Claus von Stauffenberg

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• Born: 15 November 1907
• Birthplace: Jettingen, Germany
• Died: 21 July 1944 (execution)
• Best Known As: The German colonel who almost killed Hitler

Count Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg is remembered as one of the tragic heroes of World War II. Born into an aristocratic German family, von Stauffenberg was a German army officer during the war but grew disillusioned with the Nazis. Eventually he joined a plot to kill Adolf Hitler. Von Stauffenberg planted a briefcase bomb during a staff meeting with Hitler on 20 July 1944. The bomb went off as planned, but by chance Hitler was shielded by a heavy conference table and survived. Von Stauffenberg escaped the blast and flew to Berlin, where he and others had hoped to lead a coup. Instead he was captured the same day and executed early the next morning.

Actor Tom Cruise plays Von Stauffenberg in a feature film due for release in 2008; the film's title has been reported as both Valkyrie and Rubicon... Von Stauffenberg was played by actor Sebastian Koch in the 2004 German TV movie Stauffenberg, and by Brad Davis in the 1990 American TV movie The Plot to Kill Hitler.