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Assassination Attempt

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Table of Contents

What is the Holocaust about? ...... 3

Josef Beppo Romer ...... 3

The Soviet Union ...... 4

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Outline

I. Introduction

II. Josef Beppo Romer

A. Communist Party

B. Freikorps

III. Conclusion

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Jordan Jackson

Ms. Murphy

Holocaust

26 August 2014

Assassination Attempts

What first comes to your mind when you think of the word Holocaust? Is it Hitler, Jews being put in camps, Axis

Powers, concentration camps, forced labor, or even death? Well all of those answers are absolutely correct, but one of the Student 8/26/14 8:05 PM major aspects of the Holocaust was the assassination attempt on Hitler and how he died. In this research paper there will be Comment [1]: How did they die? What happened to them after death? points that include many people who tried to assassinate Hitler, some countries that were “Haters of Hitler” and those who wanted to sign a pact with .

The Holocaust was one of the most tragic events that have ever happened. The Holocaust mainly included the

Polish, the Jews, and the Germans. , one of the most drastic leaders yet, forced all Jews into a camp, most preferably Dachau Concentration Camp. Aside from the Jews, many people attempted to assassinate Hitler, but failed Student 8/26/14 8:06 PM epically, until he committed suicide. Since Hitler was one of the most powerful leaders of them all, he was very hard to Comment [2]: Why did they want to assassinate Hitler? assassinate especially because he had a good amount of experience and skill. Whether it was at the Beer Putsch Hall, the

Wolf’s Lair, or the Nazi Building, many people still wanted to attempt assassination.

Josef Rӧmer, also known as Josef Beppo, was born in , Germany, on November 17th, 1892. He was also a member of the Communist party during the Holocaust. Rӧmer was the organizer of all of the assassination attempts from his group, and after Hitler found out, Rӧmer was imprisoned from 1934 to 1939. According to Obersalzberg, “He was imprisoned in a concentration camp from 1933-1939 and after his release tried several times to organize an assassination attempt on Hitler.” (“Josef “Beppo” Romer”) Since he was a part of the Freikorps, he could no longer be with them because of his imprisonment, plus the fighters joined Hitler in 1921. After Freikorps dissolved, ex-members and troops wore rings.

Dachau Concentration Camp held Jews and political prisoners from all over Germany and many others countries that were involved in the Holocaust...prisoners that were kept in the camp were forced to do labor or even death. In this camp two hundred thousand people were limited by the Nazi regime and out of those two hundred thousand, forty thousand people died in camp. Rӧmer was the sentenced to death in June 19th, 1944. About ten to eleven years after a memorial was established for the Dachau Concentration Camp.

A Swiss-Roman Catholic named Maurice Bavaud, was a student from , but only spoke French. In 1938,

Bavaud tried to arrange a meeting to see Hitler in Munich, Germany, during the . On his way to Munich he was arrested for no reserved train ticket, and served a two-month detention for unlawful possessions of firearms, also known

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as weapons. After his two-month detention, he was released and stayed in Munich to attend the Beer Hall Putsch, where he found Hitler. Bavaud had never shot a gun in his life; hence, he has failed his mission to assassinate Hitler. His soldiers were surrounding the building at the time, and since Bavaud was on the opposite side of where Hitler was, it was obvious who the suspect was. He was then sent to the where he could have been sent back to Switzerland, but Swiss diplomacy didn’t care whether he was sent back or put in a camp. He was eventually sent to a camp that remained as unknown and beheaded in 1941, four years before Hitler died.

Helmut Hirsch, a German Jew, was considered a terrorist when he tried to bomb the Nazi building. Even today, not all of the bombing detailed is clearly clarified through American and German forces. In 1936, Hirsch was a part of a plot where he carried a bomb inside of a suitcase and was then instructed to attempt terrorism on the Nazi Party Headquarters and himself. Shortly after his tremendous fail, he was arrested in 1936. After he was released, he then became involved with the

Black Font, which was lead by anti-Nazi expatriates. During this time, his double agent then betrayed him. When he was turned in, he then had to deal with American vs. German cases, since he had an American citizenship. According to Jewish

Currents, “...Hirsch beheaded on June 4, 1937, at age 21.” (“December 21”)

Erwin von Witzleben, tried to assassinate Hitler in Paris, but was then arrested by General Linnertz. When he was taken to court, Ronald Freisler, the president of the People’s Court back in Germany, challenged him. On August 7, 1944,

Freisler was the bully of the court to all of the eight conspirators. The eight conspirators were those who were against Hitler and were accused for assassination. He was so harsh on the accused men that at least one hundred men were executed every year.

On September 27, 1940, Germany, Japan, and Italy, became known as the Axis Powers; signed the Tripartite Pact, which was then followed by Operation Barbarossa that was created on December 18, 1940. Operation Barbarossa instructed for these three countries to invade the Soviet Union. Finally, the Soviet Union was defeated while Germany was suffering more than seven hundred seventy-five casualties; supply shortage, disease, loss of soldiers, etc. Shortly after Germany was suffering, Nazi Germany decided to surrender.

The Soviet Union was a major “Hitler Hater” group. Aside from their attempts on attacking Nazi Germany, Soviet lost one thousand aircraft from Hitler’s attack (Giblin, 157) and was incredibly cut from supplies. Six million Soviet Soldiers were captured or wounded during the Holocaust, but out of those six million, eight hundred thousand Soviet soldiers died.

Not only did the Soviet fail, but also Germans failed the winter warfare because of their supply shortage. Soviet failed to collapse the Nazi force, which caused more conflict between the two. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded Soviet and waged a war against the Jews of the Soviet force.

There was a major conflict between the Soviet Union and Germany until they signed a pact that caused them to stay true to each other. The Soviet Union saw the Pact as a threat to peace. Hitler then decided to sign a pact with the eastern

European countries, which was enforced to attack the Soviet. Finally a new pact was signed on August 23, 1939, which was also known as the “Ten-Year Nonaggression pact”; including many protocols to the Soviet Union. This enabled them to attack Poland on September 1, of 1939. Since Poland signed a pact with Britain and France, they declared war on Germany, which lead to surrenders and much more. Soviet and Germany fought eastern Europe in the summer of 1940; Germany also

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traded Soviet manufactured goods for raw materials, which was big help to each side.

In the Bunker, Hitler married Eva Braun near midnight on April 28. Even though Hitler was one of the bravest leaders and one of the greatest dictators of Germany none to man, he knew that one day he had to die. He has never lost faith in his soldiers, and he kept telling his soldiers to always have courage and faith in themselves, just as he had faith in them. After so many assassination attempts, Hitler finally decides to commit suicide in the Berlin Bunker on April 30, 1944 along with his wife. His suicidal decision, gave the Germany the right away to surrender unconditionally, in which they did on May 1,

1945. That same year, World War II at last ended in Europe. Even though Hitler was a tough leader, he will not be forgotten because of his tremendous, but deadly leadership skill

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