Frau Moltke's bees

Discussions on the role played by and situation of women in the Third Reich not covered in the other sections. Hosted by Vikki.
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Dan
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Posts: 8429
Joined: 10 Mar 2002, 15:06
Location: California

Frau Moltke's bees

#1

Post by Dan » 18 Jul 2002, 15:06

I've heard of this happening during WWII. Freya von Moltke, wife of Count
Helmuth James von Moltke, one of the very few high ranking Germans to
help German Jews and to publicly oppose Hitler, hid all her husbands
letters to her in her beehives. The book in which I found the following
passage doesn't say how she did it though.

"A year later, when Freya von Moltke left Kreisau in Silesia--now
Krzyzowa, and Polish--in the autumn of 1945 with her two little boys, she
was not able to take much with her, but took what she later called her
"greatest treasure," her husband's letters. He had been sentenced to
death and executed in January. There were about sixteen hundred letters,
covering the years 1929-45. They were a surprisingly manageable package.
The handwriting of this very tall man was tiny. She had kept them hidden
in her beehives in case the house was searched."

from von Moltke, Helmuth James. "Letters to Freya 1939-1945": The
compelling letters to his wife from the young German aristocrat who was a
quiet hero of the resistance to Hitler. New York: Knopf, 1990. page 4 of
the introduction.
Any comments?

Fräulein
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Posts: 20
Joined: 30 Jun 2006, 01:35
Location: US

#2

Post by Fräulein » 02 Aug 2006, 01:51

BUMP

Well a beehive would certainly be the last place I would look for any incriminating letters.
She is still alive and living in the US.
http://www.kreisau.de/fvms/en/foundatio ... kte-en.htm


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