| Friedrich von Rabenau | |
|---|---|
Friedrich von Rabenau |
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| Born | 10 October 1884 Berlin, German Empire |
| Died | 9 April 1945 (aged 60) Flossenbürg concentration camp |
| Allegiance | German Empire Weimar Germany Nazi Germany |
| Service/branch | Wehrmacht |
| Years of service | 1903 - 1942 |
| Rank | General of Artillery |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
Friedrich von Rabenau (October 10, 1884 - April 09, 1945) was a German career-soldier, general, theologian, and opponent of National Socialism.
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Rabenau was born in Berlin to the physician Friedrich von Rabenau (1847–1885) and Wally, née Noebel. He joined the Prussian Army in 1903 as a member of the 72nd Field Artillery Regiment (stationed at Danzig), served in World War I, and remained in the Weimar German Reichswehr.[1] In 1936, Von Rabenau was assigned by the then head of the general staff, Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck, to establish (from the Reichsarchiv) the first central archive of the German army, in Potsdam. Well suited to the task, Rabenau strove to prevent ideological falsifications with a scientific diligence in gathering sources that was second to none.
His Christian beliefs led him to join the opposition to Nazism early. Rabenau was a Rechtsritter ("Knight of Justice") in the supradenominational Order of Saint John.[2] As a Protestant Christian and a general, he successfully applied to then Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler for permission to take over Maria Laach Abbey, which had been seized from Roman Catholic Cardinal Graf von Galen in Münster. Rabenau joined no resistance group, though he did act as a conduit between Generaloberst Ludwig Beck and Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, whom he knew from his time as an Abteilungskommandeur ("Section Commander") in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad).
In mid-1942, Von Rabenau was relieved of his office, transferred to the rank of General der Artillerie ("General of Artillery"), and sent into premature retirement. He studied Protestant theology at the University of Berlin and in 1943 was made Licentiatus theologiae, writing his dissertation on military chaplaincy.[3]
Von Rabenau was arrested in the aftermath of the plot which culminated in the attempt on Hitler's life on July 20, 1944. On April 09, 1945, without having been charged or tried, General von Rabenau, one of the last inmates remaining in the Flossenbürg concentration camp, was hanged on the specific orders of Himmler. Surviving him were his widow Eva Kautz and their two daughters.
From Liste der auszusondernden Literatur (Berlin: Zentralverlag, 1946), Deutsche Verwaltung für Volksbildung in der sowjetischen Besatzungszone [4]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by — |
Commander of 73. Infanterie-Division 26 August 1939 – 29 September 1939 |
Succeeded by General der Infanterie Bruno Bieler |