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Julius von Zech-Burkersroda (german: Dr Julius Graf von Zech-Burkersroda; 1885–1946) was the German ambassador to The Hague at the start of World War II. He was the son in law of Theobald Bethman-Hollweg who died in 1921. Zech-Burkersroda studied law at universities in Germany,Graf von Zech-Burkersroda
Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam, retrieved 17 January 2011
and was commissioned as an officer in the cavalry. After twenty years' service in the diplomatic corps, he was appointed minister to The Hague in 1928 during the Weimar Republic. He remained at The Hague for the next decade, during which Adolf Hitler gained power in Germany. In February 1940, Zech-Burkersroda claimed that the Duke of Windsor had leaked the Allied war plans for the defence of Belgium, which the Duke later denied. In May 1940, Zech-Burkersroda was given the responsibility of passing the German declaration of war against the Netherlands to Dutch foreign minister Eelco van Kleffens.van Kleffens, Eelco (1941) ''Juggernaut over Holland: the Dutch foreign minister's personal story of the invasion of the Netherlands'', Columbia University Press According to Van Kleffens, Zech-Burkersroda was stunned speechless by the actions of the Nazis. On 7 June 1940, he retired from the diplomatic service, shortly after the Netherlands fell to the Nazis. Five years later, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, he was arrested by the Soviet occupation forces, and died shortly thereafter in Bautzen.


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zech-Burkersroda, Julius Von German diplomats 1885 births 1946 deaths