* * - From' A.W.B.

THE SATURDAY EVENING POST Our Two Tries to Kill Hitler By FABIAN VOÄ SCIILABllEiYmUlFF

V/ne of the few survivors of the organized resistance movement inside Germany tells, for the first time, the exciting story of how Germans on the highest level conspired to remove the Fuhrer—a story now verified by American authorities.

and began building up a practice as a lawyer. I did not abandon my political work but, since I was out of touch with the capital, it became a rather small- "ONE OF THE BOLDEST AND BRAVEST OF THE ANTI-NAZIS' scale private activity. II» Allen H . Itull.H Nevertheless I succeeded, in Rheinhessen and elsewhere, in building up a trustworthy cell of op­ Formerly in charge of work of the Office of Strategic Services in Switzerland and Germany position. The same sort of thing was going on all over Germany. Fabian von Schlabren­ Germany even before Hitler came to power. It My real participation in the resistance movement dorff, who tells this became a more cohesive movement as the terrors story, is one of the bold­ of the Nazi regime unfolded, but due to the began in 1938, when I returned to Berlin. The situa­ est and bravest of the cowardice and subservience of most of the high tion then was much changed. The political forces anti-Nazis who fought German generals, it was unable to organize for opposed to Hitler, now operating under cover, no Hitlerism from within action until the tide of German victory began to longer exhausted themselves fighting one another, Germany during the recede after Stalingrad and El Alamein. In addi­ as they had before 1933. They still retained their war. A young lawyer tion to its military members, the movement in­ individuality, but a loose co-operation had de­ serving in German uni­ cluded civilians from various walks of life—gov­ veloped, through which they mutually strove for form on the east front, ernment officials, churchmen, leaders of the their common objective. he became a leader suppressed labor unions, intellectuals and pro­ My old friend Bismarck introduced me to Maj. among those who fessional men. Von Schlabrendorff is one of the plotted to eliminate the few survivors of this group of Germans who saw Gen. Hans Oster, a high official in the Counter­ Von Schlabrendorff Führer. It was only by straight and did not compromise. If we are ever espionage Division, and I abruptly found myself a miracle that he survived the ruthless meas­ to build a better Germany, it is to men like him in the very center of the German resistance. Oster, ures of Gestapo repression after the unsuc­ that Germany must look. a man with great strength of character and presence cessful bomb attempt on Hitler's life on July After release from a German concentration of mind, was an old-line army officer who had long 20, 1944. camp by the American Army, Von Schlabrendorff been secretly working against Hitler. Now he was Only fragments of the story of the German was sent to Switzerland to recuperate from the performing a key role in the movement. From his underground have, as yet, reached the outside harrowing experiences of trial before the German strategic post in the Counterespionage Division, world. The Nazis were at great pains to conceal it. People's Court, torture and imprisonment. It virtually under the nose of the Gestapo, he was They neither wished to give this encouragement was while he was in Switzerland that he wrote establishing anti-Hitler alliances with high-ranking to their enemies, nor to leave any other legend in this story. I am glad to attest to his high char­ Germany than their own. The facts of the matter acter and courage and to his effective services to generals. Without such military backing, the civilian are that the German resistance to Hitler went far the anti-Nazi forces during the war and, after forces of resistance were helpless, for this Was no beyond being a little band of conspirators. It had Hitler's collapse, in helping to disclose to us democracy, where a ruler could be ousted by peace­ roots in the anti-Nazi forces which existed in Nazi crimes. ful balloting. Oster's vital spadework was being made possible by his chief, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, bead of the Counterespionage Division. Canaris loathed Hitler FART ONE I kept up the fight after leaving school, as a politi­ and National Socialism. He felt that he was too old cal assistant to Herbert von Bismarck, a great- to take an active part in the resistance himself, but \r SJWO years ago this month the world first grandnephew of the old chancellor, in the Prussian he furnished a protective covering for Oster and al­ learned that there was active opposition to Ministry of the Interior in Berlin. During this pe­ lowed him free rein in his scheming. Hitler in Germany, when a bomb exploded in riod I met Hans Bernd Gisevius, who later became At this prewar stage, our best anti-Nazi contacts his conference room on July 20, 1944, in an unsuc­ an important resistance worker, and still later a star in the army were with Col. Gen. Werner von Fritsch, cessful assassination scheme. But that was not the witness for the Allies at the War Crimes trials in chief of the German High Command, and Col. Gen. first attempt to kill the Führer. There were previous Nuremberg. Ludwig Beck, chief of the Army General Staff. plans, including one which just missed working, When the Hitler dictatorship began in 1933, it However, we were soon deprived of one of these through a tantalizing freak of chance. was obvious that I should find it impossible to oc­ allies. General Fritsch's attitude became known Now an account can be given of the long, secret cupy any official position in his regime. I left Berlin to the Gestapo. He was brought to trial on a plotting of the German resistance movement to overthrow Hitler. I do not pretend to be telling the complete story. There is probably no living man who knows all the details. Most of the resistance leaders were killed by the Gestapo, often with horrible torture, after the final assassination attempt failed. I am now relating what I knew as one of many who worked to rid Germany of Hitler and his gang. None of our efforts were spur-of-the-moment plots, in the sense of a little band of conspirators meeting one night in a den and improvising a coup d'etat. They were all part of an organized, enduring resistance movement in Germany. The movement grew out of the anti-Nazi opposition which existed before Hitler took power, and continued through the years before the war. I had been an opponent of the Nazis since my student days at the University of Halle in 1928, when National Socialism was making alarming inroads