How the Resistance Struggle Was Carried Out

The method of resistance was largely determined by personal, social, and political points of view held by those involved. Socialists, Bible students, and many others found themselves in smalll circles which provided both mutual moral reinforcement and opportunity to prepare for action.

Illegal writings and leaflets, domestically created or imported from abroad, were intended to help the German population understand the unjust character of Nazism. In this attempt to influence the masses - as necessary as it was - lay the weakness of this type of resistance struggle. The Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolitzei - secret state police) repeatedly became aware and succeeded in isolating the lead players.

Not without danger, but very effective were the courageous sermons of the clergy of all faith traditions. Theology provided opportunity and a form to hint at criticism which prevented the Gestapo from attacking.

Although the churches qua church never took part in political resistance activities, it is nevertheless significant that the vast majority of the men of the July 20th coup attempt were closely caught up in and deeply rooted in religion.

The higher the position of resistance people, the less obvious they were in their efforts. Personal connections, that in the end even reached into the police - were created, unsuspected mid-level people could be won over, and the levers of power of authorities could be employed - all this very carefully carried out.

In the year before the war began, foreign considerations were in the foreground - esp. the concern that Hitler would grasp the opportunity to launch a foreign war bringing indescribable misery to Germany and the world.

The Munich Conference of 1938 saw the western powers rejecting diplomats arguments to take a firm stand against Hitler in order to dampen his appetite to take over the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia by a military invasion. Their appeasement, however, meant that Hitler had no reason to attack militarily and he also believed the foreign powers did not have the necessary will to resist his imperial designs. So with the invasion of Poland, Hitler launched the world war.

From now on only the action of armed powers offered success in stopping Hitler. Particularly in war, the conflict between awareness of the criminal nature of the state and the military oath of obedience proved to be a burdensome impediment. There were those in the military - only a few - who could struggle through to resistance. They held important key positions in the defense department and in the general army, holding levers of power that were not under-estimated in terms of their potential in an attempted coup d'etat.

Although the military successes of the early war years appeared not to allow - psychologically - any effort to resist Hitler publicly, those in the resistance did not allow themselves - unlike many others - to be blinded by these "Blitzkrieg" victories. Not to be distracted, they held firm to their morally grounded goals.

After the defeats in Stalingrad and North Africa - the recognizable turning point of the war - the impression grew that a larger portion of the population and even soldiers would welcome an act of liberation. The criminal acts carried out in the eastern regions awakened in many disgust with the amorality of the (Nazi) regime. The increasingly evident dilettantism of the leadership called forth growing dissension. But all attempts to resist, to gain the support of leading front line generals - with few exceptions - failed.

Younger officers, whose thoughts went beyond the technical and beyond the rule of military obedience, were able to decide for resistance.

The resistance that led to July 20, 1944 was in all respects threatened by necessary dangers. The smaller the circle of initiated people - to protect against premature discovery, the greater the danger of uncertainty in the moment of the attack. How would the population - the mass of soldiers respond? No clear answer was possible.

A further weakness of the German resistance lay in the fact that the development of an organized capacity for detention and punishment was impossible. The individual groups were small, over-lapping circles of like-minded friends. Men, who because of office or through private connection made contact with each other - often assembled by an especially strong personality such as Beck, Leber, or Count Moltke. They talked about plans of a renewed Germany, freed from Nazism - with all the different, often contradictory opinions, but with deep regard for each other and with the will to unity - large estate owners, union leaders, generals, social democrats, politicians with nationalist backgrounds, democrats, Catholic & Protestant Christians found themselves together in shared responsibility.
____________________

This year - 2019 - is the 75th anniversary of the attempted coup d'etat on July 20, 1944 to end the Nazi Hitler regime in Germany.

With right-wing nationalist political movements - largely "leader" led by bullies given to narcissism and amorality, and with neo-Nazis gathering on the margins of society spewing their hatred and violence against presumed enemies, it is timely to reflect gratefully and respectfully on the great sacrifices of leaders of July 20th AND of all the masses of people in political, military, social, and other roles who waged war against Nazism's perversions and domination.

As we enter the third decade of the 21st century it would be more than tragic if totalitarianism in any of its tyrannical guises were allowed to dominate the earth. The struggle for democracy is centred in the conviction that humans are created in the divine image to live freely and communally for mutual well-being and with respect in and for creation. This is a struggle worthy of courageous perseverance and persistent imaginative and creative action.