Editing 20 July plot (section)

== 20 July 1944 ==
=== Operation Valkyrie ===
[[File:20 July plot Wolfsschanze conference.svg|Approximate positions of the attendees at the meeting in relation to the briefcase bomb when it exploded: 
{{image key
|list type=ordered
|thumb size=wide
|{{legend|white|[[Adolf Hitler]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Adolf Heusinger]]}}
|{{legend|#ff8181|[[Günther Korten]]}}
|{{legend|#ff8181|[[Heinz Brandt]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Karl Bodenschatz]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|Heinz Waizenegger}}
|{{legend|#ff8181|[[Rudolf Schmundt]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Heinrich Borgmann]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Walther Buhle]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Karl-Jesko von Puttkamer]]}}
|{{legend|#ff8181|Heinrich Berger}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Heinz Assmann]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Ernst John von Freyend]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Walter Scherff]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Hans-Erich Voss]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Otto Günsche]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Nicolaus von Below]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Hermann Fegelein]]}}
|{{legend|white|Heinz Buchholz}}
|{{legend|white|[[Herbert Büchs]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Franz von Sonnleithner]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Walter Warlimont]]}}
|{{legend|#81b4ff|[[Alfred Jodl]]}}
|{{legend|white|[[Wilhelm Keitel]]}}}}|thumb|upright=2]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-025-12, Zerstörte Lagerbaracke nach dem 20. Juli 1944.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Bomb damage to the conference room]]
On 18 July rumours reached Stauffenberg that the Gestapo had knowledge of the conspiracy and that he might be arrested at any time—this was apparently not true, but there was a sense that the net was closing in and that the next opportunity to kill Hitler must be taken because there might not be another. On the morning of Thursday, 20 July Stauffenberg flew back to the ''Wolfsschanze'' for another Hitler military conference, once again with a bomb in his briefcase.<ref name="Valkyrie" />

At around 12:30&nbsp;pm as the conference began, Stauffenberg asked to use a washroom in [[Wilhelm Keitel]]'s office, saying that he had to change his shirt, which indeed was soaked through with sweat, it being a very hot day. There, assisted by von Haeften, he used pliers to crush the end of a [[pencil detonator]] inserted into a {{convert|1|kg|lb}} block of [[plastic explosive]] wrapped in brown paper, that was prepared by [[Wessel von Freytag-Loringhoven]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geopolintelligence.com/6-assassination-attempts-on-hitler/|title=6 assassination attempts on Hitler|date=28 August 2015|publisher=Geopol Intelligence|access-date=23 June 2018|archive-date=13 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113093634/http://www.geopolintelligence.com/6-assassination-attempts-on-hitler/|url-status=live}}</ref> The pencil detonator consisted of a thin copper tube containing [[Copper(II) chloride|cupric chloride]] that would take about ten minutes to silently eat through wire holding back the [[firing pin]] from the [[percussion cap]]. It was slow going due to war wounds that had cost Stauffenberg an eye, his right hand, and two fingers on his left hand. Interrupted by a guard knocking on the door advising him that the meeting was about to begin, he was not able to prime the second bomb, which he gave to his [[aide-de-camp]], [[Werner von Haeften]].<ref name="Valkyrie" />

Stauffenberg placed the single primed bomb inside his briefcase and, with the unwitting assistance of Major [[Ernst John von Freyend]], entered the conference room containing Hitler and 20 officers, positioning the briefcase under the table near Hitler.<ref name=GermanResistance>{{Cite book|year=1996|first=Peter|last=Hoffman |isbn=0773515313|title=The History of the German Resistance, 1933–1945|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2020}}<ref name=GermanOpposition>{{Cite book |year=1997|author=Thomsett, Michael C. |isbn=0786403721|title=The German Opposition to Hitler: The Resistance, the Underground, and Assassination Plots, 1938–1945 |publisher=McFarland}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2020}} After a few minutes, Stauffenberg received a planned telephone call and left the room. It is presumed that Colonel [[Heinz Brandt]], who was standing next to Hitler, used his foot to move the briefcase aside by pushing it behind the leg of the conference table,<ref name=spiegel12h/><!--"Heinz Brandt schiebt sie wohl mit dem Fuß noch ein Stück zur Seite - hinter die massive Stütze des schweren Lagetisches" "Heinz Brandt presumably pushed it a bit aside with his foot - behind the massive leg of the heavy conference table"--> thus unintentionally deflecting the blast from Hitler but causing the loss of one of his legs and his own demise when the bomb detonated.<ref name="Valkyrie" />

