Beppo Römer Josef “ Beppo ” Römer ( November 17 , 1892 – September 25 , 1944 ) was a member of the Freikorps Oberland , one of the paramilitary organizations that sprang up around Germany as soldiers returned in defeat from World War I . He was later an organizer for the Communist Party of Germany ( KPD ) . He worked against the Third Reich , plotted an assassination of Hitler in 1934 and was executed by the regime . Biography . Römer was born in Munich , Kingdom of Bavaria . An officer during World War I , the colorful and charismatic Römer became a popular figure in the army ending the war as a Captain . After the war , Römer naturally emerged as a Freikorps leader becoming the founder , along with and Ludwig Horadam , of Bund Oberland , the largest and most significant of the Bavarian Freikorps . Oberland was instrumental in crushing the Bavarian Soviet Republic in April 1919 , fought against the Ruhr workers in March and April 1920 , and was a critical factor at the battle of Annaberg which drove the Poles from Upper Silesia in 1921 during the Silesian Uprisings . By this time , however , Römer was already in contact with the and , when called upon to break a strike in the Silesian city of Ratibor in mid 1921 , the leaders of Oberland refused to undertake the task . By 1921 there were a number of patriotic groups in Bavaria clamoring for a restoration of the monarchy under Rupprecht , Crown Prince of Bavaria and talk of forming a break away Confederation of the Danube . Bund Oberland was against such a position and sought ways to thwart the monarchists . It appears that Römer devised a plan to harness the energies of radical workers . To do this he contacted his childhood friend Otto Graf , KPD representative in the Bavarian parliament , and channeled some 350 , 000 marks in financial support to the KPD from Bund Oberland . In August 1922 during the course of an internal political struggle between Dr . Friedrich Weber ' s faction , which sympathized with the Nazis , and that of the original leaders , Horadam and Römer , which were more left - leaning , Römer was accused of embezzling Oberland funds to aid his friend Graf and the KPD . Römer was expelled from Bund Oberland on 15 March 1923 . With the general disbanding of the Freikorps in the early twenties , Römer returned to school , receiving a law degree in 1922 . Soon thereafter Römer began to write for the KPD periodical " Aufbruch " ( New Start ) and , after joining the KPD in 1932 , he became editor in chief . Römer opposed the Nazi regime right from the start and , as early as 1934 , actively participated in plans to assassinate Hitler which led to his arrest and imprisonment in the Dachau concentration camp until 1939 . Upon his release , Römer immediately became involved with the worker ’ s opposition , publishing a bulletin for the resistance , " Informationsdienst " ( Information Service ) , creating a network of opposition workplace cells , and again laying plans for an assassination attempt on Hitler . These cells were later infiltrated by the Gestapo and Römer was arrested in February 1942 for activities related to abetting the enemy and corruption of military readiness . Römer was sentenced to death on 16 June 1944 and executed on 25 September of that year at Brandenburg - Görden Prison in Brandenburg an der Havel .