Citizendia

The conference room soon after the explosion.
The conference room soon after the explosion.

The July 20 plot of 1944 was a failed attempt to assassinate German dictator Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, and to take power by means of a plan called Operation Walküre, which was supposed to subdue possible unrest. Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Operation Valkyrie ( Unternehmen Walküre) was an operational plan developed for the Reserve Army of the German Army ( Wehrmacht Heer) Wehrmacht Heer officer Claus von Stauffenberg played the key role and was in charge of the German Reserve Army's Walküre, allowing him access to Hitler for reports. The Heer was the land forces component of the German armed forces ( Wehrmacht) from 1935 to 1945, which also included the Navy ( Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg ( 15 November 1907 &ndash 21 July 1944) was a German army officer

July 20 was the culmination of the efforts of the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi regime. Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold The German Resistance refers to those individuals and groups in Nazi Germany who opposed the regime of Adolf Hitler between 1933 and 1945 Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Its failure, both in the Wolfschanze and then in Berlin's Bendlerblock, led to the arrest of more than 5,000 people, to the execution of about 200 people and the destruction of the resistance movement. The Bendlerblock is a building in Berlin, located in the Stauffenbergstraße (originally named 'Bendlerstrasse' south of the

Contents

Background

Conspiratorial groups planning a coup of some kind had existed in the German Army and the military intelligence organization (the Abwehr) since 1938. Wehrmacht (literally "defense force" was the name of the unified Armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945 The Abwehr was a German intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944 Early leaders of these plots included Brigadier-General Hans Oster, head of the Abwehr Military Intelligence Office, former Army Chief of Staff, General Ludwig Beck, and Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben. Hans Oster ( August 9, 1887 &ndash April 9, 1945) was deputy head of the Abwehr, under Wilhelm Canaris, and a dedicated Ludwig August Theodor Beck (29 June 1880 &ndash 21 July 1944 was a German General and the Chief of the General Staff of the Oberkommando des Heeres Job-Wilhelm Georg "Erwin" von Witzleben ( 4 December 1881 - 8 August 1944) was a German army officer (by 1940 a Plans to stage a coup and prevent Hitler from launching a new world war were developed in 1938 and 1939, but were aborted because of the indecision of Army Generals Franz Halder and Walter von Brauchitsch, and the failure of the western powers to oppose Hitler's aggressions until 1939. Franz Ritter Halder ( June 30 1884 &ndash April 2 1972) was a German General and the head of the Army General Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch ( 4 October 1881 &ndash 18 October 1948) was an aristocratic German field This first military resistance group delayed their plans after Hitler's extreme popularity following the unexpectedly fast success in the battle for France. In World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries

In 1941 a new conspiratorial group formed. It was led by Colonel Henning von Tresckow, a member of his uncle Field Marshal Fedor von Bock's staff, who commanded Army Group Centre in Operation Barbarossa. Henning von Tresckow Henning Hermann Robert Karl von Tresckow ( January 10 1901 &ndash July 21 1944) was a Major General in the Fedor von Bock ( December 3, 1880 &ndash May 4, 1945) was an officer in the German Military from 1898 to Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II Tresckow systematically recruited oppositionists to the Group’s staff, making it the nerve center of the Army resistance. Little could be done against Hitler while his armies advanced triumphantly into the western Soviet Union through 1941 and 1942, even after the setback before Moscow (in December 1941) that caused the dismissal of both Brauchitsch and Bock. The Battle of Moscow (Битва под Москвой Romanized: Bitva pod Moskvoy, Schlacht um Moskau is the name given by the Soviet historians to the two

During 1942 Oster and Tresckow nevertheless succeeded in rebuilding an effective resistance network. Their most important recruit was General Friedrich Olbricht, head of the General Army Office headquarters at the Bendlerblock in central Berlin, who controlled an independent system of communications to reserve units all over Germany. Friedrich Olbricht ( 4 October 1888 &ndash 21 July 1944) was a German General and one of the plotters involved in The Bendlerblock is a building in Berlin, located in the Stauffenbergstraße (originally named 'Bendlerstrasse' south of the Linking this asset to Tresckow’s resistance group in Army Group Centre created a viable coup apparatus.

