Olbricht, von Stauffenberg, Mertz and von Haeften were taken down to the courtyard of the Bendlerstrasse building and there shot by an execution squad in the headlights of parked vehicles. They paid the price for their seniors’ earlier step-by-step compromise with the monster they had raised. Alternatively they died in a hopeless attempt to save Germany and her good name long after both had been lost irretrievably. They died as brave men, von Stauffenberg crying out at the last, ‘Es lebe das heilige Deutschland!’ (‘Long live sacred Germany!’).
