Read The Song Before It Is Sung Online
Authors: Justin Cartwright
The Song Before It Is Sung (18 page)
19 JULY 1944
VON GOTTBERG ARRIVES back in Berlin at Friedrich-strasse Station. He takes the U-Bahn to the office. The U-Bahn is still running
although Berlin is being reduced to rubble by the bombing raids. If anyone doubts the madness of Hitler, they have only to
look about. The great military genius is in his Wolf's Lair in East Prussia, his personal escape from the chaos he has caused
to be rained down on the people of Berlin. Von Gottberg feels a kind of dull pain that constricts his chest. Perhaps he should
see a doctor.
But as he emerges from the U-Bahn near the office, he is filled with the elation of knowing that the day is coming. He has
work to do, preparing for the installation of the new government. The bad news is that Rommel has been injured when his car
is strafed; he will not be at hand to lend his great authority to the putsch. But the Auswartiges Amt is strongly anti-Nazi
still, apart from von Gottberg's boss Dr Six, an SS appointee, and even he sees which way the wind is blowing.
He lunches with some friends including his brother-in-law, Dietlof Goetz; they don't talk about the putsch. But all afternoon
he is busy co-ordinating the Foreign Office's reaction to the coup. Of course, they are in the hands of the military at the
Bendlerblock, who will put the Valkyrie plan into operation as soon as news comes through of the assassination. It is the
military's task to make sure that key locations in Berlin, Paris and Prague are secured. He also writes a letter to his wife,
which she is to memorise and destroy:
In the next few weeks, you may not hear from me. Do not be afraid.
That night he has a brief meeting with von Stauffenberg, who is calm, smoking one of his Brazilian cigars. On the way home
von Stauffenberg stops at Martin Niemöller's church in Dahlem to bear witness. Nobody knows what von Stauffenberg and von
Gottberg discussed, but it is probable that it was the nature of the announcement to be broadcast from the captured radio
stations and transmitters. Late that evening von Stauffenberg returns to No 8 Tristanstrasse, and he and Berthold read their
brother, Alexander's, latest poems.
20 JULY 1944
KARL SCHWEIZER, THE former magician and von Stauf-fenberg's chauffeur, pulls up outside No 8 Tristanstrasse. The house stands
on the Wannsee, one of the lakes that lie on the flat northern plain around Berlin. No 8 is built in the vernacular style
popular in the prosperous and leafy suburbs: it has elements of the chalet, with a steeply pitched roof and a wooden balcony
on the first floor. Part of the front of the house is faced in wood and most of the windows on three floors have shutters.
It has been a very hot summer and the garden, although untended, is flowering heavily, drooping lilacs scenting the air. Beyond
the house is the lake, Wannsee, invisible from the street, but providing a wonderfully natural view from the back of the house
through birch trees to the gently undulating water. Proximity to a lake is highly prized. In summer the beaches on the lakes
are crowded with bathers, soldiers on leave with their girlfriends and wives, and children in family groups or with mothers
only, all those in fact who want to get away from the ruin that is Berlin. The U-Bahn trains to Wannsee and Nikolassee from
Alexanderplatz and Unter den Linden are packed at weekends. Unter den Linden no longer has any
Linden -
limes - because they have been replaced by triumphal Roman columns on the orders of Reichsmarschall Goering.
At exactly 7 a.m. von Stauffenberg appears at the door in the uniform of 10 Panzer Division with the light-grey summer jacket,
the collar patches and shoulder flashes with two crowns that identify his rank and regiment. The piping around the sleeves
of the jacket indicates that he is on the Army's general staff. He wears cavalry boots. With him is his brother Berthold,
in his dark naval uniform. Berthold hands Schweizer his brother's briefcase, which contains two lumps of explosive, each weighing
nine hundred and seventy-five grams, with two British primer charges and two thirty-minute fuses, also British. A shirt covers
the explosive, a timing device and a pair of pliers which have been adapted for use with his brother's left hand. He wears
a black patch over his left eye, also lost in North Africa. A colleague, Major-General Henning von Tresckow from Army Group
Centre, has procured the explosives.
