Trial of the 20th of July plotters against Hitler

Identifier
irn1004370
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2007.207.1
  • RG-60.4871
Dates
1 Jan 1944 - 31 Dec 1944
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Scope and Content

People's court trial of the July 20th plotters against Hitler at the Supreme Court in Berlin. Defendant Fritz Thiele stands before judge Roland Freisler. Freisler asks him whether, in retrospect, he realizes that Germany's enemies would have celebrated the success of the plot (?). Freisler further asks him about the leaflets prepared by the English. Joachim Sadrozinski stands before Friesler and tells of the aftermath of the coup attempt, when Generaloberst Friedrich Fromm convened a hasty court martial and execution of Stauffenberg and some of the other conspirators in an attempt to hide his own knowledge of the plot. 01:47:50 Adjournment. Cutaways of defendants talking informally, including Count Schwerin von Schwanenfeld in spectacles. Freisler calls on several defendants to stand and make statements. Ludwig Freiherr von Leonrod stands and speaks, then Joachm Sadrozinski and Ulrich-Wilhelm Schwerin von Schwanenfeld, who asks to be sent to the Front as a soldier to fight for the Fatherland. Freisler ridicules this request. Freisler reads the judgement against Thiele, Schwerin von Schwanenfeld, Leonrod, Friedrich Jaeger and Sadrozinski. Freisler asks an unidentified defendant (perhaps Friedrich Jaeger?) when the plan took on a concrete form. 01:54:05 Voiceover narration says that a new day of the trial begins, as Freisler and others enter the courtroom and salute. Von Leonrod is escorted forward by two policemen. Von Leonrod talks about his Catholic religion and Freisler asks him about his father confessor. In confession, von Leonrod asked his priest, Josef Wehrle, about the morality of tyrannicide. The next scene shows von Leonrod and Wehrle together as they are questioned by Freisler. Wehrle was also condemned to death and executed at Ploetzensee prison. Rex Bloomstein notes in his documentary "Traitors to Hitler" that there were three cameras in the courtroom: one was a the back of the room, one was located in the Swastka flag behind Freisler, and one was hand-held by a cameraman.

Note(s)

  • Conditions of Use and/or Copyright updated. Correspondence from Bundesarchiv in May 2023, initially sent to Leslie Swift states: Public Domain. However, since copyright law may differ between the U.S. and Germany, Use statement U3 is being applied.

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Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.