Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin

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Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (10 July 1922 – 8 March 2013) was a German publisher and the organizer of the Munich Conference on Security Policy until 1998. He was the last surviving member of the July 20, 1944 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

He was born at Gut Schmenzin in Pomerania, into the von Kleist family. His parents were active opponents of Nazi Germany, and the family held monarchist views. From an early age, he came to loathe Hitler and Nazism, a stance reinforced by the Nazi killings in 1934.

In 1940, at age 18, he joined the Wehrmacht as an infantry officer and fought on the Eastern Front, where he was wounded in 1943. While recovering in Potsdam, he was recruited into the resistance by Claus von Stauffenberg. In January 1944, with his father’s blessing, he volunteered to take part in another assassination attempt on Hitler, planning to demonstrate new uniforms with explosives hidden in a briefcase. He believed the plan might still allow him to escape if the briefcase exploded. He was part of the Bendlerblock group that would lead a coup in Berlin if the assassination succeeded. After the plot failed, he managed to avoid a death sentence; he was briefly imprisoned at Ravensbrück before being sent back to the front for the remainder of the war.

After World War II, most of Pomerania was transferred to Poland and its German residents were expelled, leaving him homeless. He turned to publishing and founded Ewald-von-Kleist-Verlag, which became a leading German publishing house. He joined the Protestant Order of Saint John, rising to Knight of Honour in 1957 and Knight of Justice in 1975.

In 1962, he founded Wehrkundetagung in Munich, the precursor to the Munich Security Conference, and he convened it until 1998. For his work in strengthening transatlantic ties, he received the US Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1991. His retirement in 1998 was marked by attendance from eight NATO defense ministers.

He remained active in public life, sharing his views on the German armed forces and nuclear disarmament. He was married to Gundula von Kleist from 1960 until his death. Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin died in Munich on 8 March 2013 at the age of 90.