Editing 20 July plot (section)

=== 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.