Freya von Moltke | |
|---|---|
 Freya von Moltke in 2009 | |
| Born | Freya Deichmann 29 March 1911 |
| Died | 1 January 2010 (aged 98) Norwich, Vermont, United States |
| Nationality | Federal Republic of Germany, United States of America |
| Education | Doctor of Law, Humboldt University of Berlin |
| Occupation(s) | Scholar, author, speaker |
| Known for | Chronicling her husband's role in the Kreisau Circle's non-violent opposition to Nazism during World War II. |
| Spouse | Helmuth James Ludwig Eugen Heinrich Graf von Moltke[1] |
| Children | Helmuth Caspar, Konrad |
| Parent | Ada & Carl Theodor Deichmann |
| Relatives | Hans Deichmann, Carl Deichmann |
Freya von Moltke (née Deichmann; 29 March 1911 – 1 January 2010) was a German American lawyer and participant in the anti-Nazi opposition group, the Kreisau Circle, with her husband, Helmuth James von Moltke. During World War II, her husband acted to subvert German human-rights abuses of people in territories occupied by Germany and became a founding member of the Kreisau Circle, whose members opposed the government of Adolf Hitler.
The Nazi government executed her husband for treason, he having discussed with the Kreisau Circle group the prospects for a Germany based on moral and democratic principles that could develop after Hitler. Moltke preserved her husband's letters that detailed his activities during the war, and chronicled events from her perspective. She supported the founding of a center for international understanding at the former Moltke estate in Krzyżowa, Świdnica County, Poland (formerly Kreisau, Germany).[2]
- ^ Note: Regarding personal names: Graf was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as Count. Before the August 1919 abolition of nobility as a legal class, titles preceded the full name when given (Graf Helmuth James von Moltke). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (von, zu, etc.), can be used, but are regarded as a dependent part of the surname, and thus come after any given names (Helmuth James Graf von Moltke). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The feminine form is Gräfin.
- ^ Ryan, Katie Beth (3 January 2010), "Norwich Resident, Nazi Resister, Dies at 98", Valley News, pp. 1, 8