Friedrich von Rabenau

Friedrich von Rabenau (10 October 1884 - 15 April 1945) was a German career-soldier, general, theologian and opponent of National Socialism.

Life

In 1936 the then head of the general staff, Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck, delegated to von Rabenau to set up (out of the Reichsarchiv) the very first central archive of the German army in Potsdam. His scientific seriousness in gathering sources was second to none, and he wished to prevent ideological falsifications.

His Christian beliefs led him to join the opposition to Nazism early in its life. Rabenau was a Rechtsritter in the supra-denominational Order of Saint John. As a Protestant Christian and a General he successfully applied to the then Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler to take over Maria Laach Abbey, which had been seized from Cardinal Graf von Galen in Münster. However, Rabenau joined no resistance group, though he did act as a channel between Generaloberst Ludwig Beck and Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, who he knew from his time as a Abteilungskommandeur in Königsberg/OPr..

In 1937 he signed the "Die Erklärung der 96 evangelischen Kirchenführer gegen Alfred Rosenberg" ("The explanation of 96 Protestant church leaders against Alfred Rosenberg"), in opposition to Rosenburg's "Protestantische Rompilger". [Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (Hg.): "Ökumenisches Jahrbuch"; Zürich: Max Niehans Verlag, 1939] In mid 1942 von Rabenau was relieved of his office, transferred to the rank of Generals der Artillerie and sent into premature retirement. He studied Protestant theology at the University of Berlin and in 1943 was made "Licentiatus theologiae", writing his dissertation on military chaplaincy. [ [http://www.bundesarchiv.de/zdn/viewsingle.php?category=R&idP=10913&idN=11851&sid=55a4eac47b74a228f9a7 Nachlass im Bundesarchiv] ] . He was arrested in the aftermath of the 20 July 1944 and later - without being charged or tried - hung on the specific orders of Himmler on 15 April 1945 as one of the last inmates of Flossenbürg concentration camp. He left behind his widow Eva Kautz and their two daughters.

Works

*"Die alte Armee und die junge Generation." Berlin: Mittler 1925.
*"Buch und Schwert." Leipzig: Oberbürgermeister 1940.
*"Operative Entschlüsse gegen einen an Zahl überlegenen Gegner." Berlin: Mittler 1935.
*"Von Geist und Seele des Soldaten." Berlin: Eher 1940.
*"Geistige und seelische Probleme im jetzigen Krieg." Berlin: Eher 1940.
*"Scharnhorst nach 1808 - Seeckt nach 1918." Berlin: Landesgeschichtl. Vereinigg. f. d. Mark Brandenburg 1939.
*"Seeckt." Leipzig: v. Hase & Koehler 1938.
**"Hans von Seeckt. Aus seinem Leben 1866-1917."
**"Hans von Seeckt. Aus seinem Leben 1918-1936."
*"Vom Sinn des Soldatentums." Köln 1941: Du Mont Schauberg.

From: "Liste der auszusondernden Literatur" (Berlin: Zentralverlag, 1946), Deutsche Verwaltung für Volksbildung in der sowjetischen Besatzungszone [ [http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1946-nslit-r.html Datenbank Schrift und Bild 1900-1960] ]

Sources

* Mühleisen, Horst: „Friedrich von Rabenau : Soldat, Archivar und Gelehrter ; zu seinem fünfzigsten Todestag.“ In: Archivalische Zeitschrift 79 (1996) 127 - 140. [http://www.archivschule.de/content/303.html]

External links

* [http://frode.web.cern.ch/frode/crypto/Rabenau/Rabenau.html Death of Friedrich von Rabenau]
* [http://www.gdw-berlin.de/bio/ausgabe_mit.php?id=171 Memorial of the German Resistance, Berlin]