Assassination Attempts on Adolf Hitler

Copied in 2003 from joric.com. Site no longer available.

On June 21, 1940, Adolf Hitler became the supreme master of continental Europe - a feat not rivaled by anyone else in modern European history since Napoleon. He might have been magnanimous in victory and not dealt France a humiliating armistice. But true to his mean-spirited and unelegant nature, he went out of his way to humiliate the French. At Compiegne, Hitler made a point of requisitioning for the occasion the railroad car in which France had forced Germany to sign the terms of its armistice in November 1918. In childlike vengeance, he then forced the French delegation to sit on the same side of the table occupied by the German delegation at the end of World War I. Hitler's Wehrmacht commanders had just achieved in a spectacular three week blitzkrieg campaign what Hindenberg and Ludendorff had failed to do in four years of bloody trench warfare in World War I. The feared Western offensive against France that so many of Hitler's critics had predicted would rain disaster on Germany saw instead the sudden collapse of France's morale and armed forces, and the forces of the invincible British Empire scrambling to escape across the Channel before the unstoppable Wehrmacht reached the coast. France's capitulation at Compiegne was the latest, the most spectacular, and still not the last in a string of spellbinding victories that convinced all too many that Hitler had become in Keitel's words "the greatest general of all times."

Schulenberg's June 1940 Attempt

In contrast to the majority of conspirators who in June 1940 thought it mad to venture a coup d'etat when Hitler had attained his zenith, Schulenberg and Witzleben believed that it was precisely then that they must destroy Hitler and the Nazi regime. They felt they could not afford to wait until Hitler plunged Germany into a ruinous war before launching a coup d'etat. Better to destroy the fuehrer and his regime now so that Germany could then negotiate peace from a position of strength. Even then, when Germany seemed on top of the world, the conspirators' number one priority would have been to end the war and re-establish full diplomatic relations with Britain and France. To achieve this, they were prepared to withdraw German forces from all the nations Hitler had conquered. The Danzig corridor and the Sudetenland were another issue. But the immediate task was to terminate Hitler. As German troops marched past the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, conspirators Count Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg and Dr. Eugen Gerstenmaier were secretly plotting to lure Hitler to the French capital to attend a military parade in the fuehrer's honor where they planned to assassinate him. Schulenberg himself intended tocarry out the attempt by shooting Hitler from the reviewing stand. The parade was set for July. Instead, Hitler secretly visited Paris in the early morning hours of June 23 where he toured the city's famed buildings and monuments -the Opera, the Champs Elysees, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Palace of Justice, and the Invalides where he gazed over Napoleon's tomb. When Hitler began his tour at 6 A.M. the streets of Paris were nearly deserted except for a few passersby who ignored him or ran such as a market woman who yelled, "C'est lui! Oh! C'est lui!" ("It's him! Oh! It's him!") and fled. By 9 A.M. Hitler had ended his tour and was off to the safety of his retreat. A few weeks later, Schulenberg received word that his hoped for July 27th parade where he intended to assassinate Hitler had been cancelled.

Witzleben's May 1941 Attempt

Despite Schulenberg's failure to lure Hitler to Paris, Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben who later served as Commander-in- Chief West in France during 1941-42 had plans of his own to kill the fuehrer. In May 1941, he attempted to lure Hitler to Paris under a similar pretext. But a fuehrer visit scheduled for May 21 was abruptly called off at the last minute. Thereafter, no further opportunities existed to lure Hitler back to the Western front.

General von Hammerstein's Plot on the Siegfried Line

Prior to the outbreak of World War II, General Kurt von Hammerstein spent much of 1939 repeatedly attempting to lure Hitler into visiting Germany's fortifications along the Siegfried Line where he commanded a base. Hammerstein assured his friend and co-conspirator, retired former Army Chief of Staff General Ludwig Beck that a "fatal accident" would take place when the fuehrer paid a visit to his base. Hitler never honored Hammerstein's invitation. Instead he turned the tables on Hammerstein by placing him on the retirement list.

The Lone Assassin - George Elser (1900-1945)

After Stauffenberg's July 1944 plot, George Elser's November 1939 assassination attempt comes closest to killing Hitler. But this Swiss clock-maker is in no way connected to the German conspirators. Here is a lone assassin so determined to annihilate Hitler that he rehearses his entire scenario a full year ahead of time. Every November 8th, Hitler comes to Munich's Burgerbraukeller Hall to honor the old-time nazis who took part in his failed 1924 uprising against the Weimar Republic. Many died in the street battles that ensued with the Reichwehr, so it is Hitler's custom to honor their sacrifice by commemorating their sacrifice with his usual tirade. Enter the lone assassin. George Elser is determined to kill Hitler for reasons similar to those of the German conspirators but also out of anger against the increasingly stringent paternalism of the Nazi state over its workers. Having worked in Germany for several years as a common laborer, he bitterly resents the Nazi regime's stranglehold on the labor unions. He first visits the Burgerbraukeller Hall on November 8, 1938 to attend Hitler's commemorative speech. But this visit is in fact a reconnaissance mission for the assassination he is planning to perpetrate exactly one year later. He realizes that Hitler is too well protected for an assassin to get close enough to aim a pistol. Theonly alternative is a time bomb. Over the next eight months, Elser gradually and quietly procures the tools and spare parts he will need: "an assortment of wooden planes, three hammers, two set squares, two tin shears, two graving tools, a pad saw, a precision ruler, scissors, pliers, wood clamps, and several rasps and fine wood files." (Mason, 81). His bomb making kit also includes 50 kilograms of high explosive, six clock movements, insulated wire, and a six-volt battery. His bag of tricks lies encased in a 180-mm brass artillery encasing he has somehow procured. On August 5, 1939, Elser arrives in Munich and secures a job as a carpenter. He then obtains work helping to renovate the Burgerbraukeller Hall for Hitler's November 8th visit. By day, Elser helps restore the building's interior. But every night, after 11:30 P.M., he re-enters the building through an obscure passage way and hides in the gallery until the last person has left the building and turned off the lights.

Professor Herbert Mason relates what Elser does afterwards: "Working by the weak beam of a flashlight shrouded with a blue handkerchief, Elser carefully prised away the molding that surrounded a rectangular section of the column. Then he carefully drilled a small hole in one upper corner of the veneer panel and inserted the tip of a special cabinet maker's saw. With exquisite care, Elser began cutting away the panel. He worked three or four hours, then cleaned up evidence of his work before falling asleep in a chair. The painstaking sawing a few millimeters at a time, the replacing of the molding, the picking up of each grain of sawdust after each stint of work - none of this tried the craftsman's patience. He spent three nights just removing the panel. No trace of his tampering could be detected.... He chipped out a cavity, bits and pieces at a time, using hammers and steel hand drills of various diameters. Each tap reverberated through the empty hall, sounding to Elser like pistol shots. When some obstruction required heavier blows than usual, he waited for noises from the street to cover the sounds. Since he worked during the predawn hours, he often had to wait a long time between hammers blows." (Mason, 81-82). Elser leaves the Burgerbraukeller every morning at 8:00 telling his landlord that he is working on a secret invention in a shop open to him only after midnight. In reality, he is converting two 15-day alarm clocks into a time bomb, one of which contains a parallel back-up triggering device should the main trigger fail. He then builds a system of cog wheels and levers which when set in motion will accurately run their course. Elser's smart-bomb will allow him to activate the timer up to 144 hours exactly or six days prior to the explosion. Finally, he procures a thin sheet of steel and fixes it to the column so that a passing security guard wandering through, the hall tapping away in search of suspicious hollow sounds will have no cause for suspicion. On the night of Thursday, November 2, Elser begins placing the charges and detonators inside the column. On Saturday, November 4, he tests the timers for the last time. They perform flawlessly. Shortly before 1:00 A.M., Monday, he begins to wire and arm his deadly clock work. At 6:00 A.M. Elser sets off the timer. The bomb is set to detonate in exactly 63 hours and 20 minutes - on Wednesday, November 8, at 9:20 P.M. On Monday morning Elser packs his belongings and checks out of his room to catch a train for Stuttgart. He returns one last time to the Burgerbraukeller in the early hours of Wednesday morning to check on his ticking timebomb. The timer is ticking away dead on schedule. He sneeks out of the building at 6:30 A.M. bound for Switzerland. If all goes according to plan, within 15 hours and 50 minutes Adolf Hitler will be blown to pieces. While Elser's time-bomb is ticking away inside the massive swastika-draped column behind the podium, Hitler delivers his speech to the old-timers, ranting and raving about the plight of the down-trodden in the decadent capitalist West while the German people make enormous strides under National Socialism. The minute hand on Elser's concealed clock is crawling ever closer towards 9:20PM. Hitler is not scheduled to leave the hall until 9:30PM at the earliest. But suddenly at 9:12PM - 57 minutes into his speech - Hitler wraps up his speech, gives a quick Nazi salute, and trots out of the Burgerbraukeller. His heavily armored motorcade whisks him away to the train station. Eight minutes later... A deafening explosion blows up the Burgerbraukeller. The six people closest to the podium are killed instantly and two more die within hours. Sixty five others lay injured. Elser's pillar has exploded sending shards of wood flying in all directions. The explosion is of such force that the ceiling collapses. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, had Hitler bellowed on for another eight minutes, as he was always prone to do in the past, there would have been nothing left of him to identify. Instead, fate or Hitler's legendary sixth sense compelled him to leave sooner than usual. Elser never makes it to Switzerland. Arrested by the border police 100 yards from the Swiss-German frontier, he is forced to turn out his pockets to reveal some bizarre items that irk his captors: a clock spring, a few small cogs, a tiny aluminum detonator, and a postcard of the Burgerbraukeller. Suspicious investigators hand him over to the Gestapo who, after learning about the assassination attempt in Munich, connect Elser and his cogs to the bombing.

Inexplicably, Elser is not executed immediately but will instead spend the next six and a half years as a concentration camp inmate at Sachsenhausen. Barely, two weeks before V-E Day, Elser is executed by the SS. To this day allegations persist that both S.S. Chief Heinrich Himmler and S.D. Chief Reinhard Heydrich may have had foreknowledge of Elser's attempt. Though no serious scholarship has ever confirmed these accounts, what is certain is that Himmler and Heydrich greatly benefit from Elser's attempt. Moreover, they exploit the incident in a way that proves detrimental to the German Resistance vis a vis London. Heydrich's SS intelligence service is aware that MI-6 (the British secret service) is attempting to establish contact with the German underground. Consequently, SS Gruppenfuehrer Walter Schellenberg is given the task of setting a trap to discredit the British government and harm the credibility of German conspirators seeking to enlist outside help. In September 1939, two British agents, Major R. Henry Stevens and Captain S. Payne Best are approached by a German emigre offering to put them in touch with German army officers plotting to overthrow the Nazi regime. The idea is soon endorsed by newly apppointed MI-6 Chief Sir Stewart Menzies. Best and Stevens then come into contact with "Captain Schaemmel" of the German Army Transportation Corps who reveals an army plot to overthrow the Nazi regime. Best and Stevens swallow the bait and are lured to to another meeting in the Dutch town of Venlo, 5 miles from the Dutch-German border. On the afternoon of November 9, as Best and Stevens drive towards the border for the secret encounter, they are fishtailed by a car whose occupants leap out, rain machine gun fire on the Dutch border guards, and take Stevens and Best hostage at gunpoint. The car then speeds back across the frontier into Germany. Although George Elser - the lone assassin - is completely unknown to British intelligence, SS intelligence conveniently frames Best and Stevens as Elser's foreign co-conspirators thereby implicating the British government in the Burgerbraukeller bombing. From that point on, British officials display an even greater reluctance to have anything to do with the real conspirators of the German Resistance. Meanwhile, Hitler further empowers Himmler and Heydrich by giving the SS full control over his personal security. Hitler learns of the bombing as soon as his armored train begins to pull out of Munich. He tells his staff how he is convinced that providence is protecting him so that he may fulfill Germany's destiny. He also boasts about his sixth sense which has never failed him. It will also protect him from the many more assassination attempts to come.

