Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
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Helmuth James, Graf von Moltke (born 11 March 1907 in Kreisau, Lower Silesia, now part of Poland; died 23 January 1945 in Berlin) was a German jurist, a member of the opposition against Hitler in Nazi Germany, and a founding member of the Kreisau Circle resistance group. He was the great-grandnephew of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, the victorious commander in the Franco-Prussian War and the Austro-Prussian War, and the owner of the Kreisau Estate in Silesia. He was a member of the Prussian house of Lords, Graf Helmuth von Moltke. His mother, Dorothy (née Rose-Innes), was a South African of British descent, the daughter of Sir James Rose-Innes, the highest judge in the Union of South Africa. Moltke's parents were members of the Christian Science church, and his father was a principal translator of the German edition of the Christian Science text, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. [1]
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[edit] Life
From 1927 to 1929, Moltke studied legal and political sciences in Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland), Vienna, Heidelberg, and Berlin. In 1931 he married Freya Deichmann, whom he met in Austria. In 1928 he became involved with college teachers and youth movement leaders in the organization of the "Löwenberg Labour Community" (Löwenberger Arbeitsgemeinschaften) in which jobless young workers and young farmers were brought together with students so they could learn from each other. They also discussed civics, obligations, and rights. In Kreisau, Moltke set aside an unused part of the estate for farming startups, which earned him harsh criticism from neighbouring landowners.
In 1934, he wrote his junior law examination. In 1935, he declined the chance to become a judge because he would have been obliged to join the NSDAP. Instead, he opened a law practice in Berlin. As a lawyer dealing in international law, he could help displaced Jews and other victims of Hitler's régime emigrate, and could travel abroad to establish contacts. Between 1935 and 1938, Moltke regularly went to Great Britain, where he completed English legal training in London and Oxford. When the Second World War broke out, he was active in the international law division of the Abwehr, the Wehrmacht's intelligence service, under Admiral Wilhelm Canaris.
His work for the Abwehr mainly involved gathering insights from abroad, from military attachés and foreign newspapers, and news of military-political importance, and relaying this information to the Wehrmacht. He maintained the connection between the supreme command of the armed forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht — OKW) and the Foreign Office, but above all to provide appraisals of questions of international law of war.
Having access to this information, von Moltke began to oppose both the war, and the entire program of the Nazi party. In October, 1941, he wrote to his wife, "Certainly more than a thousand people are murdered in this way every day, and another thousand German men are habituated to murder... What shall I say when I am asked: And what did you do during that time?... How can anyone know these things and still walk around free?" [1] He hoped that, with his appraisals, he could have a humanitarian effect on military events, and was supported in this by anti-Hitler officers such as Admiral Wilhelm Canaris and Major General Hans Oster, Chief of the Central Division.
During Nazi Germany's war with the Soviet Union, von Moltke wrote a controversial opinion urging Germany to follow both the Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention, in order to comply with international law and to promote reciprocal good treatment for German prisoners of war; however he was overruled on the grounds that Russia was not a signatory to the agreements, with Field Marshal Keitel describing the Geneva Convention as "a product of a notion of chivalry of a bygone era." He further acted on his opposition to the brutalities of Nazism by ordering deportation of Jews to countries which provided safe haven, and by writing reports emphasizing the psychological problems German soldiers developed after witnessing and participating in mass killings of Jews and Eastern Europeans. [1]
Von Moltke also surreptitiously spread the information to which he was privy, regarding the war and the concentration camps, to friends outside the Nazi party, including members of the resistance in occupied Europe. Declassified British documents reveal that he twice attempted to contact British officials, including friends from Oxford, offering to "go to any length" to assist them; however the British refused the first time, confusing him with his uncle, the German ambassador to Spain, and replied to the second offer by asking for "deeds" rather than "talk". [1]
Moltke possessed strong religious convictions and in a 1942 letter smuggled to a British friend Lionel Curtis, Moltke wrote: “Today, not a numerous, but an active part of the German people are beginning to realize, not that they have been led astray, not that bad times await them, not that the war may end in defeat, but that what is happening is sin and that they are personally responsible for each terrible deed that has been committed - naturally, not in the earthly sense, but as Christians” [2] In the same letter, Moltke wrote that before World War II, he had believed that it was possible to be totally opposed to Nazism without believing in God, but he now declared his former ideas to be "wrong, completely wrong". In Moltke's opinion, only by believing in God could one be a total opponent of the Nazis [2].