At 12:42<ref name=spiegel12h>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/20-juli-1944-12-uhr-der-anschlag-a-309271.html|title=20. Juli 1944, 12 Uhr: Der Anschlag|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=20 July 2004|via=Spiegel Online|access-date=17 November 2019|archive-date=16 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616141722/http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,309271,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the bomb detonated, demolishing the conference room and killing a stenographer instantly. More than 20 people in the room were injured with three officers later dying. Hitler survived, as did everyone else who was shielded from the blast by the conference table leg. His trousers were singed and tattered (see photograph below) and he suffered from a perforated eardrum (as did most of the other 24 people in the room),<ref name=spiegel12h/><!--"Fast allen 24 Anwesenden, auch Hitler, zerfetzt es die Trommelfelle. .. Seine schwarze Hose und die lange weiße Unterhose hängen in Fetzen herab" - "Nearly all of the 24 persons present, including Hitler, suffered from perforated eardrums. ... His black trousers and the long white underpants are hanging down in shreds!--> as well as from conjunctivitis in his right eye. Hitler's personal physician, [[Theodor Morell]], administered [[penicillin]] which had been taken from captured Allied soldiers for treatment; Morell had previously observed the death of [[Reinhard Heydrich]] from [[sepsis]] in an assassination two years earlier.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Steven <!--|authorlink=Steven Johnson (author)--> |title=Extra Life |publisher=[[Riverhead Books]] |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-525-53885-1 |edition=1st |pages=166–167 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Escape from the Wolf's Lair and flight to Berlin ===
Stauffenberg was seen leaving the conference building by Kurt Salterberg, a soldier on guard duty who did not consider this out of the ordinary as attendees sometimes left to collect documents. He then saw a "massive" cloud of smoke, wood splinters and paper and men being hurled through a window and door.<ref name=dw>[http://www.dw.com/en/germany-remembers-the-plot-to-kill-hitler/a-17792469 Germany remembers the plot to kill hitler at dw] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722063619/https://www.dw.com/en/germany-remembers-the-plot-to-kill-hitler/a-17792469 |date=22 July 2023 }}. Retrieved 22 July 2015</ref> Stauffenberg, upon witnessing the explosion and smoke, assumed that Hitler was dead. He then climbed into a staff car with his aide [[Werner von Haeften]] and managed to bluff his way past three checkpoints to exit the {{lang|de|Wolfsschanze}} complex. Werner von Haeften then tossed the second unprimed bomb into the forest as they made a dash for Rastenburg airfield, reaching it before it could be realised that Stauffenberg could be responsible for the explosion. At first it was thought that the explosion had been the result of a bombing, but when it was confirmed that no warplanes had flown over and Stauffenberg was absent, the theory of an attack gained strength. By 13:00 he was airborne in a [[Heinkel He 111]]<ref name=Sereny>{{cite book|date=1996|author=Gitta Sereny|isbn=0330346970|title=Albert Speer His Battle with the Truth|publisher=Picador}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2020}}<ref name=Allen>{{cite book|year=2005|author=Martin A. Allen|isbn=1861058896|title=Himmler's Secret War: The Covert Peace Negotiations of Heinrich Himmler|publisher=Robson Books}}</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2020}} arranged by General [[Eduard Wagner]].

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-025-64, Hitler-Attentat, 20. Juli 1944.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Hitler's tattered trousers{{sfn|Galante|Silianoff|1981|loc=photo insert section}}]]
By the time Stauffenberg's aircraft reached Berlin about 16:00,<ref>[https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/dlf-audio-archiv.2386.de.html?cal:month=7&cal:year=2010&drau:from=10.07.2010&drau:to=10.07.2010 German radio broadcast 10 July 2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605073429/http://www.br-online.de/bayern1/mittags-in-mainfranken/regionalnews-frankenmagazin-stauffenberg-ID1279545336073.xml |date=5 June 2011 }} on [[Bayerischer Rundfunk|Bayern1]] (written version; in German)</ref> General [[Erich Fellgiebel]], an officer at the {{lang|de|Wolfsschanze}} who was in on the plot, had phoned the [[Bendlerblock]] and told the plotters that Hitler had survived the explosion. As a result, the plot to mobilise Operation Valkyrie would have no chance of succeeding once the officers of the Reserve Army knew that Hitler was alive. There was more confusion when Stauffenberg's aircraft landed and he phoned from the airport to say that Hitler was in fact dead.{{sfn|Kurtz|1946|p=227}} The Bendlerblock plotters did not know whom to believe.

