(The informations from this entry are taken from Wikipedia, thereby this article can't be used as a source. All the links are in German language.)
The German Go master and chess composer Wichard von Alvensleben (11.vii.1937 - 2.v.2016) had a relative of the same name who can be named a tragic Christian hero.
The officer Wichard von Alvensleben (19.v.1902 - 14.vii.1982, referenced in the rest of the article under this name) was born into the German noble family "von Alvensleben". He was an officer of the German Army "Wehrmacht" in World War II, and injured in 1941. At the arrival of the Red Army, which was known for committing atrocities against German civilians, including mass rapes of German women, in Tankow his wife Cora committed suicide on 29.i.1945 to not fall into their claws.
It was just a few months later, on 30.iv.1945, in the final days of World War II in Europe, that as an officer of the Wehrmacht he freed a train by the German "Schutzstaffel" (SS) and "Sicherheitsdienst" (SD) with 139 special prisoners that were supposed to not survive. The prisoners had been collected from the concentration camps (KZ) Flossenbürg, Mauthausen and Buchenwald into the KZ Dachau. The special command of SS and SD escorted them in a train to the place of most likely their death. However, the prisoner Oberst Bogislaw von Bonin managed to contact a Wehrmacht office in Italy. Hauptmann Wichard von Alvensleben then managed to free the prisoners, which included the former Austrian chancellor (1934-1938) Kurt Schuschnigg and the French prime minister Léon Blum who in 1946 became prime minister for the third time, fhe former Hungarian prime minister (1942-1944) Miklós Kállay, to name only the three most prominent prisoners. Especially in Germany the theologist Martin Niemöller would be one of the most famous people who were imprisoned. On 4.v.1945 the prisoners were given to American troops. Wichard von Alvensleben was imprisoned, but freed soon after. Only almost two decades later the story became known to the general public.
Wichard von Alvensleben wrote a letter to Martin Niemöller in 1964, saying that this was not a mere coincidence but the work of otherworldy powers that by the Christians are called "God".
Further information on EN-Wikipedia (note that these are not permalinks and the content can change over time):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichard_von_Alvensleben (the officer)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_of_concentration_camp_inmates_to_Tyrol
(here is a permalink as it lists all the prisoners plus the two voluntary travellers)
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