Final would-be Hitler assassin dies

BERLIN, May 2 (UPI) -- Former German soldier Philipp von Boeselager, the last living person to take part in the July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, has died at age 90.

Von Boeselager, who died Thursday, supplied a bomb for the botched assassination of the German dictator. The bombing was unsuccessful because the briefcase carrying it was moved behind the leg of a strong oak table, Deutsche Welle reported.

Von Boeselager escaped execution for the bombing because other plotters did not give authorities his name, the report said. The former army officer said the Holocaust prompted his desire to assassinate Hitler.

He reportedly was in favor of a film being produced about the attempted assassination in which U.S. actor Tom Cruise plays Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, the man who planted the explosives.

He said the film may deepen Americans' knowledge of German resistance.