20. July 1944

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Rudi S.
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20. July 1944

Post by Rudi S. »

I've found the description of the events of the assasination attempt of Hitler:
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Wid ... Juli-R.htm

Der 20. Juli 1944 - Aufstand des Gewissens

Exerpt:

“Während der Explosion befand sich Stauffenberg vor der Baracke bei seinem Wagen. Kaum war die Bombe explodiert, stieg er in seinen Wagen und fuhr sofort ab. Noch war kein Alarm ausgelöst worden und er konnte die Wachen am Sperrkreis I passieren. Am Sperrkreis II wurde er aber angehalten. , Durch eine List gelang es ihm Durchfahrt zu erreichen und Stauffenberg machte sich auf den Weg nach Berlin.”

Rough Translation:
At the instant of the explosion, Stauffenberg stood at his car in front of the barracks. Right after the detonation of the bomb, he entered his car and at once drove off. No alarm had been sounded as yet and he was able to leave security zone I. He was stopped at the security zone gate II . By trick he managed to leave (the HQ) to make his way to Berlin
_____________________________________________________________
I am quoting from my interview on http://www.feldgrau.com/interview6.html

CHAPTER V - "Let Stauffenberg Pass"
On July 20, 1944, when the conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler at his military headquarters in Rastenburg, East Prussia, I happened to be in a Feld Lazarett (military field hospital) recuperating from my wounds. Most of my information comes from a friend of mine, Heinz Hühnemann, who was stationed at one of the security gates when the explosion occurred. His post was in Sperrkreis I (Security Ring I), which was closer to Hitler's than the one we normally guarded (Sperrkreis II). He told me that at about one o'clock in the afternoon a terrific explosion went off and a general alarm was sounded. When the explosion occurred, as when anything unexplained happened, there was a general alarm and an immediate doubling of the guard. Since there were only two guard shifts, that meant that all of the guards were placed on duty. Not long after that, Colonel Count von Stauffenberg [17] approached his gate in a vehicle. Of course, as was the custom, Hühnemann saluted the Colonel and inquired what his business might be. Moreover, the alert was in progress, the Corporal had to say, "I am sorry, Herr Oberst (Colonel), Headquarters is closed. There is a general alarm!" "I know that," Stauffenberg replied, "but I have important business in Berlin, you must let me pass!" [18] Rejecting his plea, in a military manner of course, Hühnemann stated, "I am not allowed to let anyone pass - those are the orders from High Command." Stauffenberg, he said, was very nervous and again demanded that he be allowed to pass, but
Hühnemann simply replied, "In order to let you pass, Herr Oberst, I have to call the Kommandantur (Commandant's Office) for permission." "Do so!", Stauffenberg said. The corporal lifted the receiver in his guard hut and was instantly connected to the Kommandantur. He told the party on the other end of the line that Herr Oberst von Stauffenberg requested permission to pass through his gate. There was a momentary silence and then an instruction for the corporal to hold on. After an additional ten or twenty seconds elapsed, the voice came back on the line and said, "Let Colonel von Stauffenberg pass!" At the time, the talk at the Führer Headquarters was that the Kommandantur quickly decided that Stauffenberg's hasty departure might be somehow connected with the recent explosion. If this was the case, it was reasoned, it would be wiser to allow Stauffenberg to proceed unimpeded to his final destination and, in all probability, lead the to the conspirators. Anyway, the Colonel left and drove to the underground headquarters airfield. The saying those days was that the Gestapo and other security elements of the Reich were instructed to follow Stauffenberg wherever he went and to report his every action. Apparently, Stauffenberg was authorized to depart in his aircraft and, supposedly, reconnaissance planes followed him to Berlin. Therefore, since all of Stauffenberg's movements were known to the Abwehrdienst (counterespionage service), it was Stauffenberg's fault for the breakup of the conspiracy. [19]

Following his failed attempt to assassinate "our" Führer, Stauffenberg was considered a no-good traitor. We viewed him as not only a coward (as he departed the scene right away and gave thus his co-conspirators away), but also one who tried to give away our government and nation. We were under the impression that his immediate flight for Berlin was based on greed - he wanted a piece of the pie before the pie was consumed! To us, it was rather stupid of Stauffenberg to leave the Führer Hauptquartier (Headquarters) right after the explosion occurred. Had he really been sincere about his motives, then why didn't he stay? Had he risked the danger of remaining behind, he could have become either a live hero in the new Germany or a true martyr for the resistance movement. In the end, however, he was labeled as a dead, evil failure.

On the other hand, Major Remer was painted as the man who had saved Germany from certain destruction.
Major Otto Ernst Remer was the Commander of the Berlin Guard Battalion "Großdeutschland" during the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt, and also we were not aware what exactly he had done, we were told that he had kept his "cool" head, and deserved his promotion to Colonel for he was "the only one in the whole Army who prevented a catastrophy in Germany!" [20] Thus, we thought highly of him and were proud when, later, he became the commander of our Kampfgruppe - the one which bore his name. What's more, we always bragged about having the youngest General (to which he was promoted soon after the Battle of the Bulge) in the German Army leading us - he was, I believe, but 29 years old at the time.

After this attempt was made on Hitler's life, Reichsführer S.S. Heinrich Himmler [21], who always felt that his troops should be the sole guardians of the Führer, called in his men and assigned one of them to each one of us.
Himmler had always contended that his S.S. troops were more patriotic, better trained and more reliable than we; but Hitler invariably refused Himmler's proposal. When Hitler learned about Himmler's action, the story goes that he called the Reichsführer to his bunker, flew into one of his rages, and ordered the S.S. troops withdrawn immediately. According to our Company Commander, Hitler was supposed to have said, "I do not want your troops, I can depend on my boys!"

Any comments?

Rudi S.
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Commissar D, the Evil
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Post by Commissar D, the Evil »

Hi Rudi, just a thought, not a quarrel. I was not there, as you were, and yet I understand the reaction of the Front-Soldaten.

However, in all honesty and with the crucial benefit of hindsight, I am required to ask, that if Von Stauffenberg truly intended the reconstruction of the German government after the assassination of Adolf Hitler, what would have been the purpose of his dying in the assassination attempt?

Very Best,
David
Death is lighter than a Feather, Duty is heavier than a Mountain....
Knox
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Post by Knox »

Try this link, in english and german language.

http://www.gedenkstaette-ploetzensee.de/index_e.html

Scroll down to July 20, 1944

Image

Source: http://www.roland-harder.de/relikte_dri ... sraum.html

Knox
nebelwerferXXX

Re: 20. July 1944

Post by nebelwerferXXX »

20 July 1944 movies:

1) The Plot to kill Hitler
2) Valkyrie
3) The Nights of the Generals
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