Send us a Text Message.

Once the coup collapsed, the Nazis outdid themselves in their fury. It remained to be seen who would be caught in their net.

Some conspirators committed suicide. Some managed to escape.

Thousands were rounded up. The Gestapo tortured their victims, placed them on show trials, and hanged them.

At their trials before the Nazi ‘People’s Court’, with nothing left to lose, the July plotters proved remarkably difficult to cow.

Relatives of conspirators were also arrested and imprisoned.

Nina von Stauffenberg was held separately from her children who were placed in an orphanage.

In January 1945, in solitary confinement, she gave birth to her fifth child.

As Germany unravelled, the mechanism of revenge took over.

Finally, his ambitions in ruins and having caused the deaths of millions, Hitler committed suicide, and the Reich surrendered.

The war over, Nina was reunited with her children.

The July plotters’ attempts to replace Hitler and end the war failed, but their example of moral courage leaves a legacy for future generations.

Written and narrated by Brian Walters

Original music, editing and sound design by the amazing Sam Loy

Artwork by Mike Vernon.

Episode Transcript

A full transcript of the episode is available here.

Read the book TREASON

You can read more about Claus von Stauffenberg and the German resistance to Hitler, in the book Treason by Brian Walters.

For those with iPads, Treason is available as an interactive Apple Book here.

The hard copy can be bought here.

If you live out of Australia, the hard copy is best purchased from Blurb.

There is also a Kindle version.

Resources

For a list of the creative commons music and sound effects used in this episode, head here.

Finally …

If you liked the episode, please share it: the episode link is here.

And you can help us by writing a brief review and giving us a (five star!) rating.

By all means contact me, Brian Walters, by email on walters@vicbar.com.au

TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the plot to kill Hitler

Send us a Text Message.

Once the coup collapsed, Fromm hesitated, then returned to his office, where Stauffenberg, Beck, Olbricht, Mertz and Hoepner were held under guard.

Beck tried to shoot himself. He only succeeded in badly wounding himself, and was later finished off.

Hoepner asked to be sent for a trial, and Fromm agreed.

By now the forces suppressing the coup were approaching. Knowing of the coup preparations, Fromm had done nothing to suppress it. These prisoners might implicate him in treason.

He ordered them shot by firing squad.

After midnight, a squad assembled. The officers were led out to the courtyard. Before he died, Claus von Stauffenberg called out ‘Long live sacred Germany!’. His aide, Werner von Haeften leaped in front of the volley intended for him, and Claus was shot on the second attempt.

Several other conspirators were held in the Bendlerblock. The leaders of the SS and Gestapo arrived soon after the executions, outraged that key witnesses had been disposed of.

In the small hours, they forced the remaining prisoners to listen to the broadcast Hitler now made.

Across the German Reich, surviving conspirators knew that the Gestapo would come. Some fled, some went into hiding, some gave themselves up, some committed suicide.

Nina von Stauffenberg broke the news to her children. Then the Nazis arrived and she and the children were separated and hustled away.

Written and narrated by Brian Walters

Original music, editing and sound design by the amazing Sam Loy

Artwork by Mike Vernon.

Episode Transcript

A full transcript of the episode is available here.

Read the book TREASON

You can read more about Claus von Stauffenberg and the German resistance to Hitler, in the book Treason by Brian Walters.

For those with iPads, Treason is available as an interactive Apple Book here.

The hard copy can be bought here.

If you live out of Australia, the hard copy is best purchased from Blurb.

There is also a Kindle version.

Resources

For a list of the creative commons music and sound effects used in this episode, head here.

Finally …

If you liked the episode, please share it: the episode link is here.

And you can help us by writing a brief review and giving us a (five star!) rating.

By all means contact me, Brian Walters, by email on walters@vicbar.com.au

TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the plot to kill Hitler

Send us a Text Message.

At about 4 in the afternoon of 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg arrived back in Berlin. He expected the insurrection to be in full swing, and was shocked to learn nothing had been done.

He swung into action, and the first Valkyrie orders went out.

Colonel General Fromm was unwilling to commit himself to the coup while Hitler’s survival remained uncertain. Incensed when he learned Valkyrie orders had been issued without his knowledge, he ordered the arrest of the officer responsible. Instead, the conspirators arrested him.

Now the Valkyrie orders went out across the Reich, and troops moved into position to take control.

In Paris, all the key Nazis were arrested, and the capital was in the conspirators’ hands. In Vienna, Nazi leaders were confined in separate rooms in a hotel. The conspirators had control there.

In Berlin, Major Remer was ordered to secure the administrative district with a guard regiment, and had done this by early evening.

The Nazi hierarchy was hours away in East Prussia, and still did not appreciate their danger.

Remer entered the Propaganda Ministry, with orders to arrest Goebbels – the most senior Nazi in Berlin.

Goebbels picked up the telephone and connected Remer to Hitler. Remer was a committed Nazi, and shocked to learn that the Führer was alive. Hitler now gave him full authority to put down the coup.

From this point, the tide began to recede for the conspirators.

Written and narrated by Brian Walters

Original music, editing and sound design by the amazing Sam Loy

Artwork by Mike Vernon.

Episode Transcript

A full transcript of the episode is available here.

Read the book TREASON

You can read more about Claus von Stauffenberg and the German resistance to Hitler, in the book Treason by Brian Walters.

For those with iPads, Treason is available as an interactive Apple Book here.

The hard copy can be bought here.

If you live out of Australia, the hard copy is best purchased from Blurb.

There is also a Kindle version.

Resources

For a list of the creative commons music and sound effects used in this episode, head here.

Finally …

If you liked the episode, please share it: the episode link is here.

And you can help us by writing a brief review and giving us a (five star!) rating.

By all means contact me, Brian Walters, by email on walters@vicbar.com.au

TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the plot to kill Hitler