WHY THE HITLER BOMB PLOT FAILED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP70-00058R000200150037-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 15, 1999
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: April 10, 1961
• Content Type: NSPR

LOS ANGELES TIMES APRIL 10, 1961
Approved For Release 2000/04/13 : CIA-RDP70-00058R0
25X1A
SYhythe Hitler Bomb Plot Fail~\
0~ ~I BY HUGH RUSSELL FRASER
Why they failed to kill
Hitler in the bomb plot
cif July 20, 1944, has come
in for some new light.
The war might have
hren ended nine months
Earlier, perhaps more than
.A million lives saved -
if s hat bomb had only gone
MT as expected.
,Noc comes a late issue
r,~ the -U.S. Naval Insti-
tute Proceedings, and a
translation by Capt. Ro-
land E. Krause, USN, ret.,
of an article by Capt. Heinz
Assmann, German naval
liaison officer, who was
present at the conference
with Hitler.. His account
differs in one basic respect
with that given by Wil-
liam L, Shirer in his mon-
umental "The Rise and
Fall of the Third Reich."
According to Assmann,
"Shortly after the begin-
ning of the conference,
Count Stauffenberg left
the room, stating to Col.
Brandt, who stood direct-
ly in front of the brief
case, that he had to make
a quick telephone call and
that he would return.im-
mediately.
"While Gen. Heusinger
was making his presenta-
tion, Hitler was bent over
the chart and asked for
data concerning the sup-
ply of replacement forma-
tions to the army in the
East.
"In connection with this
question, it was noted that
Col. Stauffenberg was ab-
sent, and he was sent for.
The presentation went on,
when all at once there
was a violent explosion.
"The room was com-
pletely destroyed . I
was able to drag myself to
a window with difficulty
and to jump out. I saw
shapes wandering around
aimlessly. I observed Adolf
Hitler walking erect, sup-
ported by Keitel. His hair
was mussed ui:; his black
trousers were hanging in
fetters on his legs.
"He suffered sever e
bleeding at the right el-
bow, superficial f l e s h
wounds from wood splin-
ters, skin abrasions and
the rupture of both ear-
drums with bleeding .
However, subsequent ef-
fects of his injuries, par-
ticularly the considerable
shock to his nervous sys-
tem, were greater than at
first appeared the case.
"That Hitler survived
was due to the fact that
the assassin had used too
small an explosive charge
and that the bomb
had been placed - not on
the inside, but on the out-
side - of the heavy oaken
table support."
Approved For Release 2000/04/13 : CIA-RDP70-00058R000200150037-3