Claus von Stauffenberg and his brother settle in the back of the car for the drive to Rangsdorf Airfield. There is light fog,
which looks as though it will soon clear. Von Stauffenberg clasps his brother's hand for a moment and then recites. His brother
joins him in a whisper:
When this generation has cleansed its shame
And thrown the serfs yoke from its neck
And feels in its entrails the pure hunger
for honour,
Then, from battlefields covered with endless graves,
A bloody signal will flash through the clouds,
Then roaring
armies will rush through the fields;
And the horror of horrors will rage, the third storm,
The return of the dead.
Claus says quietly, 'For honour and secret Germany.'
Berthold repeats, 'For secret Germany.'
The car pulls in to the airfield, saluted by guards. The fog is thicker. Lieutenant Werner von Haeften, von Stauffenberg's
adjutant, is waiting.
He speaks to the driver, Schweizer: 'Go to Spandau and get yourself a new suit.'
'Why do I need one, sir?'
'You will be needing many new things.'
Von Haeften and the brothers stand outside the low airport building until they hear the drone of the engines of the courier
plane. It appears suddenly from the murk and lands with a bump, before taxiing to the buildings. It is 8 a.m. when von Stauffenberg
and von Haeften climb up the short flight of steps and wave goodbye to Berthold before settling down for the flight to Rasten-burg
in East Prussia. Berthold is driven back to his office in the Naval High Command. The fog has cleared and below them Brandenburg
and Mecklenburg, a patchwork of forests and lakes and fields, unrolls. Even from this height you can see fields of wheat and
barley shot through with the red of poppies and the blue of cornflowers.
The plane lands at 10.15 a.m. A staff car is waiting. Von Haeften carries the briefcase containing the bomb and von Stauffenberg
carries his briefing notes which concern the use of troops on leave in Berlin as an emergency defence force. The car pauses
briefly at the gates that lead to the eastern command centre, Wolfschanze — Wolf's Lair — a compound ringed by two perimeter
fences. Within the compound is the Führer compound, which contains Hitler's quarters, a casino, and houses and bunkers for
leading ministers. Gorlitz station is beside this compound; the line separates the Führer compound from the rest of the Wolfschanze.
To the north of the Führer compound are swamps, which provide a natural defence before the outer perimeter is reached.
Von Stauffenberg is invited to have breakfast with the Headquarters Commandant's staff. He is greatly admired; the Commandant
himself has invited him to lunch after the briefing. The breakfast is lavish, with the best Westphalian ham and a variety
of cheeses and freshly baked bread. A special delicacy is the local
Blutwurst.
After breakfast, at about 11 a.m., von Stauffenberg is driven to a meeting with the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General
Buhle. They discuss the divisions - the blocking divisions - that will be drawn up from somewhere to prevent a rout when the
front-line troops in the East withdraw, which they must. Von Haeften rejoins von Stauffenberg outside Field Marshal Wilhelm
Keitel's office for preparatory briefing before von Stauffenberg is summoned to the Führer's presence. Von Haeften is still
holding the briefcase containing the explosives. He is not required in this briefing and stands in the corridor.
At noon Hitler's valet, Linge, phones Keitel to tell him that the morning briefing is delayed until 12.30, because Mussolini,
who is due to arrive at Gorlitz station in his special train, is late. At 12.25 Field Marshal Keitel is informed that his
General Staffs chief of operations has arrived by train and the Führer briefing can begin. Von Stauffenberg wants to be sure
that the Führer is going to be present. He is told that the Führer will indeed be there. He asks permission to change his
shirt. Von Stauffenberg and von Haeften are shown to a sitting room, where, with von Haeften's help, von Stauffenberg changes
his shirt. Keitel, Buhle and Keitel's adjutant stand outside the hut in the sunshine waiting for them. Von Stauffenberg puts
his back against the door and starts to prime the bomb with the special pliers, using his three remaining fingers. Only he
may do it: he is the assassin.