Breitenbuch's March 11 Attempt | Stauffenberg's July 11 Attempt |

Cavalry Captain Eberhard von Breitenbuch had served under Colonel Henning von Tresckow with Army Group Center in Russia. In the summer of 1944, he came to Stauffenberg with high recommendations and as a volunteer to sacrifice his life in the 12th German plot since 1938 to assassinate Adolf Hitler. In contrast to all the other military conspirators who had planned to assassinate Hitler with explosives - Tresckow, Bussche, Kleist, and Stauffenberg Breitenbuch is determined to use a handgun to do the job. Stauffenberg warns him that SS Gruppenfuehrer Hans Rattenhuber (Hitler's personal security chief) and his detachment of armed bodyguards are always present at fuehrer conferences, but Breitenbuch is not dissuaded. Although he is sure it will cost him his life, he is a crackshot with a pistol and is certain he can fatally hit the fuehrer before being killed. On March 11, 1944, Captain von Breitenbuch accompanies Field Marshal Ernst Busch, an ardent Nazi, as adjutant to attend a fuehrer conference at the Berghof. Concealed in his trouser pocket is a small Browning pistol. As the doors of the conference room open, Hitler's generals entered in one by one. But as Captain von Breitenbuch prepares to follow in right behind Busch, his path is suddenly blocked by the sargeant on duty who explains: "Sorry,

no adjutants beyond this point. Fuehrer's orders." Though Breitenbuch and the unsuspectin Busch protest vociferously, there is no way around it. Hitler has unwittingly or instinctively foiled yet another opportunity to assassinate him.

Stauffenberg's July 11, 1944 Attempt

Colonel von Stauffenberg's decision to kill Hitler himself and then fly back to Berlin to direct the coup is a direct result of his inability in July 1944 to find anyone else willing or able to fulfill the role of assassin. Co-conspirator Major Helmuth Stieff has his chance to do so on July 7 when he models in a new army winter uniform before Hitler. But when Stauffenberg pays him a visit the day before with a briefcase-concealed time bomb, Stieff squarely refuses to volunteer for the assignment. Stauffenberg is now convinced that despite his severe war wounds, only he can and must perpertrate the attack. As of the beginning of July he now finally has direct access to the fuehrer briefings by virtue of his appointment to Chief of Staff of the Reserve Army. But more importantly, he believes that only he himself has the necessary sang froid to perpetrate the attack. Stauffenberg will have three opportunities to strike against Hitler, on July 11, 15, and 20. On July 11, he flies with adjutant and co-conspirator Captain Friedrich Klausing to Berchtesgaden to attend a fuehrer briefing at Hitler's Berghof retreat. Stauffenberg remains inside the Berghof from 1:07 to 3:30 P.M. and carries with him a time bomb concealed inside his briefcase. Klausing awaits outside the Berghof with a car after having requisitioned a He-111 aircraft to stand-by for take off at the nearby airfield. Everything is in place for an escape to Berlin as soon as Stauffenberg has armed the bomb and made his way out of the Berghof. But when Stauffenberg places a code-worded call back to Berlin to inform his colleagues that neither Himmler nor Goering are present, they insist on aborting the mission. Stauffenberg himself agrees that Himmler must also be killed to ensure the success of the coup d'etat. He thus refrains from arming the bomb and safely returns to Berlin to plan his next assassination attempt against Hitler. This next one, like the last of the 18 plots, occurs at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters in Rastenberg, East Prussia on July 15.

September 28, 1938 - The First Coup Attempt

The Ideal Chance Contrary to widespread belief, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg's July 20,1944 uprising was not an isolated act but instead the last of 17 coup attempts by the anti-nazi German conspirators over a six-year period. Their first attempt to overthrow Hitler and the Nazi regime occurred in September 1938 - more than a year before the start of World War II. Had it not been for Britain and France's surrender to Hitler at Munich, the aborted September 1938 coup attempt may well have been the best chance the German conspirators had of overthrowing Hitler and the Nazi regime. Had Britain and France threatened war, later recalled German Army Chief of Staff General Franz Halder who plotted the coup, Hitler would have either been forced to back down or call their bluff. Either way, the real threat of war over Czechoslovakia or its outbreak would have played into the hands of the conspirators and convinced the German General Staff that this time Hitler had gone too far and had to be stopped. Instead, Britain and France's surrender reinforced Hitler's aura of infallibility and invincibility. The Background

Although many Germans who join the anti-nazi conspiracy in 1938 have long been opposed to the brutality of Hitler's reign, it is the Czech crisis that brings them together for the drastic purpose of attempting a coup d'etat to rid Germany of Hitler and the Nazi regime. Until Hitler turned his predatory attention to Czechoslovakia, the army could not be expected to intervene. The suspension of civil liberties and dissolution of the Reichstag by Hitler's Enabling Act, and his persecution of the Jews were political matters from which career officers were always expected to remain aloof and concentrate strictly on their professional military duties. Hitler's decision to neutralize the SA by massacring its leadership, to expand the 100,000 man army as restricted by the Versailles Treaty to an army of 550,000, to rebuild the navy and create an airforce, and to remilitarize the Rhineland win him enormous prestige and popularity within the armed forces. Even though expanding the army, rebuilding the navy, creating an airforce, and remilitarizing the Rhineland are all in direct violation of the Versailles Treaty, Britain and France offer scarcely more than verbal protests. Even after Hitler annexes neutral independent Austria, his brinksmanship still goes unchallenged while he acquires ever more the aura of invincibility. Next on the menu: Czechoslovakia. Hitler Targets Czechoslovakia In May 1938, Adolf Hitler summons the Reich's top military and political leaders to the Chancellery to tell them: "It is my unalterable decision to smash Czechoslovakia in the near future by military action! We will tackle the Czech situation, then we will tackle the situation in the West." His audience listens in stunned silence. Hitler has just unveiled a policy that many are convinced will drag Germany into another European war with Britain and France, and ultimately even the United States. Army Commander-in-Chief later Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch and his Chief of Staff General Ludwig Beck have known about it since April 21 when Hitler directed the General Staff to begin work on Case Green - the attack on Czechoslovakia. But Brauchitsch who has all the feasible means to stop Hitler will not act. A weak and vacillating character who stands in fearful awe of his supreme master, the army's head is also indebted to his fuehrer who has given him a sum of 80,000 Reichsmarks ($20,000) to settle a divorce. Beck, who commands no troops, is nevertheless determined to do everything in his power to dissuade Hitler from attacking Czechoslovakia. Following Hitler's April 21 directive, Beck spends the next two weeks working with his staff to draft a detailed military report containing a myriad of technical and political reasons as to why Case Green is unfeasible and disastrous to Germany: "France and Russia are already on the side of Britain, and America will attach herself to them....Britain is preparing to throw her sword into the balance should Germany march on Czechoslovakia....Lying centrally within the continent, Germany cannot withstand a major war on land, sea, and in the air." On the civilian side, adding their own weight to Beck's argument are Reichsbank director Dr. Hjalmar Schacht (demoted from the post of Finance Minister for opposing Hitler's economic policies) and former Leipzig mayor Dr. Carl Goerdeler, both of whom join ranks with Beck to help plan the first coup attempt. Czechoslovakia is a key ally of the Entente (Britain, France, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia), so there is every reason to expect that an attack on Czechoslovakia will drag Germany into a war in which she would single-handedly have to fight five enemies at once - providing that the remaining four powers are still willing to go towar to protect Czechoslovakia. Neither Beck nor any officer on the General Staff believe Germany can afford to play this game of deadly poker. Although Britain and France have been lenient towards Hitler on many occasions, they certainly will never allow Germany to trample over an Entente ally, or so the generals think. To even contemplate such a risk is insane. But on this occasion, as on so many others before, Hitler's instinct knows better. He is convinced that Britain and France lack the will to fight for Czechoslovakia. If so, then why should Poland or Russia?

Beck Appeals to the General Staff While Hitler steams ahead with his plans for conquest, Beck spends much of the summer of 1938 prodding his indecisive and weak-willed superior, General von Brauchitsch, to use his powers as Army Commander-in-Chief to stop Hitler: "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures," Beck pleaded, "we must appeal to all the army generals and convince them that Germany should not and cannot accept responsibility for such ventures. History will burden these leaders with blood-guilt if they do not act in accord with their conscience.... If their warning and counsel receive no hearing, then they have the right to resign their offices." (Mason, 38). After much badgering by Beck, Brauchitsch eventually relents and convenes a general meeting to sound out the General Staff. Having outlined Hitler's plans and Beck's dire warnings of an ensuing catastrophe, Brauchitsch wants feedback. The consensus is unanimous - nobody wants war with Britain and France. But Beck's proposal that they they all strike if Hitler persists with his Czech gamble is greeted with silence. By no means should they confront Hitler as a group, objects General von Reichenau. One man alone - the Army C-in-C - must act as their spokesman. Days later, Brauchitsch approaches Hitler to voice the consensus of the General Staff only "to be dressed down like some bumbling orderly." (Mason, 39). With the General Staff having rejected Beck's initiative to resign en masse and Brauchitsch ever paralyzed before his fuehrer, General Beck realizes that unless he and others take drastic action, Hitler will drag Germany and all of Europe into another calamitous world war. He wastes no time in organizing the first German military plot to overthrow the Nazi regime. Planning the Coup Beck immediately gets in touch with likeminded anti-nazi colleagues Abwehr Chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris and Deputy Abwehr Chief General Hans Oster. From that moment on Berlin's Abwehr headquarters becomes the nerve center of the conspiracy to overthrow Hitler and the Nazi regime. While the wily Canaris shrowds the plot in secrecy, General Oster becomes its managing director, recruiting anti-nazis into conspirators, coordinating the plot, briefing secret emissaries who will travel to London to enlist Britain's help, and developing a strategic plan to seize Berlin by force in a coup d'etat. Oster recruits Hans Bernd Gisevius who participates in the planning and in turn recruits into the plot Berlin Police President Heinrich von Helldorf and KRIPO Chief Arthur Nebe. Also involved are Berlin Police Vice-President Count Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg and Berlin City Commandant Lt.-General Paul von Hase. Helldorf and Schulenberg agree to place the Berlin police at the disposal of Halder for the anticipated coup. Nebe supplies Oster with crucial information on SS strong points and secret safehouses throughout Berlin. Also recruited into the plot are two more vehement anti-nazis: Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, the commander Wehrkreis-3 (Berlin military district), and General Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeld, the commander of Potsdam's 23rd Infantry Division and its elite 9th Infantry Regiment. Halder's deputy chief of staff, General Karl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel, joins the conspiracy and helps Halder plan the assault on Berlin. Calling on London for Help While the Berlin-based conspirators focus on developing their plan for a coup d'etat, Beck dispatches a number of secret emissaries to London in the hope of persuading the British government that the German General Staff does not support Hitler and would overthrow the Nazi regime if Britain shows it is willing to fight for Czech sovereignty. Only the threat of war can justify a coup d'etat: "Give me certain proof that Britain will fight for Czechoslovakia," Beck tells his emissaries, "and I will make an end of this regime."

