Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort
| Heinrich Ahasverus Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 June 1909 Hanover, Germany |
| Died | 4 September 1944 (aged 35) Plötzensee Prison, Berlin |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Army Officer |
| Spouse | Gottliebe Gräfin von Kalnein |
Heinrich Ahasverus Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort (22 June 1909 – 4 September 1944) was a member of the July 20 Plot against Adolf Hitler.
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[edit] Biography
Lehndorff was born in Hanover, Germany and studied economics and business administration in Frankfurt am Main.[1] In 1936 he took over the management of the family estate Steinort in East Prussia. After the Second World War broke out, he was first deployed in Poland, and later, as a reserve lieutenant, posted to General Fedor von Bock's staff, who later became supreme commander of Army Group Centre (Heeresgruppe Mitte). During the German attack on the Soviet Union, Lehndorff became an eyewitness to a massacre of the Jewish population near Barysaŭ in Belarus by Einsatzgruppen. Thereupon, Henning von Tresckow won him over to the cause of military resistance against Hitler. As a first lieutenant in the reserves, Lehndorff was deployed as liaison officer to Defence District I (East Prussia) in Königsberg (today Kaliningrad, Russia). One day after the failed attempt on Hitler's life at the Wolf's Lair on 20 July 1944, Lehndorff was arrested. On 3 September he was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof. He was hanged the next day at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. His wife Gottliebe née von Kalnein (1913–1993)[2] and their four daughters (Marie Eleanore [who married Wieland Wagner's son, Wolf Siegfried; see Nike Wagner, The Wagners, London 2000, p. 290], Vera, Gabriele, and Katharina) spent the remainder of the war confined to concentration camps.
His daughter Vera von Lehndorff (1939– ) became a well-known photographic model and actress under the professional name Veruschka.
[edit] Notes
Regarding personal names: Graf was a title until 1919, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. In Germany, however, since 1919 Graf/Gräfin is no title any more but part of the surname and thus following the given name(s) and not to be translated.
