Barbara von Haeften’s memoir provides us with a moving account of the life of her husband Hans Bernd von Haeften, a lawyer, diplomat, and member of the Kreisau Circle resistance group in Nazi Germany. The Kreisau Circle participated in the assassination attempt of Hitler on July 20, 1944, carried out by Claus von Stauffenberg and Werner von Haeften, Hans’s brother. The Circle had also developed extensive plans for a new government to be put into place after the removal of Hitler. Drawing on personal letters and clear memories, this biography describes the life and political activity of an extraordinary man who was executed in the struggle to save Germany from the disastrous consequences of Hitler’s regime, and it sheds light on Barbara von Haeften’s knowledge of and participation in the resistance movement.
