Крейсауский круг: Немецкая антинацистская оппозиция

Group of German anti Nazi dissidents

The Kreisau Circle (German: Kreisauer Kreis, ) (1940–1944) was a group of about twenty five German dissidents in Nazi Germany led by Helmuth James von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia. The circle was composed of men and a few women from a variety of backgrounds, including those of noble descent, devout Protestants and Catholics, intellectuals, military personnel, socialists and conservatives. Despite their differences, the members of the Kreisau Circle found common interest in their opposition to Hitler's regime on moral and religious grounds. At their meetings, the circle discussed how they would reorganize the German government after the end of the Third Reich. Although the circle did not promote violent overthrow of the regime, their planning was considered by the Nazis to be treasonous as it rested on the assumption that Germany would lose the war. The group began to falter after Helmuth von Moltke was arrested by the Gestapo in January 1944 and eventually came to an end when most of its members were arrested following Claus von Stauffenberg's attempt on Hitler's life on 20 July 1944.

The members of the Kreisau Circle were heavily influenced by popular movements in Germany that followed World War I, most notably the German Youth Movement and German religious socialism. Although motivated by differing ideologies (the German Youth Movement in a return to nature and religious socialism in a return to Christian values), each faction inspired resistance to the Nazi regime by encouraging their followers to reconsider traditionally rigid political, social, and religious distinctions and engage in discourse with those who disagreed with them. These fundamental similarities created an environment that allowed for persons of a variety of backgrounds to meet and participate in intellectual resistance to the Third Reich.

The German Youth Movement was characterized by the creation of various youth organizations that emphasized a return to nature since 1896. For example, the Wandervogel, a youth movement that arose in the early 20th century, encouraged youth to reject their middle class upbringings that overemphasized materialism. Between the days of 14 March and 1 April 1928, approximately one hundred people from a variety of backgrounds came together for the first Silesian work camp. Tillich called this socialism “theonomous”. A known list of female members of the circle includes: Freya von Moltke (lawyer), Marion Yorck von Wartenburg (lawyer), Margrit von Trotha (economist), Rosemarie Reichwein (physician/therapist), and Irene Yorck von Wartenburg.

Socialists members included Carlo Mierendorff, Theodor Haubach, and Julius Leber. Therefore, based on this assumption, the job of the Kreisau Circle was to prepare for this day. On 24 April 1941, the Kreisau Circle created a memorandum titled, Starting point, Objectives and Tasks. In this text, the Circle expresses their belief that with the end of the Third Reich would also come the end of nationalism, racism, and party politics. Basic freedoms were to be restored. Germany would become a federal state with a weak central government, divided into provinces of between 3 and 5 million people, the provinces would also be divided into self governing communities, organised into districts. The regions would have parliaments elected by the district assemblies. The minimum voting age would be 27. The All eligible voters, which Moltke defined as all persons over the age of 21 or have served in the military, would elect municipal and county representative assemblies. These district assemblies would then elect the regional legislature, which would have the responsibility of electing those in the Reichstag. The Gestapo later discovered that von Moltke had warned him of the arrests, and Helmuth himself was then arrested on 19 January 1944.