Some interesting facts on Operation Valkyrie

“Gentleman, this is a little late. You made this monster, and as long as things were going well you gave him whatever he wanted. You turned Germany over to this arch-criminal.”

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• Attempts on Hitler's life (20 July plot) was making the leader very weary, as it had been attempted many times before. Around the time of the bombing attempt, there were reports that Hitler would not have lunch until someone had tasted it for them. Within the SS itself, there were rumors of plans to kidnap Hitler and declare him “mentally deranged”. One of the dilemmas of attempting an assassination was that the War at times in 1944 seemed to be at an end, making a coup possibly unnecessary. Only nine months after the failed attempt by SLOO, Hitler committed suicide.

• Because of the heat, the meeting changed venues which was discussed in the movie. Because the bombing took place in a wooden structure, the change of venue had a large effect on the bombs effectiveness as the damage area was much less than if it had exploded inside the concrete bunker the meeting was originally meant to be in. Stauffenberg also noticed when entering the Map Room that day that the windows were open, and the explosion would be even less effective.

• Hitler’s savior in this case was a man named Colonel Heinz Brandt who moved the briefcase to get closer to a map, and without knowing it, shielded Hitler from the power of the explosion.

• The movie discussed the fact that Hitler had survived the bombing, but not what his real injuries were. Hitler suffered a contusion under his right elbow and had problems hearing. Later after further examination it was reveled that Hitler’s right arm was partially paralyzed, and his buttocks were severely bruised. The wife of Food Minister Herbert Backe wrote the following in her diary, “The Fuhrer was asked, ‘What did you feel at the moment of the blast?’”, the Fuhrer said, “I thought I had heard three detonations and suspected hand grenades had been tossed in from outside.”. Hitler also noted, “The Generals jumped out the windows. But I thought I would be running right into the killers arms.”, “I went out through the door, putting out the flames in my hair….”

• Hitler’s reaction was anger towards the assassination attempt. He cried, “I will put their wives and children into concentration camps!”

• Operation Valkyrie failed almost immediately and whatever was left of the coup was delayed four hours until Stauffenberg arrived. This was the exact problem the coup’s organizers saw with Stauffenberg being the assassin, and this was portrayed in the movie as well. Because of the communication breakdown, many of the conspirators were in the dark and had no idea if the bomb had gone off or not. Stauffenberg himself could not believe Hitler had lived, “It was as if a 150mm shell had hit the barracks. It’s impossible for anyone to have survived.”

• Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg was arrested soon on the day of the attack and shot. His last words were, “Long live holy Germany.” This was NOT omitted from the movie. I previously stated it was my aplogoies. Hermann Goering, Commander-in-Chief and Hitler's designated successor, went to see Hitler when he heard about the attack. Very few of those associated closely with the attack escaped. On September 22nd, papers were found by a SS investigator which implicated a large majority of those already arrested. The SS arrested over 7,000 conspirators, with many killed without any trial at all. One of the conspirators, General Friedrich Olbricht said of his impending sentence, “I am not afraid to die.. I’m dying for a good cause. I am dying for Germany.”

• The best estimate for the total amount of people executed for this act was 4,980 with many others heading to concentration camps. The assassination attempt had different meanings and messages to the outside world. Allen W. Dulles, who was active in the Office of Strategic Services in Berne, Switzerland during World War II said of the attempt, “At least one thing is clear… some Germans… were willing to make the attempt to do away with Hitler.” Another conspirator, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewin, had a different opinion on the assassination attempt, “Gentleman, this is a little late. You made this monster, and as long as things were going well you gave him whatever he wanted. You turned Germany over to this arch-criminal.”

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1940 Nazi cartoon weeping when British ships sink!

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• Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr. Retreat to the Reich: The German Defeat in France, 1944 (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000)
• Eberhard Zeller The German Struggle Against Hitler: Der Widerstand, Dissent and Resistance in the Third Reich (Westview Press, 1994) pp. 187-188
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