17 quotes
Strategic Choices in a Losing Battle
German Commander
Colonel, my orders are to advance to Sidi Massura and hold it. That is what we'll do.
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
The British are moving in from the east, ] closing in from the coast, ] from the south. You know we should have left two days ago.
[[w:George Patton|Patton's; [w:Bernard Montgomery|Montgomery]
German Commander
No, Colonel, we keep fighting, until the final victory.
Stauffenberg
North Africa's lost, and a year from now, you're going to need these men to defend Berlin. We can serve Germany or the Fuehrer; not both.
German Commander
It's just that sort of talk that got you sent here, Colonel.
Stauffenberg
What I said was much worse.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Trust Issues Among Military Leaders
Gen Friedrich Olbricht
There's no one we can trust. Not in Berlin.
[discussing a replacement]
Maj Gen Henning von Tresckow
Then stop looking in Berlin.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Call for Germany's Enduring Spirit
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg
Long live sacred Germany!
[Last words]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Call for Change in Germany's Leadership
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg
The Fuhrer's promises of peace and prosperity have fallen by the wayside leaving in their wake a path of destruction. The outrages committed by Hitler's SS are a stain on the honor of the German Army. There is widespread disgust in the officer corps toward the crimes committed by the Nazis, the murder of civilians, the torture and starvation of prisoners, the mass execution of Jews. My duty as an officer is no longer to save my country, but to save human lives. I cannot find one general in a position to confront Hitler with the courage to do it. I find myself surrounded by men unwilling or unable to face the truth; Hitler is not only the archenemy of the entire world, but the archenemy of Germany. A change must be made.
[translation of letter he is writing]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Over Orders in Nazi Germany
Major Otto Remer
Minister Goebbels?
Joseph Goebbels
What can I do for you, Major?
Remer
My battalion has orders to blockade the government quarter and place you under arrest.
Goebbels
Are you a dedicated National Socialist, Major?
Remer
Yes, sir.
Remer
Major Remer here. Hello?
Man
Do you recognize my voice?
Remer
Yes, mein Führer.
[stands erect, knowing who it is]
Adolf Hitler
Then listen very carefully. I want these traitors taken alive.
Remer
Yes, mein Führer.
[softly; gives back the phone to Goebbels, who finishes the call]
Goebbels
You heard what he said, the Führer wants these traitors taken alive.
Remer
Yes, sir.
[leaves. Goebbels removes his suicide pill as Remer exits the room.]
Second Lieutenant Hagen
But sir, these men are part of a coup.
[confused]
Remer
I've just been on the phone with Hitler himself. We are the coup, you idiot! We've been duped!
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Justice will prevail despite oppression.
Erwin von Witzleben
You may hand us over to the executioner, but in three months time, the disgusted and harried people will bring you to book and drag you alive through the dirt in the streets.
[historical quote, to chief judge Roland Freisler of the "People's Court"]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conspiracy Unfolds on December 25
Taglines
The conspiracy begins December 25.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Tensions Rise Among Military Leaders
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel
I have better things to do with my time than to come down here and clean up your mess! If you were enough of a man to run this department, I wouldn't have to do it myself! You're an old woman, Fromm! I'd send you to the front if I didn't think you'd surrender, just to be Montgomery's whore!
[storms out as Fromm's secretary brings Stauffenberg and Olbricht in.]
General Friedrich Fromm
What is it you want?
General Friedrich Olbricht
I wanted to introduce our new man, Colonel Stauffenberg.
Fromm
Ah! From Africa. Well, I'd offer you my hand, but I might not get it back.
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
I'd say the General's lost more important things this morning.
Fromm
It's about time they put somebody with balls into this office, Please sit down, Colonel. And you, Olbricht, if you must. They tell me you're critical of the war, Colonel, not that you don't seem to have good reason.
[breaks out in laughter; laughs; Stauffenberg and Olbricht sit at Fromm's desk]
Stauffenberg
I am critical of indecision, General.
