Wilhelm Kuebart
Wilhelm Kuebart (born March 4, 1913 in Trakehnen ; † September 24, 1993 in Marquartstein ) was a German officer and resistance fighter from July 20, 1944 .
Life
Kuebart came from a family from East Elbe that produced numerous officers; only his father Friedrich Kuebart (born May 15, 1870 in Sodeiken in the Gumbinnen district ; † July 8, 1964 in Brake ) had not followed this family tradition and instead became an architect .
In autumn 1932 Kuebart joined the Reichswehr as an officer candidate , received the rank of sub-lieutenant in 1934 and was promoted to first lieutenant on August 1, 1937 . In the summer of 1940 he was assigned to the staff of the 18th Panzer Division with the rank of captain . At the beginning of the spring of 1941, after his superiors became aware of his military talents, he was sent to the military academy to take part in the general staff course . After he had successfully completed the course, he was assigned to the staff of Army Group Center on the Eastern Front . Here Kuebart, who was distant to National Socialism , met officers who clearly rejected the Nazi regime and adopted their position.
With the protection of Colonel Georg Alexander Hansen , who belonged to the inner circle of the military resistance against Hitler, Kuebart was transferred to the General Staff; in August 1943 he was detached to group IH: Secret Intelligence Service Heer der Abwehr , of which he became head in April 1944; on June 1, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel . Due to his connections to opposition circles, he played a subordinate role in the planning for the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944 . After the failure of the attack and the failure of the Walküre operation , Kuebart was arrested and tried before the People's Court .
The existing evidence was insufficient to prove Kuebart's real participation in the conspiracy, although he was privy to the plans and supported them. However, he was sentenced to a five-year prison term and dishonorably expelled from the Wehrmacht on the grounds that he was unworthy to continue to wear the German uniform . Although he did not have to serve his sentence, he remained under constant surveillance by the Secret State Police .
After the end of the war, Kuebart volunteered for the United States Army and was questioned about the events of July 20 in the summer of 1945. Later he worked as director of the Batscheider crisp bread factory in Deisenhofen and last lived in Marquartstein .
Wilhelm Kuebart was married to Elisabeth Hermsdorf , the daughter of a Prussian officer, and had two children with her.
Honors
- Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon (August 30, 1976)
literature
- Oliver Hoare: Camp 020 - MI5 and the Nazi Spies . Public Record Office, 2000. ISBN 978-1-903365-08-3 .
Web links
- Valkyrie: The Plot to Kill Hitler (PDF; 1.1 MB). Article in Yank Magazine, June 1, 1945
- Dissension in German Intelligence Services (PDF; 980 kB), Office of Strategic Services
- The East Prussia Gazette (PDF; 11.6 MB), July 25, 1964
- The East Prussia Gazette (PDF; 13.4 MB), October 23, 1993
- National Archives
Individual evidence
- ^ Obituary in the Ostpreußenblatt of October 23, 1993, p. 18.
- ↑ Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (ed.): DLG-Mitteilungen , Volume 91, p. 55. DLG-Verlag, 1976.
- ^ Obituary in the Ostpreußenblatt of October 23, 1993, p. 18.
- ↑ Office of the Federal President
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kuebart, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German officer of the Wehrmacht, involved in the preparation of the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944 |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 4, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Trakehnen |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 24, 1993 |
| Place of death | Marquartstein |