With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Stauffenberg's Daughter Praises 'Valkyrie'

The daughter of Count Stauffenberg, the German hero played by Tom Cruise in the film "Valkyrie," has praised the movie and Germany's culture deputy has called it a success. It's a far cry from the country's initial skepticism about the film.

The youngest daughter of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg, the German army colonel who almost killed Adolf Hitler with a briefcase bomb in 1944, has praised the movie "Valkyrie" in which Tom Cruise portrays her father.

Konstanze von Schulthess-Rechberg, 63, who saw the film ahead of its European premiere in Berlin on Tuesday, said it was "subtle" and "respectful" towards the people involved in the plot to blow up Hitler.

"I went into this film ready to criticize it but I have to say I was very positively surprised by it," she told German ZDF television in an interview broadcast on Tuesday evening. "This is not a loud film and I thought it was very subtly played in many parts. They went to quite a lot of trouble and I liked how they treated all the characters respectfully," said von Schulthess-Rechberg, whose son Philipp has a small part in the film.

Cruise, who told Bild newspaper that he too would have tried to kill Hitler, has been panned by German reviewers for giving a surprisingly low-key performance that fails to convey the charisma with which Stauffenberg inspired fellow plotters. But the film itself and the cast of support actors have won praise.

Stauffenberg tried to assassinate Hitler by placing a briefcase bomb under his conference table at his "Wolf's Lair" military headquarters in East Prussia -- in present-day Poland -- on July 20, 1944...

Read entire article at Spiegel Online