Changes

===Assassination attempt===

===Assassination attempt===

 

Seeing Germany's chances of surviving the war were desperate, a group of officers plotted to assassinate Hitler, planning several attempts in 1943–44, but nearly successful on July 20, 1944, when a bomb hidden in a briefcase by Colonel [[Claus von Stauffenberg]] went off under a table that Hitler and others were leaning over; four were killed outright, several suffered injuries, but Hitler escaped relatively unharmed (the bomb itself was set down away from Hitler behind a solid oak table leg, saving him).  The conspirators were quickly rounded up; Stauffenberg was shot.  The remainder were put on show trials and condemned to hang on meat hooks with piano wire.  It was said that Hitler enjoyed watching film of their executions.  As a result of the bomb, Nazi members were employed at key positions within the army, removing any trace of the army's independence.

Seeing Germany's chances of surviving the war were desperate, a group of officers plotted to assassinate Hitler, planning several attempts in 1943–44, but nearly successful on July 20, 1944, when a bomb hidden in a briefcase by Colonel [[Claus von Stauffenberg]] went off under a table that Hitler and others were leaning over; four were killed outright, several suffered injuries, but Hitler escaped relatively unharmed (the bomb itself was set down away from Hitler behind a solid oak table leg, saving him).  The conspirators were quickly rounded up; Stauffenberg was shot.  The remainder were put on show trials and condemned to hang on meat hooks with piano wire.  It was said that Hitler enjoyed watching film of their executions.  As a result of the bomb, Nazi members were employed at key positions within the army, removing any trace of the army's independence.

[[Elie Wiesel]] wrote the following in [[Time Magazine]] regarding Hitler:  

[[Elie Wiesel]] wrote the following in [[Time Magazine]] regarding Hitler:  

{{cquote|Adolf Hitler or the incarnation of absolute evil; this is how future generations will remember the all-powerful Führer of the criminal Third Reich. Compared with him, his peers [[Mussolini]] and [[Franco]] were novices. Under his hypnotic gaze, humanity crossed a threshold from which one could see the abyss. "Before Hitler, we thought we had sounded the depths of human nature," argues Ron Rosenbaum, author of "Explaining Hitler." "He showed how much lower we could go, and that's what was so horrifying. It gets us wondering not just at the depths he showed us but whether there is worse to come. The power of Hitler was to confound the [[modernist]] notion that judgments about good and [[evil]] were little more than matters of taste, reflections of [[social class]] and power and status. Although some modern scholars drive past the notion of evil and instead explain Hitler's conduct as a reflection of his [[psychoanalysis|childhood and self-esteem issues]], for most survivors of the 20th century he is confirmation of our instinctive sense that evil does exist. It moves among us; it leads us astray and deploys powerful, subtle weapons against even the sturdiest souls." <ref name="time" />}}

{{cquote|Adolf Hitler or the incarnation of absolute evil; this is how future generations will remember the all-powerful Führer of the criminal Third Reich. Compared with him, his peers [[Mussolini]] and [[Franco]] were novices. Under his hypnotic gaze, humanity crossed a threshold from which one could see the abyss. "Before Hitler, we thought we had sounded the depths of human nature," argues Ron Rosenbaum, author of "Explaining Hitler." "He showed how much lower we could go, and that's what was so horrifying. It gets us wondering not just at the depths he showed us but whether there is worse to come. The power of Hitler was to confound the [[modernist]] notion that judgments about good and [[evil]] were little more than matters of taste, reflections of [[social class]] and power and status. Although some modern scholars drive past the notion of evil and instead explain Hitler's conduct as a reflection of his [[psychoanalysis|childhood and self-esteem issues]], for most survivors of the 20th century he is confirmation of our instinctive sense that evil does exist. It moves among us; it leads us astray and deploys powerful, subtle weapons against even the sturdiest souls." <ref name="time" />}}

 

All in all, Hitler survived over forty assassination attempts.  The Stauffenburg attempt was the closest anyone ever came to killing Hitler.  George Elser, a communist, came very close in 1938, having planted a bomb in a beam that Hitler stood in front of while giving a speech.  Luck saved Hitler, as he left the hall early and twelve minutes later the bomb exploded.

All in all, Hitler survived over forty assassination attempts.  The Stauffenburg attempt was the closest anyone ever came to killing Hitler.  George Elser, a communist, came very close in 1938, having planted a bomb in a beam that Hitler stood in front of while giving a speech.  Luck saved Hitler, as he left the hall early and twelve minutes later the bomb exploded.