What was the name of the group who tried to kill Hitler?

Answer 1

There were many groups and individuals who attempted to kill Hitler. In 25 years he survived more than 40 assassination attempts.

Probably the most famous attempt on his life was led by Graf Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (born 15 November 1907; died 21 July 1944), who, with a group of fellow army officers, politicians and industrialists, devised a plan to blow up Hitler with a briefcase bomb, consisting of two 1kg bombs,when he attended a military conference at his bunker the "Wolfsschanze" (Wolf's Lair) near Rastenburg in East Prussia, Operation Walküre (Operation Valkyrie).

Stauffenberg attempted to plant his bomb on 11 and 15 July 1944, but called things off at the last minute because either Himmler or Göring weren't present.

The group deided to take the next opportunity to kill Hitler, regardless of whether other top National Socialists were present or not.

The next opportunity happened by chance on 20 July 1944, when Stauffenberg was ordered to brief Hitler about troop deployments at the Wolfsschanze.

Stauffenberg attended the briefing and having played his part, made excuses to leave the room, leaving the briefcase bomb under the table in the room.

Unfortunately the bomb failed to kill Hitler, due to a number of flukes:

-The venue was changed at the last minute from a windowless concrete bunker to a barrack room with windows which allowed the force of the blast to dissipate.

- Stauffenberg was only able to arm one of the two 1kg bombs

- After Stauffenberg had planted the bomb and left the room, another officer moved the briefcase so that the Hitler was shielded from the full force of the blast by a solid oak table.

After the attempt, Stauffenberg immediately went to Berlin and attempted to seize control of the German military and began ordering the arrest of senior National Socialists, the Gestapo and the SS.

At 6 pm that evening it seemed that the putsch attempt might succeed but Hitler was able to make several important telephone calls (disproving announcements that he was dead and able to countermand the orders issued by the putschists.

Stauffenberg and his consprators were rounded up later that night and shot or hanged without trial (some were given the opportunity to shoot themselves). All in all, more than 200 people were rounded up and executed for their involvement in the attempted coup, including one General of the Army, (Field Marshall General), 19 generals, 26 colonels, 2 ambassadors, 7 diplomats, 1 government minister, 3 state secretaries, the chief of the Reich criminal police, several state governors, police chiefs and the heads of several regional state governments.

The coup did indeed succeed in Paris and Vienna, where the army quickly rounded up, arrested and disarmed the Gestapo and SS. But as it became clear that the coup had failed in Berlin, it quickly released them. Surprisingly, both sides kept very quiet about this - the army fearing reprisals for its involvement in the coup, the Gestapo and SS fearing similar reprisals for allowing themselves to be taken without a struggle!

The bodies of Stauffenberg were initially buried in unmarked graves in Berlin. Their bodies were exhumed the next day, burned and their ashes dumped in Berlin's sewage farms on the orders of Himmler.

Stauffenbergs attempt was recently turned into a major Hollywood blockbuster (Valkryrie, starring Tom Cruise, 2008.