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| Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist obituary | Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist obituary |
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| Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist, who has died aged 90, was thought to be the last survivor of the abortive July 1944 plot by mainly aristocratic German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler, once it had become clear to them that Germany would lose the second world war. | Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist, who has died aged 90, was thought to be the last survivor of the abortive July 1944 plot by mainly aristocratic German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler, once it had become clear to them that Germany would lose the second world war. |
| Kleist, an infantry officer, had been recruited by the ringleader of the plotters, Count Claus von Stauffenberg, six months earlier to attempt to kill the dictator by suicide bomb. Kleist's unit had been earmarked to display newly redesigned military uniforms to Hitler, and the original volunteer for the attempt had been wounded. Kleist agreed to wear a waistcoat packed with explosive under his tunic – but the parade was called off when Hitler made one of his many abrupt changes of schedule, often prompted by fears for his own safety. | Kleist, an infantry officer, had been recruited by the ringleader of the plotters, Count Claus von Stauffenberg, six months earlier to attempt to kill the dictator by suicide bomb. Kleist's unit had been earmarked to display newly redesigned military uniforms to Hitler, and the original volunteer for the attempt had been wounded. Kleist agreed to wear a waistcoat packed with explosive under his tunic – but the parade was called off when Hitler made one of his many abrupt changes of schedule, often prompted by fears for his own safety. |
| Kleist was descended from a prominent Prussian military family and was born at the family seat in Schmenzin, Pomerania, now part of Poland. His family tree included two field marshals and one of Germany's most distinguished writers. His father, the lawyer and conservative politician Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, was a convinced anti-Nazi even before Hitler came to power in 1933. Prominent military anti-Nazis, including Admiral Wilhelm Canaris and General Ludwig Beck, sent him secretly to London in 1938 to plead in vain with British authorities to abandon the policy of appeasement. The elder Kleist returned to Germany and kept up his opposition to the regime, eventually making his way into the inner circle of the bomb plot led by Stauffenberg. | Kleist was descended from a prominent Prussian military family and was born at the family seat in Schmenzin, Pomerania, now part of Poland. His family tree included two field marshals and one of Germany's most distinguished writers. His father, the lawyer and conservative politician Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, was a convinced anti-Nazi even before Hitler came to power in 1933. Prominent military anti-Nazis, including Admiral Wilhelm Canaris and General Ludwig Beck, sent him secretly to London in 1938 to plead in vain with British authorities to abandon the policy of appeasement. The elder Kleist returned to Germany and kept up his opposition to the regime, eventually making his way into the inner circle of the bomb plot led by Stauffenberg. |
| A substantial minority of officers always saw themselves as loyal to Germany rather than its leader, and looked for ways of bringing down the Nazis from their earliest days in power. Discontent grew as the war progressed, and increased sharply after the setbacks over 1942-43 at Stalingrad and in north Africa, the turning points in the conflict. | A substantial minority of officers always saw themselves as loyal to Germany rather than its leader, and looked for ways of bringing down the Nazis from their earliest days in power. Discontent grew as the war progressed, and increased sharply after the setbacks over 1942-43 at Stalingrad and in north Africa, the turning points in the conflict. |
| When Stauffenberg failed to win over Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, Hitler's greatest general, he took matters into his own hands. He had been made responsible as a staff officer for the plans for operation Valkyrie, to take over key Berlin installations in the event of a revolt by the mass of foreign forced labour working in the region round the city. This legitimate if paranoid contingency plan was seen as the perfect cover for a post-assassination coup. | When Stauffenberg failed to win over Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, Hitler's greatest general, he took matters into his own hands. He had been made responsible as a staff officer for the plans for operation Valkyrie, to take over key Berlin installations in the event of a revolt by the mass of foreign forced labour working in the region round the city. This legitimate if paranoid contingency plan was seen as the perfect cover for a post-assassination coup. |
| On 20 July 1944, Stauffenberg placed a bomb under the table at Hitler's headquarters in east Prussia. It exploded, but although others were killed Hitler survived. By the time Stauffenberg flew into Berlin, Hitler's survival was known, and the colonel was arrested and summarily shot. Kleist senior was one of many thousands of other suspects arrested within days. He was condemned to death at one of a series of show trials in February 1945 and was executed in Berlin that April. | On 20 July 1944, Stauffenberg placed a bomb under the table at Hitler's headquarters in east Prussia. It exploded, but although others were killed Hitler survived. By the time Stauffenberg flew into Berlin, Hitler's survival was known, and the colonel was arrested and summarily shot. Kleist senior was one of many thousands of other suspects arrested within days. He was condemned to death at one of a series of show trials in February 1945 and was executed in Berlin that April. |
| Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist was luckier than his father, whose hostility to Hitler he fully shared from his teens. He joined the army in 1940 at the age of 18 and became a lieutenant in an infantry regiment. As such, he was one of many members of a loosely connected and mostly passive resistance to the Nazi regime who were also members of the old Prussian aristocracy, reluctantly serving in the Wehrmacht and the civil service, notably the foreign office. | Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist was luckier than his father, whose hostility to Hitler he fully shared from his teens. He joined the army in 1940 at the age of 18 and became a lieutenant in an infantry regiment. As such, he was one of many members of a loosely connected and mostly passive resistance to the Nazi regime who were also members of the old Prussian aristocracy, reluctantly serving in the Wehrmacht and the civil service, notably the foreign office. |
| In July 1944, he was one of many officers standing by at the Berlin headquarters of the home army for the go-ahead to take over key points in the city on receipt of the confirmation that Hitler was dead. The plan was to confine, neutralise or if need be overcome by force SS and other loyalist forces. Much depended on the attitude of General Friedrich Fromm, commanding the home army, who hesitantly sympathised with the resistance, but turned against it when the assassination attempt failed. Fromm's arrests of the main plotters, and Beck's suicide on his urging, failed to save him; he was executed in March 1945. | In July 1944, he was one of many officers standing by at the Berlin headquarters of the home army for the go-ahead to take over key points in the city on receipt of the confirmation that Hitler was dead. The plan was to confine, neutralise or if need be overcome by force SS and other loyalist forces. Much depended on the attitude of General Friedrich Fromm, commanding the home army, who hesitantly sympathised with the resistance, but turned against it when the assassination attempt failed. Fromm's arrests of the main plotters, and Beck's suicide on his urging, failed to save him; he was executed in March 1945. |
| Kleist was among those arrested. He was subjected to Gestapo interrogation before being sent to a concentration camp. But for reasons never explained, he was released, apparently for lack of evidence – a nicety not often observed by the Gestapo – and was sent on active service to the Russian front. He attributed his remarkable survival to the fact that other detainees did not betray him. | Kleist was among those arrested. He was subjected to Gestapo interrogation before being sent to a concentration camp. But for reasons never explained, he was released, apparently for lack of evidence – a nicety not often observed by the Gestapo – and was sent on active service to the Russian front. He attributed his remarkable survival to the fact that other detainees did not betray him. |
| After the war he went into publishing. In 1962 he founded an annual forum on security and defence in the western world. Its remit broadened after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the fall of the Berlin wall, and it is now known as the Munich Security Conference. | After the war he went into publishing. In 1962 he founded an annual forum on security and defence in the western world. Its remit broadened after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the fall of the Berlin wall, and it is now known as the Munich Security Conference. |
| His wife, Gundula, survives him. | His wife, Gundula, survives him. |
| • Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, army officer and publisher, born 10 July 1922; died 8 March 2013 | • Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin, army officer and publisher, born 10 July 1922; died 8 March 2013 |
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