Henning von Tresckow was born into a Prussian noble family in Magdeburg in 1901. After training as an Officer Cadet during his teenage years, Tresckow later served in the First World War. A typical Prussian gentleman of his time, he studied economics and law while also learning to speak English and French.
Tresckow served in General Manstein’s command staff during the invasion of France, and was then transferred to the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa. He became disillusioned with Hitler during the Kristallnacht pogrom of Jewish businesses in Germany. Considering the Nazis to be barbaric, he desired to resign from the Army. However, after talking with other Germans who despised the Nazi Regime, he decided to remain in the Wehrmacht where he would have more influence. Tresckow spoke about his apprehension to the crimes against Jewish civilians with his fellow staff officers, then serving in Army Group Center, one of the three large Army Groups of the Eastern Front. The Generals and Colonels of Army Group Center agreed with Tresckow, and together they began to plot a way to end Hitler’s tyranny.
Tresckow and his conspirators decided that the only way to end the Nazi Regime was to assassinate Hitler and launch a military coup to overthrow the S.S. and Nazi Party leadership. In 1943 Hitler visited the headquarters of Army Group Center in what is now Ukraine. General Tresckow decided to plant a bomb on Hitler’s airplane back to Germany. Disguised as a gift box of liquor to a fellow officer, Tresckow’s bomb was placed in the cargo hold. Unfortunately the bomb failed to explode.
Luckily, one of the co-conspirators was able to fetch the gift box and diffuse the bomb before the addressee could open it. Although Tresckow’s bomb plot failed, his network of anti-Nazi military officers launched other plots to save Germany. After a different plan failed, Hitler initiated an investigation into the Wehrmacht. General Tresckow was identified as one of the conspirators, and he decided to take his own life.
Tresckow served in General Manstein’s command staff during the invasion of France, and was then transferred to the Eastern Front during Operation Barbarossa. He became disillusioned with Hitler during the Kristallnacht pogrom of Jewish businesses in Germany. Considering the Nazis to be barbaric, he desired to resign from the Army. However, after talking with other Germans who despised the Nazi Regime, he decided to remain in the Wehrmacht where he would have more influence. Tresckow spoke about his apprehension to the crimes against Jewish civilians with his fellow staff officers, then serving in Army Group Center, one of the three large Army Groups of the Eastern Front. The Generals and Colonels of Army Group Center agreed with Tresckow, and together they began to plot a way to end Hitler’s tyranny.
Tresckow and his conspirators decided that the only way to end the Nazi Regime was to assassinate Hitler and launch a military coup to overthrow the S.S. and Nazi Party leadership. In 1943 Hitler visited the headquarters of Army Group Center in what is now Ukraine. General Tresckow decided to plant a bomb on Hitler’s airplane back to Germany. Disguised as a gift box of liquor to a fellow officer, Tresckow’s bomb was placed in the cargo hold. Unfortunately the bomb failed to explode.
Luckily, one of the co-conspirators was able to fetch the gift box and diffuse the bomb before the addressee could open it. Although Tresckow’s bomb plot failed, his network of anti-Nazi military officers launched other plots to save Germany. After a different plan failed, Hitler initiated an investigation into the Wehrmacht. General Tresckow was identified as one of the conspirators, and he decided to take his own life.