Deaths on July 21

Claus von Stauffenberg, German soldier (b. 1907)

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (German: [klaʊ̯s ʃɛŋk ɡʁaːf fɔn ˈʃtaʊ̯fn̩.bɛʁk] (listen); 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite opposing democracy, and at first agreeing with the Nazi Party's nationalism and aryanism, he joined the German resistance within the Wehrmacht as the war progressed. He felt Hitler was losing the war, and opposed the criminal character of the dictatorship. Along with Henning von Tresckow and Hans Oster, he was one of the central figures of the conspiracy against Hitler within the Wehrmacht. For his involvement in the movement, he was executed by firing squad shortly after Operation Valkyrie.

He held the hereditary titles of "Graf" (count) and "Schenk" (cupbearer). He took part in the attack on Poland, the German invasion of the Soviet Union and the Tunisian Campaign during the Second World War.