Nazi resistance leader dies at 98

:: By DPA | Haaretz :: A member of the German resistance, whose husband was executed by the Nazis in 1945, has died at the age of 98 in her home in the U.S. state of Vermont, her family confirmed Sunday.

Freya von Moltke, widow of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, died Friday of a viral infection, her son, Helmuth Caspar von Moltke told the German Press Agency DPA.

She was born in 1911 to a prominent banking family and met her future husband when she was 18. They married in 1931 and together founded the Kreisauer Circle, which became a center of resistance against Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany. Helmuth von Moltke was executed for treason in January 1945.

Freya von Moltke went on to publicize and write about the work of the resistance during World War II.

In 1989 she received a literary prize from German booksellers that is named in honor of renowned resistance figures Hans and Sophie Scholl. The family's former estate has been turned into a center for German and Polish youth.

Moltke is to be buried Friday in Vermont, where she has lived since 1960. A memorial service is also being planned for Berlin in March. Her son said she died peacefully surrounded by her family after she was able to celebrate Christmas with them.