TREASON: Claus von Stauffenberg and the plot to kill Hitler
In ten episodes, Treason tells the remarkable and true story of Claus von Stauffenberg and the plot to assassinate Hitler.
In July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg was 36 years old. He was a brilliant staff officer, regarded by many, including Hitler, as the most brilliant in the German Army. He was a decorated war hero. He had been badly wounded in North Africa, losing his right hand, two fingers of his left hand, and his left eye: he could have sat out the war on a pension. He was married with four children, and his wife was pregnant with their fifth. He had everything to live for – and yet he was prepared to risk all that to try and rid the world of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
The gripping narrative follows Claus von Stauffenberg as the Nazis rise to unleash the Second World War across Europe, Claus's increasing disillusionment with the regime, and the process of building an insurrection against Hitler.
We will hear about the many attempts on Hitler's life, and the courage and character of those in the German resistance who were prepared to act.
Episodes
11 episodes
Vengeance
Once the coup collapsed, the Nazis outdid themselves in their fury. It remained to be seen who would be caught in their net.Some conspirators committed suicide. Some managed to escape.Thousands were rounded up. The Gestapo torture...
The Dead of Night
Once the coup collapsed, Fromm hesitated, then returned to his office, where Stauffenberg, Beck, Olbricht, Mertz and Hoepner were held under guard.Beck tried to shoot himself. He only succeeded in badly wounding himself, and was later fi...
Insurrection
At about 4 in the afternoon of 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg arrived back in Berlin. He expected the insurrection to be in full swing, and was shocked to learn nothing had been done. He swung into action, and the first Valkyr...
The Bomb
Claus von Stauffenberg took his briefcase bomb to three conferences with Hitler. On 11 July 1944 he attended a conference in the Berghof, in the Bavarian alps, but generals in the conspiracy ordered him not to go ahead if Himmler wa...
Operation Valkyrie
With over a million slave workers in Germany, the Nazis feared an uprising. They prepared a plan for the Army to handle any such revolt. Echoing Wagner’s Ring, they called it ‘Operation Valkyrie’. The orders provided an ideal framework...
Recovery and Resistance
In February 1943, Hans and Sophie Scholl, students calling themselves ‘The White Rose’, were arrested for distributing leaflets calling for peace. The Nazis tried them for treason – and they were executed.In March 1943, in ‘Operation Fla...
War
In November 1939, Georg Elser, acting alone, planted an immense bomb in the Beer Hall cellar in Munich. Using two high-precision clocks, he timed it to explode at the midpoint of Hitler’s annual speech commemorating the Beer Hall Putsch. <...
Peace in Our Time
1938 was the year when the tide of Hitler’s ambition should have broken against widespread international and internal opposition.Instead, it was the year when his tsunami was unleashed.By deft manoeuvres, he isolated Austria, and ...
The Nazis Rise
How did an obscure Austrian idler rise to become the leader of the German Reich? How could a nation as cultured and enlightened as Germany instal the Nazis in government?And what was the Third Reich regime like?In 1923, Adolf Hitl...
