Theodor Strünck (7 April 1895, - 9 April 1945,

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flos ...

) was a German lawyer and resistance worker, involved in 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 ...

Life

Theodor Strünck studied

legal science Legal science is one of the main components in civil law tradition (after Roman law, canon law, commercial law, and the legacy of the revolutionary period). Legal science is primarily the creation of German legal scholars of the middle and late n ...

, graduating at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock () is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continental northern Europe and the Baltic Se ...

in 1924, and became a lawyer (later a director) at an insurance company. Initially sympathising with nationalism, he then turned to opposing the regime on their seizure of power and the subsequent decline in the rule of law. In 1937 he became a captain in Germany's reserve forces, working in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

section of the Amt Ausland/Abwehr under

Hans Oster ''Generalmajor'' Hans Paul Oster (9 August 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a general in the ''Wehrmacht'' and a leading figure of the anti-Nazi German resistance from 1938 to 1943. As deputy head of the counter-espionage bureau in the ''Abwehr'' (Ge ...

. He came into contact with

Carl Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a German conservative politician, monarchist, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was opp ...

and organised meetings of German Resistance members in his own home. Strünck also acted as a courier for the group. He delivered information from the conspirators in Berlin to

Hans Bernd Gisevius Gustav-Adolf Timotheus Hans Bernd Gisevius (14 July 1904 – 23 February 1974) was a German politician, ''Gestapo'' and ''Abwehr'' officer and diplomat during the Second World War. He was a member of the Military Resistance, who actively part ...

in Zürich who was in contact with

Allen Dulles Allen Welsh Dulles ( ; April 7, 1893 – January 29, 1969) was an American lawyer who was the first civilian director of central intelligence (DCI), and its longest serving director. As head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the ea ...

, the Swiss director of the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

. For his participation in the 20 July 1944 plot, Theodor Strünck was arrested on 1 August, dishonourably discharged from the army on 24 August as part of the "Ehrenhof" (so that the

Reichskriegsgericht The Reichskriegsgericht (, RKG; ) was the highest German military law, military court in Germany between 1900 and 1945. Legal basics and responsibilities After the Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian-led Unification of Germany, the German Empire with e ...

or Reich Courts Martial would no longer have control of his sentencing), and on 10 October condemned to death by the People's Court under its president

Roland Freisler Karl Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945) was a German jurist, judge and politician who served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1935 to 1942 and as President of the People's Court from 1942 to 194 ...

. He was then imprisoned in

, where he,

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, neo-orthodox theologian and anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the s ...

Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a admiral (Germany), German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military intelligence, military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Initially a supporter of Ad ...

Ludwig Gehre Ludwig Gehre (5 October 1895 – 9 April 1945) was an officer and resistance fighter involved in the preparation of an assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler. Life Gehre was born in Düsseldorf, Germany. He joined the Nazi Party in 1920. Mini ...

and

Karl Sack Karl Sack (9 June 1896 – 9 April 1945) was a German jurist and member of the resistance movement during World War II. Life Karl Sack was born in Bosenheim (now Bad Kreuznach. He studied law in Heidelberg where he joined a Burschenschaft ( Bur ...

were executed together by hanging on 9 April 1945.

References

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Ev. Kirchengem. Charlottenburg-Nord:Biography

GDW: Biography
1895 births 1945 deaths 20th-century German lawyers Executed members of the 20 July plot People who died in Flossenbürg concentration camp People from Schleswig-Holstein executed in Nazi concentration camps Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps German civilians killed in World War II People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging Jurists from Kiel {{Germany-law-bio-stub