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Killing Hitler

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In Killing Hitler, author Roger Moorhouse does more than outline the several assassinations attempted during the dictator's career. He fills each chapter with detailed historical accounts from the period surrounding the attempts, focusing not on names and dates but on the stories of the individuals involved. He studies how each event unfurls, the motivations behind the would-be assassins, and their place amid the greater events of the rise and fall of the Hitler. The wealth of resources, the masterful prose, and a sensitivity not only to the historical context but to the individuals themselves makes this one of the finest accounts I've had the pleasure to read.

Adolf Hitler was a lucky guy. There were as many as forty-two documented assassination attempts on him (possibly far many more unknown ones), and in the end, he wound up doing the job himself, only under duress. Some of these attempts were poorly thought out while many were intricately plotted. Attempts in both categories were abandoned or executed, with the result turning out to be the same. They are reviewed in _Killing Hitler: The Plots, the Assassins, and the Dictator Who Cheated Death_ (Bantam) by historian Roger Moorhouse. The accounts make for exciting reading, even if it is obvious that each attempt will eventually fail. The chapters are divided into categories by the source of the attempt, such as the German military, German military intelligence, Poland, Russia, and Britain, and in each case, Moorhouse has provided substantial background history so that his book is far more than just a tally of assassination failures but a review of historical forces at play in each one.

In November 1939, Georg Elser placed an intricate clockwork bomb in a Munich beer cellar. The bomb went off at the exact right time, and the interior of the hall was completely destroyed as planned. Hitler, however, had unexpectedly cut his harangue short and had left fifteen minutes before. Elser was caught at the Swiss border. Interrogated under pressure, he finally explained what he had done, but no interrogation could make him rat out his accomplices because he had none. The interrogators could not believe this, and the German propaganda machine simply named some, blaming British agents and thus using the assassination attempt to increase popular wrath against the British. The famous attempt by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is examined here, of course, as well as other plans. Assassination was part of Soviet life; Trotsky, for instance, was eliminated in 1940. Stalin approved of plans to put agents into regions where they might get a shot at Hitler, or for bombers to attack towns or headquarters where he might be. Once Stalin saw the war swing in his own favor, as in the German defeat at Stalingrad, he shelved such plans. He thought that an assassination would possibly revitalize the German military or lead to a separate peace with other nations, forcing the USSR to fight alone. Before the war, British espionage officers were shocked at proposals of assassination rather than diplomacy, and the word condemning such assassination plans was "unsportsmanlike". Once the war started, such proposals were taken seriously again, but in Operation Foxley of 1944, a feasibility study of Hitler's assassination, the disadvantages of assassination were emphasized. Chiefly, the staff wrote, "Hitler should remain in control of German strategy, having regard to the blunders that he has made." Poland had astonishing espionage successes and some near-misses in killing Hitler, but many Polish attempts may never be known. After the war, Poland was occupied by the USSR, a totalitarian regime that didn't like an underground any more than Hitler's had. Members of the wartime underground were harassed, humiliated, and imprisoned, so there are relatively few memoirs of Polish assassination plans.

Moorhouse helps us look at larger issues rather than (as one German plotter put it) the "guardian devil" that seems to have kept Hitler from harm. He examines the often chaotic protocols that the staff around Hitler had for security, as well as Hitler's neurotic and unreliable schedule that gave plotters fits. Looking back on the horrors of the Nazi regime, we can easily speculate how beneficial Hitler's removal might have been at any point, but Moorhouse makes clear that those at the time did not have the benefit of such unambiguous clarity. Members of the plotters within the German military, for instance, worried that with Hitler gone, power would go to Goebbels, Himmler, and Bormann, and perhaps things would actually get worse. For nations on the outside, consideration had to be given to making a martyr of Hitler. The British realized, for instance, that if he were taken out, some Germans would undoubtedly encourage the myth that if Hitler had only lived, all would have been better for them. The "what if" game over the issue of Hitler's assassination is for especially high (if hypothetical) stakes, and Moorhouse has used it in a stimulating history.

In this innovative book th story of those who failed to kill Hitler are brought to life. Most of us are familiar with the famous 1944 bombing of a staf meeting in which Hitler had been present and only narrowly escaped death. This book however iluminates the shear volume of attempts of Hitler's life. Most fascinating it is revealed the many sources of resistance to Hitler not hitherto well known. For instance there is the Catholic assasin who desires to kill Hitler due to the suppression of the church, quite the opposite of what we have read in other places, and there are the assasins led by the British, Polish and Russians.