August 17, 1938 - With that objective in mind, co-conspirator Count Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin travels to London to convince the Chamberlain government of the German General Staff's willingness to overthrow Hitler. The secret visit is arranged by Canaris, Oster, and British correspondent and Canaris friend Ian Colvin. Kleist is never granted an audience with Britain's prime minister or even her Foreign Secretary. He is instead received by the Foreign Office's Germanophobic undersecretary Robert Vansittart. Kleist opens the meeting declaring Beck's vow to topple the Nazi regime if Britain makes it clear to Hitler that if he attacks Czechoslovakia, she will fight alongside her ally. Kleist reiterates the certainty of Hitler attacking Czechoslovakia unless Britain rattles her sabres. "Do you mean an extreme danger?" questions Vansittart. "No, I mean a complete certainty," answers Kleist, "and after September 27, anything you do will be too late." (Manson, 40). Kleist implores the Foreign Office to make it unmistakably clear to the world that Britain will fight for Czechoslovakia, and to empower this warning with a massive display of British naval sea power. Vansittart promises to relay Kleist's appeal to his government. But the British foreign secretary and the prime minister discard all appeals to end appeasement. Prior to leaving England, Kleist manages to secure an interview with the leader of the Tory opposition in parliament, Winston Churchill who listens with great interest and agrees to write a strongly-worded letter to Hitler stating Britain's determination to fight if her ally Czechoslovakia is attacked. Churchill's letter does reach the fuehrer but has no effect whatsoever since Churchill is not even a member of Chamberlain's cabinet. August 18 - Having failed to dissuade Hitler to abandon his plan to attack Czechoslovakia and having failed to persuade the General Staff to resign en masse, Beck informs general Brauchitsch that he refuses to be a party to the rape of Czechoslovakia and offers his resignation. Brauchitsch forwards his request to Hitler who initially rejects Beck's request and then flies into a rage when Reichenau informs Hitler that Beck has been conspiring to persuade the General Staff to resign en masse in protest. August 21 - Hitler formally accepts Beck's resignation, remarking privately, "The only man I fear is Beck. He would be capable acting against me." September 1 - General Franz Halder succeeds Beck as Army Chief of Staff. Unknown to Hitler, Halder is a key member of the plot to overthrow the Nazi regime and energetically assumes his responsibilities as coup leader. Halder oversees all planning and busies himself with the smallest details in planning the assault on Berlin. September 2 and 5 - The failure of the Kleist mission prompts the German conspirators to send more emissaries to London. On September 5, Theo Kordt - a high ranking German diplomat in London - is granted entry through the back door of No.10 Downing Street. He comes with renewed appeals to the British government to stand firm over Czechoslovakia in order to provide the German General Staff with the necessary pretext to overthrow the Nazi regime. Like those before it, the Kordt mission ends in complete failure. The Chamberlain government will not abandon appeasement. Preparing for H-Hour While secret emissaries of the conspiracy travel to London, planning and preparations for the coup d'etat have moved into high gear. As Halder, Oster, and Witzleben finalize the operational scenario for the assault on Berlin, Gisevius accompanies General von Brockdorff-Ahlefeld who asks close friend Frau Elizabeth Struenck to drive them through Berlin for an afternoon excursion.

The drive through Berlin's streets is in fact a reconnaissance mission with Brockdorff furiously making notes of strategic points to be seized during H-Hour - the launch of the coup d'etat. Brockdorff notes key government ministries and telephone exchanges, the SS barracks in Lichterfelde, the huge radio broadcasting station at Koenigswusterhausen, and Sachsenhausen concentration camp where 5,000 Germans already languish behind barbed wire and whose political prisoners the conspirators plan to liberate in the wake of the coup. Given Hitler's spellbinding hold over the German armed forces and people in the summer of 1938, the conspirators all agree that any coup aimed overtly against Hitler is doomed to failure. Better to claim the imminence of an SS conspiracy to seize power by SS Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler and SS Intelligence Chief Reinhard Heydrich, thereby forcing a pre-emptive coup by the army to protect the state and its fuehrer. Though many might find this story hard to swallow given the SS's fanatical devotion to Hitler, it is the best pretext the conspirators can come up with. But they only plan to stick to this story in the coup's initial hours. The real motive is to be revealed publicly as soon as the coup is a fait accompli: that Hitler was about to plunge Germany into war with Britain and France to satisfy his thirst for conquering Czechoslovakia. The army had thus intervened to save Germany from war. The conspirators' entire coup scenario is based on the certain premise that Britain and France will fight to protect Czecho -slovakia. Nobody can imagine for a moment that the leading Entente powers will sacrifice a key ally at the bargaining table to Hitler in order to avoid war. All of them expect Britain and France to open or at least threaten hostilities or display some massive show of force if Hitler so much as moves one German soldier over the GermanCzech border. In that event, the German people are sure to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the army has seized power to spare Germany the nightmare of another ruinous war. The assault on Berlin will be undertaken by General von Brockdorff's Potsdam-based 23rd Infantry Division and spearheaded by the elite 9th Infantry Regiment. As commander of the Berlin Military District, Field Marshal von Witzleben will back up this assault with his own forces. But the key objective is seizing Hitler. For this purpose, Oster calls on Major Wilhelm Heinz - a close friend and fellow anti-nazi officer who has seen years of street action with the Freikorps prior to becoming specialized in commando tactics. Heinz rapidly assembles a 50-man assault force. On the day of the coup, Heinz and his men are to storm into the Chancellery and "secure the fuehrer" who will then be escorted (kidnapped) "for his protection" to a secluded castle. Schulenberg and Theo Kordt will arrange to have the massive double doors of the Reich Chancellery open to allow the assault team to storm into the building. Oster has already given Heinz a map of the Chancellery. Disposing of Hitler The general consensus among the conspirators is that Hitler must be apprehended alive in order to be brought to trial so that the world can see decency and the rule of law restored within Germany. Beck, Goerdeler, and many others believe Hitler should be arraigned on charges of high crimes against the state for the Nazi regime's violation of human rights, its persecution of the Jews and other minorities, state corruption, abuse of power, obstruction of justice, and endangering the peace of Europe. Abwehr official and co-conspirator Dr. Hans von Dohnanyi has another idea in mind: he wants Hitler examined by a panel of psychiatrists who will be supplied with medical evidence of mental hysteria exhibited by Hitler during World War I after being temporarily blinded in a gas attack. Hitler would then declared mentally ill and committed to an asylum. More radical conspirators like Gisevius and Oster argue that as long as Hitler is alive he will remain a focal rallying point for organizations and individuals like the SS and Himmler who will fight tenaciously to save the fuehrer-state and their livelihood. More importantly, the only way to break the spell cast over the armed forces by the fuehrer oath is to kill the fuehrer. But Beck and Canaris refuse to sanction assassination. Hitler must not be turned into a martyr, but instead arrested and tried for his crimes. Oster and Heinz have their own plan in mind. They hatch a secret plot within this plot to physically eliminate Hitler.

The Secret Heinz-Oster Plan Oster and Heinz are in complete agreement that the fuehrer's very existence is lethal to any coup d'etat. The fuehrer-state can only be overthrown if the fuehrer is assassinated. Hitler alive and in custody will only imperil his captors. Heinz assures Oster that when his commandos storm into the Chancellery, he will see to it that Hitler is "accidentally killed in the crossfire." The Czech Crisis September 12 - Hitler delivers a scathing public attack on Czechoslovakia, its history, and its president (Benes) at a packed stadium in Nuremburg. But there is no talk of war or demands for the annexation of Czechoslovakia's ethnically German dominated Sudetenland. Thousands of German Sudetens hearing Hitler's speech over the radio spill out into the streets of towns armed with pistols and rifles. Riots break out and the Czech army declares martial law. Czech troops move into the town of Tachau to restore order. Eleven German-Sudetens are killed. September 14 - British Prime Minister Sir Neville Chamberlain announces he will leave for Berchtesgaden to see Herr Hitler in an attempt to diffuse the Czech crisis. September 15 - The first of three talks between Prime Minister Chamberlain and Germany's fuehrer. During the three-hour meeting, Chamberlain informs Hitler that Britain is not opposed to annexation by plebiscite but is opposed to Germany acquiring the Sudetenland through force of arms. He tells Hitler he will consult with his government and the French to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. In Berlin, plans and preparations for the coup d'etat are now complete. Major Heinz and his commandos are secretly hidden in various safehouses throughou Berlin (like 118 Eisenachstrasse), armed, ready, and waiting for the order to leap into action. Witzleben is worried about the threat posed by the SS-Liebstandardt Division. But General Hoepner who commands a tank force in the Thuringian forest and has joined the conspiracy promises to deploy his panzers in full force at the first sign of SS resistance. September 22 - Chamberlain and Hitler meet in the town of Bad-Godesberg where Chamberlain declares that Britain and France would be amenable to Germany's annexation of the Sudetenland on a peaceful step-by-step basis that would cause Czechoslovakia minimal loss. Hitler takes the offensive and rants about repeated cases of Czech persecution against German Sudetens. Hitler then vows to take the Sudetenland by force regardless of British and French guarantees. September 24 - Hitler declares an October 1 deadline by which time the Wehrmacht will annex the Sudetenland by force unless Czechoslovakia peacefully hands over what is ethnically German. Hitler then addresses a crowd of 20,000 spectators in Berlin's Sportpalast accusing Czech president Benes of being a Bolshevik bent on annihilating German Sudetens and vowing to secure German-Sudeten freedom by force unless Czechoslovakia meets his deadline. September 25 - Britain and France begin to show some resolve. Britain places her naval fleet on stand-by alert while France recalls her reservists. Czechoslovakia mobilizes. September 26 - Hitler rages about the Czechs to a British diplomat exclaiming: "I don't give fig if the British and French attack in the West! I am prepared for any eventuality! It's Tuesday today, and by next Monday we shall be at war!" (Mason, 48). The British government publicly declares that if Hitler persists in taking the Sudetenland by force, France, Britain, and Russia will fulfill their treaty obligations towards Czechoslovakia. Word of Hitler's threats reaches the conspirators who are certain Britain and France will not cave in to Hitler's challenge and that the moment to overthrow the Nazi regime is now finally just days if not hours away. But Anglo-

German negotiations continue for several days. Oster becomes pessimistic and confides to Gisevius that Britain and France will soon cave in. September 27 - Hitler raises the stakes and now informs Prague that Czechoslovakia has until 2:00PM the next day to agree to his demands or the Wehrmacht will move into action. But a military parade in front of the Reich Chancellery that night to whip up public opinion has no affect on the otherwise sullen and despondent public. An embittered fuehrer comments to an aide: "How can I wage a war with people like this?" September 28 - The Pivotal Moment Early morning - Hitler's deadline is only hours away. Major Heinz and his commandos are in position, guns cocked, awaiting orders to spring into action. Oster holds an emergency meeting with Beck, Witzleben, and Halder who weeps as he reads a copy of Hitler's ultimatum to the Czechs. Halder confirms that Brauchitsch cannot be counted upon to help but is aware of the plot and has promised not to hinder it if Britain and France go on stand-by alert. The conspirators agree to await Britain and France's next move. If the Entente Allies put their forces on stand-by alert, Halder will give Oster, Witzleben, and Brockdorff the green-light to launch the coup. Witzleben hurries back to his headquarters where he finds Gisevius waiting for him in his office and exclaims: "Gisevius, the time has come!" Both men stand by the telephone anxiously waiting for orders from Halder to spring into action. 11:00 AM - Italy's Mussolini intercedes in the crisis with an offer to mediate an Anglo-French-German summit to diffuse the crisis. A satisfied Prime Minister Chamberlain informs a relieved British public that he is going to Munich "to have another talk with Herr Hitler who has agreed to come half-way to meet me." September 29, 1:30 A.M. - Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini, and French President Edouard Daladier sign the Munich Agreement in which Britain and France have officially agreed to surrender Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland to Germany. The Czech government is neither invited nor even consulted about this crippling and ill-fated effect upon its national security. With news of the Munich Agreement, all of Europe heaves a sigh of relief to Chamberlain's announcement that "peace in our time" has been saved. The conspirators fall into deep despair at Britain and France's surrender to Hitler who returns to Berlin in triumph as peacemaker and conqueror. Gisevius later recalls the effect of the Munich Agreement on the conspirators: "Our revolt was done for. Schacht, Oster, and I sat around Witzleben's fireplace and tossed our plans into the fire. We spent the rest of the evening meditating, not on Hitler's triumph, but on the calamity that had befallen Europe." (Mason, 50). November 5, 1939 - The Second Attempt Hitler's attack against Poland and the ultimately fatal consequences it has for Germany which many conspirators already forsee, the widespread massacres of Jews and many other segments of Polish society by SS death squads under explicit orders from Hitler, and his declared intention to then attack and conquer western Europe, all combine to give the German conspirators a renewed sense of urgency in plotting a second coup d'etat to overthrow Hitler and the Nazi regime while there is still time to save Germany from total destruction. War Over Poland

