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November 20, 2025 21 mins

 


On 20 July 1944, a bomb ripped through a meeting room in Hitler’s Wolf’s Lair.

 

This episode tells how Operation Valkyrie *almost* managed to kill Adolf Hitler, and the vicious crackdown that came afterwards.

 
  • The Wolf’s Lair meeting on 20 July 1944
  • Claus von Stauffenberg’s injuries and role in the plot
  • Setting one bomb; briefcase placed near Hitler
  • Explosion at Wolf’s Lair; Hitler survives due to briefcase moved
  • Operation Valkyrie: reserve army plan blaming SS
  • A mixed group’s reasons to remove Hitler
  • Coup starts; Goebbels phones Hitler; Remer switches sides
  • Bendlerblock firefight, arrests, executions of plotters
  • Brutal crackdown: show trials, thousands arrested, many executed
  • Haunting “what if”: ways the plot almost succeeded

Full interactive transcript, subtitles and key vocabulary available on the website: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/operation-valkyrie

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Keywords: Learn English, vocabulary, lessons, idioms, aprende inglés, idiomas, aprender inglês, apprendre l'anglais, imparare l’inglese, ingilizce öğren,英語を習う, تعلم الإنجليزية

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