In late 1942 Tresckow and Olbricht formulated a plan to assassinate Hitler and stage a coup during Hitler's visit to the headquarters of Army Group Centre at Smolensk in March 1943, by placing a bomb on his plane. Smolensk (Смоленск is a city in western Russia, located on the Dnieper River, the administrative centre of Smolensk Oblast. The bomb did not go off, and a second attempt days later with Hitler at an exhibition of captured Soviet weaponry in Berlin also failed. These failures demoralized the conspirators. During 1943 they tried without success to recruit senior Army field commanders such as Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, to support a seizure of power. Erich von Manstein ( November 24, 1887 &ndash June 9 1973) served the German military as a lifelong professional soldier Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt ( December 12, 1875 - February 24, 1953) was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German

Planning a coup

Main article: Operation Walküre

By mid-1943 the tide of war was turning decisively against Germany. Operation Valkyrie ( Unternehmen Walküre) was an operational plan developed for the Reserve Army of the German Army ( Wehrmacht Heer) The Army plotters and their civilian allies became convinced that Hitler must be assassinated so that a government acceptable to the western Allies could be formed and a separate peace negotiated in time to prevent a Soviet invasion of Germany and to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. In August 1943 Tresckow met a young staff officer, Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg, for the first time. Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg ( 15 November 1907 &ndash 21 July 1944) was a German army officer Badly wounded in North Africa, Stauffenberg was a political conservative, a zealous German nationalist, and a Roman Catholic with a taste for philosophy. He had at first welcomed the Nazi regime but had become rapidly disillusioned by the systematic executions of Jewish civilians and the treatment of the Russian POWs. Then, since the beginning of 1942 he shared the widespread conviction among Army officers that Germany was being led to disaster and that Hitler for both reasons must be removed from power. For some time his religious scruples had prevented him from coming to the conclusion that assassination was the correct way to achieve this. After the Battle of Stalingrad in December 1942, however, he came to the conclusion that not assassinating Hitler would be a greater moral evil. The Battle of Stalingrad is a commonly used name in English sources for several large operations by Germany and its allies and Soviet forces conducted with the He brought a new tone of decisive, revolutionary decision-making to the ranks of the resistance.

Olbricht now put forward to Tresckow and Stauffenberg a new strategy for staging a coup against Hitler. The Reserve Army had an operational plan called Operation Walküre (Valkyrie), which was to be used in the event that the disruption caused by the Allied bombing of German cities caused a breakdown in law and order, or a rising by the millions of slave laborers from occupied countries now being used in German factories. Operation Valkyrie ( Unternehmen Walküre) was an operational plan developed for the Reserve Army of the German Army ( Wehrmacht Heer) In Norse mythology the valkyries ( Old Norse Valkyrja "Choosers of the Slain" are Dísir, minor female deities Olbricht suggested that this plan could be used to mobilize the Reserve Army to take control of German cities, disarm the SS and arrest the Nazi leadership, once Hitler had been assassinated. Operation Valkyrie could only be put into effect by General Friedrich Fromm, commander of the Reserve Army, so he must either be won over to the conspiracy or in some way neutralized if the plan was to succeed. Friedrich Fromm ( October 8 1888 &ndash March 12 1945) was a German army officer remembered for his betrayal of conspirators Fromm, like many senior officers, knew in general about the military conspiracies against Hitler but neither supported them nor reported them to the Gestapo. The ( contraction of ge heime Sta ats' po' lizei: "Secret State Police" was the official Secret police of Nazi Germany

During late 1943 and early 1944 there were at least four failed attempts to get one of the military conspirators near enough to Hitler for long enough to kill him with handgrenades, bombs or a revolver (November 1943: Axel von dem Bussche, February 1944: Ewald Heinrich von Kleist, von Gersdorff and March11th 1944: Eberhard von Breitenbuch). Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst ( 24 April 1919 - 26 January 1993) usually referred to as Axel von dem Bussche in English Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (born 1922 is a former German Army officer and publisher But this task was becoming increasingly difficult. As the war situation deteriorated, Hitler no longer appeared in public and rarely visited Berlin. He spent most of his time at his headquarters at the Wolfschanze (Wolf's Lair) near Rastenburg in East Prussia, with occasional breaks at his Bavarian mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden. Kętrzyn (Rastenburg former Rastembork is a Town in northeastern Poland with 28351 inhabitants (2004 East Prussia (Ostpreußen; Rytų Prūsija or Rytprūsiai; Prusy Wschodnie Восточная Пруссия or Vostochnaya Prussiya) refers to the main part Bavaria ( German:, with an area of 70553 Km² (27241 square miles and almost 12 Berchtesgaden (bɛʁçtəsˈgaːdən is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. In both places he was heavily guarded and rarely saw people he did not already know and trust. Himmler and the Gestapo were increasingly suspicious of plots against Hitler, and specifically suspected the officers of the General Staff, which was indeed the place where most of the young officers willing to sacrifice themselves to kill Hitler were located. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945 was a Nazi German politician and head of the Schutzstaffel (SS. The ( contraction of ge heime Sta ats' po' lizei: "Secret State Police" was the official Secret police of Nazi Germany

By the summer of 1944 the Gestapo was closing in on the conspirators. There was a sense that time was running out, both on the battlefield, where the Eastern front was in full retreat and where the Allies had landed in France on 6 June, and in Germany, where the resistance’s room for maneuver was rapidly contracting. D-Day may also refer to Decimal Day in the United Kingdom. D-Day is a term often used in Military parlance to denote The belief that this was the last chance for action seized the conspirators. By this time the core of the conspirators had begun to think of themselves as doomed men, whose actions were more symbolic than real. The purpose of the conspiracy came to be seen by some of them as saving the honor of themselves, their families, the Army and Germany through a grand, if futile gesture, rather than actually altering the course of history.

