Who was Johann Georg Elser
Why did he want to kill Adolf Hitler? What was the effect of this failed assassination attempt?
And how close did he come to accomplishing his mission? Hello i'm Colin Heaton former
soldier Marine Corps scout sniper, history professor, historian, and book author,
and we'll answer these questions and other issues on this segment of Forgotten History
Johann Georg Elser was born on January 3rd 1903
in Wurttemberg, Germany. His father was Ludwig Elser and his mother was Maria Mueller.
The records of the interviews from those who knew him conducted by the Gestapo
pretty much illustrate a man of minimal intellect who barely survived his school years, although he
did learn to play brass musical instruments. Leaving school at age 14 Elser started working
for his father in the timber business when he was becoming an apprentice and became a great
carpenter. In 1919 he worked making furniture and in 1925 he was working in Switzerland making
houses for cuckoo clocks. In 1936 he landed a well-paying job at the Waldenmaier Armament
factory which gave him access to black powder detonators and fuses. His knowledge of clock
making would also come into play. The War Economy Decree of September 4th 1938 that restricted
the rights of workers including state-controlled wages convinced Elser to rebel against the Nazis.
The Anschluss against Austria and the occupation of the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia
further enraged him. His interest in politics was somewhat limited. It seemed his main motivation
was the economic hardships he was facing and his belief that he could end the war that had started
two months earlier by killing Hitler. Elser had read in a newspaper that there would be a Nazi
Party meeting at the Burgerbraukeller, a beer hall in Munich scheduled for the 8th of November 1939,
which was the anniversary of the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch the coup by the Nazi Party to overthrow
the German Weimar government. Hermann Goering and many of the other luminaries of the party would
be in attendance. Htler had been arrested after that along with Goering and his deputy Rudolf Hess
and spent nine months in Landesburg Prison. This was going to be a reunion of the old fighters. As
part of his planning since he thought he might be able to kill most of the Nazi hierarchy,
Elser became a regular customer of the pub so as to not raise suspicions beginning in August. He
spent many nights hiding in a closet until the pub closed and worked during the night hollowing out a
place in a cement support column covered with decorative wood laminate. Elser's bombs were
well built; he made two bombs connected together using two clocks attached to a triple detonator
the clocks were surrounded with cork to silence the ticking. He set the time for the detonation at
9:20 pm as Hitler was scheduled to speak from 8:30 pm to 10:00 pm. On November 9th Hitler's personal
pilot Hans Baur informed Hitler and the group that there was a heavy fog rolling in that evening
and that would make travel in his Ju-52 going back to Berlin very dangerous.
Completely trusting Baur Hitler cut his speech short, stopping at 9:07 pm. Elser's bomb detonated
13 minutes later killing seven people and wounding seven more. After completing his work Elser left
Munich on November 6, 1939 but he was detained by the border police on November 8th while trying to
re-enter Switzerland because his crossing pass was out of date. Elser's arrest for trying to cross
the border did not raise any suspicions with with result of the bombing. However, the Gestapo had
interviewed all the persons working in the pub and sent photographs of many people who were detained
photographed and the bar staff pointed out Elser as being a regular being there almost every night
for a couple of months. During his interrogation which is quite brutal Elser admitted that he tried
to kill Hitler and how he did it. When asked why, he tried to kill Hitler Elser told his
interrogators quote, "The discontent within the working class which I noticed since 1933 and the
suspicion of an imminent war which I had seen since the fall of 1938 was prominently on my
mind." It was perceived by Heinrich Mueller the Gestapo Chief that Elser had been on a
personal mission based upon his political and ideological beliefs and that he was not part
of a wider conspiracy. Elser's failure to kill Hitler forced Hitler and his entourage to forever
alter the way they would travel; they would not advertise their arrivals in future events
only a few slight trusted number of people in the inner circle would be aware of his itinerary.
Following Elser's confession he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp and later
during the war transferred to Dachau where he was finally executed by fire squad on April 19th,
1945. The results of this assassination attempt was explained by SS Lieutenant General Karl
Wolff from his interview in 1984. Quote, "Because of this event Hitler would increase his personal
bodyguard and establish an advanced party to inspect locations prior to his arrival
the Sicherheitsdienst or SD at that time run by Reinhard Heydrich would run background checks
on event participants and plainclothes Gestapo men would mingle in crowds and observe participants.
It changed everything." Perhaps the greatest question in this entire mystery was why did Hitler
allow Elser to live almost six years after almost killing him? No one could really explain that
as to why he was allowed to survive until he was executed. Karl Wolff had a theory as to why
Hitler allowed Elser to live all those years in Sachsenhausen and later in Dachau. Wolff
believed that at some point in time Elser may actually divulge other persons who may have been
involved in the plot to kill him even though that information was never divulged during his Gestapo
interrogation. The fate of execution befell any suspected or known conspirators especially
those involved in the later July 20, 1944 bomb plot led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
Later all and any suspected members were forced in a show trial and then executed slowly by
hanging with piano wire. According to Wolff, "Hitler watched the films of these executions
taking great pleasure in seeing these men who would have killed him slowly strangled to death.
Why Elser or did not suffer a similar fate i cannot tell you and i never asked." Elser was
also an inspiration to future plotters dedicated to ridding the world of Adolf Hitler. His legacy,
while troubled is one of defiance and moral courage. In 2003 Germany issued a commemorative
stamp honoring Johann Georg Elser's 100th birthday and his effort to kill Hitler which states
"Ich hab den krieg verhindern wollen" or translated "I wanted to prevent the war."
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