Shortly after German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop returns from Moscow in late August 1939 after engineering the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (which secretly stipulates the joint Nazi-Soviet attack and dismemberment of Poland), Hitler decides to unleash the colossal fury of his Wehrmacht against helpless Poland. He and so many others are positively certain that Britain and France will not, despite their now firm declarations to do so, go to war against Germany for the sake of far away Poland. After all, having sacrificed Czechoslovakia, why should they now fight for Poland? But for the first time in years, Hitler will be proven dead wrong in his estimate of Anglo-French diplomatic resolve. September 3, 1939 - Britain and France not only hold firm to their word but go so far as to declare war on Germany. Yet the Anglo-French declaration of war remains nothing but that - a declaration on paper. Tragically for Poland, her Western allies do not so much as fire one shot across the fortified French-German frontier. Unable and unwilling to take the offensive to relieve Poland's plight, the French barricade themselves behind their seemingly impenetrable Maginot Line, while Britain speeds up her rearmament program to ensure the defense of her realm. None are perhaps more startled than Hitler at the Anglo-French declaration of war on Germany. But having unleashed his Wehrmacht against Poland he is not about to recall his forces from their first of many uninterrupted blitzkrieg campaigns throughout Europe. He is also sure that no major western offensive will be forthcoming. Once again he is right. Poland is knocked out within three weeks, Germany's pre-1918 eastern territories reclaimed, and the intolerable Danzig corridor separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany finally a thing of the past. Within weeks of the German offensive, the Red Army joins the attack so that Stalin can swallow his half of Poland. By September 25, Warsaw has fallen and victory is complete - Poland no longer exists. Hitler now sets his sights on delivering a knock-out blow to the west. Turning West September 27 - Barely two days after Warsaw is conquered and Poland annihilated, Hitler orders Army Commander- in-Chief General Walther von Brauchitsch and Army Chief of Staff General Franz Halder to prepare the Wehrmacht for an impending offensive against France and the Low Countries. The plan is formalized as Directive No.6. or Case Yellow. This revelation startles the General Staff, the overwhelming majority of whom agree that such an adventure will surely spell disaster for Germany. Among those opposed to Hitler's greatest gamble yet are such prominent names as generals Gerd von Rundstedt, Feodor von Bock, Ritter von Leeb, and even the unscrupulous nazi-leaning general Walter von Reichenau. October 27 - As Hitler formally announces his plan to conquer western Europe in front of his assembled audience of Wehrmacht leaders, he lays down November 12 - a mere two and a half weeks away - as the scheduled start of his western offensive. The army top brass now have no doubt in their minds that he really intends to start a war with the western powers which virtually no officer of the General Staff is confident Germany has a chance of winning. Word of the November 12 attack date is immediately relayed to leading conspirator General Hans Oster who wastes no time in rallying his likeminded colleagues to begin plotting another coup d'etat against Hitler and the Nazi regime. The Second Plot As Oster rallies the ranks, almost immediately the same names resurface to take part in the planning: Beck, Canaris, Witzleben, Stuelpnagel, Hoepner, Goerdeler, Gisevius, Dohnanyi, Nebe, Heinz, along with some new faces: General Alexander von Falkenhausen, Abwehr liaison at OKH headquarters Major Helmuth

Groscurth, Major Werner Schrader, Colonel Edward Wagner, and Lt.-Colonel Henning von Tresckow who will eventually come to play a leading role in the conspiracy after Hitler invades Russia in June 1941. As Army Chief of Staff, Halder again presides over the second plot. October 31 - November 2 - Over three days-time, Oster and is colleagues in the know are intensively involved in putting together the complex scenario for a second coup d'etat in Berlin: a detailed arrest list is drawn up, a new government charted with Beck as its head of state. Dohnanyi for his part sees to drafting the proclamations to be read over the air waves during the coup. The official communique to be released to the German people will state that Adolf Hitler under the malevolent influence of nefarious nazi characters Hermann Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop, had been goaded into planning an attack and invasion of western Europe thereby violating Dutch and Belgian neutrality. The army had intervened to save Germany and Europe from the disastrous consequences of another world war. Hitler is to be declared "ill and temporarily incapacitated." Hitler, Goebbels, Ribbentrop, Goering, and Himmler are then to be arrested for high crimes of state: Hitler and Ribbentrop for endangering the peace of Europe, Goebbels for using hate propaganda to fuel the persecution of minorities such as the Jews, Goering for corruption, Himmler for imprisoning thousands of innocent people in concentration camps and orchestrating one of the most vicious campaigns against human rights in history. Consequently the Gestapo and Propaganda ministires are to be immediately abolished and Beck to call for elections within a few months after a stable interim government is firmly in control of the Reich. Canaris warns his colleagues once again to stick to the SS-Party conspiracy theory until the coup d'etat is a fait accompli. Within the crucial early hours of the coup, the army must claim that Hitler is "secured" (as opposed to arrested) and "escorted" for his safety (as opposed to kidnapped) from the Chancellery. Canaris also confides to his diary that Halder can no longer be counted on to energetically lead the coup. Like Brauchitsch, he will find some way to slide out of it. Prodding "the Generals" If Halder seems unreliable the second time around, even less can be expected of Army Commander-in-Chief General Walther von Brauchitsch. His role vis a vis the conspiracy is to become immortalized in his vow "not to do anything" but also "not to prevent anyone else from acting." In other words, Brauchitsch - the man who commands the entire German Army - intends to play it safe and remain aloof come what may. This does not prevent conspirators such as Carl Goerdeler, Johannes Popitz, and Otto John from sending a letter to Brauchitsch imploring him to use the resources and power at his command to neutralize Hitler. After no action is forthcoming from Brauchitsch, conspirators Theo Kordt and Major Groscurth drafts their own appeal warning Brauchitsch that Hitler's western offensive will result in calamity. October 27 - Repeatedly badgered by the conspirators, Brauchitsch and Halder secure a meeting with Hitler where they fail to dissuade him from calling off his western offensive. In a separate and private meeting with Brauchitsch, Halder threatens to resign over the issue but relents after his superior breaks into a brief fit of weeping lamenting: "I cannot possibly face that man on my own if you leave me." Halder and Stuelpnagel meet to discuss plans for the coup. Stuelpnagel advises Halder to lock up Brauchitsch if necessary and carry out the coup himself in Brauchitsch's name. Halder sends Stuelpnagel to the western front to sound out the front line commanders on their attitude to Hitler's planned western offensive and the proposal to stop it with an army coup d'etat. Generals Gerd von Rundstedt, Feodor von Bock, and Ritter von Leeb - the commanders of army groups A, B, and C - all agree that any western offensive would be disastrous, but Rundstedt and Bock refuse to take any action. Only Leeb declares himself "unreservably ready." (Hoffmann, 134). Witzleben who commands C's 1st Army is also committed.

October 31 - Halder asks Home Army Commander-in-Chief General Friedrich Fromm to lend his support to his plan to abort Hitler's planned western offensive by leading an army coup d'etat to arrest Hitler and other top ranking Nazi officials. Fromm refuses to commit himself one way or the other - not the last time he will straddle the fence. Halder warns leading conspirators to stand-by. Oster pulls out the plans of the 1938 aborted coup attempt from his safe and has them updated for the anticipated November 1939 coup. Co-conspirator Major Wilhelm Heinz reassembles his secret commando team for an assault on the Chancellery. November 4 - Conspirator Theo Kordt confides to Oster that Halder is unreliable and predicts the army chief of staff will fail them at the crucial moment. Kordt volunteers to assassinate Hitler himself. Oster agrees to supply Kordt with explosives. Halder's Hamlet Syndrome General Franz Halder later confesses that during the Fall of 1939 he has often come to see Hitler at the Chancellery armed with a small pistol concealed safely in his trouser pocket. Presumably, Halder intended to use his pistol against Hitler on some occasion but could not summon the will to shoot the fuehrer in cold blood. In his book Plotting Hitler's Death, German historian Joachim Fest analyzes this paradoxical behavior of senior German General Staff officers like Halder who take such great personal risks and then find themselves unable to act at the crucial moment. There is no doubt that Halder realized that Hitler would drag Germany down to destruction and that he recognized that the fuehrer could only be removed by assassination. But like many other senior General Staff officers of the old school, Halder is incapable of pulling the trigger and is for this reason a modern day Hamlet. Like Hamlet who seeks to kill King Polonius, Halder seems determined to kill the fuehrer but can never pull his revolver out of his pocket. To put an end to a German head of state in this mafia-style manner is abhorrent to his traditional values. A German officer can not stoop to such depths as killing his sovereign in cold blood, be the ruler a king or a fuehrer of the people. Younger General Staff officers like Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg were not paralyzed by such scruples. Hitler's Threat - Halder's Panic November 5 - Repeatedly prodded by the conspirators to stop Hitler from launching the western offensive, Brauchitsch and Halder visit Hitler at the Chancellery in a last ditch attempt to dissuade the fuehrer from embarking on his imminent western offensive. While Halder waits in the ante-room, Brauchitsch is summoned into Hitler's study where he puts forward all the arguments he can think of to dissuade Hitler from attacking the West - the army's ill-equipped state, Germany's inability to win a protracted war with the western powers which will inevitably soon draw in the United States with its overwhelming industrial and military might. Hitler flies into a rage heaping insults and scorn onto Brauchitsch and threatening to "destroy the spirit of resistance in Zossen." According to Halder, Brauchitch emerges from Hitler's study "chalk white with fear." On the drive back from the Chancellery, Brauchitsch relays the gist of the meeting to Halder who flies into panic upon hearing his superior repeat Hitler's vow to "destroy the spirit of resistance in Zossen." Halder believes this is a thinly-veiled threat on Hitler's part to unmask the conspirators. He fears that SS intelligence may have already uncovered the plot against Hitler and that the fuehrer will give the order to raid army headquarters at any moment. Halder returns to his office in Zossen where he immediately orders the conspirators to destroy all evidence of the plans for the coup d'etat.

November 5, 5:00 P.M. - Halder has Groscurth ask Canaris on his behalf to have Hitler assassinated. Canaris is furious and incensed at Halder's attempt to shift the burden of responsibility for a coup d'etat onto him. Canaris tells Groscurth to tell Halder to live up to his responsibilities and launch the coup. Halder agrees to do so provided Witzleben is on hand in Berlin. November 8 - Hitler visits Munich's Burgerbraukeller beer hall for his annual commemoration speech honoring the veterans of his 1923 failed "beer hall" putsch. On this occasion, he wraps up his speech early at 9:07 P.M. and leaves the building. Thirteen minutes later, lone assassin George Elser's bomb explodes killing the six people closest to Hitler's podium and injuring more than 60 others. The fallout is devastating to the conspirators' plans: SS intelligence assumes total control over Hitler's security. That same day, Oster and Gisevius go to see Witzleben at his headquarters on behalf of Halder who insists on Witzleben's presence in Berlin in the event of another planned coup attempt. Witzleben warns his colleagues in the know that Halder and Brauchitsch can no longer be counted upon to take any action against the regime. November 9 - Army Group C commander General Ritter von Leeb convenes a secret meeting with army group A and B commanders General Gerd von Rundstedt and General Feodor von Bock who both reject Leeb's proposal that all three should confront Hitler unanimously and threaten resignation unless Hitler cancels his plans for the western offensive. Kordt Volunteers November 11 - Fellow conspirator Erich Kordt (brother of Theo Kordt) plans to kill Hitler that day in the Chancellery with explosives. Kordt tells Oster he is prepared to sacrifice his own life to kill Hitler. But Oster contacts Kordt informing him that the Elser attempt in Munich has resulted in increased security measures making it impossible to obtain the explosives for Kordt's mission. The Failure of "The Generals" and Despair of the Plotters November 23 - Hitler addresses the Wehrmacht leaders in the Chancellery where he vows to "vanquish Germany's rivals or be annihilated" November 27 - Conspirator Major-General George Thomas begs Halder one last time to appeal to Brauchitsch to arrest Hitler before he plunges Germany into war with the West. Halder denies Thomas's request citing four reasons for his refusal: [1] Assassination runs against the grain of army tradition. [2] The absence of a viable alternative successor-regime to the fuehrer state. [3] The unreliability of the junior ranks of the officer corps, given their thorough endoctrination in the Nazi academies. [4] Vehement public hostility if not civil war as the likely political outcome in the event of an assassination or coup d'etat. November 30 - Conspirator Ulrich von Hassel tries desperately to rouse Brauchitsch and Halder to action, but even the ever-ebullient Goerdeler has now given up hope. Hassel begs Canaris to appeal once again to "the generals" but Canaris replies it is hopeless to believe any further in Brauchitsch and Halder. Conclusion The tragic dilemma facing the conspiracy in November 1939 is that only the German army can overthrow the Nazi regime. But the army cannot seize power without orders to do so by its commander-in-chief, Brauchitsch, who refuses to commit himself to the plot beyond assuring the conspirators that "I myself will not do anything, but I will not stop anyone else from acting."