One of Tresckow’s aides, Lieutenant Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort, wrote to Stauffenberg: “The assassination must be attempted, coûte que coûte [whatever the cost]. Heinrich Ahasverus Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort ( 22 June 1909 – 4 September 1944) was a member of the July 20 Plot against Even if it fails, we must take action in Berlin. For the practical purpose no longer matters; what matters now is that the German resistance movement must take the plunge before the eyes of the world and of history. Compared to that, nothing else matters. ”[1]

In retrospect, it is surprising that these months of plotting by the resistance groups in the Army and the state apparatus, in which dozens of people were involved and of which many more, including very senior Army officers, were aware, apparently totally escaped the attention of the Gestapo. In fact the Gestapo had known since February 1943 of both the Abwehr resistance group under the patronage of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris and of the civilian resistance circle around former Leipzig mayor Carl Goerdeler. Wilhelm Franz Canaris ( January 1, 1887 &ndash April 9, 1945) was a German Admiral and head of the Abwehr This sort of fix restores section edit linkpoints to where they belong Carl Friedrich Goerdeler ( July 31, 1884 &ndash February 2, 1945) was a conservative German Politician If all these people had been arrested and interrogated, the Gestapo might well have uncovered the group based in Army Group Centre as well and the July 20 assassination attempt would never have happened. This raises the possibility that Himmler knew about the plot and, for reasons of his own, allowed it to go ahead.

Himmler had at least one conversation with a known oppositionist when, in August 1943, the Prussian Finance Minister Johannes Popitz, who was involved in Goerdeler's network, came to see him and offered him the support of the opposition if he would make a move to displace Hitler and secure a negotiated end to the war. Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state Johannes Popitz ( 2 December 1884 &ndash 2 February 1945) was a Prussian Finance minister and a member of the German [2] Nothing came of this meeting, but Popitz was not arrested and Himmler apparently did nothing to track down the resistance network which he knew was operating within the state bureaucracy. It is possible that Himmler, who by late 1943 knew that the war was unwinnable, allowed the July 20 plot to go ahead in the knowledge that if it succeeded he would be Hitler's successor, and could then bring about a peace settlement. Popitz was not alone in seeing in Himmler a potential ally. General von Bock advised Tresckow to seek his support, but there is no evidence that he did so. Goerdeler was apparently also in indirect contact with Himmler via a mutual acquaintance Carl Langbehn. Canaris' biographer Heinz Höhne suggests that Canaris and Himmler were working together to bring about a change of regime, but all of this remains speculation. Heinz Höhne (also Hoehne is a German journalist who specializes in Nazi and intelligence History. [3]

July 20

On 1 July 1944 Stauffenberg was appointed chief-of-staff to General Fromm at the Reserve Army headquarters on Bendlerstrasse in central Berlin. "July 1st" redirects here For the Ayumi Hamasaki song see H (song. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This position enabled Stauffenberg to attend Hitler’s military conferences, either in East Prussia or at Berchtesgaden, and would thus give him a golden opportunity, perhaps the last that would present itself, to kill Hitler with a bomb or a pistol. Conspirators who had long resisted the idea of killing Hitler on moral grounds now changed their minds—partly because they were hearing reports of the mass murder at Auschwitz of up to 250,000 Hungarian Jews, the culmination of the Nazi Holocaust. "Auschwitz" redirects here For the town see Oświęcim Auschwitz-Birkenau () was the largest of Nazi Germany The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as Meanwhile new key allies had been gained. These included General Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, the German military commander in France, who would take control in Paris when Hitler was killed and, it was hoped, negotiate an immediate armistice with the invading Allied armies. Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel, ( 2 January, 1886 &ndash 30 August, 1944) was a German General and a member of the

The plot was now as ready as it would ever be. Twice in early July Stauffenberg attended Hitler’s conferences carrying a bomb in his briefcase, but because the conspirators had decided that Himmler and probably Göring must also be assassinated if the planned mobilization of Operation Valkyrie were to have any chance of success, he held back at the last minute because Himmler was not present. In fact, it was unusual for Himmler to attend military conferences. By 15 July, when Stauffenberg again flew to East Prussia, this condition had been dropped. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final The plan was for Stauffenberg to plant the briefcase with the bomb in Hitler’s conference room with a timer running, excuse himself from the meeting, wait for the explosion, then fly back to Berlin and join the other plotters at the Bendlerblock. Operation Valkyrie would be mobilized, the Reserve Army would take control of Germany and the other Nazi leaders would be arrested. Beck would be appointed head of state, Goerdeler would be Chancellor and Witzleben would be commander-in-chief. The plan was ambitious and depended on a run of very good luck, but it was not totally fanciful.

