Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff

Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff
Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff
Born	27 March 1905 Lüben, Silesia, German Empire
Died	27 January 1980(1980-01-27) (aged 74) Munich, West Germany
Buried at	Munich Ostfriedhof
Allegiance	Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Reichswehr Wehrmacht
Years of service	1923–45
Rank	Generalmajor
Unit	Abwehr, Army Group Center
Battles/wars	World War II,
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Großes Verdienstkreuz (Great Cross of Merit)
Other work	Order of St. John, Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (1952–63 chairman)

Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff (27 March 1905 – 27 January 1980) was an officer in the German Army. He attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler by suicide bombing on 21 March 1943; the plan failed when Hitler left early, but Gersdorff was undetected. That same month, soldiers from his unit discovered the mass graves of the Soviet-perpetrated Katyn massacre.

Rudolf Christoph von Gersdorff was born into a military family of Silesian nobility. He was the second son of Baron Ernst von Gersdorff and his spouse Christine (née Countess von Dohna-Schlodien). In 1934, Gersdorff married Renata Kracker von Schwartzenfeldt (1913–1942), co-heiress to the rich Silesian industrialist family of von Kramsta, with whom he had one daughter. Gersdorff joined the Reichswehr as an officer cadet in 1923. He received his initial military education in Breslau.

In 1926, Gersdorff was promoted to second lieutenant, and in 1938 to Rittmeister (cavalry captain). The following day he graduated from the Prussian Military Academy in Berlin. In 1939, Gersdorff’s unit was deployed in the German invasion of Poland, and he subsequently served as a general staff officer in the Battle of France.

In 1941, for Operation Barbarossa, he was transferred to Army Group Center, where he served as intelligence liaison with the Abwehr (German military intelligence). Tresckow, Gersdorff and their circle of conspirators within the Army Group Center were well informed about the war crimes against Soviet POWs and the mass murder of Jews by Einsatzgruppe B, and provided required military cooperation. As an intelligence staff officer (Ic), Gersdorff was responsible for contact with the Einsatzgruppe staff.