Boselager, Count Philipp von

▪ 2009

      German army officer

born Sept. 6, 1917, Burg Heimerzheim, near Bonn, Ger.

died May 1, 2008, Altenahr, Ger.

provided the plastic explosives for the briefcase bomb that was used in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler by German officers on July 20, 1944. Böselager attended Jesuit Roman Catholic schools and hoped to study law, but his aristocratic family suggested that he enlist in the cavalry instead, in part to avoid joining the National Socialist Party. He was approached by antiwar conspirators as part of a plot to shoot Hitler and SS chief Heinrich Himmler at a conference in March 1943, but the plan was called off at the last minute. In 1944 Böselager was involved in research on captured British-made explosives, which he hand delivered to the plotters. He and his brother George, a coconspirator, avoided arrest after the bomb failed to kill Hitler, and their roles in the episode were not revealed until much later. After the war Böselager completed his studies in law and economics, worked with the West German army, and addressed young people on Nazi atrocities. He later revealed that he regretted not shooting Hitler in 1943 when he had the chance.

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