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Hans Otto Erdmann

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Hans Otto Erdmann
Born(1896-12-18)18 December 1896
Insterburg, East Prussia, Germany (now Chernyakhovsk, Russia)
Died4 September 1944(1944-09-04) (aged 47)
Cause of death
Execution by hanging
AllegianceGermany
Branch
Imperial German Army
German Army
Conflicts

Hans Otto Erdmann (18 December 1896 – 4 September 1944) was a German Army officer and member of the German resistance to Nazism.

Early life

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Erdmann was born in Insterburg, East Prussia (now Chernyakhovsk, Russia). In World War I, Erdmann served as an officer in the Imperial German Army and later worked as a postal clerk. In 1935 he joined the Wehrmacht and was deployed at the Generalkommando in Königsberg in 1944 in the rank of lieutenant colonel.[1]

Career

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In June 1944 Claus von Stauffenberg informed Erdmann about the planned assassination of Hitler. In the Operation Valkyrie/s plans, Erdmann was supposed to organize the occupation of public buildings and broadcasting stations in East Prussia.[1]

After the July 20 plot had failed, Erdmann was arrested on 17 August 1944 and sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof under Günther Nebelung [de] on 4 September 1944, along with Kurt Hahn [de], Gerhard Knaak [de], Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort and Max Ulrich von Drechsel. All were hanged on the same day at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Biografie" [Biography] (in German). Germany: German Resistance Memorial Center. 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  2. ^ Vollmer, Antje (2012). Heinrich und Gottliebe von Lehndorff im Widerstand gegen Hitler und Ribbentrop (in German). Eichborn. pp. 328 ff. ISBN 978-3-442-74373-5.