Hitler had the luckiest day of his life on July 20, 1944.
Yesterday, we learned about a world leader who had a very unlucky day which led to a world war. Today, we will learn about a world leader who had a very lucky day which meant a world war continued. By 1944, the war was going poorly for Germany, but most Germans still supported the war effort. Not all. There was a conspiracy of military officers and politicians who plotted to oust Adolf Hitler and negotiate a settlement to the war. The plot was called Operation Valkyrie. They decided to assassinate Hitler using a bomb. This was not the first attempt on Hitler’s life, but it would come closest to success. A decorated, wounded war veteran named Col. Claus von Stauffenberg volunteered to carry out the hit. He was on the periphery of power and attended some meetings. On July 20, he was an attendee at a meeting in a building at Hitler’s “Wolf’s Lair” headquarters in Prussia. Lucky break #1 – the meeting was moved from an underground bunker because it was too hot. If the bomb have gone off there, everyone would have been killed. Lucky break #2 – Von Stauffenberg was interrupted when he was arming the two bombs and was only able to arm one. The Count entered the room and placed the briefcase concealing the bomb on the floor next to Hitler, who was leaning over a table covered with a map of the Eastern Front. He was probably telling his idiot generals how he would win the war. Stauffenberg excused himself because he was not a suicide bomber, unfortunately. Lucky break #3 – Col. Heinz Brandt, upon moving in closer to Hitler, bumped into the briefcase and shoved it behind a leg of the table. The table was a thick oak one and the legs were massive, so when the bomb exploded, Hitler was shielded from most of the blast. He survived with minor wounds. Four men were killed (including Brandt) and 20 were wounded. Stauffenberg saw the explosion blow up the building and assumed he was successful. He hastened back to Berlin to initiate the takeover of the government. Early in that process, word began to spread that der Fuhrer was still alive. Stauffenberg was arrested and was lucky to be put in front of a firing squad that very day. Lucky because what was done to most of the other conspirators was not a quick death. There was a lot of torture. Some were hung using piano wire and it was taped for Hitler to watch. Hitler would have his revenge. 7,000 Germans were arrested (most being innocent, of course) and 5,000 were executed or committed suicide. The war went on another 8 months with thousands of deaths. All because Hitler was a lucky bastard on July, 1944.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/assassination-plot-against-hitler-fails
https://time.com/5629999/operation-valkyrie-july-plot/
Goering inspecting the damage
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