Everything was in place for the attempt on Hitler's life but time was running out as the Gestapo closed in.
Operation Valkyrie(click here to find out what happened previously) suffered a setback early in July. The Gestapo (German Secret Police) began rounding up suspected conspirators. Von Stauffenberg and his fellow officers did not know how much the Gestapo knew of their plot, if anything, but decided to go ahead regardless. Further problems complicated matters in mid-July when senior officers sympathetic to their cause, including Field Marshal Kluge who was sent to the Eastern Front, and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who was wounded when his car was attacked by a fighter, were no longer available to help.
July 20, 1944
Still, the conspirators decided to continue their plans. The date was set for July 20, 1944 when von Stauffenberg was ordered to attend a meeting with Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair. The conspirators felt that their time was running out. The Gestapo was closing in and opportunities were becoming rare. The time to strike had come. The meeting was scheduled for one o’clock in the afternoon but was changed to 12:30 shortly after von Stauffenberg arrived.
Colonel von Stauffenberg entered the conference room, moved up close to Hitler and placed the briefcase containing the bomb on the floor beside the German leader. A few minutes later he left the room with the excuse of taking a phone call. Instead he left the building and climbed into his car. Seconds later, at 12:42 a huge explosion ripped through the building. At first the guards thought it was an air strike and rushed to assist any survivors.
Without wasting any time von Stauffenberg bluffed his way past the guards at the entrance and sped back to the airport to fly to Berlin. Upon landing he phoned ahead that Hitler was dead. It was not until he arrived at Operation Valkyrie headquarters that von Stauffenberg learned that Hitler had survived.
Conflicting reports quickly led to chaos. Major Otto Remer was sent to arrest Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, the only high ranking Nazi in the city. It was not known that Remer was an ardent Nazi and he was promoted to colonel and charged by Hitler to round up the conspirators.
In many places the plotters carried out their orders, believing Hitler was dead. In Vienna and Prague, troops arrested Nazi leaders and occupied their offices. Other officers lost their nerve. General Fromm promptly changed sides and tried to arrest von Stauffenberg and General Olbricht. Fighting broke out amongst the conspirators as to what to do next. By 11:00 in the evening Fromm had gained control of the situation and in hopes of saving his own skin arrested and executed Olbricht, Haeften and von Stauffenberg. He then reported to Goebbels that he had put down the uprising but he was arrested and later executed as well.
Why the Plot Failed
It was later learned that after von Stauffenberg had placed the bomb and left the room, Colonel Heinz Brandt had found the briefcase in his way and moved it to the other side of a heavy table leg away from Hitler. When the bomb exploded a stenographer and four officers were killed and five others wounded. Hitler had an injured hand and damaged eardrums. Four hours after the explosion Hitler gave visiting former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini a tour of the devastation.
Hitler’s Revenge
Hitler’s revenge now began in earnest. Anyone with even the remotest connection to the plotters was arrested including innocent relatives. Between 5,000 and 7,000 people were arrested and 200 executed. Colonel Tresckow, the instigator of the plot, avoided arrest by walking into range of a Russian machine gun. Others also committed suicide before the Gestapo got to them.
As a result of the failure of the plot to kill Hitler, the war would drag on for another nine months and hundreds of thousands more people would die before the Third Reich was brought to its knees. Adolf Hitler, who believed his escape from assassination was "confirmation of the task imposed on me by Providence" finally committed suicide on April 30, 1945.
Bibliography
Alan Bullock - Hitler: A Study in Tyranny –1952
Jacques Delarue – The Gestapo: A History of Horror –1965
Joachim Fest – Plotting Hitler’s Death: The German Resistance to Hitler –1996
Pierre Galante – Operation Valkyrie: The German Generals’ Plot Against Hitler - 2002
William L. Shirer – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich –1959
The copyright of the article The Plot to Kill Hitler in WW II History is owned by William Silvester. Permission to republish The Plot to Kill Hitler in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
its was also a failure because von Stauffenberg only put 1 explosive charge
in the breifcase. it was intended for it to be 2 explosive charges in the
case. tests have been proven, if both charges were put in then it would
have killed Hitler and all of the officers in the room wether it was moved
or not.
Dec 28, 2008 10:10 PM
Guest :
Im assuming the comment below me is only based off of themovie and not off
fact. Amazing how people start to believe they know everything once a
"true" movie is released based on the event.
Jan 20, 2009 5:46 PM
Guest :
I agree guest who wrote at Dec 21, 2008 1:43 AM
Feb 6, 2009 2:14 AM
Guest :
i learn my history through interesting movies.
Mar 20, 2009 6:35 AM
Guest :
well,i believe in research and facts, not what i watch in movies. no douth
movies are intresting ways to learn history and events but, movies could be
twisted a little bit to make an intresting plot or sequence. but i
seriously do not believe that if there were two booms hitler would have
been hit.
Apr 1, 2009 8:44 PM
Guest :
what i dont understand is how's come it still dident kill him it was only a
few feet awayfrom him wasent it? i need to know somebody plzz tell me
http://www.myspace.com/moeleader thx
May 15, 2009 6:38 AM
Guest :
Operation Valkerie - had two options one was to blow hitler up and the
other was to shoot him. the reson that hitler wasnt killed by the explosion
was because the C4 was armedto be right next to hitler. bcause it was moved
the hitler got shielded by his desk and only got small injuries the fact
below is true but 2 explosive would have been to big and would have killed
him to. he reson they dodnt go with the second option was because it was to
risky and nearly impossible.
May 23, 2009 9:24 PM
Guest :
I think operation Valkyrie did kill Hitler! I find it amusing that his
body has never been recognizably discovered...only journals. Smells like a
cover-up to me!
May 28, 2009 10:44 AM
Guest :
stupid plan all i can say! he could've done it by himself at the time they
met all he needed were sword and shield, end of war?!?!?!
May 29, 2009 9:08 AM
Guest :
The movie was great. But these kind of movies ALWAYS send me to do my own
research! I'm of German decent, and have always wondered how a man like
Hitler could come to power and then STAY in power. My research has shown
that not every one embraced the man or the "way" he did things.
As far as Providence protecting him - well, there are two forces at work in
this world - Good and evil. Considering the horrors Hitler visited on the
world as well as Germany, I think it's pretty clear which force was
protecting him! After this movie, and my subsequent research, I'm very
glad to know there were so MANY attempts, groups of people, etc., against
Hitler! We need to know history - true history - so we don't repeat the
mistakes from the past. True words!! Go do your research!!
Jul 6, 2009 1:37 PM
Guest :
two blasts for sure would have killed Hitler..I still dont get why there
was not two bombs..You are already in there doing it, put them both in the
same briefcase and done. Looked like there were two armed in the movie.
Anyways, what a trip love history. Shame on Fromm for not choosing the
correct side..He should have went back in to make sure everything went as
planned..Actually he should have been a suicide bomber to ensure of it.
Jul 28, 2009 6:34 PM
Guest :
Amazing how such a small difference could have had such a change in our
world. Whether the movement of the briefcase or the extra explosive
charges being used. Would we have a Cold War. Germany would have
surrended to the West and the West would have controlled all of Germany and
most of the lands to the East that they occupied? Think of the Marshall
Plan? How much of Germany would have needed would have needed to be
rebuilt if the war ended 9 months earlier? What about Japan? Would
America have been able to get to Japan earlier having only to focus on the
Pacific? Would they have had time to create the Atom bomb before the
invasion of Japan? Or would another crazy German still put down the
uprising and maintain control of the country forcing the war on for 9 more
months?
