BBC NEWS | Europe | Germany remembers Hitler plotters Germany has marked the 65th anniversary of the failed attempt by a group of officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and drive the Nazis from power. The 20 July Plot saw Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg plant a bomb under a table inside the "Wolf's Lair", Hitler's command post in East Prussia. But through a series of lucky circumstances Hitler was only slightly hurt, and the conspiracy was exposed. The assassination attempt is one of the proudest traditions of the German army. During a ceremony in Berlin on Monday, hundreds of young recruits to the force took their ceremonial oath to a democratic Germany.
Two lucky events: 1. The bomb was to be planted at a meeting that Hitler was having. This meeting was originally to take place in an enclosed area which would have contained the blast and ensured maximum damage. Unfortunately, it was moved to a room that was not enclosed; it had windows and the walls were probably not as strong as those of the original meeting. Thus, the blast was not enclosed and the blast dissipated. 2. The bomb was originally placed where, in all likehood, it would have killed Hitler. However, someone inadverdently moved it to a different position such that the table used at the meeting shielded Hitler. Bob Guercio
von Stauffenberg and the others deserve all the kudos we can give them. They knew they were taking their lives in their hands if they were to fail. Salutes to all of them.
You know I am a bit torn on this issue. The German generals certainly were probably more respectable than Hitler and his cronies and I hope they would have put an end to the Final Solution, but that said I wonder if had they taken power they would have been able to accept non-conditional surrender the allies were pushing forward. I can't help but wonder if they would have continued the war, the difference being they could have managed it much more competently than Hitler did with his "hold at all cost" orders. I think of the movie Downfall when the Generals are debating surrendering and the one yells out he will never let 1918 happen again while he is alive or something to similar effect.
