Fritz Wiedemann

Born on 16 August 1891, Fritz Wiedemann was a colourful character who was Hitler’s commander in the First World War, later Hitler's personal adjutant, and then a diplomat - before he turned on Hitler.

Hitler’s superior during the First World War, Wiedemann provided strong support for the Austrian soldier. He nominated Hitler for the Iron Cross First Class on several occasions before it was eventually awarded in 1918.

After the war, Wiedemann refused an invitation from Hitler to organise the SA.

When Hitler came to power, Wiedemann accepted an offer to serve as his adjutant. He accompanied the Führer on state visits, answered correspondence and kept his diary.

In July 1938, Wiedemann travelled to London, with Hitler’s approval, and met with Lord Halifax (British Foreign Secretary) to discuss the Sudeten issue. Halifax told Wiedemann that a solution of the Sudeten German question by force would not be calmly accepted by the British people.

Wiedemann told Halifax that the latest possible date for a solution was March 1939, having obtained that date from Hitler and having it confirmed by the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht – High Command of the Armed Forces).

On Wiedemann’s return, Hitler did not let him report in detail. Hitler’s dismissive response hardened Ludwig Beck (at that time still the Chief of Staff of the German Army) to the view that reasoned argument would no longer be effective with Hitler.

Wiedemann let his London contacts know that Hitler intended to solve the Sudeten question by force in the immediate future.

In 1937, Wiedemann commenced an affair with Princess Stephanie von Hohenlohe – a relationship which annoyed the Führer. In January 1939, no longer in favour with Hitler, Wiedemann was appointed German Consul-General in San Francisco. Princess von Hohenlohe joined him in the United States.

Whilst there he privately warned British representatives that Hitler’s support at home was not as strong as might appear, and that Hitler had an unstable personality and was very dangerous. He urged the British to strike at Hitler as soon as possible.

He offered to US authorities to publicly denounce the German regime, but the US did not want this embarrassment at the time.

Wiedemann was subsequently sent to Tianjin in Japanese-occupied China.

After the war Wiedemann gave evidence at Nuremberg.

He died on 17 January 1970.

This is an edited extract from TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the Plot to Kill Hitler

Count Schwerin von Schwanenfeld

Ulrich-Wilhelm, Count Schwerin von Schwanenfeld (1902-1944)

- at his trial before the Nazi 'People's Court'

Schwerin was a firm opponent of the Nazis even before they came to power.

He was a leading member of the so-called ‘Kreisau circle’.

As adjutant to Field Marshal Witzleben he had numerous connexions with high-ranking military and civilian figures, often liaising between the civilian and military arms of the resistance. He was a close friend of Peter Count Yorck von Wartenburg and Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg.

In 1938, he was involved in the projected coup at the time of the Sudeten crisis.

After the war began, he became aware of a massacre of Jews which took place in a gravel pit on his own estate. He passed this information to many in the resistance.

In 1942, after Witzleben’s dismissal, General Oster (one of the architects of the German resistance) appointed Schwerin to the Abwehr (military intelligence) office at the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht – High Command of the Armed Forces) in Berlin, where he could continue work for the resistance.

In September 1943 Schwerin met Claus von Stauffenberg at the OKW in Berlin.

Schwerin was pessimistic about the chances of the July plot succeeding, but he continued to work for the project and advocate the necessity of assassinating Hitler.

On the day of the coup he drove General Beck (the conspirators' designated post-Nazi head of State) to the Bendlerblock (Home Army headquarters and the nerve centre of the coup). He waited for news with Claus von Stauffenberg’s brother Berthold, along with Yorck and Schulenburg. 

He was present for the fiery conference between Claus and Witzleben late that evening. The field marshal had been appointed head of the German armed forces by the conspirators, and was furious at the mistakes that meant that the coup was unravelling.

Schwerin was arrested in the Bendlerblock after the coup collapsed.

His elderly mother, wife and sons were taken into custody under Sippenhaft (kin vengeance).

On 20 August 1944, Schwerin was brought to trial before the People’s Court. An edited film of the proceedings has survived. Schwerin spoke of the ‘many murders’ committed by the regime - at home and abroad. He was cut off by presiding judge Roland Freisler’s thundering invective.

Freisler sentenced him to death.

On that last day, the wife of a political prisoner saw him:

I was standing at the heavy iron inside door of the prison, trying to talk an SS man into taking in a parcel for me. Suddenly the prison door opened, and through it strode calmly and erectly a man with his hands bound behind his back, followed by a little Gestapo man who looked to me like a reptile. The SS man whispered to me: ‘That is Count Schwerin – Plötzensee.’ I knew what Plötzensee meant, and through my mind there flashed the realization: ‘This is a man who knows how to die.’

