https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Elser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikc6PUSwdK4
At this point in time, Nazi Germany has conquered its part of Poland. France and the UK have declared war against Hitler but are - AFAIK - not actually fighting yet. The Soviet Union has invaded eastern Poland, the USA are supporting France and UK with weapons but are otherwise neutral. (These are the facts as I understood them from Wikipedia; if you think they're wrong, just say so.) Who, if any, of the high-ranking Nazis is able to take over the party? Himmler, Göring, someone else? Will the German army - whose members have sworn an oath on Hitler - be willing to take commands from someone else? Will Germany quickly lose the war? And how would Germany stay Nazi or become a Western democracy, if the defeat is not as devastating and painful as in the real timeline?
I have known the story of Georg Elser's 1939 failed bomb attack on Hitler at the Bürgerbräukeller for some time. The official story is that he was captured shortly after the attack as he crossed the Swiss border. He was immediately suspected because authorities had found..
>In his pockets were found a pair of pliers, sketches of grenade and fuse designs, pieces of a fuse, a picture postcard of the Bürgerbräu hall's interior; a badge of the former "Red Front" Communist movement was found concealed under his lapel.
This always seemed quite strange to me. Not exactly wise to be carrying these things around with you after you have just tried to assassinate the Führer. But I never thought much more about it. At any rate, Elser was kept imprisoned as the "special prisoner of the Führer" at concentration camp Sachsenhausen until he was transferred to Dachau at the end of the war and died under suspect circumstances as the war in Europe finished.
Recently, I have discovered that there are other scenarios that have been presented. Possibly that he had indeed been guided by the British Secret Service as the Nazis had said, and also possibly that he had actually been set up by the Nazis themselves (either with or without the knowledge of Hitler himself) to use him as an excuse for aggression against Great Britain.
This page presents some of the other information, as well as sources.
I'm curious what people here think about this?
I have to admit, I always found the Elser story strange. Strange because of the suspect circumstances in which he was discovered, and suspect because of his .. well ... frankly "uninspiring" quotes that have lived on as his epitaph:
"Ich habe den krieg verhindern wollen" (I wanted to stop the war)
"Ich wollte ja durch meine Tat ein noch größeres Blutvergießen verhindern."(I wanted to stop a greater bloodbath through my deed)
Those were the most quotable quotes from a man who tried to kill the Führer? That was the length and breadth of his manifesto? Or were those just reported as his words? Exactly how was it so easy for him to hide out and plant a bomb over the course of days in the spot where Hitler would speak? How unbelievably lucky that Hitler called his speech short? Why in the world would Elser have a postcard of the Bürgerbräukeller and a communist pin on him (literally right there on his jacket!) as he tried to cross the German border? That
... keep reading on reddit ➡Damn, I did Nazi that one coming.
Bittersweet moment for me that this is my first dad joke ever but it’s on this topic!
