Stauffenberg, Symbol of Resistance: The Man Who Almost Killed Hitler

by Wolfgang Venohr

Overview

A biography of the man who lead the secret mission to kill Adolph Hitler and topple the Nazi regime, from an award-winning historian.
 
On 20th July 1944, senior officers gathered at the Wolfschanze—the Wolf’s Lair—Hitler’s headquarters in East Prussia. Among them was Colonel Claus Schenk Count von Stauffenberg, chief of staff of the Reserve Army, and he carried a briefcase packed with explosives. This is his story.
 
Shortly after midday the building was rocked by a massive explosion. Five men were killed, others wounded and the interior of the Wolfschanze was wrecked. Believing that he had killed the German Führer, von Stauffenberg set off for Berlin to initiate Operation Valkyrie—the coup d’etat to overthrow the Nazi regime.
 
Hitler, of course, did not die that day and Stauffenberg and his coconspirators were rounded up and executed. But what motivated Stauffenberg to attempt such a mission? Was Stauffenberg a traitor or a patriot? After decades of analyzing the sources and eyewitness reports, the renowned historian Wolfgang Venohr revealed the true nature of the man behind the most audacious assassination attempt of the Second World War.
 
Like many others, Stauffenberg smarted from Germany’s humiliating defeat in 1918 and the punishing terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Indeed, until the late 1930s, Stauffenberg agreed with much of the National Socialist ideology, which sought to reestablish Germany as the most powerful nation in Europe. But, increasingly, he saw his country sliding to defeat yet again at the hands of a leader who has lost his grip on reality. Stauffenberg believed he had no choice but to act . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781473856844
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	11/12/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Born in Berlin in 1925, WOLFGANG VENOHR held a PhD in history and worked as a journalist and freelance writer. For many years he was editor-in-chief of Stern TV. The author of numerous television films and published works, Venohr’s work earned him the Jakob Kaiser Prize in 1972 and the Joseph E. Drexel Prize in 1979. He died in Berlin on 26 January 2005.

Table of Contents

Preface of the New Edition 2000 vi

Chapter 1 Youth (1907-25) 1

Chapter 2 The Reichswehr (1926-33) 23

Chapter 3 The Wehrmacht (1934-39) 45

Chapter 4 The Blitzkrieg (1939-41) 70

Chapter 5 The Breaking Point (1942-43) 96

Chapter 6 Opposition (Second Half of 1943) 123

Chapter 7 Conspiracy (First Half of 1944) 180

Chapter 8 On the Eve (3-19 July 1944) 236

Chapter 9 The Assassination (20 to 21 July 1944) 263

Chapter 10 Reactions to 20 July 1944 (July to October 1944) 286

Appendix I Military Situation, Mid-July 1944 291

Appendix II The Conference Room of the Briefing Barrack on 20 July 1944 292

Bibliography 293