Schwerin had just enough time to write a short letter to his wife before he was executed:

My darling: Now the last hour has come.  

I can give you no further counsel, I can ask you only to make the youth of our children as happy as possible under all the present restrictions. Think of your own childhood. Let the boys study a great deal and adopt professions suited to their capabilities and fitting them for advancement … 

I go to my death unbowed, with the firm conviction that I have done nothing for myself, and everything for our fatherland. This must remain ever a certainty for you, and something you tell our sons over and over. You know that my actions were at all times directed to the welfare of Germany, in the family tradition of an ardent patriotism outweighing all else …  Bring up our sons as Christian noblemen, with neither narrowness nor slackness in their convictions.  

And finally, from my overflowing heart, thanks to you for your love that made my life beautiful. Be brave, and preserve your love for me to the end of your life.  

I must stop. Greet all those whom I love and who have loved me and cherished me.  

I embrace you and the boys in thought, with eternal gratitude to you.  

Your Ulrich-Wilhelm

His family members survived the war.

This is an edited extract from TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the Plot to Kill Hitler

The Hammerstein-Equords

A career officer, Kurt Gebhard Adolf Philipp Freiherr (Baron) von Hammerstein-Equord served on the General Staff during the First World War.

After the war he rose to the rank of Generaloberst (Colonel General – equivalent in rank to a full general in the British army or a four star general in the US army).

From 1930, he was commander-in-chief of the Reichswehr – the German army.

Hammerstein-Equord repeatedly warned President Hindenburg not to make Hitler chancellor.

On 26 January 1933, Hindenburg assured him he had no intention of appointing ‘that Austrian corporal’ chancellor. Four days later Hindenburg did just that.

In January 1934, under pressure from Hitler, Hammerstein-Equord was forced to resign as commander-in-chief of the Reichswehr.

He remained an ardent opponent of Hitler. He gave his daughter Maria-Theresa names of Jews scheduled for deportation or arrest, enabling her to hide them. Close to Ludwig Beck, Hammerstein-Equord supported Beck’s coup attempts.

He and his wife had seven children. Three of his daughters joined the Communist Party.

In 1939, Hammerstein-Equord was recalled to duty.

He repeatedly tried to lure Hitler to inspect his troops on the western front, where he intended the Führer to meet with a ‘fatal accident’. Hitler did not accept the invitations.

Hammerstein-Equord is often remembered for his system of classifying troops:

I divide my officers into four groups. There are clever, diligent, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and diligent -- their place is the General Staff. The next lot are stupid and lazy -- they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties. Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the intellectual clarity and the composure necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is stupid and diligent -- he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always cause only mischief.

In 1938, his son Kunrat (born in 1918) joined the army.

In 1940 his son Ludwig (born in 1919) joined the army.

Ludwig Hammerstein-Equord

After Kunrat was wounded, he trained as a lawyer. He became an instructor at the tank training school in Krampnitz.

In 1943, Hammerstein-Equord senior died of cancer.

After sustaining severe injuries on the eastern front, Ludwig was assigned to Berlin.

Ludwig was recruited to the resistance by Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg. He later worked with Olbricht and Stauffenberg in the Bendlerblock.

Kunrat and Ludwig had close contact through their family with many resistance members, including Carl Goerdeler, Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, Axel von dem Bussche-Streithorst, Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Philipp von Boeselager.

Kunrat liaised with military districts to prepare them for the coup.

Ludwig was at the Bendlerblock on 20 July 1944 and took an active role in the coup. He was one of the officers who arrested the SS officer Pifrader when he came to question Claus von Stauffenberg that day. He was also present for the exchange of shots towards the end of the evening, in which Claus von Stauffenberg was wounded.

Once it became clear the coup had collapsed, Ludwig was able to use his knowledge of the Bendlerblock’s intricacies (he had lived there as a boy while his father was commander-in-chief) to effect his escape.

He lived underground with a Berlin family until the end of the war. The family was also hiding a Jewish woman.

His brother Kunrat obtained forged documents, escaped and lived as a vagrant in the Rhineland until the war was over.

Their mother and other family members were arrested under the doctrine of Sippenhaft (kin vengeance) and held in Buchenwald concentration camp and later at Regensburg prison. They survived the war.

After the war their brother Franz (born in 1921) became active in the World Council of Churches and worked extensively for Jewish-Christian dialogue.

Ludwig survived the war and was reunited with his family. He became a journalist and later a radio director.

He died on 26 February 1996.

Kunrat went into business. He died on 13 June 2007.

This is an edited extract from TREASON; Claus von Stauffenberg and the Plot to Kill Hitler