Falkenhausen, General Alexander von

1878–1966

   Falkenhausen was Commander in Chief of German troops in Belgium and France. At first he conformed to Nazi policy in occupied countries and administered his territory efficiently but from mid-January 1942 Falkenhausen became involved in anti- Nazi plots. He discussed Germany’s future after HITLER with HASSELL. Falkenhausen approached ROMMEL and KLUGE to get their support for the plot to assassinate Hitler and secured their lukewarm support. However, Falkenhausen could not be of any use to the plotters because he was dismissed from his post on 15 July 1944. On 20 July 1944, the day of STAUFFENBERG’s attempt on Hitler, Falkenhausen tried to talk Kluge into committing himself to the plot but failed. He was arrested shortly afterwards and interned in Niederhausen in the south Tyrol along with other resisters. He was freed by the US on 4 May 1945 and although he was sentenced in 1951 to twelve years penal servitude he did not serve the full sentence because he had opposed Hitler.