The German Question, Part One Hundred Fifty-One

Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/C
"Germany In World War Two" Part Four/B
"German Heroes: The Plot Against Hitler"

Resistance (German: "Widerstand") to Hitler and the Nazis was not easy for the average German, nor any German for that matter. Spies reported the least little things to Nazi authorities, and this could result in imprisonment or even death for the perpetrator. Here is where fear also took over. By instilling fear in people, Germans were careful in just about everything they said, and some undoubtedly even reported "unwise" statements to the authorities made by neighbors, fearful that if they didn't report it, and the person who made the statement was found out anyhow, they themselves might be implicated. It was a vast circle of fear. It is not easy for most people to oppose their own country, and Germans were much the same, especially once the war started. Still, some searched their souls and decided that resistance to Hitler and criminality was more important than Germany's war effort under the Nazi regime. And again, there was always that fear of being found out. During the war, Sophie Scholl, her brother, Hans, and a friend, Christoph Probst, were arrested for distributing leaflets at the University of Munich urging Germans to resist the Nazis and the war. They were "tried" before a Nazi court (see below) and beheaded shortly after the sentencing. There are several memorials and honors to this young courageous German woman and the other young Germans who tried to fight evil, and who gave their lives doing so. I hope all of you will be interested enough to read more about these German heroes, or to watch the movie, "Sophie Scholl-The Final Days," a German language movie, with English subtitles. (Note added 12/8/22: To be clear, opponents of the Nazi regime were NOT perfect people, and I doubt that any of them will ever be proposed for sainthood. Many had been supportive of Hitler until the war turned against Germany, while others were opposed to Hitler much earlier, especially around the time of the crisis over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia; but even then, one of the main objections to Hitler was that he was going to get Germany into a war it was not prepared to fight. Some were outright Nazis. So, there were seldom, if ever, any high sounding ideals, rather for military people it was a very simple and practical feeling that the country was not ready to fight a major war. On the other hand, the reality with these people was, they chose to oppose Hitler, at whatever time during his rule, under very dangerous circumstances, and indeed, many paid with their lives for their decision. Would we rather that they had remained loyal to the fanatical furious Führer?)  

The military was in something of a different category. With many German officers coming from the nobility, there was a tendency by these men to look down on some of the Nazi thugs as, well.... THUGS! Highly respected by the German public, officers enjoyed sort of a club of their own; thus, much of the organized resistance to Hitler came from the German military, with some government officials also involved. General Ludwig Beck, one of the early opponents of the regime, resigned prior to the war, when he felt Britain and France were too timid in dealing with Hitler. He may have resigned his military position, but he remained active in conspiracies to remove Hitler from power, including the option of assassinating the Nazi leader. As the war went down hill, military officers knew first hand that Germany stood a good chance of losing the war, no matter what all the Nazi propaganda told the public. They also knew a good deal about atrocities committed by Germans as part of Nazi policy, especially in Russia. Still, they had sworn an oath to Hitler personally, and that oath was not easily overcome by many, even with the knowledge that the oath had been given to a criminal.

There were various plots against Hitler, but the most famous plot came very near to killing him. It took place on July 20, 1944 at Hitler's military headquarters in northeastern Germany, near Rastenburg, in the province of East Prussia. Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg* carried a bomb inside his briefcase into a military conference that day. He was to give a report at the conference, but excused himself "for a phone call" just moments before the bomb went off. The bomb, activated by acid that ate through a trip wire, exploded under the conference table, but Hitler was only injured; one of the other officers having moved Stauffenberg's briefcase to the other side of the stout table support so he could see the maps better.** Stauffenberg left the compound and flew to Berlin fully believing Hitler was dead. Other conspirators in Berlin and elsewhere (including Paris and Vienna), mainly army officers, awaited confirmation that Hitler had indeed been killed. Some Nazi officials were taken into custody in various locations across Germany and in occupied territories. A group of army soldiers was sent to arrest propagandist Joseph Goebbels, but Goebbels cleverly put a call through to Hitler, who told the officer in charge, Major Otto Remer, that he was very much alive, and that the officer and his troops were to arrest the conspirators instead. With Hitler still alive, the plot fell apart. Later that night, Hitler addressed the German nation by radio from his headquarters (the speech had been recorded by Hitler earlier and then transported from the headquarters for broadcast). Secret agent reports showed the attack to be generally unpopular with the German public, which saw the attack as "unpatriotic" in a time of war (fascists LOVE to wrap themselves in patriotism and claim that acts specifically against them are actually acts against the country).

