Hans Bernd von Haeften is the nephew of Field
Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch and brother of Lt.
Werner von Haeften, who is Colonel
von Stauffenberg's adjutant on July
20th. Hans Bernd Haeften studied as an exchange student at Oxford
before 1933. He served as a junior diplomat under Ambassador von
Papen in Vienna and during World War II in Berlin.
In 1933,
he joined the Confessing Church. Later, he joined the Foreign Office
and served in Copenhagen, Vienna, Bucharest.
In 1940:
Haeften became Head of the Foreign Office's Cultural Department. but
he refused to join the Nazi Party.
Haeften was a devoted conspirator who worked closely
with former ambassador Ulrich
von Hassel and Adam von
Trott. On July 20, 1944, he was on hand in Berlin, along with Hassel
and Trott, ready to seize control of the foreign ministry.
Haeften is among the many unfortunates who endured
the wrath of Nazi judge Roland
Freisler at the People's Court. He nevertheless put up a heroic
defense for his actions and for the cause of the German
Resistance, telling the court that Hitler was the great perpretator of evil in history. He was hanged on August
15, 1944 in Plotzensee prison.
