The Bonhoeffer Family, 1943-45

On March 31, 1943, the Bonhoeffer family and a few friends gathered to celebrate the 75th birthday of Dr. Karl Bonhoeffer. Despite the tension present in the family as a result of the involvement of key members in the Resistance and Conspiracy, there was obviously joy on the occasion. Dietrich organized the family for a performance of the cantata Loben den Herren (Praise to the Lord). Dietrich is standing in the second row on the far left. On his left was his sister, Christine von Dohnanyi. Her husband, Hans, was not present. Five days later these three were arrested by the Gestapo. Standing just off Dr. Karl’s left shoulder was Emmi Bonhoeffer. On her left and right respectively were Dietrich’s brother Klaus and brother-in-law Rüdiger Schleicher. These two men were arrested in April and October of 1944. These four Bonhoeffer men (Dietrich, Klaus, Schleicher, and von Dohnanyi) were hastily executed in the closing days of the war in April, 1945.