Again on 15 July the attempt was called off at the last minute, for reasons which are not known because all the participants in the phone conversations which led to the postponement were dead by the end of the year. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Stauffenberg, depressed and angry, returned to Berlin. Due to the false assumption that the assassination had succeeded, Operation Valkyrie had been partially unleashed on July 15. Only with severe efforts and much luck had the plotters been able to 'smother up' the events as an exercise. On 18 July rumors reached Stauffenberg that the Gestapo had wind of the conspiracy and that he might be arrested at any time—this was apparently not true, but there was a sense that the net was closing in and that the next opportunity to kill Hitler must be taken because there might not be another. At 10:00 hours on 20 July Stauffenberg flew back to Rastenburg for another Hitler military conference, once again with a bomb in his briefcase. It is remarkable in retrospect that despite Hitler’s mania for security, officers attending his conferences were not searched.

Around 12:10 hours, the conference began. Stauffenberg had previously activated a pencil detonator, inserted it into a 1 kg block of plastic explosive prepared by Wessel von Freytag-Loringhoven, and placed it inside his briefcase. Introduced during World War II, a pencil detonator or time pencil is a chemically activated time fuze designed to be connected to a Detonator Plastic explosive (or the obsolete term plastique) is a specialised form of Explosive material. Wessel Freiherr Freytag von Loringhoven, commonly known as Wessel von Freytag-Loringhoven ( 10 November 1899 &ndash died 26 July 1944 He then entered the room and placed his briefcase bomb under the table around which Hitler and more than 20 officers had gathered. After ten minutes, Stauffenberg made an excuse and left the room. At 12:40 the bomb detonated, demolishing the conference room. Detonation is a process of Supersonic Combustion in which a Shock wave is propagated forward due to energy release in a reaction zone behind it Three officers and the stenographer were seriously injured and died soon after, but Hitler survived, suffering only minor injuries. It is possible he was saved because the briefcase had been moved behind the heavy oak leg of the conference table, which deflected the blast. Another theory is that the briefcase was moved by an officer to the other end of the massive table from where Hitler was, because it was in the way, and so the main force of the blast did not reach Hitler. Stauffenberg, hearing the explosion and seeing the smoke issuing from the broken windows of the concrete dispatch barracks, assumed that Hitler was dead, leapt into a staff car with his aide Werner von Haeften, and made a dash for the airfield trying to escape before the alarm could be raised. Werner Karl von Haeften ( 9 October 1908 - 21 July 1944) was an Oberleutnant in the Wehrmacht, who took part in the military-based By 13:00 hours his He 111 was airborne. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout

By the time Stauffenberg’s plane reached Berlin at about 15:00, General Erich Fellgiebel, an officer at Rastenburg who was in on the plot, had phoned the Bendlerblock and told the plotters that Hitler had survived the explosion. Fritz Erich Fellgiebel ( 4 October 1886 – 4 September 1944) was a German officer and resistance fighter in the Third This was a fatal step (literally so for Fellgiebel and many others), because the Berlin plotters immediately lost their nerve, and judged, probably correctly, that the plan to mobilize Operation Valkyrie would have no chance of succeeding once the officers of the Reserve Army knew that Hitler was alive. There was more confusion when Stauffenberg’s plane landed and he phoned from the airport to say that Hitler was in fact dead. The Bendlerblock plotters did not know who to believe. Finally at 16:00 Olbricht issued the orders for Operation Valkyrie to be mobilized. The vacillating General Fromm, however, phoned Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel at the Wolf's Lair and was assured that Hitler was alive. Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (22 September 1882–16 October 1946 was a German Field marshal ( Generalfeldmarschall) Keitel demanded to know Stauffenberg’s whereabouts. This told Fromm that the plot had been traced to his headquarters, and that he was in mortal danger. Fromm replied that he thought Stauffenberg was with Hitler.

