Note: In this sequel to the just published Post 124, I briefly examine whether the story told by my uncle’s friend the Baron Wolfram von Pannwitz to “The Providence Sunday Journal” in 1947 regarding his role in the attempted assassination of Hitler in the so-called 20 July Plot is true. I offer up possible explanations as to why Wolfram may have “mischaracterized” his involvement in the coup.
Related Post:
Sieghard von Pannwitz, Wolfram von Pannwitz’s first cousin once removed, recently come upon a book by Wilhelm von Schramm (1898-1983) entitled, “Aufstand der Generale: der 20. Juli in Paris.” Mr. Schramm was a German officer, journalist, and military writer. In his publication he provides an alternate description of how the arrest of SS- und Polizeiführer Frankreich (SS and Police Leader in France) Gruppenführer Carl Oberg unfolded in Paris on the day of the 20 July Plot. (Figure 1)
Translated this passage reads as follows:
“The office of the Higher SS and Police Leader in France, Gruppenfuhrer Oberg, was also near Boulevard Lannes. Major General Brehmer had taken it upon himself to arrest the group leader. Because of the persistent heat, Oberg was sitting at his desk in his shirt sleeves and talking to Ambassador Abetz on the phone when the general entered and pointed his gun at him. Outraged, Oberg jumped up and called out the meaning of this nonsense. Brehmer replied sharply that the SS had staged a coup in Berlin and declared him arrested. Oberg then surrendered without resistance and also instructed his escort to surrender their weapons. It could probably just be a misunderstanding.”
As readers can plainly read, there is no mention of Wolfram von Pannwitz in this excerpt making one wonder whether his self-described role in the 20 July Plot is true. On the Internet, I could only find a brief mention of Major General Walter Bremer. Upon the establishment of the so-called “325. Sicherungs-Division,” the 325th Security Division of the Wehrmacht, in August 1942, Major General Walter Brehmer was installed as its commander. The 325th Security Division was the German military formation that operated in German-occupied France during World War II that was responsible for the defense of Paris and its surrounding area. In May 1943, Brehmer was succeeded by Lieutenant General Hans Freiherr von Boineburg-Lengsfeld.
Wikipedia goes on to note the following:
“Division commander von Boineburg-Lengsfeld, simultaneously Commandant of Greater Paris, supported military governor of France Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel in the anti-Hitler 20 July plot. On 20 July 1944, Stülpnagel was informed by Stauffenberg’s cousin, who had received a telephone call from Stauffenberg, that Hitler was dead and that the coup was in progress. Stülpnagel then ordered the arrest of all 1,200 SS personnel in the city. The 325th’s Security Regiment 1 carried out the task and imprisoned them in Fresnes Prison and Fort de l’Est. Higher SS and Police Leader in France Carl Oberg and other senior SS and Gestapo officers were detained in the Hotel Continental, pending their planned execution. The coup attempt began to unravel that night after it was known that Hitler was in fact alive, and the SS men were ordered released.”
It is possible that the various historic accounts of the 20 July Plot fail to mention Wolfram’s role for whatever reason. However, examining the above excerpts together one is left to consider that there were enlisted military men much better positioned than Wolfram von Pannwitz to carry off the arrest of Gruppenführer Carl Oberg on the 20th of July. The likelihood that dressed in street clothes Wolfram would simply have been allowed to walk into the SS offices in Paris unaccompanied without being searched seems somewhat implausible. Because some of the same players cited by Wolfram are mentioned in the above passage from Wikipedia, it seems likely that he was only vaguely aware of the attempted coup. However, the fact that the SS and the Gestapo never seem to have actively pursued him following the coup’s attempted unraveling, even though he wound up on the outskirts of Berlin and came from a well-known family, in my opinion seems to corroborate the probability that he was a bit actor.
For his part, Wolfram may have had other motives for aggrandizing his role in the 20 July Plot. We know from the interview that he conducted with “The Providence Sunday Journal” that ever since 1937 when he was in Italy, he had an interest in immigrating to the United States. His claimed role in the 20 July Plot may have expedited his entry into the United States under President Truman’s amnesty program as a persecuted individual. The fact that economic opportunities to rebuild his life in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WWII were limited or delayed may have prompted him to want to accelerate his return to normalcy.
In conclusion one must wonder how much of Wolfram’s story of his involvement in the 20 July Plot is true. One hopes that ultimately additional verifiable accounts of what transpired on the day that conspirators attempted to assassinate Hitler come to light so that Wolfram’s role, if any, can be ascertained. Meanwhile, I reserve judgement.
REFERENCES
325th Security Division (Wehrmacht). Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/325th_Security_Division_(Wehrmacht)
Schramm, Wilhelm von. Aufstand der Generale: der 20. Juli in Paris. 1964, Kindler.