Von Klemperer - German resistance against Hitler: the search for allies abroad, 1938-1945

The Search for Allies Abroad, 19381945

KLEMENS VON KLEMPERER

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Klemens von Klemperer 1992

First published 1992
First issued as a Clarendon paperback 1994

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Data available

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Von Klemperer, Klemens, 1916
German resistance against Hitler: the search for allies abroad.
19381945 Klemens von Klemperer.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Anti-Nazi movementGermany. 2. GermanyForeign
relations19331945. 3. World War, 19391945Diplomatic history.
I. Title.
DD256.3.V673 1992 943.086dc20 9134961

ISBN 0198219407 (hbk)
ISBN 0198205511

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3

Printed in Great Britain
by J.W. Arrowsmith Ltd.
Bristol

To THE MEMORY OF

GEORGE BELL

Bishop of Chichester

and

WILLEM A. VISSERT HOOFT

General Secretary of the World
Council of Churches in Process of Formation

EVERYTHING I have written in the past has been dictated by more than purely antiquarian curiosity. In each case the choice of my subject was guided by a personal concern and involvement in the problem I took up. This is especially the case with this book. All along my preoccupation in my writing has been with the crisis era, the 1920s to the 1940s, and with the crisis zone of Europe, Central Europe, and especially with the darkest chapter of German historythe Nazi period. Over the past two decades I have been ever more drawn to those who took it upon themselves to keep burning the flame of human decency and freedom. I have always been aware of the duty to face this task responsibly and to keep my own concerns in check by a dispassionate, critical approach to my topic.

By now a large literature has sprung up concerning the German Resistance. I must single out first of all Peter Hoffmanns magisterial work and also the encyclopaedic volume edited by Jrgen Schmdeke and Peter Steinbach covering the transactions in Berlin of July 1984 of the International Conference on the Widerstand. Concerning my specific topic, the foreign relations of the German Resistance, a great deal of work has also been done which has found its way into a number of monographs and biographies as well as chapters of books and articles. But there has been no comprehensive work covering the whole subject. I have set out to perform this task in this book.

It has taken me a long time to finish this manuscript, not only because I write slowly, but also because I found that the canvas before me was enormous and that the surreptitious diplomacy which the conspirators against Hitler were forced to pursue had many facets. Because of my personal involvement in my chosen topic I had always to remind myself that my first duty was not to prejudge the case, and not to let my passions run away with me, but to follow the wisdom of the Masters of history: to put the full evidence before the readerssine ira et studio and to tell the story wie es eigentlich gewesen. In this way the readers may then be able to judge for themselves just as I, for myself, am in the end at liberty to draw my own conclusions. Only in this way could I hope to do justice to the subject for which I care so much.

Virtually each chapter or sub-chapter of this book deserves a monograph of its own. In so far as such treatises exist, I have fallen back on them. Thus I have greatly benefited from the work of those who have laboured before

While working on this book over the years, my commitment to it has never faltered, not even for a moment. My encounter with the way of life and death of men such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Carl Goerdeler, Hans-Bernd von Haeften, Helmuth James von Moltke, Adam von Trott zu Solz, and, last but not least, Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg has been a constant encouragement to me and has sustained my sense of duty to see my task through to the end. It was my privilege to meet some of the few survivors of the Widerstand, namely Axel von dem Bussche, Hasso von Etzdorf, Eugen Gerstenmaier, Otto John, Richard Lwenthal, Josef Mller, Marie-Luise Sarre, Fabian von Schlabrendorff, and Eduard Waetjen. I owe a great debt, moreover, to the families and friends of the resisters who have given me the benefit of their memories and often of their hospitality, and who put their documents at my disposal. Invariably they have respected the fact that the historians perspective is not always identical with that of the kin or friend. This volume relies heavily on their assistance and advice, and I feel honour bound to mention in this connection David Astor, Eberhard and Renate Bethge, Christabel Bielenberg, Alexander Bker, Barbara von Haeften, Alfred von Hofacker, David and Diana Hopkinson, Inga Kempe, Karl-Albrecht von Kessel, Lore Kordt, Sabine Leibholz-Bonhoeffer, Gerhard Leibholz, Marianne Meyer-Krahmer, Freya von Moltke, Mariane von Nostitz, Achim Oster, Shiela Sokolov Grant, Clarita von Trott zu Solz, Ingrid Warburg-Spinelli, and Hans Wilbrandt.

Moreover, I should like to acknowledge with gratitude the assistance I have obtained from the staffs of the archives and libraries listed in the Bibliography, which I have been able to consult, and I should also mention the people who have given me help with their advice or with documents: Sidney Aster, Mary Bancroft, Philip F. T. Bankwitz, Richard Breitman, Michael Dawson, Michael Ermarth, A. E. Fontenay, Lenidas E. Hill, Sir Francis Harry Hinsley, Peter Hoffmann, Walter A. Jackson, Hans-Adolf Jacobsen, George O. Kent, Michael Krger-Charl, Richard Lamb, Hsi-Huey Liang, Peter Ludlow, Nancy Lukens, Henry O. Malone, Claire Nix, Ger van Roon, Beate Ruhm von Oppen, Bradley F. Smith, Margiana Stinnes, Jochanan Wijnhoven, Igor Zelljadt, Ruth Zerner.

My extensive archival trips have been generously supported by The American Philosophical Society and the American Council of Learned Societies. I have also had the privilege of being a fellow at Churchill College (Cambridge), Trinity College (Oxford), and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. These institutions have been a great source of encouragement and inspiration to me.