Helmuth Stieff
| Helmuth Stieff | |
|---|---|
Stieff in Russia, May 1942
|
|
| Born |
6 June 1901 Deutsch Eylau, West Prussia German Empire |
| Died | 8 August 1944 (aged 43) Plötzensee Prison, Berlin Nazi Germany |
| Allegiance |
 Weimar Republic (to 1933) Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch | Army |
| Years of service | 1922–44 |
| Rank | Generalmajor |
| Commands held | Chief of Organisation at OKH |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards |
German Cross in Gold Iron Cross 1st Class Iron Cross 2nd Class |
Helmuth Stieff (6 June 1901 – 8 August 1944) was a German general and a member of the OKH (German Army Headquarters) during World War II. He took part in attempts by the German resistance to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 7 and 20 July 1944.
Stieff was born in Deutsch Eylau (now Iława, Poland) in the province of West Prussia. He was graduated from Infanterieschule München in 1922 and was commissioned a lieutenant of infantry. As early as 1927, young Stieff served in support of the German General Staff of the Reichswehr, the German army after World War I.
Stieff joined the Wehrmacht General Staff in 1938, serving in the Organisationsabteilung (coordination department) under Major Adolf Heusinger. Recognised for his excellent organisational skills, Stieff in October 1942 was appointed Chief of Organisation at OKH, despite Hitler's strong personal dislike. Hitler called the young, diminutive Stieff a "poisonous little dwarf."
From the 1939 Invasion of Poland onwards, Stieff conceived an abhorrence for the Nazi military strategy. When in Warsaw in November 1939, he wrote letters to his wife expressing his disgust for and despair over Hitler's conduct of the war and the atrocities committed in occupied Poland. He wrote that he had become the "tool of a despotic will to destroy without regard for humanity and simple decency".
Invited by General Henning von Tresckow, Stieff joined the German resistance in summer 1943. Taking advantage of being in charge of Organisationsabteilung, he acquired and kept all sorts of explosives, including some from foreign sources. He provided the explosives for von dem Bussche's cancelled assassination attempt on Hitler at the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) in November.
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