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The
Allies’ landing in France and the Soviets’ rapid progress on the
eastern front prompted a group of Germans to conspire against
Hitler. Aware that he was leading Germany to utter destruction, they
believed that if they continued to stay their hand, the Allies would
no longer agree to negotiate with a new German administration. The
anti-Hitler conspirators were not well organized, but they managed
to recruit Lt.-Col. Count Klaus von Stauffenberg, a courageous
soldier who had lost an eye, a hand, and two fingers in war for his
homeland. Stauffenberg plotted a coup and undertook to eliminate
Hitler personally. When he was invited to a meeting with Hitler at
an eastern Prussian outpost, he brought a suitcase containing a time
bomb. His intention was to place the suitcase in the bunker where
meetings with Hitler were usually held, and then to leave. The
meeting was relocated to a retreat house made of wood, but
Stauffenberg continued to seek an opportunity to implement his plan.
He placed the suitcase under the conference-hall table, a short
distance from Hitler’s legs, and left the room. At 12:37, a loud
explosion was heard. Four people were killed and 20 wounded. The
reason for the small number of casualties was that somebody moved
the briefcase. Hitler was not seriously injured. Several
conspirators, including Stauffenberg, were caught and shot at once;
the others were given an opportunity to commit suicide and spare
their families. Field Marshal Rommel, wrongly suspected of direct
involvement in the conspiracy, was among the suicides; the
Germans’ official communique reported his death as the result of a
traffic accident. In the aftermath, 15,000 people were arrested and
5,000 executed. Several of the most famous conspirators were
subjected to abuse and then strangled in an espeslow and brutal
manner. By order of Hitler, their executions were filmed and shown
to selected audiences as a warning.
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