944), executed 12 October 1944, Plötzensee prison
  • Karl Marks, Merchant
  • Michael Graf von Matuschka (1888–1944), District President; executed 14 September 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Colonel Joachim Meichßner, (1906–1944); executed 29 September 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim (1905–1944); executed by firing squad at Bendlerblock 20 July 1944 on the order of General Fromm[18][19]
  • Lieutenant Colonel (General Staff) Karl Michel
  • Carlo Mierendorff, SPD (1897–1943)
  • Joseph Müller, Catholic Priest, Dissident but not connected to July 1944 Plot. Executed 11 September 1944, Brandenburg-Gőrden prison
  • Dr. Otto Müller, Prelate
  • Herbert Mumm von Schwarzenstein, Legation Councillor
  • Lieutenant Colonel Ernst Munziger

N

  • Arthur Nebe, Head of the National Police, commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe B (1944–1945); executed 21 March 1945, Plötzensee prison
  • Wilhelm zur Nieden, Local Government Building Officer, shot by Gestapo 23 April 1945

O

  • Major (General Staff) Hans-Ulrich von Oertzen (1915–1944); committed suicide 21 July 1944
  • General Friedrich Olbricht (1880–1944) Executed on orders of Colonel General Fromm, 20 July 1944[18]
  • Major General Hans Oster (1888–1945); hanged at Flossenburg with Admiral Canaris, 9 April 1945[6]

P

R

  • Cuno Raabe, Lawyer (1888–1971)
  • Erwin Rommel
  • General Friedrich von Rabenau (1884–1945), executed 15 April 1945, Flossenbürg concentration camp
  • Lieutenant Colonel (General Staff) Karl Ernst Rathgens
  • Professor Adolf Reichwein (1898–1944) Leading Social Democrat, executed 20 October 1944, Plőtzensee prison
  • Colonel Alexis Freiherr von Roenne, executed 12 October 1944, Plőtzensee prison

S

  • Karl Sack, Judge Advocate General of the Army (1896–1945)[20]}} executed 9 April, Flossenbürg concentration camp
  • Lieutenant Colonel (General Staff) Joachim Sadrozinski (1907–1944) executed by hanging 29 September 1944
  • Anton Saefkow (1903–1944); executed 18 September 1944[21]}}
  • Major Hans-Viktor Graf von Salviati
  • First Lieutenant Fabian von Schlabrendorff, after the war Member of the Federal Constitutional Court (1907–1980); was put on trial but the trial was aborted when an allied bomb killed the presiding judge. Sent to concentration camps but survived.
  • Professor Rüdiger Schleicher, (1895–1945) shot on 23 April 1945, Berlin
  • Ernst Wilhelm Schneppenhorst, former Minister of War (1881–1945); executed 24 April 1945.
  • Friedrich Scholz-Babisch, Farmer, executed 13 October 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Colonel Hermann Schöne
  • Lieutenant Colonel Werner Schrader (1885–1944); committed suicide 28 July 1944
  • Friedrich Werner Graf von der Schulenburg, German Ambassador to Soviet Union (1875–1944). Executed 10 November 1944[22]}}
  • Fritz-Dietlof Graf von der Schulenburg, district president (1902–1944). Hanged 10 August 1944[23]}}
  • Colonel (General Staff) Georg Schultze-Büttger
  • Ludwig Schwamb (1890–1945), Leading Social Democrat, executed 23 January 1945, Plötzensee Prison
  • Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld, Landowner (1902–1945), executed by hanging 8 September 1944
  • Hans-Ludwig Sierks, Local Government Building Officer
  • Lieutenant Colonel (General Staff) Günther Smend (1912–1944); executed 8 September 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • General Hans Speidel, Rommel's Chief of Staff, later Commander of NATO Ground Forces (1897–1984); found by military court of honour not guilty but not free of suspicion; arrested and imprisoned by Gestapo but evaded discovery of his direct involvement; survived.
  • Franz Sperr, legate, executed 23 January 1945, Plötzensee Prison
  • Colonel Wilhelm Staehle
  • Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1905–1944), Lawyer and brother of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, executed by hanging 10 August 1944
  • Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), Colonel (General Staff) plot leader and bomber; executed by firing squad at Bendlerblock 20 July 1944 on the order of General Fromm.
  • Colonel (General Staff) Hans-Joachim Freiherr von Steinaecker
  • Major General Helmuth Stieff (1901–1944); executed 8 August 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Theodor Strünck, Lawyer (1895–1945), executed by hanging on 9 April 1945.
  • Colonel General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel (1886–1944), executed 30 August 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Major Carl Szokoll (1915–2004), Austrian officer (captain); 20 July 1944 rounded up leading Nazis in Vienna, evaded prosecution by claiming superior orders without the knowledge of the plot; in 1945 sabotaged German resistance in Vienna to avoid damage to the city; again evaded arrest and survived.

T

  • Lieutenant Colonel Gustav Tellgmann
  • Lieutenant General Fritz Thiele (1894–1944); executed 4 September 1944, Plötzensee prison
  • Major Busso Thoma (1899–1945); executed by hanging 23 January 1945, Plötzensee prison
  • General Georg Thomas (1890–1946); involved in earlier (1938–1939) plots but not 1944 plot. Arrested, sent to concentration camps but survived. Died in Allied custody in 1946.
  • General Karl Freiherr von Thüngen (1893–1944); executed by firing squad 24 October 1944
  • Lieutenant Colonel Gerd von Tresckow
  • Major General Henning von Tresckow (1901–1944), committed suicide 21 July 1944
  • Adam von Trott zu Solz (1909–1944); Legation Councillor, executed 26 August 1944, Plötzensee prison

U

V

  • Fritz Voigt, Police President of Breslau, executed 1 March 1945, Plötzensee prison
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hans-Alexander von Voss ; committed suicide 8 November 1944

W

  • General quartermaster of the army Eduard Wagner, supplied a plane for von Stauffenberg ; committed suicide 23 July 1944[24]}}
  • Colonel Siegfried Wagner (1894–1944), committed suicide 26 August 1944[25]}}
  • Chaplain Hermann Josef Wehrle (1899–1944); executed 14 September 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Carl Wentzel, (1875–1944); executed 20 December 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Joachim von Willisen (1900–1983); Public official, arrested but lacking proof of involvement, released; survived
  • Josef Wirmer (1899–1944); Lawyer, executed 8 September 1944, Plötzensee Prison
  • Oswald Wiersich, Labour Union Leader, executed 1 March 1945, Plötzensee Prison
  • Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben (1881–1944); The highest ranking general actively involved; executed 8 August 1944, Plötzensee Prison

Y

Z

See also

References

Sources

Printed

  • Shirer, William (1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-62420-0.
  • Hoffmann, Peter (1996). History of the German Resistance, 1933-1945. Kingston, Ontario: McGill-Queen's Press. ISBN 9780773566408.

Online

  • How Hitler's Bodyguard Worked. World Media Rights. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  • The Fatal Attraction of Adolf Hitler. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
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