Von Moltke opposed the July 20 plot to assassinate Hitler. He warned that if it succeeded, Hitler would become a martyr, whereas if it failed, it would expose those few individuals among the German leadership who could be counted on to build a democratic state after the collapse of the Third Reich. In fact, in the aftermath of the plot some 5,000 of Hitler's opponents were executed. [1]
Moltke's mindset and his objections to orders that were at odds with international law were not without danger, and in January 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo. A year later, in January 1945, he stood, along with several of his fellow régime opponents, before the People's Court, over which presided Roland Freisler. Because no evidence could be found that Moltke had participated in any conspiracy to bring about a coup d'état, Freisler had to invent a charge de novo. Since Moltke and his friends had discussed a Germany based on moral and democratic principles that could develop after Hitler, Freisler deemed this discussion as treason, a crime worthy of death. Hanns Lilje writes in his autobiography that as Moltke stood before the Volksgerichtshof, he had "possessed, in the face of clear recognition of the fact that the death penalty had already been decided, the moral courage for an attack on Freisler and the whole institution". In two letters written to his wife in January 1945 while imprisoned at Tegel, Moltke noted with considerable pride that he was to be executed for his ideas, not his actions, a point that had been underlined a number of times by Freisler. In one letter, Moltke noted "Thus it is documented, that not plans, not preparations, but the spirit as such shall be persecuted. Vivat Freisler!"[2]. In the second letter, Moltke claimed that he stood before the court "...not as a Protestant, not as a great landowner, not as an aristocrat, not as a Prussian, not as a German...but as a Christian and nothing else"[2]. He wrote: "But what the Third Reich is so terrified of ... is ultimately the following: a private individual, your husband, of whom it is established that he discussed with 2 clergymen of both denominations [Protestant and Catholic] ... questions of the practical, ethical demands of Christianity. Nothing else; for that alone we are condemned.... I just wept a little, not because I was sad or melancholy ... but because I am thankful and moved by this proof of God's presence." [1]
Moltke was sentenced to death on 11 January 1945 and executed twelve days later at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. In a letter written while in custody, he revealed his motivation for resistance to his two sons: "Since National Socialism came to power, I have striven to make its consequences milder for its victims and to prepare the way for a change. In that, my conscience drove me – and in the end, that is a man's duty."
[edit] Recognition
Moltke has been honoured with a bust at Walhalla temple.
As Germany persists in shedding light on the internal dynamics of the Nazi era, von Moltke has become a prominent symbol of moral opposition to the Nazi regime. On March 11, 2007, von Moltke's centenary was commemorated in the French Hugenot church in Berlin, where he was described by German chancellor Angela Merkel as a symbol of "European courage". His life was the subject of a 1992 documentary film nominated for an Oscar, Restless Conscience, and a biography by Gunter Brakelmann compiles von Moltke's letters, diary, and other papers shared by his wife. [1]
Von Moltke's opinion advocating adherence to the Geneva and Hague Conventions, notwithstanding the opponent's not being a signatory, was cited by Scott Horton, chair of the New York City bar committee on international law, who said "The arguments in his memorandum are close to identical to the arguments that are made by Gen. Colin Powell, in the letter he sent to Alberto Gonzales" in 2002, regarding prisoners taken in Afghanistan and Iraq. [1]
[edit] Endnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Marquand, Robert. "Moral legacy of Nazi resister takes root in Germany - and abroad", The Christian Science Monitor, 2007-03-12. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Rothfels, Hans (1961). The German Opposition to Hitler. London: Oswald Wolff, pages 112, 114, 122.
[edit] See also
List of members of the July 20 plot
[edit] Publications
- Bericht aus Deutschland im Jahre 1943 ("Report from Germany in the Year 1943").
- Letzte Briefe aus dem Gefängnis Tegel ("Last Letters from Tegel Prison"). Letters to his wife Freya and his two sons from the time of the trial against him, first published in 1951, later published together with Bericht in many editions (latest: Diogenes, Zürich 1997 ISBN 3-257-22975-5).
- Briefe an Freya. 1939-1945 ("Letters to Freya"). Published by Beate Ruhm von Oppen. 2. Auflage, Beck, München 1991 ISBN 3-406-35279-0
[edit] Literature
- Freya von Moltke, "Erinnerungen an Kreisau 1930-1945", München 1987/2001
- Freya von Moltke, "Die Verteidigung europäischer Menschlichkeit", in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, Beilage zur Wochenzeitschrift "Das Parlament", Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung, Heft B27/2004
- Kurt Finker: Graf Moltke und der Kreisauer Kreis. Dietz, Berlin 1993 ISBN 3-320-01816-7
- Franz von Schwerin: Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. Im Widerstand die Zukunft denken. Zielvorstellungen für ein neues Deutschland. Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 1999 ISBN 3-506-73387-7
- Hanns Lilje: Im finsteren Tal, Reihe Stundenbücher Bd. 25, Furche Verlag, Hamburg
[edit] External links
- Biography (in German)
- Wikiquote (quotes by and about Moltke) (in German)
