Fabian von Schlabrendorff
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Fabian von Schlabrendorff (born 1 July 1907 in Halle an der Saale; died 3 September 1980 in Wiesbaden) trained as a lawyer, later joining the German Army. As a lieutenant in the reserves, he was promoted to adjutant to Colonel Henning von Tresckow, a major leader in the resistance against Adolf Hitler. He joined the resistance and acted as a secret liaison between Tresckow in Russia and Ludwig Beck, Carl Goerdeler, Hans Oster, and Friedrich Olbricht in Berlin, taking part in various coup d'état plans and plots.
On March 13, 1943, during a visit by Adolf Hitler to Army Group Center Headquarters in Smolensk, Schlabrendorff smuggled a time bomb, disguised as bottles of cognac, onto an aircraft meant to carry Hitler back to Germany. The bomb failed to detonate, however, owing to the extreme cold in the aircraft's cargo space. Schlabrendorff managed to retrieve the bomb and elude detection.
Schlabrendorff's luck ran out when he was arrested on July 20, 1944, following the failure of the July 20 Plot. He was sent to Gestapo prison where he was tortured, but refused to talk. While imprisoned he met fellow imprisoned co-conspirators Wilhelm Canaris, Hans Oster, Ulrich von Hassell, Johannes Popitz, Carl Goerdeler, Josef Mueller, and Alexander von Falkenhausen.[1]
In February 1945, Schlabrendorff was brought before the infamous German People's Court (Volksgerichtshof). But, while awaiting his trial, the courtroom took a direct hit from a bomb during an American air raid. The bomb killed Judge-President Roland Freisler who was discovered crushed by a beam and still clutching Schlabrendorff's file. The raid saved his life, for Freisler was not known for showing any mercy.
Nevertheless, between February and May 1945 Schlabrendorff was moved from one concentration camp to another: Sachsenhausen, Flossenbürg, Dachau, Innsbruck. He was eventually released by U.S. forces in early May 1945.
After the war Schlabrendorff was a judge of the Constitutional Court of West Germany from 1967 to 1975. Fabian von Schlabrendorff died in 1980.
[edit] Books
- Fabian Von Schlabrendorff, Hilda Simon. The Secret War Against Hitler (Der Widerstand : Dissent and Resistance in the Third Reich), Westview Press, September, 1994. ISBN 0-8133-2190-5
- Roger Moorhouse, Killing Hitler, Jonathan Cape, 2006. ISBN 0-224-07121-1
- Roger Manvell, The Conspirators: 20th July 1944, Pan Macmillan, 1972. ISBN 0-345-09729-7