Finally, at 16:00 Olbricht issued the orders for Operation Valkyrie to be mobilised. The vacillating General Fromm, however, phoned Field Marshal [[Wilhelm Keitel]] at the Wolf's Lair and was assured that Hitler was alive. Keitel demanded to know Stauffenberg's whereabouts. This told Fromm that the plot had been traced to his headquarters and that he was in mortal danger. Fromm replied that he thought Stauffenberg was with Hitler.{{sfn|Galante|Silianoff|1981|pp=11–12}}

Meanwhile, General [[Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel]], military governor of [[German occupation of France during World War II|occupied France]], managed to disarm the SD and SS and captured most of their leadership. He travelled to Field Marshal [[Günther von Kluge]]'s headquarters and asked him to contact the Allies, only to be informed that Hitler was alive.{{sfn|Kurtz|1946|p=227}} At 16:40 Stauffenberg and Haeften arrived at the Bendlerblock. Fromm, presumably to protect himself, changed sides and attempted to have Stauffenberg arrested. Olbricht and Stauffenberg restrained him at gunpoint and Olbricht then appointed General [[Erich Hoepner]] to take over his duties.

By this time Himmler had taken charge of the situation and had issued orders countermanding Olbricht's mobilisation of Operation Valkyrie. In many places the coup was going ahead, led by officers who believed that Hitler was dead. City Commandant, and conspirator, [[Generalleutnant|Lieutenant General]] [[Paul von Hase]] ordered the {{lang|de|[[Wachbataillon Großdeutschland]]}}, under the command of [[Otto Ernst Remer|Major Otto Ernst Remer]], to secure the [[Wilhelmstraße]] and arrest [[Reichs Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Propaganda Minister]] [[Joseph Goebbels]].{{sfn|Galante|Silianoff|1981|p=209}} In [[Vienna]], Prague, and many other places troops occupied Nazi Party offices and arrested [[Gauleiter]]s and SS officers.

=== Failure of the coup ===
{{see also|List of people killed or wounded in the 20 July plot}}
At around 18:10, the commander of Military District III (Berlin), General [[Joachim von Kortzfleisch]], was summoned to the [[Bendlerblock]]; he angrily refused Olbricht's orders, kept shouting "the Führer is alive",{{sfn|Hoffmann|1996|p=426}} was arrested, and held under guard. General [[Karl Freiherr von Thüngen]] was appointed in his place but proved to be of almost no help. General [[Fritz Lindemann]], who was supposed to make a proclamation to the German people over the radio, failed to appear and as he held the only copy, Beck had to work on a new one.{{sfn|Fest|1997|pp=270–272}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-109-19A, Berlin, Soldaten und Waffen-SS im "Bendlerblock".jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|right|Soldiers and Waffen SS men at the [[Bendlerblock]], July 1944]]
At 19:00, Hitler was sufficiently recovered to make phone calls. He called Goebbels at the Propaganda Ministry. Goebbels arranged for Hitler to speak to Major [[Otto Ernst Remer]], commander of the troops surrounding the Ministry. After assuring him that he was still alive, Hitler ordered Remer to regain control of the situation in Berlin and capture the conspirators alive. Major Remer ordered his troops to surround and seal off the Bendlerblock, but not to enter the buildings.{{sfn|Galante|Silianoff|1981|p=209}} At 20:00 a furious Witzleben arrived at the Bendlerblock and had a bitter argument with Stauffenberg, who was still insisting that the coup could go ahead. Witzleben left shortly afterwards. At around this time the planned seizure of power in Paris was aborted when Field Marshal [[Günther von Kluge]], who had recently been appointed commander-in-chief in the West, learned that Hitler was alive.

As Remer regained control of the city and word spread that Hitler was still alive, the less resolute members of the conspiracy in Berlin began to change sides. Fromm was freed from his room and fighting broke out in the Bendlerblock between officers supporting and opposing the coup; Stauffenberg was wounded after a shootout. As the fighting was still ongoing, Remer and his forces arrived at the Bendlerblock and the conspirators were overwhelmed and arrested; by 23:00 Fromm and Remer had regained control of the building.

Perhaps hoping that a show of zealous loyalty would save him, Fromm convened an ''impromptu'' [[court martial]] consisting of himself, and sentenced Olbricht, Stauffenberg, Haeften and another officer, Colonel [[Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim]], to death, while putting Beck under arrest; Beck, realising the situation was hopeless, asked for a pistol and shot himself—the first of many attempted suicides in the coming days. At first Beck only seriously wounded himself—he was then shot in the neck and killed by soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/july-plot |title=July Plot |date=November 9, 2009 |website=History.com |access-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204213551/https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/july-plot |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite protests from Remer (who had been ordered by Hitler to arrest the conspirators), at 00:10 on 21 July the four officers were executed in the courtyard outside, possibly to prevent them from revealing Fromm's involvement.{{sfn|Kurtz|1946|p=227}} Others would have been executed as well, but at 00:30 [[Waffen-SS]] personnel led by [[Obersturmbannführer|SS-''Obersturmbannführer'']] [[Otto Skorzeny]] arrived and further executions were forbidden.