July Plot

July Plot

 or Rastenburg Assassination Plot

Abortive attempt on July 20, 1944, by German military leaders to assassinate Adolf Hitler, seize control of the government, and seek more favourable peace terms from the Allies. According to plan, Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (1907–44) left a bomb in a briefcase in a conference room at the field headquarters at Rastenburg, East Prussia, where Hitler was meeting with top military aides. But the briefcase was pushed behind a table support, and Hitler survived the blast with minor injuries. Meanwhile, the other conspirators in Berlin failed to act. The chief conspirators, including Stauffenberg, Gen. Ludwig Beck, Gen. Erwin Rommel, and other top officers, were promptly shot or forced to commit suicide. In subsequent days, Hitler's police rounded up about 200 conspirators, who were shot, hanged, or viciously strangled.