A number of generals in the field like Leeb and Witzleben are ready to act but are either not stationed close to Berlin or will not march unless the army commander-in-chief gives the order to move. Halder's panic attack on November 5, 1939 torpedoes the last effective coup attempt before Hitler opens his western offensive in May 1940. Following Elser's November 8 assassination attempt against Hitler, security measures are vastly increased and it becomes virtually impossible for any committed member of the conspiracy to come within striking distance of Hitler.

Kordt's Attempt in the Chancellory

Conspirator Dr. Erich Kordt, the brother of Theo Kordt who had also plotted to assassinate Hitler, resolves in November 1939 to kill Hitler himself. November 5, 1939 - Army Commander-in-Chief General Walther von Brauchitsch goes to see Hitler in the Chancellery in a last ditch effort to persuade the fuehrer to cancel his November 12 target date for the start of the western offensive. Hitler explodes in anger at Brauchitsch heaping personal insults upon scorn. Brauchitsch leaves Hitler's study pale with fear and relates Hitler's threat "to destroy the spirit of resistance in Zossen" to Army Chief of Staff General Franz Halder who immediately aborts the second planned coup attempt. Erich Kordt agrees with co-conspirator General Hans Oster that the German Army High Command will not act against the regime unless it is freed from the fuehrer oath. Kordt does not trust Brauchitsch or Halder to seize the initiative of launching a coup d'etat. Oster promises to have the explosives ready for Kordt by themorning of November 11. In the first week of November, Kordt makes a point of showing up frequently in the Chancellery's large ante-room to Hitler's study. November 8 - Lone assassin George Elser's time-bomb explodes in Munich's Burgerbraukeller beer hall killing instantly the six people closest to Hitler's podium and injuring more than 60 others but missing Hitler by a mere 13 minutes. November 11, 1939 - On the day Kordt is scheduled to assassinate Hitler he is informed by Oster that it was impossible to obtain the necessary explosives owing to added security measures in the wake of the Burgerbraukeller bombing.

Gersdorff's Attempt in the Berlin Armory

Main conspirators involved in the March 21, 1943 Berlin Armory attempt: Tresckow, Oster, Gersdorff, Schlabrendor After Colonel Henning von Tresckow's March 13, 1943 attempt to kill Hitler in Smolensk fails, another opportunity surfaces. Tresckow immediately seizes the chance when it becomes known that Hitler is to visit the Berlin Armory Museum on March 21. The fuehrer's visit will include a short speech, an exhibition of Soviet weapons captured by Army Group Center, a visit with war-wounded veterans, the laying of the memorial wreath, and the review of a military parade - all in honor of Hero's Memorial Day . Gersdorff Volunteers Knowing that the exhibit is to be presented by Army Group Center intelligence, Tresckow calls upon his close friend and fellow conspirator Colonel Rudolph Christoph von Gersdorff who volunteers for this latest mission to

assassinate Hitler. Gersdorff is aware that he is certain to lose his life in the act but reminds Tresckow that his own life does not mean that much to him anymore since his wife's death in January 1942. Affirming his readiness to die if necessary in order to kill Hitler, Gersdorff nevertheless asks for guarantees that his death will not have been in vain and that a coup d'etat to overthrow the regime will immediately follow upon his act. Tresckow assures him that all plans for a coup are in place and that those responsible will "swing into action" as soon as Hitler has been killed. Preparations After Gersdorff volunteers for the mission to assassinate Hitler, Tresckow immediately contacts close friend and conspirator Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff who is already in Berlin after having safely retrieved the defective time bomb that had failed to explode aboard Hitler's aircraft. Tresckow instructs Schlabrendorff to hand over the functioning detonator charge to Gersdorff for use in the next attempt. March 20, 1943 - Gersdorff accompanies Field Marshal Walter Model (who has been selected to guide Hitler on the tour of the captured weapons exhibit) to a meeting with Hitler's Wehrmacht adjutant, Lt.-General Rudolph Schmundt. At the meeting, Model who wishes to visit his wife beforehand, and is totally oblivious to Gersdorff's real mission, demands to know the exact time of the ceremony. Schmundt initially refuses to disclose the information on the grounds of high secrecy and penalty of death for revealing such information. Schmundt's attitude startles Model and worries Gersdorff. In past years, Hitler always arrived for the Hero's Memorial ceremony at Noon exactly. But it is now clear that Hitler has issued directives to tighten security for his visit. Only after Model becomes adamant does Schmundt finally reveal the time table. Hitler is scheduled to arrive at 1:00 P.M. the next day and spend approximately half an hour in the museum. Schmundt's friendship with Gersdorff compels him to reveal the classified schedule of the fuehrer's visit even though he suspects Gersdorff of being less than fond of Hitler. When Schmundt then reveals that Gersdorff will not be allowed to accompany Hitler into the exhibit owing to allowance for only a very small number of guests, Model again protests strongly, unaware that he is in fact assisting Gersdorff's plan to assassinate Hitler. Schmundt finally yields when Model argues that Gersdorff has to be present lest Model be unable to answer a question asked by the fuehrer. Gersdorff Inspects the Museum During the afternoon of March 20, Gersdorff briefly pays a visit to the Berlin Armory Museum's entrance hall where Hitler is scheduled to speak. His purpose is to see whether or not a time-bomb can be hidden somewhere close to the podium, but a number of factors convince him to drop this plan: [1] The museum entrance hall has a high-glass ceiling which will greatly diminish the force of the blast. [2] The entrance hall is teaming with workers, SS guards, and police, making it impossible to approach the podium. [3] Increased security methods before, during, and after a fuehrer visit cause hundreds of Gestapo agents to make preventive arrests, while building experts, watchmakers, electricians, and explosives specialists search for hidden devices. A Fatal Flaw in the Plan In the Gersdorff plan to kill Hitler, finding a suitable time bomb becomes a nerve-wracking experience. Ever since the November 1939 Burgerbraukeller bombing, increased security measures have made it virtually impossible for army officers to obtain explosives and detonators for personal use. Obtaining the explosives for the Smolensk plot was hard enough for Tresckow. But especially so soon before such increasingly rare fuehrer visits, inquiries of this nature need to be made with the greatest discretion and caution.

Aware that the ceremony is not expected to last more than half an hour, and alert to Hitler's penchant for doing the unexpected, Gersdorff rules out using the functioning 30-minute time fuse retrieved by Schlabrendorff. Both men agree that the only sure way to kill Hitler would be with the use of an instantaneous time-fuse. The fuse of the German hand grenade gives a delay of 4.5 seconds but does not fit into the British-made "clam" (time bomb) used in Tresckow's Smolensk attempt. Despite desperate efforts on Oster's part to procure a near-instantaneous time fuse, the search ends in failure. Gersdorff is thus forced to rely on two 10-minute fuses he has brought back with him from Smolensk. This in itself remains risky because the museum is unheated and may have a delayed effect on the fuse. Gersdorff is further aware that he has no chance of coming close to the podium while Hitler gives his speech. His only window of opportunity is the time alloted to Hitler's inspection of the captured weapons exhibit. Gersdorff will therefore have to rely on keeping Hitler interested in the exhibit for at least 10 minutes. Enter the Fuehrer March 21, 1:00 P.M. - As the fuehrer's open Mercedes pulls up in front of the Berlin Armory Museum, standing at the top of the steps to receive him are the leaders and representatives of the Wehrmacht: Field Marshal Feodor von Bock and OKW Chief of Staff Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel representing the army, Luftwaffe Commander-inChief Field Marshal Hermann Goering, Comander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine Admiral Karl Doenitz, and Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler. At Hitler's side is Reich Propaganda Minister Dr. Joseph Goebbels. To Gersdorff, the opportunity seems ideal. He may in one stroke be able to annihilate not just Hitler, but the most powerful and dangerous Nazi leaders after him - Himmler, Goebbels, Goering. From the moment Hitler arrives, every German radio station including that of the armed forces, and also the BBC, carries the event on the air. Back at Army Group Center headquarters in Smolensk, Tresckow is anxiously listening in on the broadcast awaiting Gersdorff's moment of destiny. In addition to Hitler's Nazi big wigs, many generals, admirals, cabinet ministers, and high party dignitaries are on hand for Hitler's rare public appearance. Gersdorff Awaits Inside the museum's entrance hall, Hitler takes his place at the podium and delivers a 14-minute speech commemorating the heroism of the armed forces fighting on the eastern front and in North Africa. With the words "the danger has now been averted", Hitler praises the brilliant army-SS recapture of Kharkov masterminded by General Guderian's panzer forces and Sepp Dietrich's elite Waffen-SS units. Meanwhile, Gersdorff is standing by the entrance to the exhibit dressed in his army coat. Inside the left and right front pockets of his coat are two small 10-minute time bombs. Amidst the thunder of applause that follows Hitler's speech, Gersdorff discreetly slides his left hand into his left coat pocket to set off the fuse of one of the 10-minute bombs. Because Field Marshal Walter Model and the museum director are standing nearby along with the ever-vigilant SS guards, Gersdorff does not attempt to arm the bomb in his other pocket. This additional action would look too conspicious. The Fateful Sprint As Hitler strolls towards the entrance of the exhibit, he is greeted by Model, the museum director, and Gersdorff who all raise their right arms in the Nazi salute. Accompanying Hitler are Goering, Goebbels, Keitel, Doenitz, Himmler, and a number of aides and SS security guards. To Gersdorff's consternation, Hitler then asks Bock to accompany him into the exhibit. As the fuehrer's tour of the exhibit begins, Gersdorff positions himself as close as possible to Hitler, but not too close to avoid rousing suspicion. During this time, the fuse inside Gersdorff's time bomb is gradually eating its way towards the detonator. Hitler then does something wholly unprecedented which startles everyone in the room.

Instead of pausing to hear Gersdorff explain each piece of the arms exhibit, he suddenly picks up his heels and walks swiftly through the entire exhibit without once pausing to ask questions. Model and Gersdorff attempt several times but in vain to draw the fuehrer's attention to this or that captured weapon, but Hitler stops nowhere. Not even Goering is able to arrest his sprint through the exhibit when he attempts to point out another weapon of interest. After racing through the entire exhibit in under two minutes, Hitler emerges from the Armory, to the noticeable surprise of even German radio announcers to greet more than 300 war wounded soldiers and officers assembled outside. He then lays the memorial wreath and reviews his parade. Mission Aborted Hitler's sudden sprint through the entire exhibit in under two minutes forces Gersdorff to abort his suicide mission. As Hitler emerges from the exhibit, Gersdorff is able to leave the accompanying delegation and walk swiftly to the lavatories near the western exit of the museum. Once in the stall, he successfully diffuses the active time bomb. He soon finds himself in action again on the eastern front where he manages to survive both the war and avoid the regime's suspicion after July 20, 1944. Conclusion Gersdorff's March 21, 1943 assassination attempt should have been an ideal occasion to strike a fatal blow at the Nazi regime. Had an instantaneous time bomb been available for the mission or had Hitler visited the exhibit according to plan, Gersdorff in blowing himself up would have been able to kill not just Hitler but undoubtedly Himmler, Goering, and Goebbels. It was this sort of ideal occasion that Stauffenberg and his colleagues in the know were so desperate to get hold of the following year and which on at least one occasion - July 11, 1944 - compelled the conspirators to abort their mission owing to the absence of Himmler and Goering. The March 21, 1943 setting in that respect was ideal. But what no one could have expected was Hitler's unprecedented and extremely swift tour of the exhibit. Fate or Hitler's legendary sixth sense was to blame yet again for another well planned but ill-fated assassination plot.

