Memories of Kreisau and the German Resistance

"Memories of Kreisau and the German Resistance" is the personal account of Freya von Moltke, a member of the Kreisau Circle, a German resistance group that participated in the attempt to assassinate Hitler on 20 July 1944. Freya's husband, Helmuth von Moltke, was a co-founder of the circle and was executed after the failed assassination attempt. Freya recounts both personal details and sweeping historical events. The meetings of the circle took place at Kreisau, the large family farm in Silesia owned by the von Moltke family. After marrying Helmuth von Moltke in 1931, Freya helped run the farm, and she depicts what the farm looked like, its history, the family members and workers who lived there, and her own duties and responsibilities. She goes on to describe the resistance work carried out during the meetings of the circle as well as the last days of Kreisau, after many of the members of the resistance were executed for their roles in the failed assassination attempt. When the war ended in 1945, Freya was evacuated from Kreisau, and the von Moltke estate was given to Poland. Julie M. Winter teaches German at Whitworth College. She is the translator of Marion Yorck von Wartenberg's "The Power of Solitude: My Life in the German Resistance" (Nebraska 2000).