Of the greatest interest are the assasins who emerged from the regime itself. The book illuminates the role of Albert Speer but more so the gigantic resistance movement within the Abwher and Werhmacht are revealed, perhaps for the first time in one place. Here we see the deeds of the early anti-Nazis such as Canaris and those among the old Prussian aristocracy, a literal catalouge of 'Vons' who turned against Nazism due to the evils of the campaign in Russia. Here, for the first time, we are given insight into the moral character of old conservative Germany and its last gasp to prevent disaster in 1944. In the end thousands paid with their lives for attempting the life of Hitler, but those thousands, the cream of the old German army, dared to try and stop the greatest mass murder in history.

Seth J. Frantzman

In a well-researched, well-narrated account, Moorhouse describes hitherto less well-known stories that involved would-be assasins of Hitler. Each of the attempts is discussed with a broad historical context, sometimes in a very unique way; the personal life and motivation of the would-be assasin, the plot itself and how and why it failed. While the narration is lucid, the material itself (not suprisingly) is dense and is clearly not bedtime reading. The broad set of "characters" one needs to grasp is sometimes intimidating if you are not very familiar with the WW accounts. The author also provides a very detailed list of citations for the more serious reader. Overall, a very well-researched, well-organized, informative book. A must read.

Roger Moorehouse's "Killing Hitler" is a tragic chronicle of the alarmingly few individuals and groups in Nazi Germany who saw early on (or too late) that their "leader" was a mass murdering psychopath and acted accordingly--to no avail.

Though their bravery is commendable, one cannot help feel terrible anger and frustration as one gets into the thick of Moorhouse's feverish narrative. At long last, one has to ask, why didn't someone in the Wehrmacht simply get on good terms with Hitler, stand next to him, and ignite a live grenade? Suffice to say that any evaluation of posterity is just that, and only a slight percentage of those still living have had the experience of living in a ferocious totalitarian state like the Germany of 1933-45.

Perhaps the most impressive of the would-be assassins is Maurice Bavaud, a young idealist with deep roots in Christendom who, in 1939, waited for Hitler to show up at his annual "Beer Hall Putsch" celebration (where the equally courageous Georg Elser would plant a bomb which missed only because of a chance early departure by the dictator) took a pistol, and was foiled because of a group of German civilians. This was not the first time Bauvaud would make such a naked, furious attempt on the Fuhrer's life. Captured and guillotined in 1941, Bavaud stated baldly that whether Germans would accept it or not, he had been acting not only in their interest but the interest of all humanity. Only Col. Claus Von Stauffenberg's already well publicized attempt rivals that kind of courage.

The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 is given an impressive, if limited, recounting here: the PHM (Polish Home Army) managed to kill 9,000 SS soldiers and, through the utlitization of suicide bombers and guerilla attacks, eliminate a few important members of the Third Reich. The RAF's bungled, halfhearted attempts to bomb Hitler's HQ in East Prussia really didn't need mention here.

How desperate some former Wehrmacht soldiers were for Hitler's death is given heart pounding illustration here, in history's first suicide bomber, Rudolf-Chriastoph Von Gersdorff. Having served as an unofficial emissary for Henning Von Tresckow, a lifelong opponent of the Nazi regime and a key figure in the July 20th attempt, agreed to an act of utter self-sacrifice in order to get rid of Hitler: "At this point it became clear to me that an attack was only possible if I were to carry the explosives about my person, and blow myself up as close to Hitler as was possible."
Lining his uniform with "clam mines" obtained from a fellow officer (Col. Brandt, who knew nothing of the attempt, and who ironically would be the man to move the briefcase bomb away from Hitler on July 20th), he armed the mines with a trigger that would give him exactly ten minutes in which to approach his target and "kiss the sky". Hitler was, at the time, speaking in a German museum--originally Gersdorff was to approach him while the speech was being made and stand beside him.

Hitler cut the speech, was intended to be thirty minutes, to two minutes, and despite Gersdorff having already activated the device--with 5 minutes left--his attempts to stay near Hitler were in vain. Hitler may have noticed that Gersdorff was unusually "eager to talk" and the demonic instinct of self preservation kicked in: in any case, he said goodbye very quickly. Gersdorff then ran to the restroom and defused the bomb with trembling hands.

