Caesar von Hofacker

Caesar von Hofacker (sometimes Cäsar;[1] 2 March 1896 – 20 December 1944) was a German Luftwaffe Lieutenant Colonel and member of the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler.

Caesar von Hofacker
Caesar von Hofacker
Born(1896-03-02)2 March 1896
Ludwigsburg, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
Died20 December 1944(1944-12-20) (aged 48)
Berlin, Plötzensee Prison, Nazi Germany
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Allegiance German Empire
 Weimar Republic
 Nazi Germany
Service/branchBalkenkreuz (Iron Cross) Luftwaffe
Years of service1914–1920
1939–1944
Rank Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
RelationsEberhard von Hofacker – father
Claus von Stauffenberg – cousin
Other workjurist

Career

Hofacker was born in Ludwigsburg; his father Eberhard von Hofacker was a general in World War I. Hofacker served in the Luftstreitkräfte during the war, and was taken prisoner by the French on 20 October 1918. He was released on 14 March 1920, after which he began studying law. Hofacker joined the Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten in 1931.[2][3]

Hofacker's main activity in relation to the events culminating in the attempted assassination of Hitler at the Wolf's Lair on 20 July 1944 consisted of acting as a secret liaison between his cousin, Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, and another plotter in occupied Paris, General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, France's military governor, to whom he was personal adviser. Hofacker assessed the chances of the coup attempt as "only ten percent".[4] He had a point of introduction to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel as Rommel served under Hofacker's father in World War I; Rommel considered the elder Hofacker something of a hero.[5][6] Hofacker tried to draw Rommel into the plot to rid Germany of Hitler, but although Rommel gave his backing to the conspiracy Rommel did not agree that Hitler should be killed.[7]

On 26 July 1944, Hofacker was arrested in Paris, taken to Berlin Gestapo headquarters where, according to William Shirer in The Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich, he was horrifically tortured and gave up the name of Erwin Rommel stating that Rommel said to "Tell the people in Berlin they can count on me".[8] This was support for the conspiracy to overthrow Hitler, not to kill him - but this made no difference to Hitler who ordered the forced suicide of Erwin Rommel and a false hero's funeral.[9] The torture confession was taken down and Hofacker was put on trial before the Volksgerichtshof. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. He was hanged at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.

Notes
  1. Hofacker's memorial, using the umlaut spelling variant
  2. Otto von Moser: Die Württemberger im Weltkriege. 2. erweiterte Auflage, Chr. Belser AG, Stuttgart 1928, S. 130.
  3. Eintrag zu Caesar von Hofacker in der Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek
  4. Joachim Fest, Plotting Hitler's Death: The German Resistance to Hitler, 1933–1945, 1996, p. 362.
  5. Caddick-Adams, Peter (2011). Monty and Rommel: Parallel Lives. Preface Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84809-152-8.
  6. Peter Hoffmann, The History of the German resistance, 1933-1945, McGill-Queen's Press, 1996, p. 354
  7. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon and Schuster, 1960, p. 1047.
  8. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon and Schuster, 1960, p. 1077.
  9. William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon and Schuster, 1960, p. 1078-1079.
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