Bussche's December 1943 Attempt

Main conspirators involved: Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, Captain Axel von dem Bussche, Major-General Helmuth Stieff, Major Hans Ulrich von Oertzen, Major Gerhard Knaak, Lieutenant Helmut von Gottberg, Count Fritz Dietlof von der Schulenberg, General Friedrich Olbircht, Major-General Hans-Guenther von Rost, Major Joachim Kuhn, Lieutenant Albrecht von Hagen, KRIPO Chief Arthur Nebe By the Fall of 1943, the German conspiracy is into its fifth year following eleven failed attempts by its members to assassinate Hitler. At this point however, a young energetic colonel by the name of Claus von Stauffenberg has joined the plot to breathe new life into the conspiracy. Having been seriously wounded in North Africa back in April, he is ever more convinced than he was before that it is his sacred mission to destroy Hitler and the Nazi regime in order to liberate Germany and Europe. For the time being however, the conspirators reject out of hand Stauffenberg's desire to carry out the assassination himself and then lead the coup. Stauffenberg's energetic and resourceful leadership is considered indispensable to the success of any coup. Furthermore, he has no opportunity to come within striking distance of Hitler before June 1944 when he is appointed Chief of Staff of Germany's Home Army. This being so, Stauffenberg wastes no time finding a suitable candidate for the next attempt. Enter Bussche

When Count Fritz Dietlof von der Schulenberg recruits Captain Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche into the conspiracy in the Fall of 1943, he is immediately aware that he has an ideal volunteer for the mission to assassinate Hitler. Bussche is a highly decorated officer who has served with distinction on the eastern front. He wears the Iron Cross First Class and the German Cross in Gold, in addition to having been awarded the Knight's Cross and the Golden War-Wounded Badge. A protege of Schulenberg, it is no coincidence that Bussche, like so many other military conspirators, comes from Potsdam's elite 9th Infantry Regiment whose anti-nazi army commanders have made a point of schooling their officers in the principle of chivalrous warfare. Anti-Nazi to the core, Bussche has already been commissioned by conspirator General Friedrich Olbricht to ensure that the 9th Infantry Regiment has no Nazi officers. But his reasons for personally volunteering to assassinate Hitler are deeply personal and stem largely from a horrifying SS massacre of Jewish civilians that he witnessed a year before. The Effect of the Dubno Massacre On October 5, 1942, Captain von dem Bussche finds himself on patrol in the western Ukraine when he stumbles upon a horrifying scene in the town of Dubno (150 Km northeast of Lvov). Near Dubno's airfield, he witnesses SSUkrainian troops hoarding scores of Jewish men, women, and children together into mass pits and then shooting them to death. Again and again, these executioners perform their grizzly work, until more than 5,000 helpless civilians have been massacred and buried in piles row upon row. For a young officer raised on Christian values and the belief in the sanctity of human life and the rights of man, and schooled in the principle of chivalrous warfare, being a witness to the mass slaughter of 5,000 innocent and helpless men, women, and children is a shocking experience that winds up haunting Bussche for the rest of his life. Shortly before his own death in 1993, Bussche still found it very painful to recall the events of that day as he showed in an interview he gave for Hava Kolhav Beller's documentary The Restless Conscience: At the time of the Dubno massacre, Bussche thinks of invoking Paragraph No. 227 of the common law code which afforded a German the right to protect himself or another against "unlawful attack" which the slaughter of so many helpless civilians certainly was. But what possible power of control can a mere army captain have had to stop such a massacre, when Hitler had delegated jurisdiction for such "special tasks" solely to the SS and its Einsatzgruppen. Another idea which Bussche then regretted not having acted upon was to have been more of a Good Samaritan and stripped off his uniform to take his place beside the Jews in the pit and await execution with them. But it is highly unlikely that such a noble gesture would have in any way prevented the SS from carrying out their grizzly task. More than likely, Bussche would have been carted away to a concentration camp or more likely yet declared insane by the Nazi authorities and committed to a mental asylum. Chosen by Stauffenberg The October 1942 Dubno massacre that Bussche witnesses is so vividly seared into his conscience that when Schulenberg recruits him into the conspiracy Bussche immediately volunteers to assassinate Hitler. In October 1943, Schulenberg introduces Bussche to Stauffenberg who emphasizes that Hitler must be killed in order for the army to overthrow the regime, liberate Germany, and bring a speedy end to the war. Unlike other members of the conspiracy such as Helmuth von Moltke and Hans-Bernd von Haeften who remain categorically opposed to assassination (even in Hitler's case), Bussche is in total agreement with Stauffenberg. Still distraught over the Dubno massacre, he volunteers without hesitation to be the assassin. In November 1942, Stauffenberg holds a further meeting with Bussche to ask him whether he still wishes to be the assassin given the fact that the mission will certainly cost Bussche his life. Bussche again reaffirms his commitment and the two men then get down to specifics.

Plotting the Scenario Because Hitler has long since become a recluse directing the war from fortified bunkers like his Wolf's Lair headquarters, army officers rarely see him except during fuehrer briefings. But Bussche cannot gain access to any fuehrer briefings, so Stauffenberg must come up with a pretext to lure Hitler into a setting in which Bussche can kill him. An ideal opportunity comes to mind with the testing of new winter uniforms for the German Army. Bussche's credentials for modeling in the new winter uniform before Hitler are impeccable. He is highly decorated and most importantly, he looks Nordic. The conspirators have their setting. Now they must choose the surest method to destroy their target. A pistol attack is quickly ruled out for the following reasons: [1] Since as far back as the beginning of World War II, even the highest-ranking army officers must remove their cap and belt before entering the fuehrer's briefing room. Although back in October and November of 1939, this does not stop Halder from coming to see Hitler on many occasions armed with a small pistol concealed inside his trouser pocket. [2] Moreover, Hitler is known to frequently wear a bullet-proof vest. In addition to this, on one occasion conspirator Major Helmuth Stieff happens to notice Hitler's cap resting on a nearby table and by whim picks it up. To his amazement he discovers the cap to be rather heavy and then finds out why: the fuehrer's cap is lined for protection with a steel coating inside. The conspirators then realize that anyone planning to use a pistol to kill Hitler must aim for his face if the fuehrer is wearing his cap. [3] It is rumored that newly installed electronic devices at the Wolf's Lair can detect any large metal object an officer might be wearing on his way to a fuehrer briefing. The risk of discovery is too great and the punitive consequences too dangerous - "in-depth" interrogation by the Gestapo who might very likely succeed in extracting names of accomplices. [4] Hitler is so well protected by SS-security that the likelihood of an officer actually being able to reach into his pocket, pull out a pistol and aim at Hitler's head before being assaulted and overpowered by Hitler's ever present and ever vigilant SS-guards is highly remote. Stauffenberg and Bussche agree that the only feasible alternative is the use of a time bomb which Bussche will conceal inside his coat and activate seconds before leaping onto Hitler in a lethal embrace. Just to be certain of perpetrating the deed, he also plans to use a dagger should the bomb for some fateful reason malfunction. Building the Bomb As was the case with Gersdorff's March 21, 1943 aborted attempt, fashioning the right sort of time bomb is no easy task when procuring the various parts needed threatens to arouse suspicion and betray the entire plot. Consequently, the army conspirators must proceed with the greatest caution in their quest for the right sort of time bomb. Stauffenberg first arranges for Bussche to visit OKH-Mauerwald camp, ten miles from Hitler's Wolf's Lair. Once there Bussche is handed a 10-minute British-made time bomb (known as the clam) by co-conspirator Major Joachim Kuhn. How did it get there? Throughout the war, British SOE forces parachute such devices into France to help the maquis sabotage German targets. Now and again, the Abwehr succeeds in intercepting such gadgets which on occasion become available to the plotters. The British-made clam has two major advantages: its fuse is totally silent in contrast to the inevitable hissing sound made by the fuse of its German counterpart and its explosive is far more powerful. But at the same time it has one

potentially risky problem. The acid vial requires at least 10 minutes to eat its way through the fuse before setting off the explosion. For Bussche, this lapse of time is too a great a risk to gamble his life on. What if Hitler were suddenly to leave the room five minutes into the demonstration? What then? Bussche therefore insists on using the 4.5 second German hand-grenade despite its hissing sound. Four and a half second is not a long time he argues, and he can muffle the sound of the hiss by coughing and clearing his throat. Major Helmuth Stieff and Major Kuhn to whom he explains this both agree. Kuhn contacts his friend and co-conspirator in Army Group Center, Major Gerhard Knaak who manages to procure a 1 kilogram charge which he then hands to Lt. Albrecht von Hagen to deliver to Bussche in Potsdam who in turn receives from Lt. Helmut von Gottberg of Infantry Regiment No.9 the hand grenade casing. Professor Peter Hoffmann relates how Gottberg then helps Bussche fashion his time-bomb: "Helped by Gottberg, Bussche then constructed a fuse mechanism which he thought suitable for his purpose. He sawed the haft of the hand grenade in two, leaving the part containing the fuse, and he unscrewed the primer. He shortened the draw thread which ran down inside the haft, leaving the pull-button so that there was very little play between the button and the haft. In this way only a very small pulling motion would be required instead of the more extensive movement normally necessary. The hand grenade fuse fitted well into the pioneer charge. The whole thing could well be concealed in one of the deep pockets of the wide trousers then normally worn." (Hoffmann, 327). Final Preparations By the first week of December 1943, the conspirators are ready to swing into action. Major-General Hans Guenther von Rost is prepared to seize control of Berlin with the forces at his disposal. General Paul von Hase and KRIPO Chief Arthur Nebe have already detailed police units for making the necessary arrests of key Nazi ministers. Primary targets are figures like Goebbels and Goering. Neutralizing Himmler and the SS is a task for the army since Himmler's black-uniformed legions have become an army onto themselves. Reich Armements Minister Albert Speer and OKW Chief of Staff Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel are responsible for setting up the occasion for the uniform demonstration. Neither Nazi official has the slightest inkling of what lies in store for Hitler when Bussche will model before him. Fate Strikes Again As mid-December approaches, the conspirators receive word that Hitler will finally attend the long-awaited army winter uniforms presentation. But then, on the night of December 16, fate strikes again: a military train car housing the winter uniforms takes a direct hit from an Allied bombing raid. The 12th assassination attempt, like its eleven predecessors, has fallen apart to the worsening despair and morale of the German conspirators and to the complete ignorance of the targeted fuehrer. Following this freak mishap, Bussche is ordered to report back to the front, while Stauffenberg promises to organize another attempt as soon as possible. Stauffenberg's Second Plan Throughout much of January 1944, Stauffenberg repeatedly tries to get Captain von dem Bussche transferred back to reserve duty with Potsdam's 9th Infantry Battalion. But Bussche's divisional commander in Russia rejects the requests since Bussche is a battalion commander and considered indispensable in light of the army's deteriorating strategic situation along the entire eastern front. Soon after, Bussche is seriously wounded when a shell lands near him blowing off the lower half of his leg. Stauffenberg must now find another conspirator to take Bussche's place. Enter Lt. Ewald von Kleist, the son of long-time conspirator Count Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin.

Kleist's February 1944 Attempt

Main conspirators: Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, Lieutenant Ewald von Kleist, Count Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg, General Paul von Hase, Lieutenant-Colonel Hermann Schoene, General Friedrich Olbricht, Count Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, Major-General Hans-Guenther von Rost, Lieutenant Albrecht von Hagen After conspirator Captain Axel von dem Bussche is seriously wounded in Russia and therefore unable to carry out Colonel von Stauffenberg's second plot to assassinate Hitler in January 1944, Stauffenberg again turns to his close friend and co-plotter Count Fritz Dietlof von der Schulenberg who introduces him to another young officerconspirator: Lt. Ewald von Kleist. Enter Kleist Like Bussche and so many other anti-nazi army conspirators, Kleist belongs to Potsdam's Infantry Regiment No.9. A regiment Bussche later characterizes as having had the distinction of producing more officers shot and hanged by the nazi regime than any other unit of the German Army. When Stauffenberg asks Kleist whether he is ready to take on the awesome assignment of killing Hitler and sacrificing his own life in the process, Kleist requests to be allowed twenty-four hours to think it over. In that time, he returns to his father's estate to discuss the plan with his father. Count Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin immediately tells his son that he must accept the mission for Germany's sake and for the tens of millions of Germans whose lives can only be saved by physically annihilating the fuehrer. In a second meeting with Stauffenberg, Kleist then declares himself ready to assassinate Hitler knowing that he himself will certainly die in the process. The February 1944 Plot Once again, the conspirators revise and update their plans to seize control of the capital under Operation Valkyrie. General Olbricht and Colonel von Stauffenberg have secretly been working together enhancing this plan since Fall 1943. General von Rost and Lt. Albrecht von Hagen are also involved in this plan, as are inevitably Count von der Schulenberg, General Paul von Hase, and Hase's operations officer Lt.-Colonel Hermann Schoene. When Stauffenberg receives word that the uniform demonstration is scheduled for February 11, he also learns that not only Hitler, but possibly Luftwaffe Chief Field Marshal Hermann Goering and far more importantly Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler are scheduled to attend the session. A code-word is then devised to trigger the coup d'etat in Berlin after Hitler and company have been hopefully blown to pieces: One to Three. The Fuehrer's Whim Strikes Again As February 11 approaches, Adolf Hitler, for reasons known only to him, suffers a change of heart and orders the uniform demonstration indefinitely postponed. Kleist in fact never even gets to see his bomb. Hitler finally attends the long-anticipated uniform demonstration on July 7, 1944. What Finally Happens July 7, 1944 - On this occasion, it is Major Helmuth Stieff who is chosen to model the uniform at Kleissheim Castle near Salzburg. The day before, Stauffenberg comes to see Stieff with a briefcase-concealed time bomb urging him to use the device now that the opportunity has finally surfaced. But Stieff rejects the idea out of hand and the modeling session occurs without incident. Stieff's refusal to pereptrate the assassination himself convinces Stauffenberg that he must now seize the very next opportunity to use the device himself and fly back to Berlin to direct the coup. He attempts to do this four days

later on July 11 at Hitler's Berghof and four days after that on July 15 at the Wolf's Lair. On both occasions, he is forced to abort his mission. On July 20, he sees it through to the end. Shortly after the aborted February 11 plot, Kleist is recalled to the eastern front. He is again in Berlin on that momentous day of July 20, 1944 and inside the Bendlerstrasse fighting for Stauffenberg's ill-fated effort to overthrow the nazi regime. He nevertheless manages to evade the regime's suspicion and survive Hitler's vengeance and the war. His father is not so lucky. Count von Kleist-Schmenzin is among the many conspirators who are tried and hanged in the wave of executions that follow the collapse of the July 20th uprising.

