Friedrich Olbricht

Friedrich Olbricht
Chief of the General Army Office
In office February 1940 – 21 July 1944
Preceded by	Friedrich Fromm
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	(1888-10-04)4 October 1888 Leisnig, Saxony, German Empire
Died	21 July 1944(1944-07-21) (aged 55) Berlin, Gau Berlin, Nazi Germany
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire  Weimar Republic  Nazi Germany
Branch/service	German Army
Years of service	1907–44
Rank	General der Infanterie
Commands	24th Infantry Division
Battles/wars	World War I World War II

Friedrich Olbricht (4 October 1888 – 21 July 1944) was a German general during World War II. He is known for being one of the plotters involved in the 20 July Plot, an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944.

Olbricht was a senior staff officer, with the rank of infantry general. He was secretly in contact with most of the leaders of the resistance. They briefed him on their various plots and he placed sympathetic officers in key positions. Olbricht quietly encouraged field commanders to support the resistance. By late 1943, his office was the centre of Resistance plotting, under Claus von Stauffenberg.^[1] Had the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler been successful, Olbricht would have assumed the position of minister of war in a post-Nazi regime.