Moorhouse gets downright unethical--probably desperate for material, but still--including Albert Speer in this book. Speer was Hitler's devoted architect from the beginning of the war to the end and was much a brainwashed Nazi as Himmler, Goerring or Goebbels; he was just charismatic and knew how to BS the judges at Nuremburg. He lied about his knowledge of the atrocities and the Allies, not having evidence ofhis full knowledge which would emerge years later, bought it. Aside from a few scholars who have an unhealthy fascination with him, the general consensus is that he should have been dangling at the end of a rope with all the rest. The only reason he had even a passing thought about assassinating a man he otherwise had nearly homoerotic feelings for was the destruction of Germany. And that's all it was, a passing thought. It should probably be removed from the book.

If you have read about the attempts on Hitlers life you would find nothing new in this book. One interesting fact reported herein was that Georg Elsner, who attempted to blow up Hitler at one of his yearly speaches at the Burgerbraukeller in Munich, was honored in his hometown with a monument dedicated in 1998---more than 50 years after his death. It seems like the Germans really never appreciated how brave he was.

Although I was aware of some attempts on Hitler's life, I did not know that there were so many and from so many different sources - both within Hitler's entourage as well as far away from it. The author has provided well-researched and reasoned renderings of a subset of these attempts - the most fascinating and surprising ones. But in addition to discussing these various attempts in detail, the author has also presented much valuable information on the background history and evolving politics of Germany from the end of World War I to the end of World War II. The brutality of the Nazi regime is also amply discussed. As expected, particular attention has been paid to the instigation, structure and evolution of Hitler's security organization. The book's writing style is clear, friendly, authoritative and very engaging. It should be most relished by history buffs that have a penchant for the Second World War.

_Killing Hitler: The Plots, the Assassins, and the Dictator Who Cheated Death_ by British historian Roger Moorehouse is a fascinating account of the various brave individuals who motivated by a sense of chivalry sought to kill Hitler, the head of the Third Reich regime. While some of the assassins were communists or variously associated with either British intelligence or the Soviet Union, others were German military officers or devout Catholic mystics motivated by a sense of chivalry and righteousness. This book tells the story of some of these assassins, revealing both the power of the human spirit to overcome tyranny and the megalomania of Der Furher who cheated death many times. Hitler believed himself to be immortal, and following each failed assassination attempt would frequently boast of his powers and the role of the guiding hand of Destiny. However, as this book shows, many of the brave souls who sought to eliminate Der Furher believed themselves to be motivated by a higher cause, often having been previously immersed in mysticism.

The first would-be assassin discussed by the author is Maurice Bavaud, a Swiss Catholic immersed in mysticism and nationalism, who sought to eliminate the Furher. Bavaud had joined a student group "Compagnie du Mystere", along with his friend Gerbohay. Together they discussed the merits of communism and Nazism and eventually came to the conclusion that Hitler must be eliminated. Gerbohay may have been a schizophrenic who claimed for himself a lineage from the Romanovs and was also completely immersed in mysticism. Bavaud set out to murder Hitler but missed his opportunity. He was later picked up by the Nazis trying to cross the border into France. However, he was detained and interrogated and eventually sentenced to death. While in prison he wrote letters to his family telling his reasons for wanting to eliminate Der Furher. While Bavaud's plan had failed, his courage will be remembered as a brave soul who stood up to the Nazi menace.

The second would-be assassin discussed by the author is Georg Elser. Elser was a carpenter who had experienced firsthand the arbitrariness of a cruel father. While Elser was largely apolitical, he did support the communists at times, which led to his coming into conflict with the Nazis. Elser constructed a bomb to murder Hitler with and planted it at the commemoration of the Beer Hall Putsch. While Hitler was not killed by the bomb, Elser was forced to flee and was eventually captured by the Nazis trying to cross into Switzerland. He was accused by the Nazis of being part of a British plot to murder Hitler, and faced subsequent trial. Eventually he was sentenced to death.

The author next discusses the Abwehr (meaning "defense") and the "enemy within". Here, the author discusses individuals such as Wilhelm Canaris and Hans Oster. A plot was hatched as part of the "September Conspiracy" to eliminate Hitler. The author also discusses the Polish resistance. The Polish resistance was able to murder Heydrich who drove around frequently in an open-topped Mercedes. They also plotted against Hitler but were unable to eliminate him. In addition, the author discusses various plots of the Soviets and British intelligence. While the Soviets believed that the triumph of communism was a scientific inevitability (fascism being the death throes of capitalism), some opted for a more direct route by attempting to eliminate Hitler and his forces. Ultimately however, the megalomania and brutality of Stalin must be considered for what it was, especially in light of the subsequent communist triumph in East Germany. Among the British, the debate over whether to use "dirty tactics" in violation of the Queensberry Rules continued to be debated. In particular, both assassination and kidnapping were considered. The author discusses for example the novel _Rogue Male_ of Geoffrey Household in which an assassination attempt was outlined under the guise of fiction, later to be put into practice, and Operation Foxley.

