July 20, 1944
In what they called “Operation Valkyrie,” a clique of officers attempted to kill Adolf Hitler and stage a coup. A briefcase concealing a time bomb was left at Hitler’s feet during a meeting. The bomb killed four people, but a table shielded Hitler. In Berlin, conspirators took over, believing Hitler dead. By midnight the participants were shot. The Gestapo arrested 7,000 and execute 4,980 people resulting in the destruction of the organized resistance movement in Germany.