At 16:40 Stauffenberg and Haeften arrived at the Bendlerblock. Fromm now changed sides and attempted to have Stauffenberg arrested, but Olbricht and Stauffenberg restrained him at gunpoint. By this time Himmler had taken charge of the situation and had issued orders countermanding Olbricht’s mobilization of Operation Valkyrie. In many places the coup was going ahead, led by officers who believed that Hitler was dead. The Propaganda Ministry on the Wilhelmstrasse, with Joseph Goebbels inside, was surrounded by troops—but Goebbels's phone was not cut off, another fatal error. The Wilhelmstrasse ( German Wilhelmstraße, see ß) is a street in the center of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation ˈɡœbəls English generally ˈɡɝbəlz (29 October 1897 1 May 1945 was a German politician and Reich Minister of Public In Paris Stülpnagel issued orders for the arrest of the SS and SD commanders. The Sicherheitsdienst (SD Security Service was primarily the Intelligence service of the SS and the NSDAP. In Vienna, Prague and many other places troops occupied Nazi Party offices and arrested Gauleiters and SS officers. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Prague (ˈprɑːg Praha (ˈpraɦa see also other names) is the Capital and Largest city of the Czech Republic.

A soldier holding the trousers Hitler wore during the failed assassination attempt.
A soldier holding the trousers Hitler wore during the failed assassination attempt.

The decisive moment came at 19:00, when Hitler was sufficiently recovered to make phone calls. He was able to phone Goebbels at the Propaganda Ministry. Goebbels arranged for Hitler to speak to the commander of the troops surrounding the Ministry, Major Otto Remer, and assure him that he was still alive. Otto-Ernst Remer ( August 18, 1912 - October 4, 1997) was a German Wehrmacht officer who Hitler ordered Remer to regain control of the situation in Berlin. At 20:00 a furious Witzleben arrived at the Bendlerblock and had a bitter argument with Stauffenberg, who was still insisting that the coup could go ahead. Witzleben left shortly afterwards. At around this time the planned seizure of power in Paris was aborted when Kluge, who had recently been appointed commander-in-chief in the west, learned that Hitler was alive, changed sides with alacrity and had Stülpnagel arrested. Günther “Hans” von Kluge ( October 30, 1882 – August 19, 1944) was a German military leader

The less resolute members of the conspiracy in Berlin also now began to change sides. Fighting broke out in the Bendlerblock between officers supporting and opposing the coup, and Stauffenberg was wounded. By 23:00 Fromm had regained control, hoping by a show of zealous loyalty to save his own skin. Beck, realizing the game was up, shot himself—the first of many suicides in the coming days. Fromm declared that he had convened a court-martial consisting of himself, and had sentenced Olbricht, Stauffenberg, Haeften and another officer, Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim, to death. Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim ( At 00:10 on 21 July they were shot in the courtyard outside, possibly to prevent them from revealing Fromm's involvement. Others would have been executed as well, but at 00:30 the SS, led by Otto Skorzeny, arrived on the scene and further executions were forbidden. Otto Skorzeny ( June 12 1908 – July 6 1975) was an Obersturmbannführer in the German Waffen-SS Fromm went off to see Goebbels to claim credit for suppressing the coup. He was immediately arrested and later would be executed.

Alternative possibilities

Some researchers have speculated that if Stauffenberg had placed the briefcase in a slightly different location the bomb might have had its intended effect on the primary target. But the bomb was supposedly placed behind a very thick leg of the heavy oak conference table, and the leg apparently deflected the blast and prevented the force from reaching Hitler. This theory is supported by the fact that others seated in less fortunate positions were killed or more seriously injured than Hitler. There is also speculation that had Stauffenberg left the second bomb in his briefcase, even without arming it, the detonation of the first bomb could have triggered the explosion of the second bomb and the combined force of the two bombs going off nearly simultaneously might have killed Hitler. An alternate analysis is that the single bomb might have been effective had the meeting been held as originally planned in Hitler's reinforced and subterranean bunker (the "Führerbunker"), instead of the wooden hut that doubled as Speer's barracks and makeshift briefing room. Both compact bombs were designed to kill by expansion inside a room encased with reinforced walls. Speer's wooden hut with open windows did not correspond to these specifications, as it allowed a substantial amount of the blast force to escape to the outside by the open windows. Since some of the blast escaped the room, only those who were in the immediate path of the blast were killed or severely injured.

In 2005, the Discovery Channel's show Unsolved History aired an episode titled, "Killing Hitler" in which each scenario was re-created using live explosives and test dummies. Discovery Channel is an American Satellite and Cable TV channel (also delivered via IPTV, Terrestrial television and Unsolved History is a 2002 - 2005 Documentary television series produced by MorningStar Entertainment, Termite Art Productions, and The results supported the conclusion that Hitler would have been killed had any of the three other scenarios occurred [2nd bomb, stronger shelter, moving briefcase to the other side of the strong table leg].

