Eric Shaver

9/18/15

Col. Sunnen

Res. In Nazi Germ.

Adam Von Trott

Amidst the rise of an oppressive a powerful world force, resistance often times meant certain death. The rise of power by Nazi Germany proved to be one of the most devastating forces against humanity, and the irony of the situation was that foreign nations did not know the extent of this evil power until it was far too late. Adam Von Trott was one of few individuals who noticed a need for leadership and decided to take action. Coming from a family who provided Germany with higher civil servants, Trott knew that he was going to have a role in serving his country at a very young age. His priorities were made clear by the way that he traveled and educated on the horrors of the Nazis. Unfortunately, by lack of luck and poor timing, his attempts to eliminate Hitler and spread the news were mostly ineffective.

Skilled with a strategic mindset, Hitler eliminated all forms of opposition. While Hitler was dictating Germany, Adam Von Trott was dexterously working on notifying other countries of the horrors in Germany.   He was well qualified for this role as he had studied at Oxford and was a Rhodes scholar. Trott took action in the way that tried convincing other countries, specifically England (June and July 1939), that an approach of appeasement towards the Nazi regime would end in terror, especially with the development of new war technologies. Lord Halifax served as Foreign Secretary and hosted Trott to hear what he had to say about Nazi Germany. Ultimately, the conversations that Adam Von Trott and Halifax had were insignificant in the overall scheme of events. Trott also traveled to America, specifically Virginia Beach, to spread the word about the Nazi regime. Because of the tension between Germany and the United States, Trott was often times trailed; for fear that he might be a spy. While his message may have resonated with few, there was little significant evidence of action to correlate with his efforts.

A few problems with the resistance were lack of unity, lack of communication, and lack of manpower. Many people believed that Hitler’s reign of power would be much shorter than what it ended up being. To the naïve people who believed this, resistance simply meant brainstorming on what type of government to install following Hitler’s absence. To Trott, however, the only reasonable way of an affective resistance was by assassinating Hitler. Trott saw the depths of evil within Hitler and fully understood that without him gone, there would be no change. Being caught helping aid any sort of resistance meant imprisonment and either a firing squad death, or death by hanging. Communication was limited in the way that meetings could be interrupted or overheard at any point in time. This lack of privacy was a common theme during this time period. For example, there was a ban on cooking any sort of meat on Sundays in order to aid Nazi soldier’s food supply. In order for Trott to formulate a sufficient amount of personnel, he needed explicit trust. This was a difficult problem to overcome.

Adam Von Trott was a humanitarian hero. He was able to save lives and buy time for individuals from the Nazi powers. His efforts may seem insignificant due to the massive amount of casualties; however, he risked and gave his life for the wellbeing of others who were unrightfully persecuted.