German Resistance Movements and Assassination Plots against Hitler (1933–1944)

  1. Abwehr opposition coalesces around Canaris and Oster

    Labels: Abwehr, Wilhelm Canaris, Hans Oster

    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.

  2. Night of the Long Knives crushes early opposition

    Labels: Night of, Ernst R

    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.

  3. Elser scouts Bürgerbräukeller for bomb placement

    Labels: Georg Elser, B rgerbr

    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.

  4. Maurice Bavaud’s failed Munich parade shooting attempt

    Labels: Maurice Bavaud, Munich parade

    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.

  5. Elser’s Bürgerbräukeller bomb narrowly misses Hitler

    Labels: Georg Elser, B rgerbr

    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.

  6. Kreisau Circle network forms around Moltke and Yorck

    Labels: Kreisau Circle, Helmuth von, Peter Yorck

    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.

  7. Maurice Bavaud executed at Plötzensee prison

    Labels: Maurice Bavaud, Pl tzensee

    After trial by the Nazi People’s Court, Bavaud—who had attempted to kill Hitler in 1938—was guillotined in Berlin’s Plötzensee prison.

  8. First large Kreisau Circle meeting at Kreisau estate

    Labels: Kreisau Circle, Kreisau estate

    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.

  9. Gestapo arrests begin against Red Orchestra networks

    Labels: Red Orchestra, Harro Schulze-Boysen

    Nazi authorities began major arrests against the resistance/espionage circles later labeled the “Red Orchestra,” including the arrest of Harro Schulze-Boysen in Berlin.

  10. Core Red Orchestra members executed at Plötzensee

    Labels: Red Orchestra, Pl tzensee

    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.

  11. White Rose leaflet action at LMU leads to arrests

    Labels: White Rose, LMU Munich

    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.

  12. Scholl siblings and Probst executed after People’s Court trial

    Labels: Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, Christoph Probst

    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.

  13. Tresckow’s parcel bomb attempt on Hitler’s aircraft fails

    Labels: Henning von, parcel bomb

    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.

  14. Gersdorff’s planned suicide bombing aborted at Berlin Zeughaus

    Labels: Rudolf von, Zeughaus

    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.

  15. Bussche’s Wolfsschanze uniform-demo suicide plan collapses

    Labels: Axel von, Wolfsschanze

    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.

  16. SS restrictions block Breitenbuch’s Berghof shooting attempt

    Labels: Eberhard von, Berghof

    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.

  17. 20 July bomb attempt at Wolf’s Lair triggers failed coup

    Labels: Claus von, Wolfsschanze, Operation Valkyrie

    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.

  18. Regime reprisals begin: arrests and executions of July Plotters

    Labels: July Plot, Nazi regime

    Following the failed 20 July attempt, the Nazi regime conducted sweeping reprisals—arresting thousands and executing many conspirators and associated resistance figures.

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19331935193819411944
Last Updated:Jan 1, 1980

German Resistance Movements and Assassination Plots against Hitler (1933–1944)