Kindle Edition
The Plots against Hitler - Amazon Book Page
Amazon
Category:
History
ISBN-10: 0544714431
Type: Non-Fiction
ISBN-13: 9780544714434
Price: $14.99 (eBook)
A new and definitive account of the anti-Nazi underground in Germany and its numerous efforts to assassinate Adolf Hitler
In 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. A year later, all parties but the Nazis had been outlawed, freedom of the press was but a memory, and Hitler’s dominance seemed complete. Yet over the next few years, an unlikely clutch of conspirators emerged – soldiers, schoolteachers, politicians, diplomats, theologians, even a carpenter – who would try repeatedly to end the Fuhrer’s genocidal reign. This dramatic and deeply researched book tells the full story of those noble, ingenious, and doomed efforts. This is history at its most suspenseful, as we witness secret midnight meetings, crises of conscience, fierce debates among old friends about whether and how to dismantle Nazism, and the various plots themselves being devised and executed.
Orbach’s fresh research takes advantage of his singular skills as linguist and historian to offer profound insight into the conspirators’ methods, motivations, fears, and hopes. Though we know how this story ends, we’ve had no idea until now how close it came – several times – to ending very differently. The Plots Against Hitler fundamentally alters our view of World War II and sheds bright – even redemptive – light on its darkest days.
Excerpt
Stauffenberg left the room quietly, leaving behind his briefcase, hat and belt. That was not uncommon, as all those present at the meetings were used to seeing officers going out to contact their units. The colonel lit a cigarette, passed through the corridor, and left the briefing hut. One of the guards spotted him, walking and smoking without his black briefcase. Stauffenberg turned to Fellgiebel’s office to await the explosion. Haeften was waiting near one of the staff cars, ready to speed his commander out of the camp. A few minutes later, Keitel left the conference again to summon Stauffenberg, who was scheduled to be the next speaker, failed to find him, and turned back to the meeting. Colonel Brandt, keen to take a better look at the map, leaned over the table and unwittingly kicked Stauffenberg’s briefcase away from the Führer.
Heusinger was still speaking. “The Russian,” he said, “is strongly advancing to the northwest of the river Don. His spearheads are already southwest of Dunaburg […].” Hitler listened and leaned on the map to take a better look. “If the army group around Lake Peipus does not withdraw immediately, a catastrophe…”
Stauffenberg’s briefcase exploded in a deafening blast. Those present were hurled to the walls, their vision blurred. Everything went up in green and yellow flames. From Fellgiebel’s office, Stauffenberg witnessed the explosion and saw the hut burning, “as if it was hit by a shell.” He was sure that Hitler and the others were dead or dying. Soon after, he nodded to Fellgiebel and entered his staff car. The operation had finally begun.
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