Henning Von Tresckow - Death

Death

When the assassination attempt on Hitler and the following coup in Berlin (the July 20 plot) had failed, Tresckow decided to commit suicide at the front in Królowy Most near Białystok on July 21. His parting words to Schlabrendorff were:

"The whole world will vilify us now, but I am still totally convinced that we did the right thing. Hitler is the archenemy not only of Germany but of the world. When, in few hours' time, I go before God to account for what I have done and left undone, I know I will be able to justify what I did in the struggle against Hitler. God promised Abraham that He would not destroy Sodom if only ten righteous men could be found in the city, and so I hope for our sake God will not destroy Germany. No one among us can complain about dying, for whoever joined our ranks put on the shirt of Nessus. A man's moral worth is established only at the point where he is ready to give his life in defense of his convictions."

To protect other conspirators, he staged an appearance of partisan attack by firing his pistols and then dispatched himself by holding a hand grenade below his chin and detonating it. He was buried in the family home in Wartenberg. When the Nazis learned about his connections in late August, his body was exhumed and taken to the crematorium in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. His wife was arrested on August 15 and her children taken away under Nazi policy of Sippenhaft, meaning shared family guilt, but early in October she was released again and survived the war.