among both the student body and the teaching staff. My friends and I founded a countermovement in the university. Young and adventurous enough to cross swords gladly with the National Socialists, we EUROPEAN PRESS ASSOCIATION used to heckle their meetings and make life miser­ Dr. Karl Goerdeler on trial. He never lost hope, Plotters' dilemma was that Kluge, shown giving able for the local Gauleiter. paid with his life for his devotion to resistance. Hitler a false smile, never could mäkeuphismind. trumped-up charge of homosexuality. Although ul­ timately acquitted, he did not get back his former post. He was eventually killed -in Poland in 1939. But collaboration with other high officers went on. Meanwhile resistance leaders had decided, as war became a certainty, that it would be wiser to await the actual outbreak of hostilities before taking any open action. They reasoned that the army, our chosen instru­ ment for unseating Hitler, would get greatly in­ creased powers in wartime. Then our army friends could much more easily bring off a coup, and make it stick. Another prime objective of the resistance at this time was to strengthen our contacts with foreign countries, especially England. To this end, I was sent to England shortly before the fighting began. I looked up Lord Lloyd, later British Minister of Colonies, and told him that war was about to break out; that it would begin with an attack on Poland; and that England's current efforts to form an alli­ ance with Russia would fail, because Hitler and Stalin were about to conclude a pact. Lord Lloyd asked my permission to pass on this report to Lord Halifax, the Foreign Minister, and I raised no ob­ jection. I also had a talk with Winston Churchill at his estate. I began by saying, "I am not a Nazi, but I am a loyal patriot," at which Churchill smiled and said, "So am I," I am not at liberty now to divulge the conversation that followed. After completing my English assignment, I re­ turned to Germany. On September 1, 1939, Hitler unloosed his forces against Poland and the second World War was on. In the German resistance, we felt it was time to strike. We had worked out an ambitious plan. Col. Gen. Kurt von Hammerstein, a Hitler-hater and one-time chief of the German High Command, had been brought out of retirement and given com­ mand of an army on the Rhine. It was arranged that Hitler would be asked to visit this army to get a firsthand impression of the forces available to meet the expected attacks by France. When Hitler arrived, General Hammerstein would seize him and force him out of power. The preliminaries went along smoothly. The visit was duly scheduled while fighting was still going on in Poland. Then Hitler canceled the trip. It is certain that he knew nothing of our plan, but he had an almost uncanny intuition where his personal safety was involved. Soon afterward Hammerstein was relieved of his command and once more put on

DUACK STAK- the inactive list. He died in retirement in 1942. Heavy, heavy always hung the fearful Fiihrer's head. The author tells how he discovered that the It was to be more than two years after the Ham­ military cap worn by Hitler in this picture was plated with three and a half pounds of protecting steet. merstein scheme before our part of the resistance movement again felt itself ready to carry out a plot against Hitler. The victory in Poland in 1939 was The late Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, a resolute worker against the Nazi regime, is pictured followed in the spring by the unexpectedly easy conquest of France. It would be psychologically below at the "trial" which resulted in his being degraded, tortured and finally hanged for treason. impossible to turn a victorious German army against Hitler. Only a major defeat

Hitler hater. General Henning von Tresckow repeatedly risked all to kill his Enemy No. 1. THE SATURDAY EVENING POST could break the spell Hitler had cast Meanwhile, I was expanding my the Führer. Obviously, an assassina­ ler's plane and time it to explode dur­ over the German people and the Ger­ contacts in Berlin. From July, 1942, tion alone would not be enough. It ing his return flight. German explosives man army. on, I was in frequent touch with Col. must be followed promptly by the would not do, for they could be set off I myself was drafted in October, Gen. Ludwig Beck and Dr. Karl Goer- armed seizure of the key positions in only by a "fuse which made a slight 1939, and stationed, as a noncommis­ deler, the two top leaders of the re­ Berlin and the installing of a new ad­ hissing sound and might be discovered. sioned officer with an infantry regi­ sistance. Beck might be described as ministration. We chose an English bomb, of a type ment, first in the Hunsruck Mountains the brains and Goerdeler as the heart Ideally, the assassination should be we had been experimenting with for and then at the West Wall in Northern of the movement. carried out by the front-line army, months. It had a silent time fuse, and Lorraine. This rather isolated me from Beck was not the typical general. with the home army ready to take over could be set for ten minutes, half an the resistance movement. He was a profound man whose wisdom instantly in Berlin, before the Nazis hour or two hours. It was compact In early 1941, however, I was brought was not limited to purely military mat­ knew what was happening. Gen. Hans yet powerful; a single bomb, no larger back into it by Maj. Gen. Henning von ters. His every word and gesture dem­ Oster, whom I have already described than a thick book, could destroy every­ Tresckow, an indomitable Hitler oppo- onstrated a remarkable balance and as a sort of managing director for the thing in a medium-sized room. nentwhoml had met just before the war, precision of mind. He had resigned as resistance, had worked out plans for To be on the safe side, we took two and maintained contact with since. Now chief of the Army General Staff before the occupation of Berlin, in co­ bombs and made a package of them first staff officer of the Central Army the war, in protest against the occupa­ operation with Infantry Gen. Friedrich that resembled two bottles of cognac. Group on the eastern front, he had me tion of Czechoslovakia, but was still Olbricht, a key commander in home- We had to pack them in such a way transferred there as his liaison officer. influential. Although the German re­ army headquarters. Now they needed that it would be possible, without dis­ This enabled me to participate fully sistance was drawn from widely diver­ a man in the front-line army who could turbing the wrapping, to press the fuse. in his unceasing efforts