The German Opposition to Hitler: The Resistance, the Underground, and Assassination Plots

by Michael Thomsett

"Thomsett's writing is a precious addition to an aspect of German history that has been too little explored. This is a clear and original look at people inside Germany and its administration who wanted to stop evil; their varied agendas and ideologies, the opportunities they missed and the chances they took. If history is studied to learn from mistakes, Thomsett shows us where courageous and intelligent dissenters are derailed."
Jud Nirenberg, author of Johann Trollmann and Romani Resistance to the Nazis

Between 1933 and 1945, more than 500,000 German citizens resisted the Nazi government. Many were imprisoned for political crimes which included both active attempts to remove Hitler from office and passive attempts to oppose the Nazi regime. Resistance was found among university students, churches and even in the German military.
This fascinating and compelling history of the German resistance covers groups and methods from underground newspapers such as "Rote Kapella" and "Internal Front" to conspiracy movements within the army, that culminated with Operation Valkyrie, a coup d'état and assassination attempt which went terribly wrong.

Genres: History, Germany, World War II, War

286 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 5, 2016

Reviews

[ForenSeek · Rating 2 out of 5]

File under ”Dull Books About Exciting Topics”. This is like a Wikipedia-level briefing written for someone with poor concentration skills and zero knowledge on the political and cultural mechanics of the Third Reich. The text has no flavor, and reminds you of a corporate memo rather than a book about people who risked their lives in standing up against a genocidal dictator who did not hesitate to have his opponents tortured and hanged. For a much better book on the same topic, read ”Killing Hitler” by Roger Moorhouse.

[Giselle Roeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am overwhelmed with the research the author must have done. Names, dates, times, it is all there. How was he able to find all that? How was it possible that all these happenings and actually the grand scale of the resistance was not known to the ordinary German? I lived in Germany during that time and was old enough to understand that, if I 'breathed' a word I heard at home, my father would disappear like many others and not just Jews or Communists. So even as a child, I knew that not everybody loved Hitler. It was tough in school to pretend I was just like all the other kids. In my memoir "We Don't Talk About That" I give the reader a taste of what it was like. The life of "ordinary Germans". Add this book to it and you can only wonder how it all could and did happen. My disappointment was to learn that several resistance members, Aristocrats, old generals and other high officers have tried quite often to convince the then English Prime Minister Chamberlain and through contacts the US to help "stop" this madness before and even during the war - they could not be moved. So in my soul, I know now it wasn't just the Germans but they had to and still carry the baggage of the madness the Austrian man, Adolf Hitler, brought down onto the world.

[Bob Waring · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and necessary

If only they had succeeded. Most interesting were the lengthy statements of future political intent of the organisers of the failed coup of 20th July.