Participants at the meeting

The following persons were in attendance: German dictator Adolf Hitler, Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, General Alfred von Jodl, General Walter Warlimont, Franz von Sonnleithner, Major Herbert Buchs, stenographer Heinz Buchholz, Lieutenant-General Hermann Fegelein, Colonel Nicolaus von Below, Rear Admiral Hans-Erich Voss, Otto Gunsche (Hitler's adjudant), General Walter Scherff, General Ernst John von Freyend, stenographer Heinrich Berger, Rear Admiral Karl-Jesco von Puttkamer, General Walther Buhle, Lieutenant-Colonel Heinrich Borgmann, Major-General Rudolf Schmundt, Lieutenant-Colonel Heinz Waizenegger, General Karl Bodenschatz, Colonel Heinz Brandt, General Gunther Korten, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, and Lieutenant-General Adolf Heusinger. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (22 September 1882–16 October 1946 was a German Field marshal ( Generalfeldmarschall) Alfred Jodl (10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946 was a German military commander attaining the position of Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Walter Warlimont (* October 3, 1894 Osnabrück, Germany - † October 9, 1976 Kreuth near the Tegernsee) was SS- Obergruppenführer Hans Georg Otto Hermann Fegelein ( 30 October 1906 –c Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country Nicolaus von Below ( 20 September 1907 &ndash July 24 1983) was an officer in the German Air Force ( Luftwaffe) Hans-Erich Voss (or Voß, see ß) ( October 30 1897 &ndash November 18 1969) was a German Vice Admiral Otto Günsche ( September 24, 1917 &ndash October 2, 2003) was a Sturmbannführer in the SS and was a member of Leibstandarte Karl-Jesco von Puttkamer ( 24 March 1900 &ndash 4 March 1981) was naval adjutant to Nazi Germany 's leader Adolf Hitler Rudolf Schmundt ( 13 August 1896 - 1 October 1944) was an officer in the German Army ( Wehrmacht Heer) during World War II Günther Korten ( 26 July 1898 &ndash 22 July 1944) was a German Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff of Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg ( 15 November 1907 &ndash 21 July 1944) was a German army officer Adolf Heusinger ( August 4, 1897 &ndash November 30, 1982) was a German General during World War II and served

Bomb casualties

A total of four persons were killed and five seriously injured by Stauffenberg's bomb. Those killed included: stenographer Heinrich Berger, Major-General (Generalmajor) Rudolf Schmundt, Colonel (Oberst) Heinz Brandt, and General Gunther Korten. Major General or Major-General is a Military rank used in many countries Please see " General " for other countries which use this rank General (genəˈraːl is presently the highest rank Rudolf Schmundt ( 13 August 1896 - 1 October 1944) was an officer in the German Army ( Wehrmacht Heer) during World War II Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country Günther Korten ( 26 July 1898 &ndash 22 July 1944) was a German Colonel General and Chief of the General Staff of The injured included: General Walter Scherff, Rear Admiral Karl-Jesco von Puttkamer, Lieutenant-Colonel (Oberstleutnant) Heinrich Borgmann, General Karl Bodenschatz, and Lieutenant-General (Generalleutnant) Adolf Heusinger. Rear admiral is a Naval Commissioned officer rank above that of a Commodore and Captain, and below that of a Vice Admiral. Karl-Jesco von Puttkamer ( 24 March 1900 &ndash 4 March 1981) was naval adjutant to Nazi Germany 's leader Adolf Hitler Lieutenant Colonel ( Lieutenant-Colonel in English from the French grade 's spelling is a rank of Commissioned officer in the armies Lieutenant General is a Military rank used in many countries The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the Please see " General " for other countries which use this rank General (genəˈraːl is presently the highest rank Adolf Heusinger ( August 4, 1897 &ndash November 30, 1982) was a German General during World War II and served

Aftermath

The courtyard at the Bendlerblock, where Stauffenberg, Olbricht and others were executed.
The courtyard at the Bendlerblock, where Stauffenberg, Olbricht and others were executed. The Bendlerblock is a building in Berlin, located in the Stauffenbergstraße (originally named 'Bendlerstrasse' south of the

Over the coming weeks Himmler’s Gestapo, driven by a furious Hitler, rounded up nearly everyone who had the remotest connection with the July 20 plot. Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold The discovery of letters and diaries in the homes and offices of those arrested revealed the plots of 1938, 1939 and 1943, and this led to further rounds of arrests, including that of Franz Halder, who finished the war in a concentration camp. Franz Ritter Halder ( June 30 1884 &ndash April 2 1972) was a German General and the head of the Army General Under Himmler’s new Sippenhaft (blood guilt) laws, all the relatives of the principal plotters were also arrested. Sippenhaft or Sippenhaftung (English "kin liability" was a form of Collective punishment practiced in Nazi Germany towards the end of the Second

Eventually some 5,000 people were arrested[4] and about 200 were executed [5]—not all of them connected with the July 20 plot, since the Gestapo used the occasion to settle scores with many other people suspected of opposition sympathies.