against Hit­ gent groups, none ever questioned light the fuse for a coup d'etat by killing The day Hitler was due, I temporarily ler. Beck's right to leadership. If Beck Hitler. They found their man in my locked the package in a trunk. I By the fall of 1941 we could see the had a weakness, it was that he entered mentor, Henning von Tresckow. alerted our organization in Berlin, by first signs of the coming military defeat the movement because of a compelling Oster and Tresckow never saw or phoning to an intermediary a code in Russia. sense of duty, rather than from deep spoke to each other. It was my duty. word meaning the attempt was about to begin. Tresckow set out to capitalize on emotional feeling. to maintain secret liaison between this situation. He had a long talk Doctor Goerdeler was nominally a them. Anyone who lived in Germany Meanwhile, Kluge and Tresckow with Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, representative of the Bosch industrial during the war can realize the precau­ drove to the Smolensk airfield and met chief of the Central Army Group, enterprises. He had been mayor of tions we had to take to keep the Ges­ Hitler, who appeared as usual with an in which he made a gloomy analysis Leipzig and also price administrator tapo from getting on to our plot. We incredibly large retinue, including his of the war outlook and placed the en­ for Germany, but resigned because he avoided any conference that was not doctor and his cook. Hitler rode with tire blame on Hitler. was unable to work under Hitler. He absolutely imperative. Kluge directly to headquarters, where At heart, Bock disliked National strove single-mindedly to build up the Our plans were near completion by they went into conference in Kluge's Socialism, but he was obstinately loyal widest and most effective possible op­ the end of 1942. However, General office. to Hitler. Before Tresckow could position to Hitler. Some key men in Olbricht, of the home army, asked for As he entered the office, Hitler laid finish, Bock jumped up, trembling with the German resistance were impelled an extension of eight weeks, so that he down the peculiar military-style cap anger, and ran from the room, shout­ by innumerable disappointments to and Oster might complete their ar­ he always wore. I had always been ing, " I will not tolerate this attack on turn to other plans or abandon the rangements for seizing Cologne, Mu­ curious about this cap. Now, with no the Führer! I will defend the Führer work altogether, but not Goerdeler. nich and Vienna, as well as Berlin. one watching, I impulsively reached against anyone who dares to assail He never lost hope. His driving spirit When the eight weeks were up, on in­ to pick it up and have a look. I was him!" I was sitting in Bock's anteroom helped keep the movement alive during structions from Tresckow, I had an­ startled to find it heavy as a cannon and could hear every word. It was some of its most discouraging periods. other conversation with Olbricht. ball. On examination, I saw why. Our obvious that we were not going to I suggested to Goerdeler that he go "We are ready," he said. "The fuse dauntless dictator, who professed to convert Bock to our cause. with me to Smolensk and help out can be touched off." be beloved by all Germans, had his cap For some time Tresckow had been lined with fully three and a half pounds In the period following this episode Tresckow in his efforts to swing Mar­ shal Kluge, our irresolute Central making preparations to light the fuse. of steel plating for protection. I was chiefly occupied with two tasks. He redoubled his missionary work on After the conference in Kluge's office, Through repeated flights back and Army Group commander, permanently to our side. Goerdeler did not hesitate. our Central Army Group chief, Field there was a luncheon in the higher forth between Russia and Berlin, I His friends in the high command pro­ Marshal von Kluge, for not only was officers' mess. As always, Hitler was established liaison between opposition vided the necessary forged papers, and Kluge in a position to make or break served a special meal prepared by the groups in the front-line and home with them he came to Kluge's head­ the assassination attempt but his ex­ cook he had brought along, and the armies. quarters in Smolensk. Building on ample would undoubtedly influence food had to be tasted in his sight by his In addition, I maintained our pipe­ Tresckow's groundwork, Goerdeler se­ many wavering commanders through­ doctor. Watching Hitler eat was a line to England through irregular cured a definite pledge of support from out the army. most disagreeable experience. He visits to a Swedish go-between in Ber­ Kluge. Although Kluge later wavered But first Hitler had to be induced to shoveled in the food, consisting of as­ lin. Eventually this contact was to periodically and tried to back out, leave his headquarters in East Prussia sorted vegetables, with his right hand. prove most valuable. from then on he inwardly felt himself and visit the Central Army Group. However, he did not lift his hand to his But that was much later. We were committed to us. Tresckow went to a long-standing ac­ mouth, but kept his mouth down over still in the early phases. On one of my Near the end of 1942 there were quaintance, Gen. Rudolf Schmundt, the plate. Now and then, he drank trips to Berlin in the autumn of 1941, promising new war developments. In Hitler's Chief Adjutant. Schmundt various nonalcoholic beverages that I learned from General Oster that Field November, the Americans and British was devoted to Hitler, but not clever were arranged at his place. By his or­ Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, com­ landed in North Africa. Shortly after­ enough to realize that Tresckow had der, there was no smoking after the mander on the inactive western front, ward the 6th German Army was en­ any hidden motives in requesting the meal. was contemplating a military blow circled at Stalingrad and destroyed. visit. Thus it was officially decreed that During the meal Tresckow asked against Hitler. Unfortunately, I could Out at Central Army Group headquar­ Hitler should call upon Marshal von one of the men in Hitler's escort if he hold out no hope that Bock would co­ ters, Tresckow and I agreed that there Kluge in Smolensk during the first part would mind taking back a little pack­ operate on the eastern front. Witzleben should now be definite action to over­ of March, 1943. Characteristically, age containing two bottles of cognac for decided to delay action until he had turn Hitler. there were several postponements, but Maj. Gen. Hellmuth Stieff, of the