Program Information

Whether through timidity or misfortune, the Generals who despised and conspired against Hitler lost the chance to stop him before war. Doggedly, however, they kept it up.

A Moment in Time is a brief, exciting and compelling journey into the past. Created to excite and enlighten the public about the past, its relevance to the present and its impact on the future, A Moment In Time is a captivating historical narrative that is currently broadcast worldwide.

Transcript

Lead: Whether through timidity or misfortune, the Generals who despised and conspired against Hitler lost the chance to stop him before war. Doggedly, however, they kept it up.

Intro: A Moment In Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: The conspiracy against Hitler within the ranks of the German army is one of the Third Reich's most intriguing stories. Led by Ludwig Beck, former Army Chief of Staff, the plotters were among the most prominent general officers in the German military hierarchy. Hitler's initial successes after 1939 put them on the defensive, but their company increased and as the war turned against Germany, each new defeat - particularly at Stalingrad - heightened their determination to be rid of the insufferable guttersnipe before his megalomania brought Germany to ruin.

Their motives, often rooted in social disdain rather than moral revulsion, varied from person to person. Beck feared Hitler's geopolitical recklessness. Admiral Canaris hated Hitler, Himmler and the entire Nazi movement as a political phenomenon. Von Stauffenberg was horrified by Nazi cruelty to Slavs and Jews in a kind of upper class superiority. General Tresckow believed even a failed attempt was a worthy sign that at least some in Germany had not abandoned decency. Alas, all their attempts failed either through poor planning or faulty equipment. The little corporal's luck never seemed to run out.

It was assumed the only way to accomplish the end to Nazi rule was to assassinate the Fuehrer. On July 20, 1944, the most elaborate scheme, von Stauffenberg's bomb attempt at Rastenberg in the Wolf's Lair, sputtered out when Hitler received hardly a scratch. A bloodbath followed. Hitler was spared only to conspire in his own death in April 1945, surrounded by the corpses of millions and the shattered dreams of the Germans who found that his promises turned out to be fool's gold.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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