‘Fabian von Schlabrendorff’s Courage -

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To the Editor: < on
'” The New York Times carried the

‘news of Fabian von Schlabrendorff’s -

death in Germany last week {obituary
Sept. 5] and in doing so it did hon-
or to, the memory of this outstan
hero of the German resistance to
Hitler. : 4 :

Gen. Lucius Clay, Allen Dulles and -

other Americans who knew many fig-

ures in the war and prewar period in ~

Germany were aware of the extraordi-
nary record of Schlabrendorff’s cour-
' @ge and persistence in his antagonism

to the Nazi regime. I have the feeling

that the real significance of this man’s
.. unbelievable’ courage, suffering and
amrelenting opposition to the Nazi

forces, which so long and so disas- '

-, trously ruled Germany, should receive

~. greater recognition than any passing .
death and career can |

. account of his

The late President Heuss of the Fed-
eral Republic once called the record of
stark courage of the men and women
who constituted the Widerstand to Hit-
ler as “the gift to Germany’s future.””
I believe that Schlabrendorff’s record
could well epitomize that courage. ;

' He seems to have led a charmed life
: in the narrow escapes he had from
death. | : . -

 

The Times's article accurately de.
scribes his attempt to kill Hitler with
bombs disguised as wine bottles he
placed on the plane the
Fuhrer from his East Prussian ‘head-

ding . quarters to Berlin. On another occa-

sion, he was on the point of being actu-
ally sentenced to death in the Peoples
Court when some of our-bombs fell on
the court, killing the notorious presid-

_ ing judge but. missing the prisoner.

Later he was being led to his death in
southern Germany when one of our pa-
trols intercepted the Squad, and again
hislifewassaved. - ,

ot It was said of him he was one of the

‘most tortured men the Gestapo ever

_ held, and he carried scars of this abuse

t

‘to his grave.

‘The Federal Republic Tecognized
Schlabrendorff’s quality when, as a
lawyer and man of high intelligence
and principles, he was appointed to the
High Constitutional Court of his coun-
try, from which he retired a few years
He was-not alone among the heroes

_ and heroines of the resistance, but he

* was among the bravest of the brave. .

JOHN J. MCCLoy
New York, Sept. 9, 1980

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' The writer was U.S. High Commis-
- sioner for Germany from

ie? 1949 to 8952..

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