Caesar von Hofacker
{{Short description|German Luftwaffe Lieutenant Colonel}}
{{refimprove|date=December 2011}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Caesar von Hofacker
| birth_date = {{birth date|1896|3|2|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1944|12|20|1896|3|2|df=y}}
| birth_place = Ludwigsburg, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire
| death_place = Berlin, Plötzensee Prison, Nazi Germany
{{Infobox person | child = yes | death_cause= Execution by hanging}}
| image = Hofacker.gif
| caption = Caesar von Hofacker
| nickname =
| allegiance = {{flag|German Empire}}
{{flag|Weimar Republic}}
{{flag|Nazi Germany}}
| branch = Luftwaffe
| serviceyears = 1914–1920
1939–1944
| rank = 40px Lieutenant Colonel
| commands =
| unit =
| battles = World War I
World War II
| awards =
| relations = Eberhard von Hofacker – father
Claus von Stauffenberg – cousin
| laterwork = jurist
}}
Caesar von Hofacker ({{IPA|de|ˈtsɛːzaʁ fɔn ˈhoːfˌʔakɐ}}; sometimes Cäsar;[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23304295 Hofacker's memorial, using the umlaut spelling variant] 2 March 1896 – 20 December 1944) was a German Luftwaffe Lieutenant Colonel and member of the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler.{{Cite web |title=Roland von Hoesslin |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/roland-von-hoesslin-2 |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}
Career
Hofacker was born in Ludwigsburg; his father Eberhard von Hofacker was a general in World War I. Hofacker served in the Luftstreitkräfte during the war, and was taken prisoner by the French on 20 October 1918. He was released on 14 March 1920, after which he began studying law. Hofacker joined the Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten in 1931.Otto von Moser: Die Württemberger im Weltkriege. 2. erweiterte Auflage, Chr. Belser AG, Stuttgart 1928, S. 130.[https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/TXJPBAHD2BIH7ZFPEPS74O4H42HISTT7?lang=de Eintrag zu Caesar von Hofacker in der Deutschen Digitalen Bibliothek]
Hofacker's main role in the events culminating in the attempted assassination of Hitler at the Wolf's Lair on 20 July 1944 consisted of acting as a secret liaison between his cousin, Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, and another plotter in occupied Paris, General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, France's military governor, to whom he was personal adviser. Hofacker assessed the chances of the coup attempt as "only ten percent".Joachim Fest, Plotting Hitler's Death: The German Resistance to Hitler, 1933–1945, 1996, p. 362. He had a point of introduction to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel as Rommel had served under Hofacker's father in World War I; Rommel considered the elder Hofacker something of a hero.{{cite book|last= Caddick-Adams|first= Peter|title= Monty and Rommel: Parallel Lives|publisher= Preface Publishing|year= 2011|isbn = 978-1-84809-152-8}}Peter Hoffmann, The History of the German resistance, 1933-1945, McGill-Queen's Press, 1996, p. 354 Hofacker tried to draw Rommel into the plot to rid Germany of Hitler, but although Rommel gave his backing to the conspiracy Rommel did not agree that Hitler should be killed.William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon and Schuster, 1960, p. 1047.
On 26 July 1944, Hofacker was arrested in Paris, taken to Berlin Gestapo headquarters where, according to William Shirer in The Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich, he was horrifically tortured and gave up the name of Erwin Rommel, stating that Rommel said to "Tell the people in Berlin they can count on me".William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon and Schuster, 1960, p. 1077. This was support for the conspiracy to overthrow Hitler, not to kill him—yet this made no difference to Hitler, who ordered the forced suicide of Erwin Rommel and a false hero's funeral.William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon and Schuster, 1960, p. 1078-1079. The torture confession was taken down and Hofacker was put on trial before the Volksgerichtshof. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. He was hanged at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin.
Notes
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Category:Executed members of the 20 July plot
Category:German prisoners of war in World War I
Category:Luftwaffe personnel of World War II
Category:People from Ludwigsburg
Category:People from the Kingdom of Württemberg
Category:Executed military personnel
Category:People from Baden-Württemberg executed at Plötzensee Prison
Category:People executed by hanging at Plötzensee Prison