Download Kong Attempt`s on Hitler`s Life Outline Introduction Research

Attempt’s on Hitler’s Life
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Outline
I.
Introduction
II.
Research Methods
A. Qualitative
B. Quantitative
III.
Conclusion
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Table of Contents
Title 1 .....................................................................................................................................3
Title 2 .....................................................................................................................................5
Title 3 .....................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................6
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Yuri M. Kong
Ms.Murphy
English
April 26, 2013
Attempts on Hitler’s Life
Hatred can bring serious consequences depending on how severe the hate is. During World
War II, people were being imprisoned or executed for being Jewish under Hitler’s regime.
(Wind) This was not good news for the Jewish people. Due to this, many people did not favor
Hitler. This caused many people to come up with plans to assassinate Hitler. There were a few
famous plots to kill Hitler, although only one of the three was actually attempted. The three
operations that are most commonly known are Operations Valkyrie, Sparks, and Foxley.
Title 1
The most famous operation was Operation Valkyrie, planned by Claus Von Stauffenberg.
Stauffenberg’s level of commitment was heightened in places where people wanted to
assassinate Hitler. Stauffenberg was born on November 15, 1907 and grew up in a Catholic
family. He was a young ideal officer who grew up to be tall, good looking, and a brilliant
German officer in WWII (Allan, “Claus Von Stuaffenberg”), the period of time when these
events occurred. In addition, Stuaffenberg became chief of the replacement army in 1944, which
gave him the opportunity to be close to Hitler at any time. He was horrified by the actions of
Hitler against the Jews. That caused Stauffenberg to come up with Operation Valkyrie. His
mission was to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi party. This plan was not easy
since Stauffenberg was not the only one that attempted to kill Hitler, and he was aware of it.
When Stauffenberg and his group began to start planning, Stauffenberg was worried because
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they were not well prepared. They have planned this for years (Bos, Bonhoeffer) to at least
attempting to try it happen. Even the members of the reserve army, including the Kreisan Circle,
planned the assassination Hitler. The conspirators agreed to support Stauffenberg and his helpers
on killing Hitler because they thought that he would resurrect just like Emperor Burbarssa in
popular mythology. (Galante) However, they were still afraid of their plan being exposed. Even
so, Hitler’s death was required to free German soldiers from their oath of loyalty to him.
In 1942, Stauffenberg decided to kill Hitler. Operation Valkyrie was to kill Hitler while he
was in a meeting on July 20 (Galante). They would bomb the place of the meeting so that he
would perish. Stauffenberg carried two explosive briefcases under a table where he predicted that
Hitler would sit. Unfortunately, someone had moved the bag over to another room right across
where Hitler had an assembly with people, which led to the operation failing. Another reason
why the plan failed was because of the apprehension of some of the people involved in the
operation. Even before this, six attempts were stopped before Stauffenberg decided on trying the
conference. When people figured out that their plan did not workout, their hopes were dashed.
(Mitchell, The Fuher)
The plan did not work out like it was planned. Four officers saw the end of their lives
(Guttman, Ask WWII) but Hitler was merely severely injured. Even though a large table mostly
protected him, his eye, hand, and arm were severely injured. When Stauffenberg was caught, the
Nazis executed him in Berlin after two days and his last words were, “Long live holy Germany!”
Other people who were related to the plot were hanged or shot. “Then Hitler insisted that the
name “Stauffenberg” should be removed from history”(Jones). On March 2013, the last
surviving member of the plot died in Munich.
Hitler also insisted that Stauffenberg’s family be punished. His pregnant wife and other
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adults in his family were questioned and sent to a concentration camp. “On August 17, 1944,
four of [Stauffenberg’s] kids including Berthold, his oldest son, were put on a train to Bad
Sachsa”(Jones, Claus Von Stauffenberg). Then, they were put under Hitler’s rule for most of
their lives. However, unlike others, they were fed pretty well. When they were in the
concentration camp, they had no news from outside of the camp. Moreover, Berthold escaped
from the camp and followed in his father’s footstep to become a soldier in the West German
Bundeswehr.