High undergone some surgery. While he was finally, on March thirteenth, Hitler Command. The man unconcernedly In high resistance circles in Berlin, came by plane to Smolensk. still in the hospital, Hitler relieved him the same sort of thinking was going on. agreed. After the luncheon, Hitler, of his command. There had long been disagreement be­ A cavalry regiment commanded by accompanied by Kluge and Tresckow, So far, our luck had been almost all tween the civilian and military ele­ one of our confederates, Lt. Col. Georg drove back to the airfield. In the mean­ bad, but after November, 1941, it took ments of the resistance on the method von Boeselager, was posted at Kluge's time I got the package from the trunk an important shift for the better. The by which Hitler was to be unseated. headquarters, and Hitler could easily and brought it to the airfield. I waited great German defeat we had been ex­ The civilians, led by Doctor Goerdeler, have been done away with there. But until Hitler bad dismissed his hosts and pecting took place in Russia. Bock favored taking Hitler prisoner and shortly before Hitler's arrival, Kluge was about to enter his plane. Then I was out as chief of the Central Army putting him on trial, as it were, before had got cold feet again. He protested started the fuse, which was set for half Group. the court of world opinion. They shrank that the world, the German people and an hour, and gave the package to the He was succeeded by Field Marshal from assassination, feeling that it the German soldiers would not under­ man Tresckow had spoken to. The man Günther von Kluge, who proved more would make Hitler a martyr. stand an assassination at this time. He climbed into Hitler's plane. In a few susceptible to Tresckow'a persuasion But the military group, whose chief refused to go through with the plan. minutes the plane took off. than Bock had been. spokesman was General Beck, consid­ This was a severe jolt, but Tresckow We drove back to our headquarters, Kluge was not so able an organizer ered it wholly impractical to take the and I were not ready to give up. We where I again phoned to Berlin, to as Bock. Moreover, he was then sim­ Führer alive. Seventy million Germans, decided to do the job ourselves, trust­ notify them that the first step had been ply a non-Nazi, rather than an anti- as well as much of the non-German ing that once Hitler's death was an ac­ taken. We knew that Hitler's plane Nazi. But there was a small spark of population of Europe, had been be­ complished fact, Kluge would follow was equipped with special safety de­ light in him. witched by Adolf Hitler. The German his natural inclinations and swing vices. It was compartmentalized into For months Tresckow struggled to soldier had taken an oath of allegiance openly to the Nazi opposition. several separate cabins. Hitler's sec­ fan it into flame. Always Kluge to him. Only by killing Hitler, Beck Our method was one which would tion was armored, and had a mecha­ vacillated. Time and again, Tresckow felt, could the evil spell be broken. not implicate Kluge—would, in fact, nism enabling him to make a parachute thought he had brought Kluge around, This military view had finally pre­ make the whole thing seem like an descent directly from it. But we ex­ only to discover a few days later that vailed, and the German resistance was accident rather than an assassination. pected our bombs to disintegrate the he was backsliding. now united in its determination to kill We were going to plant a bomb in Hit­ whole plane or at least tear such a large THE SATURDAY EVENING POST piece from it that it would crash with­ Finally, Tresckow called up the man wrong. The bomb's mechanism had this British-made device, and we never out warning. in Hitler's escort who had carried the worked up to a certain point and then succeeded in getting one. One of Hans But nothing happened. After two package and asked him to hold it for a stopped. The fuse was supposed to Oster's most reliable collaborators, hours, an announcement came that day, since it had got'mixed up with break a small bottle of acid, which then Councilor Justus Delbrück, son of the Hitler had landed as scheduled in another. From the manner in which ate through a wire holding back the famous historian, tried to find one for Rastenburg and returned to his head­ the man assented, we knew the package firing pin. All this had happened and us, but had no luck. quarters. was still assumed to contain cognac. the firing pin had shot forward. But This completed the failure of our The assassination had obviously The next day, on a military pretext, the percussion cap had not gone off. first attempt on Hitler's life. The whole failed, but we could not understand I flew in the^regular courier plane to We weren't quite finished with that episode was a tremendous disappoint­ why and, naturally, we were greatly Hitler's headquarters and got back the obstreperous bomb. A few days later, ment, of course, but it had its bright agitated. It was bad enough that Hit­ package with the bombs, in exchange Hitler was to attend the annual cere­ side. It had served as a test run on the ler had escaped death, but it was al­ for one that really consisted of two monies in Berlin commemorating the movement's preparations for seizing most worse that discovery of the bombs bottles of cognac. Even today I can fallen soldier. Col. Rudolf von Gers- power in Berlin, and glaring inade­ would inevitably lead to our own ex­ vividly recall my alarm as the man dorff, of Central Army Group head­ quacies in that end of the operation posure and endanger a wide circle of smilingly handed back the fateful quarters, was ordered to attend. On a had been disclosed. Now we would important collaborators. package, carelessly jostling it so vio­ hunch, Tresckow approached him and dedicate ourselves to organizing a First I called Berlin once more, to lently that I was afraid it might go off. won him completely over to us. Gers- bigger and better plot. report in code that the attempt had I drove directly to Korschen, where dorff volunteered to use the bomb in misfired. Then Tresckow and I tried to a special army train of sleeping cars another attempt on Hitler's life. figure out what could be done to sal­ left in the evening for Berlin. I went At Tresckow's instructions, I looked vage the situation. The package of into my compartment, locked the door up Gersdorff at the Hotel Eden in bombs must not reach General Stieff, and cautiously opened the package Berlin, and handed him the bomb. for he was not then a member of our with a razor. Then I saw what had gone But we didn't have any more fuses for conspiracy.

