“If You Feel a Sense of Moral Duty, You Have to Act Upon It”

Graf von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler 63 years ago on Friday. DW-WORLD.DE spoke to his eldest son, retired Major General Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, about the plot and its significance.

On July 20, 1944, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, a colonel in the Nazi army, took the fate of the German people into his own hands. Increasingly disillusioned with Adolf Hitler, Stauffenberg and numerous other co-conspirators within the German military plotted to assassinate the dictator and seize the reins of power. Stauffenberg smuggled an explosives-filled briefcase into a meeting at Hitler’s hideaway. Miraculously, the dictator survived the blast and Stauffenberg and others involved in the plot were executed.

 

A movie about the events of July 20, 1944, is currently being filmed in Berlin starring Hollywood actor and prominent Scientologist Tom Cruise, and it has stirred controversy. Over the years, some have raised questions about the attack itself, with debate about the motives and the political persuasion of Stauffenberg. DW-WORLD.DE talked to his eldest son about the assassination plot and its consequences for the family and Germany as a whole.

DW

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