Within the military intelligence service (Abwehr), senior officers including Wilhelm Canaris and Hans Oster developed an internal opposition network that later supported coup planning and contacts with other resistance circles.
Hitler’s purge of real and perceived rivals (including non-Nazi conservatives) consolidated Nazi control and demonstrated the lethal risks of open opposition inside Germany.
Georg Elser traveled to Munich on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch to observe Hitler’s annual speech and plan a timed explosive attack from inside the Bürgerbräukeller.
Swiss student Maurice Bavaud attempted to shoot Hitler during the 15th-anniversary Beer Hall Putsch parade in Munich, but could not get a clear shot and abandoned the attempt.
Elser’s time bomb detonated during Hitler’s Munich speech event, killing eight and injuring many others, but Hitler had left earlier than expected—making this the closest successful attempt during the early war years.
The Kreisau Circle (Kreisauer Kreis) emerged as a heterogeneous intellectual and moral opposition network centered on Helmuth James von Moltke and Peter Yorck von Wartenburg, discussing plans for a post-Nazi Germany.
After trial by the Nazi People’s Court, Bavaud—who had attempted to kill Hitler in 1938—was guillotined in Berlin’s Plötzensee prison.
Members of the Kreisau Circle held a larger meeting at Moltke’s estate (Krzyżowa/Kreisau), an important step toward shaping a shared program for Germany after Nazism.
Nazi authorities began major arrests against the resistance/espionage circles later labeled the “Red Orchestra,” including the arrest of Harro Schulze-Boysen in Berlin.
Following trials, key figures associated with the Schulze-Boysen/Harnack circle were executed at Plötzensee, dealing a severe blow to one of Germany’s most significant underground networks.
White Rose members Hans and Sophie Scholl were caught distributing anti-Nazi leaflets at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, triggering the rapid dismantling of the student-led resistance group.
Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst were sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof and executed the same day, becoming enduring symbols of nonviolent German resistance.
Henning von Tresckow’s group smuggled an explosive disguised as a gift onto Hitler’s plane after a Smolensk visit, but the detonator malfunctioned and the bomb did not explode.
Rudolf Christoph von Gersdorff prepared to kill Hitler with explosives at a weapons exhibition in the Zeughaus, but Hitler’s unexpectedly brief visit prevented the attack.
Axel von dem Bussche agreed to kill Hitler by detonating explosives during a planned winter-uniform demonstration at the Wolf’s Lair, but the event did not occur after uniforms were destroyed in an air raid.
Eberhard von Breitenbuch planned to shoot Hitler during a Berghof briefing, but SS guards barred aides from entering the conference room, preventing him from getting close enough to fire.
Claus von Stauffenberg placed a bomb during a briefing at the Wolf’s Lair; Hitler survived and the associated coup attempt in Berlin (linked to Operation Valkyrie) collapsed within hours.
Following the failed 20 July attempt, the Nazi regime conducted sweeping reprisals—arresting thousands and executing many conspirators and associated resistance figures.
German Resistance Movements and Assassination Plots against Hitler (1933–1944)