\ THE SATURDAY EVENING POST Our Two Tries to Kill Hitler »y FABIAN YON SCHIiABRENDORFF

"... one assassination scheme after another was planned. Always something intervened ..." A survivor of the authenticated German underground gives the true story of how the last try failed—and the Gestapo pounced.

PART TWO was inadequate co-ordination between our front­ Count Stauffenberg was even more strategically line army group and the home army in Berlin. To placed than Hans Oster had been, and he was ideally 1/1 rjHE German resistance movement was busier help straighten this out, he pretended to have fitted to take over the work. He was a man of un­ than ever after March 13, 1943, when the been exhausted by the strain and excitement of the usual organizational experience and abilities, with •-" bombs we had planted in Hitler's plane failed Russian campaign. He was given several months' a deep-seated loathing for Hitler. The Stauffenbergs to explode. Although thiseffort to kill the Führer had leave to take a rest cure, and went to his sister's were an old Bavarian family rooted in Catholicism. miscarried, it had at least gone undiscovered by the home in Neubabelsberg, between Berlin and Pots­ Count Stauffenberg had a distinguished war record. Gestapo and had taught us valuable lessons. We dam. As a member of the General Staff, he made a fine saw that our preparations for seizing power upon This put Tresckow in an excellent position for re­ showing in staff work; transferred to the Afrika Hitler's death had been inadequate. We buckled sistance work, but about the same time another key Korps, he similarly excelled in the field. He was down to more thorough planning for the overthrow man in the movement got into difficulties. This was badly wounded while fighting the English in Italy, of Hitler and the Nazis. This renewed activity was Maj. Gen. Hans Oster, an official in the Counter­ losing one eye, his right hand and two fingers of his to culminate the following year in the famous assas­ espionage Division who had been serving as a co­ left hand. These wounds led to his transfer back to sination attempt in Hitler's conference room, ordinator of resistance activities. Shortly before the General Staff. through which a startled world first learned two summer, one of Oster's closest collaborators, Coun­ Over-all leadership of the resistance movement years ago this month, that Hitler had determined cilor Hans von Dohnanyi, was arrested on suspicion continued to be exercised by Col. Gen. Ludwig opponents inside Germany. of disloyal activity. Oster was compromised in the Beck, now on the retired list, but still our most in­ My own role continued to be that of an emissary ensuing court-martial investigation. Until then, fluential military champion, and Dr. Karl Goer- and all-around handy man, particularly for Maj. Oster had been shielded by his chief, Admiral deler, former mayor of Leipzig and our No. 1 civilian Gen. Henning von Tresckow, one of the most in­ Wilhelm Canaris, but now Canaris could no longer spark plug. trepid figures in the resistance movement. Tresckow keep him in the Counterespionage Division. Oster Four major problems faced us. We had to draw was first staff officer of the Central Army Group in was shunted to the officers' reserve, and so the move­ up detailed military plans for seizing Berlin. We had Russia, and I was his liaison officer. Together we ment lost its managing director. to decide what political form our new government had undertaken the March thirteenth effort to An able replacement was found, however, in Col. would take. We must win more high-ranking army blow up Hitler's plane which came so close to Claus Schenk von StaufFenberg. Count Stauffen- commanders to our side. Finally, it was necessary success. berg was chief of staff in the General Army Office to work out a new assassination scheme. Ground­ The biggest single weakness which had been under Infantry Gen. Friedrich Olbricht, one of our work on all these matters was completed during ten revealed during this episode, Tresckow and I felt, leading army collaborators. summer weeks in 1943.

