World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHeinz Brandt was born in Berlin, Germany. He joined the Germany military in 1925 and attended the cavalry school in Hanover, Germany between 1927 and 1928, emerging a lieutenant. In 1936, he was a member of Germany's Olympic team, earning a gold medal in the team show jumping equestrian event. When the European War began in 1939, he was serving with the German High Command at the rank of captain. In Jan 1941, he was promoted to the rank of major, followed by the promotion to lieutenant colonel in Apr 1942. On 13 Apr 1943, while traveling aboard the same aircraft as Adolf Hitler, he unwittingly carried several bottles of liquor; ostensibly gifts for a recipient in Berlin, Germany, some of those bottles were actually disguised bombs aimed at killing Hitler, but they had failed to explode. In May 1943, Brandt was promoted to the rank of colonel. On 20 Jul 1944, he was present at a conference with Hitler in Rastenburg, East Prussia, Germany as the aide to Major General Adolf Heusinger; having previously stood next to Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg who abruptly left the meeting, Brandt moved Stauffenberg's bag, which was in his way, away from Hitler. This action possibly saved Hitler's life, for that the bag contained a bomb, and the bomb was now located on the far side of a thick and wide oak table leg instead of being close to Hitler. The bomb blast, however, seriously injured Brandt, blowing one of his legs off. He died on the following day in a Rastenburg hospital. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of brigadier general by Hitler.

Heinz Brandt Timeline