Adam Von Trott lived an incredibly short, courageous life of 35 years.  Born into a well-established family, his father was an official in the Prussian civil services. Von Trott was an accomplished German, and as such was well respected amongst several resistance groups in Nazi Germany. Adam von Trott was a true German patriot who was not afraid to oppose Hitler, and felt he had a self-bound duty towards his home country.

Trott’s first encounter with Hitler came as an audience member. As a young man of 17, he recognized that Hitler was a force to be reckoned with, however could not fathom why the audience was so engulfed in his ideals. Following his ambitions of becoming a lawyer, he went on to study at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in 1931.  Two years later, as the Nazi Party was gaining momentum and prominence, he decided to go back to his native Germany due to his unfailing sense of loyalty.  Operating within Germany, he found success to be limited, since he was not a member of the Nazi party. In 1937, he started traveling again, and this time crossed the Atlantic Ocean to see various friends and contacts within the United States. Upon his journey, he takes a keen interest in human rights (as the most basic of human rights were stripped in then Nazi-Germany). However, throughout his voyage, he was often mistaken for a spy and was subsequently followed by the FBI. Nothing comes of it, and he has several meaningful conversations while he was in the U.S. Continuing his travels, he went on to see China, Korea, and even Manchuria-until his father’s death, upon which he returned to Germany.

Adam von Trott’s travels were all for one reason: resistance to the Nazi Regime. He was constantly trying to gain support everywhere he went, constantly trying to raise awareness of what was brewing in Germany. The true purpose of his travels was to gain knowledge, knowledge of how to go about opposing Hitler. He visited Karl Brandt, an old friend who fled Germany upon the Nazi Party gaining prominence, and held quite a meaningful conversation, in which they were in strong disagreement. Von Trott was convinced that “a decisive anti-Nazi revolution” was coming soon, and this would prevent another world war. In this case, von Trott shows his naivety for his native country. Brandt promptly argues, assuring him that war is coming, and once the U.S. becomes involved, they will stop at nothing to bring down Nazi Germany. Brandt knew just how violent this imminent war would be, and perhaps even exposed Trott’s naïveté. Soon after his meeting with Brandt, he returned to Germany until 1939, when he traveled to London. There he met with the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, to discuss political cooperation with the German government on the position of arresting Hitler, if the Germans could indeed pull it off.

This goes to show that von Trott’s priorities were to his state, not to his government. He felt an extreme sense of loyalty to Germany and none for Hitler. He felt he was born to serve his country, not to die for it (even though that is essentially how it all played out).  He wanted Germany to still be respected even though a mad man was leading it. Adam von Trott’s priorities were clear. His main goal was to rid his sacred Germany of their tyrant Leader, and to restore it to a sensible form of democracy.