Showing the effects of the final assassination attempt, Hitler has to shake with his left hand at a subsequent meet­ ing. The little guy with his arm extended is Goebbels; the smiling terrorist with glasses (left center) is Himmler. THE SATURDAY EVENING POST

The military details for the coup high-ranking army commanders. We Then he held audiences. Dinner was the German resistance movement in were largely developed by Count Stauf- already counted on Field Marshal from eight to ten. After that, Hitler the eyes of history and the world. fenberg and Maj. Ulrich von Oertzen, Günther von Kluge, under whom gathered around him a circle of care­ On June 22, 1944, the Russians fol­ in collaboration with General Tresc­ Henning von Tresckow and I were fully selected men with whom he con­ lowed up the western invasion with kow. The starting point was to find out serving in the Central Army Group in versed until four in the morning, doing their great offensive in the east. Time what home-army troops would be avail­ Russia. Tresckow set out to win over at most of the talking himself. Then he was now running very short. Ten days able to us in and around Berlin, and least two more field marshals with went to bed. The night dissertations later, I received a message from Count what SS units would be there to oppose front-line commands. were attended by his two secretaries. Stauffenberg. He had decided it was them. The precise disposition of forces Tresckow was already well ac­ He did not bring his mistresses, of impossible to wait any longer. He was at any future date was, of course, im­ quainted with Field Marshal Erich von whom he had several, to bis headquar­ going to kill Hitler himself. We should possible to predict, but it was apparent Manstein, and thought he had valu­ ters, but kept them at Obersalzberg. be prepared for the assassination to take that the SS would have a distinct ad­ able organizational talents. He strove His daily routine was altered only in place any day. vantage in numbers and equipment. to convert Manstein to our cause. emergencies, and under no circum­ In the original planning, Stauffen­ Furthermore, the SS barracks were Manstein was obviously moved when stances was he awakened from his berg had not been considered as a pos­ close to the government offices, radio Tresckow preached that he had a re­ sleep. sible assassin, since he had only one stations, utilities and other key points. sponsibility to history, but he could Our best opportunities in this sched­ hand, from which two fingers were Thus it was inevitable that the situa­ not bring himself to take the plunge. ule were the noon military conference missing. But he was fearless and able, and the night session. Our assassin and one of the few resistance men who tion would be critical during the first Finally he became afraid of Tresckow's 1 twenty-four hours following the assas­ influence. When, at the end of 1943, the would have to get himself invited to were in a position to get at Hitler. He sination; after that the army could Personnel Office nominated Tresckow one or the other. He would have to use was now chief of staff for Col. Gen. overcome the numerical superiority of to be chief of staff of Manstein's army explosives. A swarm of SS men who Fritz Fromm, commander of the home theSS. group, Manstein objected strongly'. never left the room made it virtually army. Stauffenberg had told Fromm impossible to draw a pistol and shoot. that he was anti-Hitler, and Fromm Tresckow, Stauffenberg and Oertzen Gen. Rudolf Schmundt, Hitler's Chief One of the hardest jobs was finding had indicated sympathy with this view­ worked out detailed plans for the entire Adjutant and head of the Personnel an assassin. Among our small group of point. operation, and put them in the form of Office, was surprised at this, and asked possibilities some men frankly said Out at Central Army Group head­ a series of commands. The first com­ the reason. they lacked the nerve to carry it quarters we waited hopefully for the mand asserted that the SS had at­ "Tresckow is an excellent staff offi­ through. Others had moral scruples big news. On July 20, 1944, there tempted a Putsch, which had t'o be sup­ cer," Manstein said, "but his adjust­ about being responsible for the deaths finally came a coded telephone flash pressed. Army troops were ordered to ment to National Socialism is nega­ tive." of bystanders in the room with Hitler. from a go-between in Berlin, reporting disarm the SS forces and, if necessary, that the assassination had succeeded. destroy them. To make this and other Finally, Maj. Gen. Hellmuth Stieff, This judgment, which Schmundt of the High Command, offered to do A short time later, however, the Ger­ commands in the initial twenty-four later reported to Tresckow himself, man radio announced that an attempt hours convincing, they were to be is­ the job with the help of two aides, effectively stymied Tresckow's mili­ Major Kuhn and Lt. Albrecht von had been made on Hitler's life, but he sued in the name of Col. Gen. Fritz tary career. He was never able to ad­ had been only slightly wounded. At Fromm, commander of the home army, Hagen. There was some thought at that vance to posts from which he could time of introducing a new uniform in first, Henning von Tresckow and I although he was not a member of our have served the resistance even more were confident that this was a lie. We conspiracy. After twenty-four hours, the German Army. Stieff and his aides usefully. planned to get into Hitler's room on began to have our doubts when an we would drop all sham, and from then Another general who refused to com­ order arrived through regular military on orders would go out over the sig­ the pretext of showing him the uni­ mit himself to the conspiracy was form, and then commit the assassina­ channels stating that no commands nature of Field Marshal Erwin von Col. Gen. Heinz Guderian. Tresckow originating in Berlin were to be fol­ Witzleben, a sturdy Hitler opponent tion. The exhibition of the uniform and Doctor Goerdeler negotiated with was scheduled several times, but in his lowed. We did not know definitely that whom we had slated to become com­ him, but found that he was an oppor­ the assassination had failed until Hitler mander in chief of the German armed usual fashion, Hitler kept putting it off, tunist, who would come in only if suc­ and finally canceled it altogether. himself came on the radio at midnight forces. When Tresckow, Stauffenberg cess were assured. Ultimately he was Another plan was to have Hitler re­ in a special broadcast to the German and Oertzen submitted the set of orders to cash in on the failure of the assas­ people. to Witzleben, he promptly gave them sination attempt, emerging from the peat his earlier visit to the Central