Today in History: An attempt to assassinate Hitler ym’’s goes wrong
By Toby Friedman
A failed attempt to assassinate Hitler took place on today’s date in 1939. On that day, Hitler was delivering his annual speech at the Munich beer hall, in which he was mocking his enemies and boasting about Germany’s successful start to the war. But what neither Hitler nor his loyal Nazi audience realized was that a few feet away from where the Fuehrer was standing, a bomb was about to go off. Johann Georg Elser, a 36-year-old German carpenter, planned this attack many weeks in advance with the intent of killing the infamous leader. Elser wanted to avoid war but decided it was impossible as long as Hitler was alive. Hitler, to his luck, left in the nick of time, thirteen minutes before the bomb detonated, without so much as a scratch. Eight people were killed in the explosion and dozens more injured. One can only wonder how things would have played out differently had the bomb reached its target.
(Alamy photos)