Freya von Moltke (1911-2010) was a living symbol of the civil resistance against Hitler. She and her husband Helmuth James were the focal point of the Kreisau Circle. They held secret meetings with opponents of the regime on their family estate to plan the return of democracy to Germany. While her husband was arrested in 1944 and later condemned to death, Freya escaped with her two sons to South Africa, before moving on to the USA. She was not only one of the last surviving members of resistance groups in Germany but also played a central role in the difficult process of German-Polish post-war rapprochement.
Using many sources which have until now remained largely unexplored, Sylke Tempel traces the meandering path of Freya von Moltke’s life. From her early years as a member of a Cologne banking family, through her student life in Hitlerdeutschland, to her key role in the German resistance and the effects of her post-war work. This is the portrait of a formidable, courageous woman, the embodiment of German history in the 20th century.
