Bert von Stuelpnagel was born in Freiburg, Germany, on March 6, 1950 and graduated from Bad Toelz High School in 1969. After military service and training in banking he worked in the financial industry during his entire career, including 35 years at the New York Branch of BayernLB, a German public sector bank. He retired in 2015 from his last position at that bank as Executive Vice President U.S. Capital Markets. He holds a Master in Political Sciences from State University of Bavaria, and an M.B.A. in Finance from Pace University. Bert has lived in Darien with his wife Lisa since 1984. They have three children, two of whom graduated from Darien High School. Bert is currently serving on the Darien RTM and its Finance and Budget Committee, and on the Darien RTC as its treasurer, and on the Andrew Shaw Memorial Trust, also as treasurer.
Arranged by Bryan Hooper
Bryan’s summary of the talk:
Bert von Stuelpnagel recounted the ascent of Hitler and the several unsuccessful plots against him. Bert spoke with an intimate knowledge gained from research into his family background as he is related to Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who placed the bomb designed to kill Hitler in July, 1944, and to General Karl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel, who was instrumental in the short-lived success of the subsequent uprising in Paris.
In 1932 the Nazi party led by Hitler gained only 33% of votes in the November national election, but due to the inability of the other parties to create a coalition, President Hindenberg was persuaded to appoint Hitler as Chancellor in early 1933. After Hindenberg’s death the following year, Hitler became Der Fuehrer, effectively establishing himself as dictator. He created an alliance with the army and rewarded the generals by enlarging and re-arming their forces. In 1938 he declared himself War Minister and re-organized the chain of command, replacing the leadership. Several generals concocted a plot to overthrow Hitler in that year, but it fell apart after the appeasement by Neville Chamberlain with the signing of the Munich Agreement in late September. World War II followed in September, 1939.
The plotters persisted as the war was waged, and in 1943 a group of 21 officers from the Infantry Regiment in Potsdam developed a variation of the Valkyrie Plan, which was originally devised by Hitler to ensure the continuity of government in case of a putsch against Nazi leadership from forces within Germany. The original Valkyrie contemplated a breakdown of government due to allied bombing or an uprising of parts of the forced labor force of 7 million. In an emergency, prepared orders would be issued to the Reserve Army to maintain law and order within the German territory. Under the plotters’ revision of Valkyrie, the mobilized Reserve Army was to arrest local SS and Nazi bosses to complete the putsch.
The first attempt at executing the plan was on March 13, 1943, when two bombs placed on Hitler’s plane failed to detonate due to the low temperatures encountered in the hold. (The bombs were retrieved for later use on July 20, 1944.) A second effort on March 21st was aborted when Hitler left an exhibition earlier than expected, and there was another attempt cancelled in the fall that year. Colonel von Stauffenberg resolved to carry out an assassination attempt at the Wolf’s Lair, Hitler’s headquarters for the Eastern Front. He had to pass on two dates in July before seizing the opportunity on July 20th. The bomb was left in a briefcase in the conference room under the table close to Hitler, but the briefcase was moved by one of the generals. Von Stauffenberg had set the detonator and left the room, taking a car to the airport to fly to Berlin, when the bomb exploded. It killed four people and severely wounded another nine. Hitler survived with singed trousers and a perforated eardrum – and hosted a meeting with Mussolini that afternoon! Von Stauffenberg was arrested in Berlin, court-martialed, found guilty, and executed just after midnight on the next day.
General Karl-Heinrich von Stuelpnagel, the High Commander of Occupied France in Paris, had attempted to recruit Field Marshal Rommel to the rebel cause on July 7th, 1944, but Rommel was injured in a strafing attack ten days later and replaced by Field Marshal von Kluge. On July 20th, after being apprised of the supposed death of Hitler, von Stuelpnagel followed through on the Valkyrie Plan and arrested 1200 SD (security forces), Gestapo and SS personnel. Von Kluge refused to go along with the plan, ordered the release of the prisoners, and von Stuelpnagel then went by car to Berlin. On the way he attempted suicide, but failed and was turned in to the authorities. He was tortured, tried, and executed on August 30th. Rommel’s fate was little better: he was allowed to commit suicide via poison pill and died on October 14, 1944. Altogether, 7000 were arrested in connection with the coup attempt, and 5000 were executed.
In the five years from the start of the war until July 1944, 2.8 million Germans died, and in the 9 months from July until the end of hostilities in Europe, another 4.8 million died. Of the total of 60 million people killed in the European theater of operations, it is estimated that 30 million died after that July.
Slides used in the presentation: Presentation Stauffenberg Putsch October 20 2020
Video of the presentation: https://youtu.be/iV28yBh7iVA