When the Second World War broke out, Philipp von Boeselager fought enthusiastically for his country, leading a cavalry unit first in France and later on the Russian Front. However, when he discovered what the SS were doing to Jews and Gypsies in the summer of 1942 his enthusiasm quickly turned to disgust. Along with his brother Georg, he joined a group of conspirators in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. After several abortive assassination attempts, including one in which von Boeselager was supposed to shoot the Fuhrer with his own pistol, the plotters finally decided on a plan to blow Hitler up with a bomb. Von Boeselager transported the explosives and passed them on to Claus von Stauffenberg. He and his brother then moved their cavalry units to Berlin to take control of the city. When the plot failed, the SS instituted a terrifying purge of senior army officers. In an attempt to disguise their part in the conspiracy, the Boeselager brothers hurried back to the eastern front with their units. One by one their fellow plotters were found out, tortured and executed, and it is a testimony to their fortitude that they never gave away the Boeselagers' names. Georg von Boeselager eventually died in battle on the Russian Front, but Philipp survived the war and outlived all his fellow conspirators. His family still owns the pistol with which he was supposed to shoot Hitler.
Guardian review of the film trailer for Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise-starring thriller based on the true story of a doomed second world war plot by a group of high-ranking officers to assassinate Hitler.