Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg [translation of letter he is writing]
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.
GC German Commander
Colonel, my orders are to advance to Sidi Massura and hold it. That is what we'll do.
CC Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
The British are moving in from the east, Patton's closing in from the coast, Montgomery from the south. You know we should have left two days ago.
GC 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.
GC German Commander
It's just that sort of talk that got you sent here, Colonel.
Stauffenberg What I said was much worse.
CC Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
[looking at a portrait of Hitler]
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?
LW Lieutenant Werner von Haeften
For anything, sir. Anything at all.
Stauffenberg "Anything" is a very dangerous word, Lieutenant.
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel [When Olbricht and Stauffenberg arrive at Fromm's office, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel is inside; the two are engaged in a shouting match, arguing furiously.]
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.]
I wanted to introduce our new man, Colonel Stauffenberg.
Ah! From Africa. Well, I'd offer you my hand, but I might not get it back.
CC Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
I'd say the General's lost more important things this morning.
[breaks out in laughter]
It's about time they put somebody with balls into this office, [laughs] Please sit down, Colonel. And Olbricht, if you must. [Stauffenberg and Olbricht sit at Fromm's desk] They tell me you're critical of the war, Colonel, not that you don't seem to have good reason.
Stauffenberg I am critical of indecision, General.
Stauffenberg In Berlin.
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.
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.
And what rash action did you have in mind, Colonel?
Stauffenberg That would be a decision for the supreme military commander, sir.
A supreme commander. Second only to the Chancellor. If I were that man, this war would be going quite differently.
Well, we were thinking the same thing. [pause]
I don't need to remind you that we have all sworn an oath to the Fuhrer. [Carefully disables a listening device in his telephone] 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?!
Stauffenberg Yes, sir.
Now you can tell your friends, Colonel, that I always come down on the right side, and as long as the Fuehrer is alive, you know what side that is.
[Fromm has learned that Stauffenberg and Olbricht tried to control the Reserve Army.]
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?!
It was only a drill. An exer-
Oh, don't lie, Olbricht! Not to me. We both know it wasn't a drill.
CC Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
General, if I may...
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?
Stauffenberg Yes, sir.
[Holds up hand]
Heil Hitler!
Heil Hitler. [Stauffenberg and Olbricht start to leave.]
I'll hear you say it, Colonel!
Stauffenberg [Stauffenberg stops in his tracks and turns around to face Fromm.] [Holds up his arm without his hand]
Heil Hitler!
[General Friedrich Fromm walks into a room where the plotters are lined up and surrounded by guards]
If you have any last messages to your wives and children, I will hear them now. [Silence] Very well. A court martial convened by me in the Fuhrer'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.
Major Otto Remer General, my orders are to take these men alive.
I'd like a pistol please. [General Fromm looks at him suspiciously] For personal reasons.
[Takes pistol to a nearby table]
Get on with it.
Remer With all respect sir-
Killing us won't hide your involvement.
My involvement? I don't know what you're talking about.
LW Lieutenant Werner von Haeften
You knew and did nothing. You're as guilty as any of us.
[Scoffing]
Spare me, Lieutenant.
CC Col. Claus Von Stauffenberg
No one will be spared.
CC Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
[about the leadership of the German Resistance]
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!
MG 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.
CC Col. Claus von Stauffenberg
Valkyrie.
We've already considered Valkyrie, it isn't suitable.
MG 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?
Operation Valkyrie. The Reserve Army has thousands of men all over Berlin. Valkyrie is Hitler's contingency plan to mobilize those men during a national emergency.
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?
We'd have no choice, we would declare a military state of emergency.
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.
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.
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.
Rewriting an order is one thing, distributing it is another. In this case, we'd be willfully circulating written evidence of high treason.
Evidence requiring Hitler's signature.
Stauffenberg Well, we can all draw straws for that job.
Goerdeler Fromm, who is Fromm?
He's the commander of the Reserve Army.
I can put the Reserve troops on alert, but only Fromm can initiate Valkyrie.
We're running out of time, can you get to Fromm?
But one who's gone as far as he can go in Hitler's army. It's no secret he's unhappy about it.
Offer him a key position in the new regime. Make him see the light.