Fromm
In the field?
Stauffenberg
In Berlin.
Fromm
So, that's why you're here, I take it. To make decisions...
Stauffenberg
I've already made my decision. I'm here to help others make theirs.
Fromm
They say when there's no clear option, the best thing is to do nothing.
Stauffenberg
We're at war. We must act. Sometimes rashly.
Fromm
And what rash action did you have in mind, Colonel?
Stauffenberg
That would be a decision for the supreme military commander, sir.
Fromm
A supreme commander. Second only to the Chancellor. If I were that man, this war would be going quite differently.
Olbricht
Well, we were thinking the same thing.
[pause]
Fromm
I don't need to remind you that we have all sworn an oath to the Führer. Having said that, I'm going to forget this conversation ever took place, in the strict understanding that such talk never occurs again under this roof. Is that clear?!
[Carefully disables a listening device in his telephone]
Stauffenberg
Yes, sir.
Olbricht
Yes, sir.
Fromm
Now you can tell your friends, Colonel, that I always come down on the right side, and as long as the Führer is alive, you know what side that is.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Dangers of Commitment in Treason
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
Do you know how this war will end, Lieutenant? The portrait will be unhung, and the man will be hung. I am involved in high treason with all means available to me. Can I count you in?
[looking at a portrait of Hitler]
Lieutenant Werner von Haeften
For anything, sir. Anything at all.
Stauffenberg
Anything" is a very dangerous word, Lieutenant.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Urgency of Action Against Tyranny
Major-General Henning von Tresckow
It only matters that we act- now, before we lose the war. Otherwise this will always be Hitler's Germany. We have to show the world that not all of us were like him.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Urgency of Action Against Tyranny
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
Those men are confusing respect with popularity. The Army swore an oath, an oath that won't just die with Hitler. What are you going to do? How are you going to deal with Goebbels, Himmler, the SS? They will wipe you out!
[about the leadership of the German Resistance]
Maj Gen Henning von Tresckow
It doesn't matter! It only matters that we act now, before we lose the war. Otherwise, this will always be Hitler's Germany, and we have to show the world that not all of us were like him.
Stauffenberg
That is not enough for me. There has to be a chance of success.
Tresckow
Then find a way.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Authority and Accountability in Military Decisions
General Friedrich Fromm
How dare you put the Reserve Army on standby without my knowledge! It damn near cost me my commission! And what in God's name made you think you even had the authority?!
General Friedrich Olbricht
It was only a drill. An exer-
Fromm
Oh, don't lie, Olbricht! Not to me. We both know it wasn't a drill.
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
General, if I may...
Fromm
No you may not, Colonel. You may not do anything. Because not only have you proven to me you can't deliver, you've painted a target on my back. If I so much as sense you trying to move the Reserve Army again, I will personally have you both arrested. Do I make myself abundantly clear?
Olbricht
Yes, sir.
Stauffenberg
Yes, sir.
Fromm
Heil Hitler!
[Holds up hand]
Olbricht
Heil Hitler.
[Stauffenberg and Olbricht start to leave.]
Fromm
I'll hear you say it, Colonel!
[dangerously]
Stauffenberg
Heil Hitler!
[Holds up his arm without his hand]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Strategic Plan for Operation Valkyrie
General Ludwig Beck
Gentlemen, good morning. Hitler has scheduled a military briefing for today at 1:00. Stauffenberg will start once everyone is present. Before arming the explosives, Stauffenberg will call here for authorisation to proceed. After the flash, his inside man will sever all communications. Assuming Fromm refuses to join us, Olbricht will take command of the Reserve Army and initiate Valkyrie. Then he will notify all district commanders that the SS is attempting to seize power. The Reserve Army will arrest all SS, Gestapo and Nazi officials. By then, Stauffenberg will have returned to Berlin and taken command of the Reserve Army. Witzleben and I will assume the roles of Commander of the Armed Forces and Head of State. With Berlin secured, Dr. ] will address the nation as our new Chancellor. Then, God willing, we can negotiate a truce with the Allies and save Europe from total destruction.