Following these discussions, the author turns his attention to the German military itself. While originally having supported Hitler as an extreme nationalist who would restore German after the so-called "stab in the back", many officers in the military began to see the evils of the Nazi regime after witnessing the brutalities of the SS as they brutally butchered women, children, and innocents. The finer traditions of the German military included a strong sense of chivalry which did not allow for such horrors in war. This led to many of the military men to plot against Hitler. In particular, as part of a military plot individuals such as Henning von Trescow sought to eliminate Hitler. Perhaps the most famous would-be assassin is that of Claus von Stauffenberg, a former aristocrat who had been injured in battle. Stauffenberg was steeped in mysticism and his favorite poem was "The Antichrist" of Stefan George. Though this book does not go into it, others such as Erik von Kuehnelt-Liddehn in his book _Liberty or Equality?_ have pointed to the fact that Stauffenberg was a devout Catholic aristocrat who wore a scapular of Our Lady. (Kuehnelt-Liddehn's book is also interesting for a discussion of the possible legitimacy of tyrannicide/regicide under principles laid out by Saint Thomas Aquinas.) Stauffenberg attempted to murder Hitler with a bomb, but ultimately his attempt failed and he paid the ultimate price for his betrayal. Before being shot Stauffenberg's last words were "Long live Holy Germany!" Nevertheless, Stauffenberg's courage should never be forgotten in light of his heroic attempt to eliminate the Furher.

The author next turns his attention to the enigmatic Albert Speer. Speer was an architect, who was entranced by Hitler. However, he came to despise him and may have tried to assassinate him. While the Allies regarded Speer as the most decent of the Nazis, Speer may have been somewhat of an opportunist when he admitted to his plans for assassinating Hitler during the Nuremberg trials. However, ultimately it was Speer's contrite nature and not his attempts to win sympathy with the Allies which saved his life at the trials.

The author ends with a discussion of Hitler's final days in the bunker. Here, the insanity of the final conflict between Allied forces, Soviets, and the Nazis is shown in full. The author concludes that after Hitler and Eva Braun married they prepared to commit suicide. While the ultimate demise of Hitler remains debatable in that conclusive proof of his suicide has never been determined, this is a reasonable conjecture.

This book offers an excellent accounting of some of the brave souls who risked their lives to eliminate the great evil of Adolf Hitler. Many of these individuals were Catholic aristocrats or German military men motivated by the finest of chivalric traditions. While they were nationalists or monarchists frequently, they had grown disaffected with Hitler after seeing the brutality of war and his cruelty towards innocents. This book tells their stories.

Books about Hitler are kind of like literary popcorn - some are good, some are not so good, and they can usually be devoured quickly yet never quite sate the appetite. They are fascinating in a morbid way, as though one can only really believe that such a person could have existed by the presence of just one more trivial fact, or one more previously unpublished photo. This book is a pretty decent addition to that library. It is well written, well documented, and very complete. Although the assassination plots it documents start in 1938, there is a nice prologue which sets the stage and provides the background necessary to appreciate why these plots existed, and there is always a background - sometimes quite extensive - on the plotters themselves. There is also quite a bit of description given of the Reich's security apparatus, and how it changed over the years of the war. Also, the title "Killing Hitler" is very apt, since Moorhouse relates attempts to kill Hitler that might not fit a strict definition of "assassination". The only real qualification I would give it is that I wish there were more on how exactly these attempts impacted on Hitler himself. There is some of that, especially near the end of the book, but I think a closer look at that aspect would have been appropriate, and added a lot more interest. All in all, a very good book.

This is an amazing book about some of the serious attempts to
assasinate Hitler. In all there were at least 24 such attempts. Filled with
lots of interesting human interest stories and fascinating contemporary history.
Most interesting, he examines what motivated these would be assasins.There's
lots of food for thought too. The big question to ponder is why did they all fail
often by a hairsbreath, only to let Hitler kill himself as the Russians and Americans
were closing in.