He has to remove the fuses from the primer charges and squeeze the copper casing with the pliers to break the glass phials
inside. The acid must seep out on the cotton around the retaining wires. Too much pressure might break the wire; it has to
corrode gently for the delay, a maximum of thirty minutes, to be effective. Then he has to look through an inspection hole
to make sure that the firing pin is still compressed, remove a safety bolt, and finally put the fuses back into the primer
charges. Eventually one bomb is primed. But as von Stauffenberg starts on the second, the door is pushed against his back
by a staff sergeant who has been sent by Keitel. He calls through the door to say that there is a phone call for him and that
the Field Marshal requests that he come immediately to the briefing. Then the Field Marshal's adjutant himself shouts down
the corridor:
Stauffenberg, come along.
The Field Marshal is agitated. Von Stauffenberg decides that there is no time to prime the second bomb. He gestures to von
Haeften, who closes the briefcase and hands it to him and they hurry out past the staff sergeant. Keitel's adjutant reaches
for the case, but von Stauffenberg pulls it away impatiently. His unwillingness to accept help, despite his injury, impresses
itself on the adjutant.
Von Haeften stuffs the second lump of explosive in a brown-paper parcel and slips it into his own attache case. His task now
is to make sure that the car that is to take them back to the airfield is standing by. He slips out of Keitel's office complex
and makes his way to the drivers' pool.
Von Stauffenberg is animated as he walks to the briefing complex where the Führer is already at work planning for the impossible,
how to save the Fatherland. Outside the wooden building, von Stauffenberg hands his briefcase to the adjutant and asks for
a place as close to the Führer as possible, as he has charts and maps to show him.
As von Stauffenberg enters the room, Hitler breaks off and looks at him. Keitel announces Colonel Claus Schenk, Graf von Stauffenberg,
who will report on the new arrangements for the defence of Berlin. Von Stauffenberg, with his eye patch and uniform with one
empty arm, looks directly back at Hitler. It is reported later that von Stauffenberg, six foot three inches and extraordinarily
good-looking, is a proud figure, the image of a warrior of classical times and the picture of a general staff officer. Hitler
allows von Stauffenberg to shake him by the hand, an honour. Keitel's adjutant asks one of the officers at the map table to
move in order to allow von Stauffenberg to stand as close to the Führer as possible. Only Major-General Heusinger, who has
been briefing the Führer on the situation in the East, now stands between him and von Stauffenberg. Von Stauffenberg pushes
the briefcase as close to the Führer's legs as he can. It rests against the massive legs of the table support. After a few
minutes, von Stauffenberg motions to the adjutant and asks him to get Lieutenant General Fellgiebel on the phone. The adjutant
gives the order to the operator in a side office, hands the phone to von Stauffenberg, and returns to the briefing. As arranged,
von Stauffenberg leaves the briefing room and walks to find von Haeften and Fellgiebel. They wait. At some time between 12.40
and 12.50, they hear an enormous explosion. Debris and a body fly out of the windows of the briefing room. They see another
body being carried out, covered in the Führer's velvet cloak.
Von Stauffenberg and von Haeften walk calmly to their car and direct it to the airstrip where a plane is waiting for them.
It is the Heinkel HE 111 of the Quarter Master General, Lieutenant General Wagner. At the first perimeter fence a guard stops
the car. Von Stauffenberg, with icy calm, tells him that he is a member of the General Staff acting on urgent orders. They
are waved through. At the second checkpoint, the outer perimeter, there is an absolute ban on anyone leaving the Wolfschanze.
