Stauffenbergs Freund

The biography "Stauffenberg's Friend" tells the moving life story of a man who was crushed between two dictatorships in the turmoil of World War II and the post-war period. The protagonist, Joachim Kuhn, plays a central role in the Tresckow-Stauffenberg conspiracy and is portrayed as a key figure in 1943. After procuring the explosives for the assassination attempt on Hitler, he experiences the failure of the plot and is sent to the Eastern Front as a prisoner of war by the Soviets. Eleven years in prison mark his life before he is deported to the Federal Republic in 1956. The subsequent rejection of his compensation claims by German authorities, along with ensuing loneliness and illness, depict the tragic fate of this forgotten hero. In this work, Peter Hoffmann impressively reconstructs the fate of a man caught between the fronts of history, whose life stands as a testament to the political and human tragedies of the 20th century.