Robert Bernardis

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Robert Bernardis (born August 7, 1908 in Innsbruck; died August 8, 1944 in Berlin-Plötzensee) was an Austrian resistance fighter involved in the attempt to kill German dictator Adolf Hitler in the July 20 Plot in 1944.

Bernardis began his military career as a lieutenant in Enns, Austria. After the Austrian Anschluss in 1938, he accepted the new régime. However, once the Second World War had begun, experiences at the front such as witnessing the murder of civilians changed his mind and he became involved in the resistance movement against Third Reich.

By 1944, though still relatively young, he held the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel and was assigned to the German General Staff. He was stationed near Hitler when the July 20 assassination attempt was carried out. Unaware that the bomb had failed to kill Hitler, Bernadis was responsible for the order that set Operation Valkyrie in motion. That same evening, he was arrested by the Gestapo. On August 8, he was sentenced to death by the German "People's Court" (Volksgerichtshof) and executed the same day.

Despite being deported to a concentration camp, Bernardis's family survived the war.