General Ludwig Beck [to the conspirators]
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. Goerdeler 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.
[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.
Ludwig Beck 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
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?
Ludwig Beck 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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
Evidence requiring Hitler's signature.
Well, we can all draw straws for that job.
Goerdeler Fromm, who is Fromm?
Beck He's the commander of the Reserve Army.
I can put the Reserve troops on alert, but only Fromm can initiate Valkyrie.
Beck Can you get to him?
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.
Beck Offer him a key position in the new regime. Make him see the light.
