Operation Valkyrie: July 20, 1944 Quiz

Answer: Suppress any mass uprising by the German population

The conspirators were aware that assassinating Hitler would not, in itself, give them control of the machinery of government. Operation Valkyrie was a pre-existing contingency plan that involved the seizing of the government, mainly by the SS. The conspirators decided to use this plan initially and then abort it once control of the government had been wrested from the Nazi leadership.

Later, the term 'Operation Valkyrie' was extended to include the actual assassination attempt.

Answer: a personal oath of loyalty to him as Fuehrer

Every member of the armed forces took an oath of loyalty swearing obedience to Adolf Hitler as Führer. This oath superseded loyalty to country, constitution, conscience and ethics. This was an extraordinary deviation from the norm because a soldier's oath was always to country first. Bizarrely, there was no mention in the oath of loyalty to Hitler's lawful successors.

Answer: Stalingrad

The disaster at Stalingrad and the loss of the German 6th Army began to turn the German General Staff against Hitler. Operation Citadel and the defeat at Kursk sealed the enmity the generals had for Hitler.

Answer: the General Staff

The Gestapo knew about Kreisauer Kreis and the conspiracy involving members of that group. However, it was the German General Staff that they suspected was the most heavily involved.

Answer: Carl Goerdeler

If the conspiracy had succeeded, Dr Carl Goerdeler was to be named chancellor of Germany with the others named as party to the new regime. Unfortunately, he was arrested, tortured, tried, and executed.

Answer: General Fromm

General Friedrich Fromm was the commander of the Reserve Army and the one able to put Operation Valkyrie in effect. Fromm knew of the conspiracy but neither supported it nor reported it to the Gestapo. It is unclear what position he had taken if the operation had succeeded.

Answer: Himmler was not present

The attempt to assassinate Hitler on the 7th was aborted because Himmler was not present. Himmler was a member of Hitler's inner circle as well as head of the SS and had to be eliminated if the operation was to succeed. Moreover, only Hitler and Himmler had the power to abort the original Operation Valkyrie.

Answer: someone moved the explosive away from Hitler

Because it kept getting in the way, a staff officer shifted the brief case which contained the explosives behind one of the wooden supports on the table away from Hitler. This inadvertent act saved Hitler's life when the device exploded.

Answer: Erich Fellgiebel

Colonel Fellgiebel was the first to try and warn his fellow co-conspirators in Berlin that the bombing had failed. He is remembered for these words, 'Something awful has happened! The Führer lives!' He was later executed for his role in the conspiracy.

Answer: they were arrested as well

Under Nazi "Sippenhaft" laws ("blood guilt" laws), anyone remotely related or knowing of the conspiracy was subject to arrest, torture, trial and punishment, which could involve execution. Some of those punished had nothing to do with the conspiracy, for example, Stauffenberg's wife was sent to a concentration camp.