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

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

Lieutenant Colonel and member of the 20 July plot against

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

Career

Hofacker was born in Ludwigsburg; his father Eberhard von Hofacker was a general in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Hofacker served in the

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Combat Forces)known before October 1916 as (The Imperial German Air Service, lit. "The flying troops of the German Kaiser’s Reich")was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-langu ...

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. Hofacker's main role in 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". He had a point of introduction to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel as Rommel had 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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—yet this made no difference to Hitler, who ordered the forced suicide of Erwin Rommel and a false hero's funeral. William L. Shirer, ''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 (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

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

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Notes

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