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Show 156 headquarters in East Prussia with a bomb in his briefcase. Just before the bomb was set to eXplode, one of Hitler's aides almost unconsciously shoved the briefcast out of the way to the far side of a stout oak table, which sheltered the Fuehrer from the brunt of the ensuing blast. Less than twelve hours later, Hitler went on the radio and instructed the nation that "no military authority. is to obey orders from this crew of usurpers. that it is everyonevs duty to arrest, to shoot at sight, or, . . I also order if they resist, anyone issuing or handling such orders." In the bloodbath that fOllowed, an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 persons died m- not only the conSpirators them- selves, but also members of their families, associates. friends, and After being tortured, many of the victims were susPended by piano wire from meathooks borrowed from butchershOps and slaughterhouses while they slowly strangled to death. Again, Nazi Germany had demonstrated the validity of the warning of classical writers that he who strikes at a tyrant must kill him with the first blow, for he will not have a chance to strike a second. What if the July 20 plot had succeeded? Had that happened, the generals behind the conSpiracy planned to end the war. In that event, thousands of concentration camp prisoners and slave laborers might have been saved. might have been no Battle of the Bulge. There The enormous loss of life on the Western and Russian fronts on both sides |