[to the conspirators; [w:Carl Goerdeler|Goerdeler]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Explosives as a solution to problems
Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim
Any problem on Earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives. The trick is not to be around when they go off.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Last Messages and Sentencing in Conflict
General Friedrich Fromm
If you have any last messages to your wives and children, I will hear them now. Very well. A court martial convened by me in the Führer's absence will pronounce sentence. Beck, you're under arrest. Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim, General Olbricht, Lieutenant Haeften, and the Colonel whose name I will not mention, are condemned to death.
[Silence]
Major Otto Remer
General, my orders are to take these men alive.
Fromm
Noted, Major.
Ludwig Beck
I'd like a pistol please. For personal reasons.
[General Fromm and Haaefte looks at him suspiciously]
Fromm
Get on with it.
[Takes pistol to a nearby table]
Remer
With all respect sir-
Fromm
That will be all, Major!
General Friedrich Olbricht
Killing us won't hide your involvement.
Fromm
My involvement? I don't know what you're talking about.
Lieutenant Werner von Haeften
You knew and did nothing. You're as guilty as any of us.
Fromm
Spare me, Lieutenant.
[Scoffing]
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
No one will be spared.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Daring to Confront Evil
Taglines
Many saw evil. They dared to stop it.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Discussion on the Valkyrie Plan
Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
Valkyrie.
General Friedrich Olbricht
We've already considered Valkyrie, it isn't suitable.
Maj Gen Henning von Tresckow
Not as it's currently written, but the colonel has an idea I think we should consider.
Dr. Carl Goerdeler
Excuse me, what is Valkyrie?
Ludwig Beck
]. The Reserve Army has thousands of men all over Berlin. Valkyrie is Hitler's contingency plan to mobilize those men during a national emergency.
[[w:Operation Valkyrie|Operation Valkyrie]
Tresckow
The sole purpose of the order is to protect Hitler's government if he's cut off or killed.
Goerdeler
And what use is this to us?
Stauffenberg
Valkyrie is designed to contain civil unrest, but what if the SS was staging a coup? State Security is trying to overthrow Hitler; how would High Command respond?
Olbricht
We'd have no choice, we would declare a military state of emergency.
Tresckow
Exactly, and initiate Valkyrie.
Stauffenberg
Hitler's own Reserve Army, using Hitler's own plan, will have no choice but to seize power in Berlin to prevent the SS takeover. They'll think they're fighting for Hitler's government, not against it.
Tresckow
While we quietly put a new government in place.
Goerdeler
But only if he's dead. That's what you're saying, isn't it? How else are you going to convince people the SS are trying to seize power?
Stauffenberg
We have to kill Hitler.
Goerdeler
I'm disappointed in you, Colonel. I thought a man of your background would suggest a more honorable approach.
Olbricht
Your plan has a few minor obstacles, Colonel. Firstly, Valkyrie would have to be rewritten to exclude the SS.
Stauffenberg
And I'll need your help to get a copy.
Beck
Rewriting an order is one thing, distributing it is another. In this case, we'd be willfully circulating written evidence of high treason.
Olbricht
Evidence requiring Hitler's signature.
Stauffenberg
Well, we can all draw straws for that job.
Olbricht
And what about ]?
[[w:Friedrich Fromm|Fromm]
Goerdeler
Fromm, who is Fromm?
Beck
He's the commander of the Reserve Army.
Olbricht
I can put the Reserve troops on alert, but only Fromm can initiate Valkyrie.
Beck
Can you get to him?
Erwin von Witzleben
We're running out of time, can you get to Fromm?
Olbricht
He's a careerist pig.
Tresckow
But one who's gone as far as he can go in Hitler's army. It's no secret he's unhappy about it.
Beck
Offer him a key position in the new regime. Make him see the light.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.