July 15, 1944 - Stauffenberg's 2nd Attempt

Main conspirators: Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, Count Fritz von der Schulenberg, General Paul von Hase, Colonel-General Ludwig Beck, General Ulrich von Schwanenfeld, Major Egbert Hayessen, Captain Robert Bernardis, General Friedrich Olbricht, Colonel Albrecht von Mertz, General Heinrich von Helldorf, MajorGeneral Helmuth Stieff, General Edouard Wagner, Major Ulrich von Oertzen, Lt. Ewald von Kleist, Field Marshal von Witzleben, General Erich Fellgiebel, Dr. Carl Goerdeler, Arthur Nebe, Colonel Kurt Hahn, Captain Friedrich Klausing, Lt. Ludwig von Hammerstein On July 14, 1944, Adolf Hitler leaves his Berghof retreat in Berchtesgaden to return to his Wolf's Lair headquarters near Rastenberg, in East Prussia. That same day in Berlin, Home Army Commander-in-Chief General Friedrich Fromm and his new Chief of Staff, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, are ordered to report to the Wolf's Lair the following day for a fuehrer briefing. Himmler's absence from the fuehrer briefing at the Berghof on July 11 having compelled him to abort his deadly mission, Stauffenberg is now determined to use this next opportunity to assassinate Hitler and return to Berlin to direct his coup. Conspirators in Position The Berlin conspirators already know their assignments. Olbricht, Mertz, Schulenberg, Schwanenfeld, Wagner, Oertzen, and Witzleben are in charge of launching Operation Valkyrie the moment they receive the code word Exercize Finished. Helldorf, Hase, and Nebe are to deploy the Berlin Police to help enforce Valkyrie and arrest key Nazi figures like Goebbels, Goering, and von Ribbentrop. Kleist, Hayessen, Bernardis, Klausing, and Hammerstein will help enforce Valkyrie in Berlin while Hahn at Army headquarters-Zossen is to relay information between the Wolf's Lair and Berlin conspirators. Stieff and Fellgiebel will be assisting the coup from right inside Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters. Army Signals Chief General Fellgiebel's task is to shut down or at least severely cripple all communication between the Wolf's Lair and the outside world - an immensely hazardous and complex undertaking. This conspiracy network will be the same on July 20th. A Race Against Time By mid-July 1944 the conspirators are all painfully aware that Germany's military situation on all three fronts ranges from critical to catastrophic and that Germany itself is in danger of being annihilated unless Stauffenberg can destroy Hitler and the Nazi regime. With every passing day, the army is being bled white on all fronts while Himmler's SS intelligence and Gestapo grow ever more powerful. From the western Allies comes not the slightest hint of support, if anything the exact opposite. Worse still, the regime's secret police empire is closing in fast on the German conspiracy: Dohnanyi, von Trott, and von Moltke are already in jail. Both Canaris and Oster have long since been fired leaving the Abwehr weak and no

longer capable of being the nerve center of the entire plot that it was back in the early years. More bad news follows on July 4 with Dr. Julius Leber's arrest by Gestapo agents. Stauffenberg is personally distraught over this latest and potentially fatal setback. He sees Leber rather than Goerdeler as the ideal Chancellor to lead Germany in the aftermath of any successful coup and vows to his friends in the know: "I'll get him out! I must get him out!" Then comes word that an arrest warrant has been issued for Goerdeler who is to be the officially designated chancellor in any provisional government following the planned coup d'etat. Stauffenberg must now fly to the Wolf's Lair knowing that Germany's destiny and the lives of tens of millions are in his hands. Only he has the means, the will power, and the necessary sang-froid to accomplish the job. But the clock is ticking and with every passing day thousands more die. This is what Stauffenberg has on his conscience has he enters Hitler's briefing room at 1:10 P.M. on July 15. July 15 - The Nearly Fatal Rehearsal Stauffenberg's July 15th mission is perhaps more fraught with danger than any previous plot owing to events that occur in Berlin and the Wolf's Lair: 11:00 A.M. | Berlin - Conspirator General Friedrich Olbricht is so sure that Stauffenberg will finally strike that he makes a highly daring and potentially fatal decision in ordering the Valkyrie forces in and around Berlin to place themselves on stand-by alert. The forces earmarked for Valkyrie include the Grossdeutschland Battalion and the local army training schools. Two hours later at the Wolf's Lair, Stauffenberg enters Hitler's briefing room with every intention of finding the right moment to arm his time bomb. 1:10 P.M. | Wolf's Lair - The first of three consecutive fuehrer briefings begins. It ends half an hour later at 1:40 P.M. The second briefing follows right after the first and ends at 2:20 P.M. The final session begins at 2:20 P.M. and lasts a mere five minutes. What does Stauffenberg succeed in accomplishing during that time? Unfortunately, and for reasons well beyond his control, nothing. The main reason for Stauffenberg's failure to accomplish his mission on July 15 is first and foremost Himmler's absence which he is forced to report to his Berlin colleagues in a coded telephone conversation during the first briefing session. As on July 11, a number of Berlin conspirators, including General Beck and General Wagner, insist that Stauffenberg abort in light of Himmler's continued absence. Olbricht and Mertz oppose the idea of aborting the mission and urge their colleagues to let Stauffenberg strike while he still has a chance. But no consensus is reached. According to Frau Mertz who later notes down in her diary what her husband reveals to her later that day, Stauffenberg at that moment in time says to him over the phone: "Ali, you know that in the last resort it is only a matter between you and me - what do you say?" Mertz immediately replies: "Do it!" (Hoffmann, 385). But when Stauffenberg returns to the conference room, the briefing has already ended. Another reason, Stauffenberg is also unable to perpetrate the attempt is that during the second fuehrer briefing, after having placed another call to Berlin, Stauffenberg returns to the conference room to discover that Major Stieff has removed his briefcase. Although Stieff is later blamed for having in his own way contributed to the failure of Stauffenberg's July 15 mission, it is very likely that his reason for removing the briefcase may have been to prevent someone else from doing so and ensuring that its deadly contents would not be discovered. In other words he may have been trying to protect Stauffenberg. 3:00 P.M. | Berlin - With word from Stauffenberg that events have forced him to abort the attempt, Olbricht, Mertz, and Oertzen immediately order the Valkyrie forces to stand down. Oertzen accompanies Olbricht on a race

through Berlin to ensure that all troops earmarked for the coup are safely back in their barracks. Although Olbricht succeeds in camouflaging the entire alert as an "exercize" his act of insubordination in issuing a preliminary Valkyrie alert in General Fromm's absence infuriates the Home Army Commander-in-Chief. No Going Back The conspiracy-related events of July 15 in Berlin - namely Olbricht's decision to issue a preliminary Valkyrie alert though having nearly exposed the plot have in fact allowed the conspirators to spot a number of flaws in the Valkyrie plan. They do their best to rectify these shortcomings as fast as possible. Above all, they know that there can be no further rehearsals, that the next time Stauffenberg rolls the dice, they will have crossed their Rubicon and must see their plot through to the end.

July 20th - Stauffenberg's Final Attempt

Main conspirators: General Karl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel, Lt.-Colonel Caesar von Hofacker, Lt.-General von Boineberg-Lengsfeld, General Guenther Blumentritt, Colonel Ottfried von Linstow, Colonel Eberhard Finckh, General Dr. Hans Speidel, Walter Bargatzky, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, Lt. Berthold von Stauffenberg, Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, General Friedrich Olbricht, General Ludwig Beck, Colonel Albrecht von Mertz, General Erich Hoepner, Count Fritz von der Schulenberg, General Heinrich von Helldorf, General Paul von Hase, General Ulrich von Schwanenfeld, Dr. Hans Bernd Gisevius, Arthur Nebe, Dr. Otto John, Dr. Eugen Gerstenmaier, Major Ulrich von Oertzen, Ulrich von Hassel, Adam von Trott, Hans-Bernd von Haeften, Major von Leonrod, Captain Friedrich Klausing, Lt. Werner von Haeften, Lt. Ewald von Kleist, Count Peter Yorck von Wartenberg, Lt.-Gen. Karl-Freiherr von Thuengen, Lt.-Colonel Fritz von der Lancken, Colonel Fritz Jaeger, Major Roland von Hoesslin, Lt. Ludwig von Hammerstein, Lt. Georg Sigisimund von Oppen, General Siegfried Wagner, Major-General Otto Herfurth, Colonel Kurt Hahn, Lt.Colonel Dr. Holm Erttel, Major Friedrich Degner, Lt. Dr. Hellmuth Arntz, General Erich Fellgiebel, General Helmuth Stieff, Colonel Freytag von Loringhoven Last Minute Plans General Friedrich Olbricht's premature alert to the Valkyrie forces on July 15, 1944, causes everyone in the plot to realize that there can be no further rehearsals. Stauffenberg now knows that his next throw of the dice against Hitler will be his last chance to liberate Germany or suffer annihilation. He and his colleagues thus use every spare minute left to them over the next few days to fix any and all flaws of the July 15th Valkyrie dress-rehearsal. July 16 | 7:00 P.M. - Conspirators Claus and Berthold von Stauffenberg, Count Fritz Dietlof von der Schulenberg, Adam von Trott, Lt.-Colonel Caesar von Hofacker, Colonel von Mertz, General Ulrich von Schwanenfeld, Counter Peter Yorck, and Abwehr Chief Colonel Alexander Hansen meet at Stauffenberg's residence, No.8 Tristanstrasse in the Berlin suburb of Wansee, to discuss final plans for the next attempt. Three scenarios are considered: The Western Solution - Backed by Commander-in-Chief West (France) Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge, General Karl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel, and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. In this scenario, the conspirators would lead a bloodless coup from France in which Kluge and/or Rommel would assume supreme command of all German forces in the West thereby deposing Hitler as Supreme Commander-in-Chief and requesting immediate ceasefire talks with SHAEF Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Because of his beloved status among the German people, his admired professional and ethical reputation within the armed forces, and the enormous esteem with which he is held among the Anglo-American Allied High Command, the conspirators truly believe that Rommel alone could make it all happen, with or without the cooperation of his superior, C-in-C Kluge. The ultimate aim would therefore be to encourage a chain-reaction military overthrow of the Nazi regime and the ending of hostilities in the West, or at least a temporary lull in hostilities that would allow German forces to fall back to the Siegfried Line to concentrate solely on the defense of the homeland.