Very few of the plotters tried to escape or to deny their guilt when arrested. Those who survived interrogation were given perfunctory trials before the People’s Court (Volksgerichtshof) and its judge Roland Freisler. The People's Court (Volksgerichtshof was a court established in 1934 by German Dictator Adolf Hitler, who had been dissatisfied with the outcome of the Early life In contrast to most of the Nazi leadership not much beyond basic details is known about Freisler The first trials were held on 7 August and 8 August 1944. Events 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great. Events 1220 - Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula. Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hitler had ordered that those found guilty be "hung like cattle". [6] The treatment that had been dealt out to those executed as a result of the Rote Kapelle was that of slow strangulation using suspension from a rope attached to a slaughterhouse meathook. For the July 20 plotters piano wire was used instead.

Many people took their own lives prior to either their trial or their execution, including Tresckow, Kluge, and Erwin Rommel, who was accused of having knowledge of the plot beforehand and not revealing it to Hitler. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ( 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) (also known as the " Desert Fox " Wüstenfuchs He was given the option of suicide via cyanide or a public trial by Freisler's People's Court. If he committed suicide, his family wouldn't be subjected to a reprisal. However, with the verdict a foregone conclusion, the People's Court was basically a kangaroo court. A kangaroo court or kangaroo trial, sometimes likened to a Drumhead court-martial or Drumhead trial, is a sham Legal proceeding or Court If Rommel stood trial, there would have been no chance of successfully defending himself, and his family and staff would have been executed along with him. Rommel committed suicide October 14, 1944. Stülpnagel also tried to commit suicide, but survived and was subsequently hanged.

Fromm's attempt to win favor by executing Stauffenberg and others on the night of July 20 had merely exposed his own previous lack of action and apparent failure to report the plot. Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold Having been arrested on July 21, Fromm was later convicted and sentenced to death by the People's Court. Events 356 BC - Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World Despite his involvement in the conspiracy, his formal sentence charged him with poor performance in his duties. He was executed in Brandenburg an der Havel. Brandenburg an der Havel is a Town in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. Hitler personally commuted his death sentence from hanging to "more honorable" firing squad. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Execution by firing squad is a method of Capital punishment, particularly common in times of war The son of Max Planck, Erwin Planck was executed for his involvement in the July 20th incident. Erwin Planck ( 12 March 1893 – 23 January 1945) was a German Politician, and a resistance fighter in the

After 3 February 1945, when Freisler was killed in a USAAF air raid, there were no more formal trials, but as late as April, with the war weeks away from its end, Canaris’s diary was found, and many more people were implicated. Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. Executions continued down to the last days of the war.

The trials and executions were reportedly filmed and later reviewed by Hitler and his entourage. These films were later edited by Goebbels into a 30 minute movie and shown to cadets at the Lichterfelde cadet school but viewers supposedly walked out of the screening in disgust. [7]

Hitler took his survival to be a 'divine moment in history', and as such, commissioned a special decoration to be made. The resulting decoration was the Wound Badge of 20 July 1944, which Hitler awarded to those who were in the conference room at the time. Wound Badge (das Verwundetenabzeichen was a German military award for wounded or frost-bitten soldiers of Reichswehr, Wehrmacht, SS and the auxiliary service Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold Year 1944 ( MCMXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This badge is one of the rarest decorations awarded by Nazi Germany.

Philipp von Boeselager, the German officer who provided the plastic explosives used in the bomb escaped detection, survived the war. Plastic explosive (or the obsolete term plastique) is a specialised form of Explosive material. He was the last survivor of those involved in the plot and died on May 1st 2008 aged 90[1].

