78. General Ludwig Beck, who, following his resignation — because of Hitler’s insistence on risking war over Czechoslovakia — as Chief of the General Staff in 1938, became a central figure in the conservative resistance, committing suicide on 20 July 1944 after the failure of the bomb-plot.79. Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, the driving-force behind the conspiracy to kill Hitler on 20 July 1944, who took upon himself the responsibility both for carrying out the assassination in the Wolf’s Lair and for directing the intended coup d’état in Berlin. On its failure, he was arrested and shot by a firing-squad late that night.80. Major-General Henning von Tresckow, one of the most courageous figures in the resistance, the inspiration of several plans, hatched within Army Group Centre, to kill Hitler in 1943. Stauffenberg regarded Tresckow as his mentor. This is one of the last photographs of him, taken in 1944. He committed suicide on 21 July on the Eastern Front on learning of the failure of the bomb-plot.81. Hitler, looking shaken, just after the assassination attempt on 20 July 1944.82. Hitler’s trousers, shredded by the bomb-blast.83. Hitler greets Mussolini at Führer Headquarters — the last time they would meet — some three hours after Stauffenberg’s bomb had exploded on 20 July 1944. Hitler had to shake hands with his left hand because his right arm had been slightly injured in the blast.84. Grand-Admiral Dönitz professes the loyalty of the navy in a broadcast shortly after midnight on 21 July 1944, just after Hitler and Göring had spoken to the German people. Listening to Dönitz are Bormann and Jodl.85. An ageing Hitler, pictured at the Berghof in 1944.86. Wonder Weapons: a V1 flying-bomb is taken to its launch-pad.87. Wonder-Weapons: a V2 rocket, ready for launch at Cuxhaven.88. Wonder-Weapons: An American soldier stands alongside a Me 262 on the advance into Germany in April 1945. Hitler had for a long time insisted on having the jet-fighter designed as a bomber. When finally deployed as a fighter, it was far too late to be effective.89. Scraping the barrel. Ill-equipped men of the ‘German Volkssturm’ — the people’s militia proclaimed by Hitler on 18 October 1944, ordering all able-bodied men between 16 and 60 to take up arms — pictured during a swearing-in ceremony in Berlin in December 1944.
