Maria was the daughter of my great grandfather (Heinrich A. Klassen) and Margarete Dirks. So, she was my grandfather's step sister. She was born in 1900 at the Reimerhof estate. During WW1, this estate occasionally hosted German military officers on their towards Russia. One such officer was Count von Stauffenburg (senior). At some point after the war, Maria was invited into the world at Stauffenburg Castle. In 1936, she married one of the Count's sons, Berthold Shenk Graf von Stauffenburg. In 1944, his brother, Claus, was one of the ring-leaders in the attempt to assasinate Hitler. Berthold was judged a co-conspirator and was executed a few months after the coup attempt. Maria survived the war and lived into her 70's.