Attempted Coup and Sentence
von der Schulenburg belonged to the inner circle of the plotters and was thereby actively involved in the planning of Operation Valkyrie. He was to lead the Interior Ministry as State Secretary after Hitler was overthrown. On 20 July 1944, von der Schulenburg found himself in the headquarters of the revolt, Bendlerstraße in Berlin. There he was arrested on the same day, after the attempt on Hitler's life went awry. On 10 August 1944 came the proceedings and sentencing at the Volksgerichtshof. In this show trial, with Roland Freisler presiding, von der Schulenburg explained his act thus:
- "We took upon ourselves this deed to protect Germany from a nameless misery. It is clear to me that I shall be hanged for it, but I do not rue my deed and hope that another, in a luckier moment, will undertake it."
During the trial von Schulenburg conducted himself with utmost courage never losing any nerve, summing up in a moment where the Chief Judge Roland Freisler who was bent on abusing the defendants verbally and giving insulting names every time while addressing Schulenburg as "Scoundrel Schulenburg" lost it, and called him by his hereditary name "Count Schulenburg", whereby Schulenburg interrupted him by saying "Scoundrel Schulenburg Please!" A furious Roland Freisler instantly gave him the death sentence.
von der Schulenburg was hanged at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin on the same day that he was sentenced.
Read more about this topic: Fritz-Dietlof Von Der Schulenburg
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