The Central Solution is the scenario argued by Colonel von Stauffenberg and likeminded conspirators who see Hitler's physical elimination, by virtue of his continuing spellbinding power over the armed forces and people, as the sin equa non for a coup d'etat to overthrow the Nazi regime and all of its institutions. The Eastern Solution involves cutting off Hitler and his Wolf's Lair headquarters from the outside world long enough for the conspirators to seize power and order Wehrmacht to retreat on all fronts to a consolidated resistance area focusing only on the defense of Germany. Hitler would then be presented with an irreversible fait accompli. The eastern solution is dropped out of hand, and although General Beck himself argues the case of the Western solution, the conspirators quickly agree that only Hitler's death can ensure a successful coup. Bad Omens and A Lethal Rumor When Colonel von Stauffenberg learns on July 18 that he is to report to a fuehrer briefing at the Wolf's Lair on July 20, he resolves to use this next opportunity to blow up Hitler come what may. Too many ill-fated events have since intervened to warrant any further delays. Day by day Germany's cities are being reduced to ashes while the Wehrmacht faces disaster on all fronts. Many plotters now worry there may be nothing of Germany left to save unless action is taken immediately. But in the month of July alone a series of devastating developments for the conspiracy has taken place: July 4 - The Gestapo's arrest of Dr. Julius Leber causes Colonel von Stauffenberg profound distress. Leber is a good friend and Stauffenberg's favorite to be chancellor in any interim government. When he hears of Leber's arrest, Stauffenberg insists: "We need Leber! I'll get him out! I must get him out!" July 16 - The Gestapo issues an arrest warrant for Dr. Carl Goerdeler who is now forced to go into hiding. Goerdeler is slated to be German chancellor in any interim government in the wake of the coup d'etat. Beck and Helldorf voice serious doubts about Major Remer's loyalty in the event of a coup. At least two other conspirators on General von Hase's staff - Lt.-Colonel Erttel and Lt.-Colonel Heinz - echo the same warning and urge that Remer be transferred. Hase rejects their appeal pointing out that transferring Remer will spark inquiries and arouse suspicion. July 17 | 4:00 P.M. - Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is seriously wounded when Allied fighter planes straff his motorcade sending him hurtling out of his car into a ditch. The Paris conspirators are in shock at this devastating turn of events. Stuelpnagel remarks: "Rommel! - my God, this is a catastrophy!" (Interview-Stuelpnagel). July 18 - As if these events are not distressing enough, Stauffenberg now learns from co-conspirator Lt.Commander Alfred Kranzfelder about a rumor floating in Berlin of an impending plot to blow up Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters. A young Count Anton von Welsburg who happens to be friendly with one of the late General von Bredow's daughters has been enthusiastically recounting the story in front of guests in the Bredow household. One of these guests, conspirator Dr. Syndey Jessen, is appalled to hear the impending plot recounted in the open and immediately informs Kranzfelder who relays the story to Stauffenberg. Welsburg hears the rumor from one of the Bredow daughters in question whose sister is also friendly with conspirator Lt. Werner von Haeften - the initially indiscreet source. This succession of unlucky events coupled with the Welsburg rumor causes Stauffenberg to tell Kranzfelder that July 20 will be his final attempt, that he will set off his bomb on July 20 regardless of whether or not Himmler is in the same room with Hitler: "There is no longer any alternative," he concludes, "we have now crossed the Rubicon." (Hoffmann, 392).

July 19 - Everything Set With less than 24 hours to go, the army conspirators must continue to feign a business-as-usual attitude to their coworkers while secretly scrambling to complete last minute plans for Operation Valkyrie. Among the improvements made since the July 15th cock-up, a secret 24-hour state of alert is in place at Army HQ in Zossen with Major Degner and Major Buchardt working in shifts. Major von Oertzen visits the Gross Deutschland Battalion on Olbricht's behalf to gauge how fast the Valkyrie units can seize control of Berlin in an emergency. Oertzen must make inquiries in the most casual and innocuously seeming manner possible to avoid arousing suspicion. Witzleben, Hoepner, Hase, Wagner, and Schwanenfeld discuss last minute plans for seizing control of Berlin the following day. Leonrod, Klausing, Kleist, Oppen, and Hammerstein are given their instructions for X-Hour. Kleist, Oppen, and Hammerstein are to wait at Berlin's Hotel Adlon near the Brandenburg Gate for orders from Klausing to rush to the Bendlerstrasse. Count Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenberg bids farewell to his wife and family after staying the night at their country estate to celebrate her birthday. Schulenberg's parting words to his wife are: "You know that our chances of succeeding tomorrow are fifty fifty." That afternoon, Lt.-Colonel Fritz von der Lancken hands Stauffenberg's driver, Corporal Karl Schweizer, a heavy briefcase to be delievered to 8 Tristanstrasse - Stauffenberg's house in Wannsee. Schweizer is totally oblivious to the briefcase contents and to the impending July 20th plot but does notice two packages inside tied up with string. 9:00 P.M. - On the way home from a meeting with Adam von Trott, Stauffenberg tells his driver to stop the car as they pass a church where a service is being held. Stauffenberg enters the church but remains at the back for some time. What anxious thoughts race through his mind? No doubt as a Christian he is asking forgiveness for his impending act of tyrannicide which is bound to kill and maim others besides Hitler. Knowing that the Nazi regime - by virtue of its totalitarian nature - can only be overthrown through tyrannicide, what other choice does Stauffenberg have? To "follow orders" that allow Hitler to continue slaughtering tens of millions in a cataclysmic war of his making and a campaign of genocide unprecedented in History? To remain true to a sacred loyalty oath whose fuehrer in his congenital madness and inherent evil has destroyed the very Germany that Bismark devoted his life to creating? No one can ever know what thoughts and emotions must have preoccupied thirty-six year-old Colonel von Stauffenberg on the last full night of his life. Only his brother Berthold was with him that last night. Two weeks later, Berthold was brutally tortured and hanged.

SMOLENSK: Three Attempts in One Day - March 13, 1943

Main conspirators involved: Colonel Henning von Tresckow, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, General Hans Oster , General Friedrich Olbricht, Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff, General Erich Fellgiebel, Dr. Hans von Dohnanyi, Dr. Hans Bernd Gisevius, Lt.-Colonel Georg von Boeselager, Lt. Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager, Colonel Rudolph von Gersdorff, Colonel Erwin Lahousen, Captain Ludwig Gehre During 1942-43, the center of the conspiracy shifts from Berlin to conspirators on the staff of Army Group Center on the eastern front.

On March 13, 1943, after declining repeated requests to visit the eastern front, Hitler finally pays a visit to Army Group Center headquarters in Smolensk. Both Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge who commands the army group and the German Army High Command think it will boost morale. But a number of conspirators on Kluge's staff and their counterparts in Berlin have an entirely different purpose in mind - assassination. From mid-1942 to mid-43, the conspiracy is led by the energetic young Colonel Henning von Tresckow who serves as Chief of Staff of Army Group Center and has long since developed a deep hatred for Hitler and the Nazi regime. Throughout 1942, Tresckow cultivates a close friendship with his superior, Army Group Center Commander-inChief Guenther von Kluge in the hope of persuading the field marshal to lead a revolt. Tresckow also uses his position to recruit a number of officers into his plot, including his close friends Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Colonel Rudolph von Gersdorff, and Cavalry Captain Georg von Boeselager. In early March 1943, upon learning that Hitler will shortly visit Army Group Center HQ in Smolensk, Tresckow and his fellow conspirators hatch an elaborate assassination plot. On March 7, 1943, Abwehr Chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Deputy Chief General Hans Oster, and aide Dr. Hans von Dohnanyi visit Army Group Center for an official intelligence briefing with Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge. These three conspirators have in fact come to see Colonel Henning von Tresckow to plot Hitler's assassination. Canaris informs Tresckow that Operation Valkyrie will go into effect the minute the conspirators at Home Army Headquarters in Berlin get word from Smolensk that Hitler has been killed. On the morning of March 13, 1943, Hitler's Fokkerwolf 200 Condor airplane lands in Smolensk. Field Marshal Guenther von Kluge is looking forward to Hitler's visit. So are Colonel Henning von Tresckow and other officers "in the know" who plan to perpetrate one of the following assassination attempts: The Ambush in the Woods The initial plan involves Captain von Boeselager and his cavalry unit whose members have come to hate Hitler and the regime for the atrocities and disastrous conduct of the war. They are to serve as armed escort to Hitler's motorcade for the trip from the airfield to Army Group Center headquarters. The short trek by car involves a passage through a forest whereupon the escorting cavalry unit plans to ambush the motorcade and gun down the fuehrer. The planned attempted is aborted when Boeselager and his men see that Hitler's motorcade has arrived with its own armed escort of 50 SS guards with machine guns. As Hitler arrives at headquarters and is greeted by Field Marshal von Kluge, Tresckow and his colleagues prepare a second attempt. The Shooting Team in the Mess Hall The second attempt is to take place during lunchtime in the mess hall. It will involve Tresckow and his league getting up from the table at a given signal and opening fire on Hitler during lunch. But when Field Marshal von Kluge who is only half-heartedly committed to the conspiracy gets wind of this plan, he expressly forbids Tresckow and his accomplices from executing their mission. If this in itself does not dissuade Tresckow, the sight of so many SS guards close to Hitler's person arouses fear of failure. The determined Tresckow then resorts to his final scenario, perhaps the most ambitious yet. The Time Bomb on Hitler's Aircraft Shortly before Hitler prepares to leave Army Group Center, Tresckow instructs Schlabrendorff to fetch a package of Cointreau liquor bottles which he is to hand over to Lt. Colonel Heinz Brandt who is flying back with Hitler to

the Wolf's Lair. Carefully concealed within the package is the time bomb given to Tresckow by Dohnanyi the week before. The Cointreau bottles, Tresckow casually tells Brandt, are a present for his friend Major-General Helmuth Stieff and would Brandt be kind enough to deliver them personally. The unsuspecting Brandt agrees and Tresckow and Schlabrendorff join Kluge in escorting Hitler and his staff to the airfield. As Hitler bids farewell to Field Marshal von Kluge and his staff, Tresckow casts a discreet nod towards Schlabrendorff who surreptitiously squeezes the package. He has in fact set-off a powerful but well-hidden time bomb. His squeeze has broken the vial of acid which is now eating its way through the time-fuse, as Brandt follows Hitler into the plane. After Tresckow and Schlabrendorff see Hitler's aircraft take off, they rush back to Tresckow's office where both men anxiously look at their watches. In Berlin at that very moment, their co-conspirators stand ready to spring into action upon receiving the green light from Tresckow. If all goes according to plan, the fuehrer's aircraft will be blown to pieces just before it flies over Minsk. But half an hour passes, and then an hour, and longer still. Finally, Tresckow gets word that Hitler's plane has safely landed. Schlabrendorff rushes to catch the next plane back to Germany desperately hoping that nobody has opened the Cointreau package. When he finally gets to Stieff's office, he finds Stieff playfully tossing the package up in the air. Stieff had no foreknowledge about the package's deadly contents because he was never meant to receive it! In the privacy of his compartment on a midnight train to Berlin, Schlabrendorff carefully pries open the time bomb to discover that the acide fuse had eaten its way to the trigger and triggered the firing pin but that the explosive had failed to detonate.

Spring 1943 - The Lanz Plot in Poltava

Conspirators involved in the Lanz Plot: General Hubert Lanz, Major-General Dr. Hans Speidel, Colonel Count von Strachwitz While Colonel Henning von Tresckow and his fellow conspirators were attempting to lure Hitler into visiting Army Group Center HQ in Smolensk, elsewhere, in Army Group South another plot was being hatched to assassinate Hitler. Army Group B Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal von Weichs had established his headquarters at Walki near Poltava in the Ukraine. Among his staff were conspirators General Hubert Lanz, his chief of staff Major-General Dr. Hans Speidel who would later establish contact with the Paris conspirators in 1944, and Colonel Count von Strachwitz, the commanding officer of the Grossdeutschland Tank Regiment. The three plotters agreed that Hitler was a criminal who must be killed for the sake of humanity. Lanz, Speidel, and Strachwitz hatched a plan to arrest and kill Hitler on his anticipated visit to Army Group B headquarters. But instead of paying a visit to Poltava as had been expected, Hitler changed his mind and decided to visit his forces fighting in Saporoshe. The ever elusive target had thus escaped yet another planned plot to kill him.