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Adam von Trott zu Solz

(1909 - 1944)

Adam von Trott Zu Solz was the son of a high official in the Prussian civil service. During 1932-33, he studied as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford. Later, he spent six months in the U.S. and fourteen months in China, but insisted on returning to Germany against the advice of friends that he emigrate.

In 1937-38, he was posted to China and used his frequent trips to seek outside help for the resistance.

Trott visited London three times in 1939 and tried to get Lord Lothian and Lord Halifax to persuade the British government to abandon its policy of appeasement. On behalf of Beck, Goerdeler, Schacht, and Leuschner, Trott visited Washington in October 1939 to seek U.S. support for the resistance. His trip ended in failure.

In 1940, Trott joined the Nazi Party to use his membership as a cover for his secret activities against the regime, which included serving as foreign policy advisor to the Kreisau Circle.

In 1942-43, he traveled abroad to sound out Allied attitudes to the prospect of a new German government following a successful coup, but was bitterly disillusioned by Anglo-American Allied indifference.

On July 20, 1944, Trott was on hand at the foreign ministry awaiting orders from his fellow conspirators at the Bendlerstrasse. He was arrested July 26 and condemned to death by the People's Court on August 15. He was hanged that same day in Plotzensee prison.


Sources: Joric Center