Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, 90, the last-known member of the inner circle that failed in a 1944 attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, has died.
Family cook Margrith Schmitz confirmed a report Friday in Germany’s Frankfurter Allgmeine Zeitung newspaper that von Boeselager died Thursday. Von Boeselager was one of a group of military officers who tried to kill Hitler on July 20, 1944, supplying the explosives for the attack.
The group’s leader, Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, and others were captured and executed shortly after the briefcase bomb plot failed. Boeselager’s name was never divulged, and he survived.
Jim Hager, 66, one of the Hager Twins who satirized country life with cornball one-liners on TV’s “Hee Haw,” died in Nashville, the show’s producer said Friday.
Hager was at a coffee shop when he collapsed Thursday, Sam Lovullo said. He said he had been told that by Jon Hager, the surviving twin. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where Hager had been taken, gave no details on the cause of death.
The twins, also guitarists and drummers, rose to national fame as cast members of the TV show in 1969.
“Jim was a delightful, funny, loyal friend,” said cast member Lulu Roman, who lives in Nashville. “He will be missed greatly as one of my true friends.”
Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, 82, a former prime minister of Spain who presided during the country’s rocky transition from the fascist dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco to liberal democracy, has died.
Calvo Sotelo — who governed from February 1981 to December 1982 after predecessor Adolfo Suarez stepped down — died Saturday, according to his eldest son, Leopoldo Calvo.
During a February 1981 vote to approve Calvo Sotelo’s premiership, a group of right-wing Civil Guards broke into Parliament and held lawmakers captive.
Spain held its breath for 17 hours as it watched its nascent democratic institutions paralyzed until, after a broadcast by King Juan Carlos condemning the attack, the perpetrators left parliament and were arrested.
After the attempted coup, Parliament set a date for general elections. The Socialist candidate, Felipe Gonzalez, won — ushering in Spain’s modern democracy.
The Associated Press