his formal approval. Army Group in Russia, where Tresc­ What had happened, I later learned, episode with the post of chief of the was this: Count Stauffenberg had Army General Staff. kow and I had almost brought about Meanwhile, equally vital planning the Führer's death in March, 1943, but taken into Hitler's office a brief case was being done on the political front. However, two other generals with loaded with explosives, timed to go off field commands declared their readi­ nothing could prevail on Hitler to Immediately after the assassination, travel again to the Central Army within a few minutes. He left the brief there would doubtless be a period of ness to co-operate. They were Col. case there and departed unsuspected. Gen. Otto von Stülpnagel, commander Group. widespread unrest and uncertainty, dur­ Then came a new cause of delay. Soon after, he heard an explosion so ing which a military dictatorship would in chief in France, and Infantry Gen. tremendous that he was sure Hitler and Alexander von Falkenhausen, com­ General Beck, who was to be regent in be necessary. But this was to last no the proposed new government, was everyone else in the room had been longer than three months. Then the mander in chief in Belgium and North­ killed. For many hours Stauffenberg ern France. taken sick and had to undergo an op­ military would withdraw to the back­ eration. I went to Berlin at this time believed Hitler was dead. This was the Our political plans were now com­ ground and turn over full power to a to talk over the situation with Count reason for the false report of the Füh­ plete. All that remained was to arrange civilian government. Stauffenberg and General Olbricht, rer's death we had received from the vital opening move in the coup This new government was to be our key men in the home-army setup. Berlin. d'itat—the assassination of Hitler. democratic, with representatives of " I have news for you as bad as any There was wild confusion in Berlin To make sure of the precise situation every political faith. For years, Dr. we have ever got in the whole war," immediately after the assassination at Hitler's headquarters, I flew there Karl Goerdeler, our civilian leader, had Olbricht told me. "Admiral Canaris attempt. For a period of several hours, twice and talked with Lt. Dietrich von been negotiating with men of all parties (chief of German military intelli­ Stauffenberg, General Olbricht and Bose, a resistance adherent who was from the left wing to the right. Catholic gence and a resistance sympathizer) another associate held General Fromm, familiar with the place. He gave me' forces of the center pledged co-opera­ visited me recently and gave me an commander of the home army, a pris­ an exact outline of Hitler's daily tion. Labor-union men and even the account of one of his conversations oner. Stauffenberg told him that Hitler schedule. Communists declared their willingness with Himmler. Himmler told Canaris was dead, but the High Command had to participate. Hitler slept until ten o'clock in the to his face that he well knew there were assured Fromm this was not so. Fromm There would be a two-house parlia­ morning, when a servant awakened considerable numbers in the army who had previously shown sympathy for ment, along the lines of the English him. At the same time his breakfast weretoying with plans for an uprising. our aims, but now he stubbornly re­ system. The chief executive would be a was brought to his bedroom on a dumb­ But he would not let it reach that fused to co-operate in having Berlin chancellor, corresponding to a prime waiter, along with excerpts from foreign point; he would take countermeasures seized by his troops. minister. In addition, it was felt that newspapers which Foreign Minister theje must be one department that von Ribbentrop had selected. Anything in time. He had only tolerated the By evening, when Hitler's survival stood above political discussion, for the Hitler wanted to read was typed out on situation this long in order to ferret became definitely established, the op­ character and history of the German a special typewriter with unusually out who was really behind it all. Now portunity was gone. Fromm was now people are such that leadership cannot large letters, so that he would not be­ he knew. He would deal with people able to make captives of his erstwhile be built up exclusively from below. To tray his nearsightedness by the way he like Beck and Goerdeler soon enough." captors. He ordered the immediate meet this need, many of us favored a held the paper. At eleven o'clock he This was a most disturbing develop­ execution of Stauffenberg, Olbricht, monarchy. received his chief adjutant, who in­ ment. The only thing to do was to try Beck, and two of their colleagues. General Beck asked and received per­ In the two top posts of this new gov­ formed him on personnel matters. A to keep our nerve and to redouble our conference on the military situation efforts. We wanted desperately to stage mission to take his own life; the others ernment, the resistance planned to in­ fell before firing squads. stall its two top leaders. Col. Gen. Lud­ began at noon, with the chief of the our coup before the expected western wig Beck was to serve as chief of state, High Command and the chief of the invasion by the Allies took place. But Ironically, Fro nun's conduct on this until a final decision was made as to the Army General Staff giving reports. one unfortunate accident followed fateful day pleased the Nazis no more form of government. Doctor Goerdeler Other officers attended as needed. Here another until, on June 6, 1944, the in­ than it had us. Although his obstinacy was to be chancellor. A labor leader Hitler personally decided all military vasion began. had done much to wreck the conspiracy, was to be made Minister of the Interior, questions. Was there any point now in carrying the Nazis charged him with cowardice and leftists were to get some of the out our plot? We deliberated and de­ for failing to act immediately. Ulti­ Lunch began at two and lasted, be­ mately, Fromm himself was executed. other cabinet posts. cause of the monologues he inflicted on cided to go through with it. Even if All this I found out much later. On In addition to our specific military his table companions, until four o'clock. Hitler's overthrow would no longer do Next Hitler took an afternoon nap, from much good, we felt that we must risk the night following the assassination and political preparations, we also attempt, Henning von Tresckow and I needed to line up the support of more which he got up between six and seven. ourselves in open action, to vindicate THE SATURDAY EVENING POST knew only that the undertaking to Werner von der Schulenburg, chief bored into each finger separately. Then