Planned government

The conspirators were earlier designated positions in secret to form a government that would take office after the assassination of Hitler were it to prove successful. Because of the plot's utter failure, such a government would never rise to power and most of its members were executed. The following were appointed these roles as of July 1944[8]:

The only German political force which was not involved was the Communist Party (KPD). Colonel General is a senior Military rank which is used in some of the world’s militaries Ludwig August Theodor Beck (29 June 1880 &ndash 21 July 1944 was a German General and the Chief of the General Staff of the Oberkommando des Heeres Carl Friedrich Goerdeler ( July 31, 1884 &ndash February 2, 1945) was a conservative German Politician The German National People's Party (Deutschnationale Volkspartei DNVP was a national-conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic The Head of government of Germany is called Chancellor (Kanzler Wilhelm Leuschner (born 15 June 1890 in Bayreuth - 29 September 1944 in Berlin - Plötzensee) was a social-democratic Paul Löbe ( December 14 1875 &ndash August 3 1967) was a German Politician and member of the Social Democratic Party Julius Leber ( 16 November 1891 - 5 January 1945) was a German Politician of the SPD and a member of the Eugen Anton Bolz ( 15 December 1881 – 23 January 1945) was a German Politician and a member of the resistance The German Centre Party ( Deutsche Zentrumspartei or merely Zentrum) was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg ( 20 November 1875 – 10 November 1944) was a German diplomat who Ulrich von Hassell ( 12 November 1881 &ndash 8 September 1944) was a German Diplomat during World War II. Friedrich Olbricht ( 4 October 1888 &ndash 21 July 1944) was a German General and one of the plotters involved in Hans Oster ( August 9, 1887 &ndash April 9, 1945) was deputy head of the Abwehr, under Wilhelm Canaris, and a dedicated The Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche was a Christian Resistance movement in Nazi Germany. Paul Adolf Franz Lejeune-Jung (actually Lejeune genannt Jung, meaning called Jung) (born 16 March 1882 in Cologne; died 8 September Josef Wirmer ( 19 March 1901 – 8 September 1944) was a German Jurist and resistance fighter against the The Communist Party of Germany ( German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands &ndash KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918

Sources

This article is based mainly on the account in Joachim Fest's book Plotting Hitler’s Death: The German Resistance to Hitler 1933–1945 (English edition Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1996), with additional material from Ian Kershaw’s two volumes Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris (W. Joachim Clemens Fest ( December 8, 1926 &ndash September 11, 2006) German historian journalist critic and editor is best known for Sir Ian Kershaw (born April 29 1943 in Oldham, Lancashire, England) is a British Historian, noted for his W. Norton, 1998) and Hitler 1936–1945: Nemesis (W. W. Norton, 2000), Peter Hoffmann's The History of German Resistance 1933-1945 and various other works. Peter Hoffmann may refer to Peter Hofmann, a German operatic tenor Peter Hoffmann a German music producer (see Tokio Hotel) Acknowledgment must be made also to Roger Manvell and Heinrich Frankel, whose The Canaris Conspiracy: The Secret Resistance to Hitler in the German Army (1969) was a pioneering work. Roger Manvell was born in England on October 10, 1909 and died on November 30, 1987

Films based on the plot

Further reading

Roger Moorhouse, Killing Hitler, Jonathan Cape, 2006. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Die Stunde der Offiziere ( English: The Hour of the Officers) is a German semi-documentary movie of 2003 telling in chronological order about Stauffenberg is German - Austrian TV movie released in 2004 by Das Erste (German TV ARD Valkyrie is a 2008 historical thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and starring Tom Cruise. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV ( born July 3 1962 better known by his screen name Tom Cruise, is an American Actor and Film producer The Stauffenbergs are an aristocratic Roman Catholic family from Swabia in Germany, whose best known member was Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Roger Moorhouse (born 1968 is a British historian and author Though born in Stockport, Cheshire he was raised in Hertfordshire and was educated at Berkhamsted School ISBN 0-224-07121-1

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Joachim Fest, Plotting Hitler’s Death: The German Resistance to Hitler 1933–1945, 236
  2. ^ Joachim Fest, Plotting Hitler's Death, 228
  3. ^ Himmler's contacts with the opposition and his possible motives are discussed by Peter Padfield, Himmler, 419–424
  4. ^ The Gestapo claimed 7,000 arrests. Operation Valkyrie ( Unternehmen Walküre) was an operational plan developed for the Reserve Army of the German Army ( Wehrmacht Heer) Operation Foxley was a 1944 plan to assassinate Adolf Hitler, created by the British Special Operations Executive. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located READ DISCUSSION PAGE BEFORE MAKING ANY EDITS TO CAPTION BELOW http//en This can be found in William L. Shirer's Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, ch. William Lawrence Shirer ( February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and historian The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by Journalist William L Shirer was the first definitive history of Nazi Germany in English. 29
  5. ^ Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1936–1945: Nemesis, 693
  6. ^ See Shirer ch. 29
  7. ^ Shirer attributes this anecdote to Allen Dulles in his book Germany's Underground P. Allen Welsh Dulles (April 7 1893 &ndash January 29 1969 was the first civilian and the longest serving (1953-1961 Director of Central Intelligence (de-facto head of 83
  8. ^ The list of proposed appointments from The History of German Resistance 1933-1945 P. 367

External links

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