Born on February 4, 1906, in Berlin, Germany. Son of a prominent theologian and pastor. Studied theology at the University of Berlin and later at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Ordained as a Lutheran minister in 1931. Became involved with the Confessing Church movement, which opposed the Nazi regime's attempts to control the German Protestant churches. Arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943 for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler and was executed on April 9, 1945, at Flossenbürg concentration camp.
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