The Plots Against Hitler - Hardcover

Orbach, Danny

3.89

173 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0544714431 ISBN 13: 9780544714434

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016

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A new and definitive account of the anti-Nazi underground in Germany and its numerous efforts to assassinate Adolf Hitler

In 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. A year later, all parties but the Nazis had been outlawed, freedom of the press was but a memory, and Hitler's dominance seemed complete. Yet over the next few years, an unlikely clutch of conspirators emerged - soldiers, schoolteachers, politicians, diplomats, theologians, even a carpenter - who would try repeatedly to end the Fuhrer's genocidal reign. This dramatic and deeply researched book tells the full story of those noble, ingenious, and doomed efforts. This is history at its most suspenseful, as we witness secret midnight meetings, crises of conscience, fierce debates among old friends about whether and how to dismantle Nazism, and the various plots themselves being devised and executed.

Orbach's fresh research takes advantage of his singular skills as linguist and historian to offer profound insight into the conspirators' methods, motivations, fears, and hopes. Though we know how this story ends, we've had no idea until now how close it came - several times - to ending very differently. The Plots Against Hitler fundamentally alters our view of World War II and sheds bright - even redemptive - light on its darkest days.

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Review:

"Danny Orbach's The Plots Against Hitler provides a definitive history of the anti-Nazi underground's efforts to overthrow the Nazi dictator...a riveting read well worth picking up."--Jewish Book Council

"In this comprehensive history, Israeli historian Orbach scrupulously analyzes the resistance movements that opposed the Nazis from 1933 to 1945. His superb research includes interviews with resistance survivors, family members, and relevant records from archives around the world. It is a balanced history of the resistance that covers the famous Operation Valkyrie plot, but gives equal treatment to the other serious attempts to resist the Nazis and assassinate Hitler. For many readers the extent of the resistance efforts of Admiral Canaris (head of German Military Intelligence), among others, will be surprising. This book is unique in that Orbach attempts to determine the motivation of the resisters in moral and ethical terms. He explains that most historians have either idolized the resisters as heroes or condemned them as self-serving criminals. Orbach sets the record straight when he concludes that the resisters to Hitler's Nazi government were imperfect but in most cases exceptional human beings who reacted with action to the criminal deeds of the Nazis. Likely to become the definitive general history of the subject and the starting place for all future research, Orbach's work is a fascinating story of courage and an excellent study of the struggle of individuals to act morally and honorably."--Publishers Weekly

"This fresh look at the German Resistance will be appreciated by students of World War II history."--Library Journal

"A robust history of the German conspiracy against Nazism... gripping look at a historical counternarrative that remains relevant and disturbing."--Kirkus

From the Back Cover:

Fears were haunting Elser, and he just had to check the bomb one last time. All his worldly possessions were a suitcase clothes, half a sausage, a little money, tools, and some spare parts. At 9:30 p.m., he reached Munich and headed to the beer hall, which was still open: Immediately upon my arrival at the hall I climbed the gallery . . . Putting my ear against the pillar, I heard the clock ticking softly. Then I opened the secret door with a knife . . . [and] checked with my pocket watch whether the clock was running too fast or too slow. Everything was fine.

Elser was happy. His masterpiece, laboriously assembled through those long, lonely months, was ticking away undiscovered.

The next day, Hitler would speak at the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. He left his Munich residence and traveled in a black Mercedes to the beer hall. There, he was greeted by an electrified crowd of veterans. He stepped into the great hall and climbed onto the podium. The time was 9:00 p.m., and just behind the Fuhrer, Elser s time bomb ticked away.
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