Title 2
Another well-known plot to assassinate Hitler was Operation Sparks. The main planner of
Operation Sparks was General Tresckow. There were other soldiers that gathered together but
their reasons for gathering were about defending Europe, and not to assassinate Hitler. Most of
the soldiers planning Operation Sparks were people to look up to. (Lee, Plots) This operation
was only planned but never actually attempted.
Another operation that was all planned but not attempted was Operation Foxley. The
people who came up with this plan were the SOE (Special Operations Executive). SOE was not
an intelligent gathering organization, so they had a difficult time planning. The SIS (Secret
Intelligence Service) was appointed to help plan Operation Foxley. The SOE relied on the SIS
for information on Hitler. (Seaman, The Foxley Report) 3 The SIS controlled all the signal
intelligence from German wireless traffic. Also, the Allied leaders in general had experiences
trying to kill Hitler.
These two plans were not attempted, but have been planned. The Operation Sparks is more
commonly known. This plot was also known as Operation Flash. Operation Sparks was named
after General Henning von Tresckow. His plan was to explode a bomb before Hitler took off in
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an aircraft. On March 13, 1943, they carried a bomb on the aircraft that Hitler rode in. However,
Hitler arrived to his destination safely and their plan failed.
Title 3
Another plan was made after the first one had failed. This plan was to shoot Hitler but the
rank of the soldier was no longer allowed to be in the briefings. So this plan failed before it
started. Then, on March 11, 1944 Breitabunch tried going on a suicide mission. He strapped
himself with a timer bomb that would explode when Hitler passes by. However, Hitler walked by
him too fast so the plan failed. Then, Gersdorff suggested another suicide bomb on a museum in
Berlin, which failed again.
The second plan, Operation Foxley, was attempted from 1938-1944. This operation was to
kill Hitler using a sniper. This plan’s chances of success were low due to a similar operation that
had been attempted before. Alfred Duff Cooper approved this plan on 21 June 1944. This was
attempted near the end of World War II.
Conclusion
Though only one of the plans were actually attempted and was close to making it, the
other two were close as well to succeeding, if they were a bit more detailed. But, the way Hitler
died was by committing suicide on April 30, 1945(Victor) with a shotgun with his wife. Though
he did not die by anyone’s plan, many people’s lives were saved by his death. The people who
attempted to murder Hitler were very brave since some gave up their lives for their cause. These
three operations: Valkyrie, Sparks, and Foxley may be famous, but there were many more
operations that were attempted.
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References
Allan, Ramsay. “Claus Von Stuaffenberg And The German Officers’ Plot Of 1944.” 285
2004: 275. Internet, Seoul, SK. Ebscohost. Friday March 2013
<www.ebscohost.com>
Bos, Carole D., J.D. “Bonhoeffer: Martyr of Faith.” Awesomestories. 2002. Awesome Stories. 13
March 2013
<http://www.awesomestories.com/religion/bonhoeffer/attempted- assassination-of-hitler>
Galante, Pierre, and Eugene Silianoff. Operation Valkyrie: The German Generals' Plot
Against Hitler. N.p.: Cooper Square, 2002. Print.
Guttman, Jon. “Ask WWII” World War II. 7 2009: 13. Internet, Seoul, SK. Ebscohost.
Mon Mas Ultra-School Edition. 13 March 2013. Wednesday. March 2013
Jones, Nigel. “Claus Von Stauffenberg.” Historynet. 2008. World War II magazine. 13
2013 <http://www.historynet.com/claus-von-stauffenberg.htm>
Lee, Joel. “Plots to Kill Adolf Hitler.” highbeam. Cengage Learning. 18 March 2013
<http://www.highbeam.com/topics/plots-to-kill-adolf-hitler-t10472>
Mitchell, Arthur. Hitler's Mountain: The Führer, Obersalzberg and the American
Occupation of Berchtesgaden. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2007. Print.
Seaman, Mark. “The Foxley Report: Secret Operations in World War Two.” bbc. 2011.
BBC. March 20
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/foxley_report_01.shtml>
Victor, George. Hitler Dulles: Potomac: Potomac, 2002. Print.
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