Joachim Meichssner (4 April 1906 – 29 September 1944) was a

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

officer and member of the Resistance against the Nazi régime.

Biography

Meichssner was born in

Deutsch Eylau Deutsch ( , ) or Deutsche ( , ) may refer to: * or : the German language or in particular Standard German, spoken in central European countries and other places *Old High German language refers to Deutsch as a way to define the primary characteris ...

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

(modern Iława, Poland). Since 1912 his father Maximilian worked as a teacher and ecclesiastical supervisor at

Schulpforta Schulpforta, otherwise known as Pforta, is a school located in Pforta monastery, a former Cistercian monastery (1137–1540). The school is located near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The site has been a sch ...

, where Meichssner also attended school. He volunteered the

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

in 1924 as an officer cadet. Starting in 1935 he was trained for staff duties at the War Academy of Berlin. In September 1937 he was shifted to the

Army High Command The Army High Command (ACE) of Brazil is formed by the Army Commander and other army generals in active service. The country currently holds sixteen active 4-star generals, several of then in command posts, in addition to a post in the Ministry of ...

. In 1940 he became the 1st general staff officer and group chief in the General Army Office (Allgemeines Heeresamt) under General

Friedrich Olbricht Friedrich Olbricht (4 October 1888 – 21 July 1944) was a German general during World War II. He is known for being one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Olbricht was a senior staff o ...

. Here he became involved in the military conspiracy against Hitler.Biography
at

Memorial to the German Resistance The German Resistance Memorial Center () is a memorial and museum in Berlin, capital of Germany. History It was opened in 1980 in part of the Bendlerblock, a complex of offices in Stauffenbergstrasse (formerly Bendlerstrasse), south of the Groß ...

After a deployment at the eastern front, Meichssner became Chief of the Organization Department of the Armed Forces Command in 1943 and as such had direct, though sporadic, access to Hitler. In September 1943 Colonel

Helmuth Stieff Hellmuth Ludwig Gustav Arnold Stieff (6 June 1901 – 8 August 1944) was a German general and a member of the OKH (German Army Headquarters) during World War II. He took part in attempts by the German resistance to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 7 ...

informed Meichssner about the plans to kill Hitler in a suicide attack and tried to convince him to carry out such an attempt; however, Meichssner finally refused after his father had discouraged him for religious reasons and because he “could not bear the stress of waiting”. The plotters around

Claus von Stauffenberg Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Op ...

now chose

Axel von dem Bussche Axel Ernst-August Clamor Franz Albrecht Erich Leo Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst (; 24 April 1919 – 26 January 1993) was a German officer during World War II and was a member of the German Resistance. He planned to assassinate Adolf Hit ...

to kill Hitler in a suicide attack during a demonstration of new winter uniforms, a plan that failed after the uniforms had been destroyed in an Allied air raid. Meichssner was deployed at

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

during the

20 July plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

; initially his involvement in the coup remained undetected but his father, a member of the Confessional Church in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

, was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

on 21 July 1944. A week later Joachim Meichssner was also arrested. He was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof on 29 September 1944 and immediately executed at Plötzensee Prison alongside Joachim Sadrozinski, Fritz von der Lancken, Wilhelm-Friedrich zu Lynar and

Otto Herfurth Otto Herfurth (22 January 1893 – 29 September 1944) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Herfurth was a conspirator in the 20 July Plot. Herfurth was t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meichssner, Joachim 1906 births 1944 deaths People from Iława People from West Prussia German Army officers of World War II Executed members of the 20 July plot Executed military personnel People executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison