Countess Freya Von Moltke: a German of the Nazi resistance

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H. F. Truman PRESENTS …
Countess FREYA VON MOLTKE
A German of the Nazi Resistance

Lecture Subjects:

GERMANY: PAST AND PRESENT.
GERMAN YOUTH AND THE NEW EDUCATION.
GERMANY: TOTALITARIANISM VERSUS DEMOCRACY.
WOMEN'S POSITION IN THE NEW GERMANY.


Long before Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Juggernaut over-ran Europe there was a serious minded group of young men and women within Germany who, on the basis of their moral convictions and a faith in the principles of Christianity, were opposed to National Socialism.  They, known as the Kreisau-Circle, set up a resistance movement, which later during the war, became an important factor in the German underground.

Kreisau, in Silesia, was the estate of the leader of the group Count Helmuth von Moltke, great-great-nephew of the Field Marshall of the Bismarckian era, and his active wife Countess Freya von Moltke.

Arrested by the Gestapo in the beginning of 1944 he later was accused of having participated in the attempt on Hitler's life on July 20, 1944.  Tried before the notorious People's Tribunal and sentenced to death Moltke was hanged in January 1945.

Fortunately, through the help of English friends and the British Army, the Countess was able to escape from Russian occupied Eastern Germany by the end of 1945 to secure temporary asylum in Southern Africa with friends and relatives.

The Countess, who was born in Cologne in 1911, is an attractive, very capable woman, deeply sincere, sunny-natured in spite of her experiences, quick-witted and well able to respond to question periods.  Her training, the study of law both in Berlin and Cologne and graduation with a degree of Doctor of Laws has fitted her for public appearances.


Wanting no profit for herself Countess von Moltke comes to the United States and Canada in September 1949 to be here until mid-December 1949 for the purpose of raising funds for the benefit of The American Committee to Aid Survivors of the German Resistance in the U. S. A. and the Twentieth of July Memorial Fund of Great Britain.

The American reading and lecture going public knows no better name than that of Dorothy Thompson, our foremost interpreter of the International Scene, and it was Miss Thompson who suggested the proposed Fund Raising Tour.  In part Miss Thompson wrote—I have known Countess von Moltke for many years—She is a young woman in the middle thirties, attractive, cultivated, a fluent speaker, almost bi-lingual writing and speaking English perfectly as to form and vocabulary.

Allen W. Dulles, than whom there is no better partisan of Germany and her future possibilities, in his book Germany's Underground recounted his familarity with the von Moltke family and their brave battle against Nazidom.  He wrote The Countess was more than just the wife of the hero von Moltke since she was his close collaborator, untiring comrade-in-arms and the only woman who was allowed to be present at the meetings of the Kreisau-Circle composed of prominent freedom-loving German Church leaders, intellectuals, labor leaders and army officers who hoped to overthrow the Nazi regime.  There can be no doubt, as few others, Countess von Moltke is qualified to interpret the present trends in Germany and the necessity of keeping hope alive, particularly among the youth.

It is reassuring to know that the Countess has delivered some twenty-odd addresses in English in So.  Africa alone and The National Council of Women of So.  Africa wrote … is always listened to with the greatest interest—we admire the objective manner in which she deals with her subject—a remarkably clear thinker—she speaks a fluent English and one is hard put to it to realize that English is not her mother tongue.  (Signed—S. R. Sloman, Pres.)

I have known Countess von Moltke for many years, a fluent speaker, writing and speaking English perfectly as to form and vocabulary.

—Dorothy Thompson

There can be no doubt as few others, the Countess is qualified to interpret the present trends in Germany and the necessity of keeping hope alive.

—Allen W. Dulles

H. F. TRUMAN
Exclusíve Management
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