pectation of death. But the American which we had dedicated ourselves had prospects for the post of foreign minis­ a somewhat similar contrivance was forces drew near before my turn came. failed. Tresckow said he was going to ter in our proposed government, and applied to my legs. Next my whole I was moved to Dachau, and then to a kill himself immediately, before the Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of body was racked on an instrument that camp near Innsbruck. The advance of Nazis could capture him and try to German military intelligence. All these resembled a bedstead. Finally I was the Americans was irresistible. Again force the names of other conspirators men were eventually executed. tied in a bent-over position and re­ I was shifted, with a large number of from him. I urged him to wait. We This is an appropriate point at which peatedly clubbed from behind with prisoners of many nationalities, this argued almost the entire night, but he to list other important personalities in heavy cudgels. Each blow knocked me time to Pusterthal, south of the Brenner could not be dissuaded. It was finally my story who also paid the death over forward, so that I fell with my full Pass. Because of the retreat of the agreed that Tresckow was going to penalty. They include Field Marshal weight on my face and head. German troops, the place where we commit suicide at the front, while I Erwin von Witzleben, who was to be None of these treatments caused me were to be quartered had already been would try to stay alive, so that I might our commander of all German armed to confess. It ended with my losing requisitioned by an army unit. someday work to justify the resistance forces after Hitler's assassination; Maj. consciousness. It was days before I Thus we stood on the street in a movement before public opinion. Gen. Hellmuth Stieff, of the High had recovered sufficiently to get out of driving rain, without accommodations, Tresckow had no regrets about his Command, and his aide, Lt. Albrecht bed. My reward was to go through the guarded by SS men whose expressions participation in the movement. He von Hagen, who had hoped to perform entire torture process all over again. clearly showed that they had been was satisfied that what he had tried to the assassination themselves; Col. Gen. Finally I thought of a way out. I badly shaken by the Allied sweep. A do was for the good not only of Ger­ Otto von Stülpnagel, who had pledged confessed to having known that there few of them began to discuss whether many but of the world. "God once us his support as commander of Ger­ was a conspiracy to induce Hitler to they should still kill some of us. This promised Abraham that He would not man forces in France; Maj. Ulrich von relinquish his active direction of the was too much for Pastor Niemöller, one destroy Sodom if even ten righteous Oertzen, prominent in our military armed forces. The Gestapo was satis­ of the most illustrious of our group men could be found there," Tresckow planning for the seizure of Berlin, and fied with this, which in itself was of prisoners. said. "I hope that for our sakes God Councilor Hans von Dohnanyi, an enough to hang me. They did not He went up to the SS officer in will likewise not destroy Germany." effective collaborator in the capital. attempt to implicate me any more charge and said, "If these SS men here In the morning Tresckow proceeded As for myself, I had almost nine deeply in the plot or to pry the names are not removed we shall kill them." to the 28th Rifle Division, went past months at the tender mercies of the of any other conspirators from me. This made the impression that was the forward positions, and entered no Gestapo ahead of me, most of it in On February 3, 1945, I came to trial intended. There were a few more critical man's land unaccompanied. He used solitary confinement. I underwent a in the so-called People's Court that days, but we survived them, and on two pistols to simulate an exchange of series of questionings by a Gestapo the Nazis had created to handle po­ May fourth we were finally liberated by shots, and then took out a rifle grenade examiner named Habecker. From the litical charges. Before my case could an American company. and blew off his head. beginning, I had a hunch that the be heard, an American air raid ended Two months later, I was delivered For some days I waited for my own Gestapo had no real evidence against proceedings for the day. When the trial back to my wife and two small boys in fate to catch up with me. I was not me. I declined Habecker's invitation finally took place, on March sixteenth, an American jeep, loaded with toys I surprised when, on August seventeenth, to save everyone time by making an I described with deep emotion the had bought while recuperating under I was awakened by a staff officer and immediate confession. So he went to tortures to which I had been subjected Allied auspices in Switzerland. Words placed under arrest. The following work on me. and, unexpectedly, I was acquitted. are scarcely adequate to describe my night I was delivered under military At first Habecker merely resorted to This did not, however, make me a homecoming. My wife had long since guard to the main prison of the Ges­ clumsy verbal ruses to trick me into free man. Back to prison I went. There given me up for dead, and told the tapo on Prinz Albert Strasse in Berlin. confessing. Later he turned to force. I was told that the verdict of the court children I was in heaven. His secretary, a girl of about twenty, had obviously been wrong, and that it "Are you back from heaven to stay, Many notable resistance figures joined in hitting me in the face as I would be respected only to this extent: daddy?" they asked. "Did you get were imprisoned there. There was Dr. stood there handcuffed and defense­ I would be shot, instead of hanged, as these toys from the angels?" Karl Goerdeler, whom we had hoped less. When this system produced no the other conspirators had been. It would be a long while, I knew, to make chancellor of a new Germany; results, they resorted to outright tor­ before Germany could recover from Maj. Gen. Hans Oster, co-ordinator After a few days, I was taken to ture. The torture came in four stages. the debacle Hitler had brought upon It. of the resistance movement until he Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, in First my fingers were inserted into an But just then it seemed to me that I became suspect in 1943; former Am­ Upper Franconia, a so-called extermi­ instrument set with thorns, which finally had entered heaven. bassadors Ulrich von Hassell and nation camp, where I lived in daily ex­

Reprinted from the July 20th and the July 27th issues of THE SATURDAY EVENING POST Copyright 1946, The Curds Publishing Company