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Failure and Fallout
 Hitler (right) inspects damage to his conference room with Benito Mussolini - July 20th, 1944  Hitler addressing the nation and sealing Stauffenberg's fate - July 21st, 1944  Conspiracy's end - Here in the early morning hours of July 21st, 1944 Stauffenberg was executed by firing squad |
Stauffenberg returned to Berlin around 3:30 in the afternoon only to find that “Valkyrie” had not been set into motion. Conflicting reports from Wolfschanze concerning the state of the Fuhrer’s health were causing some within the conspiratorial circle to waver from their earlier convictions. In fact, Hitler had only been slightly wounded due to the fact that another officer in the conference room had moved Stauffenberg’s bomb to the outside table support. The result being that when the explosion went off the force of the blast caused the conference table to act as a shield, absorbing most of the deadly energy. The room was destroyed but Hitler, “who had escaped with minor cuts and bruises, was euphoric with relief. His trousers had been shredded by the blast, but otherwise even his dignity was intact."[27] Meanwhile, Stauffenberg was trying in vain to get the coup operational. One reason was that Fromm, predictably, would not sign off on the orders releasing the reserve army to lock the down the various administrative and communication centers until he had confirmation of Hitler’s death. As a result, Stauffenberg had the fence sitting general arrested and began to carry out “Valkyrie’s” plans in his name. Unfortunately this would ultimately prove to be too little, too late. “Soon the Bendler Block (Army Headquarters) was sealed off by troops who now knew that Hitler was still alive and that the orders they had been given were unauthorized. The news spread and within the building itself several officers not involved in the conspiracy began to ask questions about what was going on. Stauffenberg was exhausted. He had spent hours driving the others along by the sheer force of his will, but now he knew he had not carried the day.”[28] After Fromm had freed himself from his confinement he had Stauffenberg, Olbricht, Haeften and other officers associated with the conspiracy arrested intending to do to them what they had done to him earlier in the afternoon. He announced, “In the name of the Fuhrer a court martial convened by me has pronounced sentence: Colonel von Mertz, General Olbricht, the Colonel whose name I will not mention (Stauffenberg) and Lieutenant von Haeften are condemned to death.”[29]Around 12:30 in the morning of July 21st, less then twelve hours after the coup attempt, Stauffenberg was led into the courtyard of the Bendler-Block and placed in front of a temporary firing wall. His final words as he was executed were, “Long Live Holy Germany".[30] The coup had ended in failure.
Public History at the University of North
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