Von Stauffenberg has a lunch appointment with the Commandant, but nonetheless he tells the guard sergeant to call Captain
von Mollendorf, the Commandant's adjutant, for permission to let him pass. He lights one of his black Brazilian cigars as
he waits for the sergeant to make the call: the sergeant soon waves them through and salutes. As they pass through a stand
of trees, von Haeften throws the second lump of explosive out of the car window. Fellgiebel, meanwhile, orders that all outgoing
signal traffic must be stopped.
The Heinkel takes off for Berlin-Rangsdorf. An order is given that fighters should be scrambled and that the Heinkel should
be shot down, but it is not passed to the Luftwaffe by the major on duty, who is the son-in-law of one of the conspirators,
General Olbricht, who is himself waiting at the Bendlerblock, General Army Office, for von Stauffenberg's return to Berlin
to take over the government of Germany and end the war. But already, by the time the Heinkel lands at 4 p.m., there is uncertainty
and confusion. Karl Schweizer, the chauffeur, goes to the wrong airport. Von Stauffenberg and von Haeften have to borrow a
car from a Luftwaffe officer. At 4.05 p.m. communication with the Wolfschanze is restored. Reports are coming in that there
has been an explosion at the Wolfschanze and that some officers have been wounded.
Before von Stauffenberg's car arrives at the Reserve Army Headquarters in Bendlerstrasse, there is already uncertainty. There
has been a fatal delay in implementing the Valkyrie plans, drawn up to take over the key installations of Berlin in an emergency.
The Guard Battalion, the armoured troops from the Officers' School at Krampnitz and the infantry regiments at Dobnitz and
Potsdam, should, according to the plan, already have entered the administrative sector of Berlin and occupied all the main
government buildings, SS and Party headquarters. The Berlin Radio Tower, all newspapers, and the radio transmitter at Tegel
were to be seized, SS leaders to be arrested and the SS disarmed. But the order has not been given.
General Fromm, von Stauffenberg's superior, has been told that the Führer is not dead by Field Marshal Keitel himself. He
is incensed when he is ordered by Olbricht to put Valkyrie into operation immediately. He and General Olbricht come to blows.
Olbricht now puts out the orders under his own authority, with a proclamation declaring martial law and beginning:
'The Führer,
Adolf Hitler, is dead.'
When von Stauffenberg finally enters Olbricht's office with von Haeften it is 4.30 p.m. He announces that Hitler is dead.
'I saw them carry him out,' he says.
Von Stauffenberg now goes to see Fromm and tells him that Hitler is dead. Fromm says that is impossible: Keitel himself has
told him that Hitler is only lightly wounded. When Olbricht tells him that the orders for Valkyrie have been sent out, he
slams the desk with his fist. He says it is high treason. They are all under arrest.
'On the contrary,' says von Stauffenberg, 'you are under arrest. I placed the bomb myself, right next to Hitler.'
Fromm replies, 'The assassination attempt has failed. You must shoot yourself.'
In the small panelled office, the atmosphere is almost farcical. Fromm is trying to save his neck. A pistol is pulled on him.
Fromm is given five minutes to decide if he will join the uprising. After five minutes he declares that he considers himself
relieved of his command. He is placed under guard in a side room.
At Wilhelmstrasse, the head office of the Auswartiges Amt, von Gottberg has been waiting since soon after dawn, full of excitement.
Hans-Bernd von Haeften, who is the older brother of von Stauffenberg's aide, Werner von Haeften, and other conspirators gather.
They occupy themselves with office work and correspondence. They rejoice that it is the last time they will ever have to close
letters
Heil Hitler!
At 2 p.m. they receive the agreed message,
Panta rei,
Greek for
All in motion.
Hitler is dead. The Valkyrie plans to seal off the government area of Berlin are to be put into operation right away from
General Army Office. Von Gottberg looks out of the window for the movement of troops. People are walking unconcerned down
Wilhelmstrasse and there are no soldiers in sight. Someone tells von Gottberg that there is a report that Hitler has survived
an assassination attempt unscathed.