The Dead of Night

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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.

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TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the plot to kill Hitler