[20 JULY PLOT]: STAUFFENBERG FRANZ SCHENK VON (1878-1950) German entrepreneur, uncle of Claus von Stauffenberg ...

[20 JULY PLOT]: STAUFFENBERG FRANZ SCHENK VON (1878-1950) German entrepreneur, uncle of Claus von Stauffenberg (1907-1944) German army officer, leader of the failed attempt on 20th July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg was arrested and imprisoned as a result of the 20 July plot. T.L.S., Frhr. v. Stauffenberg, in pencil, two pages, 4to, Wilflingen, 9th May 1938, to Herr Goetz, in German. Stauffenberg apologises for the work and trouble his correspondent has undertaken over his personal enquiries and continues to discuss the potential employment opportunities for his son, in part, 'According to my interpretation, the only career open to my son is the purely commercial one, notwithstanding the time which was to a certain degree lost on account of taking the junior examinations for the bar. The training as a fully qualified lawyer would take too long, since he has to earn something within a certain time…..The main thing seems to me that he should get the best possible practical and basic training in the banking business, which he has already started to do in your subsidiary in Frankfurt…..Through his wife he has good personal connections with American and French banking circles, and it was originally envisaged that through these connections the choice would be open to him of building up a knowledge of banking practice, as an unpaid assistant or as a trainee, in a bank in London or Paris, after he had completed his first period of training here in Germany. He intends to go to Paris, to find out whether this offer will really be substantiated; this is not clear without further examination, since the current attitude towards Germany in Paris, as in London, is so openly antagonistic to Germany that it does not seem immediately certain whether he can still find any kind of place. That is why it would be my wish and request that you might really be so kind as to help me and him, and in any event to smooth the way for things to turn out well. It is always difficult for a father to stand guarantee for his son. But I believe I can say that you will not be expending your influence on an unworthy object.' Two file holes to the left edge and one small, neat split to the right edge of the central fold, otherwise VG