Stauffenberg, Beck, field marshals, generals, mayors and hundreds of others were executed as a consequence. Those arrested were put on "trial" before the Volksgerichtshof, the so called "People's Court,*** led by fanatical Nazi judge, Roland Freisler, who screamed insults at defendants. The proceedings were filmed, as were the resulting executions.

Anyone suspected of having participated in, or having known about, the plot, was arrested. Field Marshal Rommel's name was mentioned by some conspirators under interrogation, although apparently he was not actively involved, and his family later maintained that Rommel wanted Hitler arrested, but did not support killing him. Whatever the case, Rommel, home on leave to recover from injuries,**** was visited by German officers who brought an ultimatum with them. Hitler gave Rommel the choice of killing himself, and being given full military honors, as having died from his wounds, or of being arrested and tried, in which case there would be no guarantees for the safety of his wife and son. Some choice! Rommel chose to take his own life, and Hitler at least kept his word. Rommel was given a hero's funeral, with none other than Field Marshal von Rundstedt, the most respected of German generals, giving a eulogy. Rundstedt, upon later learning the truth about Rommel's death, lamented that he had believed the Nazi story that Rommel had died of his injuries.

As I noted above, please read more or watch documentaries or docu-dramas (one of the more recent ones starring Tom Cruise) to learn more about these German heroes. Historians usually choose to dwell upon all of the negatives about the Germans during the Nazi period, with good reason, and I know I have too in these most recent articles, but we can't forget that there were Germans who tried to stop the madness that had enveloped their country. They saw evil and they tried to stop it. We all should be very proud of them. It is not without reason Germans have placed a memorial plaque at the site of the executions of Stauffenberg and four others of the main conspirators against Hitler. The heading to the plaque reads: "Hier starben für Deutschland" ("Here died for Germany"); it then lists the names of the men: Colonel General Ludwig Beck; General of Infantry Friedrich Olbricht; Colonel Claus Count Schenk Von Stauffenberg; Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz Von Quirnheim; First Lieutenant Werner Von Haeften.   

* Stauffenberg, who also carried the noble title "Graf;" that is, "Count," had been severely wounded in North Africa in 1943, losing his right hand, two fingers on his left hand, and his left eye, over which he wore a black patch. No one could claim he hadn't sacrificed for his country, but he made the ultimate sacrifice by opposing Hitler, as he was executed in Berlin early on July 21, 1944, on orders of General Fromm, the commander of the Replacement Army, which was headquartered in Berlin.

** The military conferences normally took place in a concrete bunker, but it was being refurbished and strengthened against potential air attack. On July 20th the conference was held in a wooden conference room, with the windows open, due to the heat of July. Various experts have noted that Hitler, and probably all present, likely would have died if the conference had been in the usual concrete bunker, as the force of the blast would not have easily escaped, which is what happened with the wooden conference room and open windows. As it happened, four people died out of more than 20 in the conference room, and Hitler only suffered some contusions and bruises, plus a damaged eardrum.

*** The "People's Court" was a Nazi invention. It was set up early in Hitler's rule to get around the legal court system in place under the Weimar Republic. It was truly a "Nazi court system," and few people were ever acquitted after going before this court, with the verdicts in most cases, being determined beforehand.

**** Rommel was the commander of a German army group in France. In July of 1944, during the Normandy campaign, his staff car was strafed by an Allied aircraft. The car crashed and Rommel suffered severe injuries, especially to his skull and face.

WORD HISTORY:
Plot-This word is a mystery word. It appears in English circa 1000, although that doesn't necessarily mean it didn't exist in spoken English before that time. Where it came from is unknown. Its recorded history shows that initially it meant "parcel of land," a meaning still present in English to this day. From this meaning also came "a plan of grounds, a map." In this meaning, the "plan" part became the part that stuck, and from the notion of "calculating the dimensions for a map or sketch," we have its meaning, "scheme, plan" and also, "a story line, the major plan of a book or script." The verb was derived from the noun in the 1500s. It appears the English word was reinforced by French "complot," which had the general meaning "plans joined together (often secretly)." This was borrowed from French in the 1500s, and its ultimate origins are also unknown, but it goes back to "compeloter," with the meanings "com"="combine," and "peloter"="ball;" thus "combine into a ball, put together." In English, undoubtedly under the influence of the native word "plot," the "com" prefix, denoting "combined, joining," was dropped from the French borrowing. German too borrowed this word from French, as "Komplott," and it means "a plot, a scheme."