Caesar von Hofacker (sometimes Cäsar; 2 March 1896 – 20 December 1944) was a German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

Lieutenant Colonel and member of the 20 July plot against

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

Career

Hofacker was born in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...

; his father

Eberhard von Hofacker Eberhard Alfred Konrad Karl von Hofacker (25 June 1861, in Hemmingen – 19 January 1928, in Tübingen) was a Württemberg army officer who was a Generalleutnant in the First World War and awarded the Pour le Mérite with oak leaves. Early life an ...

was a general in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Hofacker's main activity in relation to the events culminating in the attempted assassination of Hitler at the

Wolf's Lair The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ost ...

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". 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. Hofacker tried to draw Rommel into the plot to rid

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

of Hitler, but although Rommel gave his backing to the conspiracy Rommel did not agree that Hitler should be killed. 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". 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.

William L. Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...

, ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', Simon and Schuster, 1960, p. 1078-1079. The torture confession was taken down and Hofacker was put on trial before the '' Volksgerichtshof''. He was found guilty of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and sentenced to death. He was hanged at Plötzensee Prison in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofacker, Caesar Von 1896 births 1944 deaths Executed members of the 20 July plot People from Baden-Württemberg executed at Plötzensee Prison Luftwaffe personnel of World War II People from Ludwigsburg People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Executed people from Baden-Württemberg Executed military personnel People executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison Luftstreitkräfte personnel