Claus Van Staffenberg

While many people were crushed like autumn leaves under the bloody reign of Hitler, a choice person with a predetermined destiny rose out of the ashes. His goal was passionate, fervent, and extreme. As the society all around him seethed with hatred, prejudice and intolerance, Colonial Stauffenberg’s strong conscience, as well as his courage, moral and ethical values transformed him into the hero he is today. Claus von Stauffenberg bloomed like a flower in the eye of adversity as he took a firm stance challenging the iron rule of Hitler, proving himself as a hero to his family, his country, and to the world.

From birth, Stauffenberg’s actions and experiences helped raise him in becoming who he is known to be today. His parents who came from one of the most distinguished Roman Catholic families in Germany taught him well. From his earliest years the people all around him, as well as his own personal experiences, taught him the standards of respect, honesty, and integrity. Throughout his life he proved himself as having strong conscience which would not tolerate evil and wrong doing. As he grew older people began introducing him to racism, and his reaction truly sets him apart from others. In the month of September 1934 just as Hitler began his reign, Stauffenberg was seen storming out of an anti-Semitic party/lecture, which he was ordered by his commanding officer to attend. A short time later, minutes after the racist lecture began, his anger burst into his actions. He left the building because of the hate, and evil that permeated the halls. The incident alone tells so much about the character of Stauffenberg; he had a strong core of values, and he showed, by walking out of the party he believed that all people were created equal, and he would not stand for the racism, hate, and intolerance that Hitler embraced. Even if people at the lecture may have also despised listening to the intolerance, they did not possess the nerve, bravery, or other heroic qualities that Stauffenberg had to simply stand up and leave. Although only a few examples of Stauffenberg’s strong character has been revealed, throughout his childhood and adolescent years the little things he saw and did started to lead him towards larger more powerful events in his life, changing the world forever.

Claus Von Stauffenberg in military dress (http://www.philadelphia-reflections.com/images/graf-von-stauffenberg.jpg)

By 1943, Colonial Stauffenberg’s strong leadership had earned him a top spot in the powerful Afrika Korps. However on April 7th, 1943, his life changed drastically as he visited hell and rebounded back again. An Allied air attack placed Stauffenberg in a harsh battle between life and death as lethal shrapnel tore apart his right eye. He lost his right hand in addition to his pinky and ring finger on his left. After this close encounter with death he slowly recovered in a Munich hospital in Germany, where he saw the suffering and death that the war had place upon his country and its people. During his recovery, he spent hours upon hours everyday contemplating his life. During this time he concluded that the death and violence from the war had taken a toll on his country, and if he was ever to save his country he would have to take extraordinary measures. He knew there was only one option; he would have to kill Hitler. Stauffenberg knew that what he planned to do would be most deadly to him if he had even the smallest flaw. He took the weighed out the risks and benefits and found it necessary that if he was ever to save the people of Germany he would have to take upon himself a hero’s quest. “Was it right, he asked a relative in mid-1943, to sacrifice the salvation of one’s own soul if one might thereby save thousands of lives?” (Jones). Stauffenberg knew that he had to kill Hitler if he were to save his family, and his country from the hate, violence, and death that had all been the cause of a single evil dictator. He knew that it was the worst crime that he could possibly commit, but pressed onward like a hero because he knew he had to act on behalf of the greater good of man. Through countless hours of thinking and pondering, Stauffenberg’s conscious, beliefs, and integrity kept him in pursuit of assassinating the most evil man to have ever lived on this world.

As the end of the war became more and more imminent, Colonial Stauffenberg’s plan finally began to fall into action as he led a conspiracy against Hitler in an attempt to save the Germany he loved. On July 20th, 1944, Stauffenberg finally met Hitler in a military strategy meeting where he would detonate the bombs. Although a hot summer day had moved everyone into an open windowed cabin, which greatly compromised the effectiveness of the bombs, Stauffenberg decided to move forward with his plan, knowing that the chances of success were still in his favor. Colonial Stauffenberg proved himself a hero as he fought against all odds, trying to overcome his enemies as he executed his plan to assassinate Hitler. Stauffenberg showed his courage and bravery as he tried to kill the tyrant who ruined the country he lived in. As Colonial Stauffenberg left the building a violent blast rang throughout the woods in East Prussia. Stauffenberg knew in his heart that Hitler was dead… Or so he thought. Quickly he flew back to Berlin where he aimed to execute his plan in full order, but already Hitler’s revenge had taken a full swing back towards him. The truth had been revealed by an awful stroke of misfortune someone had coincidentally moved the suitcase full of explosives away from Hitler, saving him from the blast. But it was too late for Stauffenberg to recover, his identity was revealed. Before midnight on July 20th he was seized by the reserve army where he faced a quick execution. In front of the Wehrmacht’s headquarters, he was shot by a firing squad. His final words, “Long live sacred Germany,” were never forgotten by the soldiers and officers who saw his limp body fall to the earth. When adversity, evil, and hate all faced Claus von Stauffenberg, he stood up and challenged it himself. He rose like a hero and became one himself. Although his plan was foiled by a mere stroke of bad luck, his attempt will never be forgotten. His last words sealed his lifelong story as he became a hero when all others faltered in fear.

Stauffenberg (front) walking off a German airfield (http://www.yourdiscovery.com/virtualhistory/ _pages/images/static/the_secret_plot_to_kill_hitler.jpg)

As many others collapsed under the iron fist of Hitler and cowered in fear, Stauffenberg chose a different path. Although he had sworn a personal oath to his evil dictator, after many thoughtful, pensive days of thinking, his patriotism, moral and ethical values pushed him forward with courage for a cause that he felt was worth his life. He didn’t sit like a coward on the sidelines, but rose like a true hero and played his hand on the field. Stauffenberg was born a hero at birth, and his memories, life, and history, as well as his noble legacy will always prove him as a true hero in this world yesterday, today, and centuries to come.