Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst

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 Hitler in coordination with Claus von Stauffenberg in November 1943 at the Wolfsschanze. In 1942, von dem Bussche witnessed by chance an SS-organised gruesome massacre of more than 3,000 mostly Jewish civilians carried out by the SD at the old Dubno airport. This experience traumatized him and turned him decidedly against Hitler. He joined an ad hoc resistance group within Army Group Centre later to be led by Count Claus von Stauffenberg. In 1943 he volunteered for a suicide assassination attempt on Hitler while modeling uniforms. Early life and career Axel von dem Bussche was born in 1919 and came from the old East Westphalian noble family von dem Bussche. He was the son of Georg Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst and his Danish wife Jenny Lassen. Anders Lassen, a Danish resistance hero who fought in the British Army against Germany during World War II, was his first cousin. He had two siblings; his older brother Cuno died in World War II. He attended elementary school in the town of Thale and passed his Abitur in Munich in 1937. After graduating from high school, he joined the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 23rd Infantry Division in Potsdam (called "Count Nine Regiment" because of its high proportion of noble officers) as an officer candidate. As it turns out, a whole series of resistance fighters would emerge from this regiment. In 1938-1939 he attended the war school in Hanover. During World War II, he first took part in the Polish and French campaigns, and later in the war against the Soviet Union. Resistance to Hitler As early as 1940, during a stay in Breslau, he learned of pogroms against the civilian population. On 5 October 1942, at the age of 23, the highly decorated first lieutenant happened to witness the systematic mass execution of over three thousand mostly Jewish civilians—men, women, and children—at the Dubno airfield in the Ukraine. The killings were carried out over two days by SD (Sicherheitsdienst) officers, who were led by eight SS (Schutzstaffel) officers. Von dem Bussche described this crime: "SS people led the Jews to a pit.