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| A Nazi Assassination Attempt Wound Badge.
One of the rarest and most costly badges from WWII is the one issued at Hitler's order for the survivors of the attempt on his life on July 20, 1944 . There were two classes issued, Gold and Silver. The former was for very high-ranking officials and since very few were issued, with a market value today of well over $10,000. The lesser Silver, of which less than 100 were made, is more in the range of $500. In design, the badges are identical, their oval measurements being about 43mm x 36mm. The Gold Class is actually gilded silver while the Silver Class silvered bronze. They were made by the decoration crafters C.E. Juncker, on Altjacobstrasse , Berlin . Officially, the badges were designated Verwundetenabzeichen 20 Juli 1944 . Each displays a swastika on a WWII steel helmet ( Stahlhelm) on a background of crossed swords with 20 JULI / 1944 below and a raised facsimile of Hitler's signature below that, the whole enclosed by a stylized laurel wreath.
Unquestioning support for the Nazis was far from universal in Germany , especially in the army, but since any disagreement was tantamount to treason there was also a universal silence. Even so, there was organized opposition, albeit underground, the chief of which was the Kreisau Circle formed early in the war under the general leadership of Count Helmuth von Moltke and including a large number of officers, some of very high rank - even to generals and a field marshall. The wonder is that they were able to exist undetected so long - but all were arrested and executed as a result of the July plot. In the meantime, Moltke was able to forestall some of the worst Nazi crimes by surreptitiously giving warning of slated massacres, detentions and so forth through the undergrounds of the various occupied nations. In the words of historian Alan Bullock, Hitler had "the devil's own luck - a not inappropriate phrase" while the anti-Nazi movement had little or none. The first plot against Hitler was not for his assassination but rather for his arrest to stand trial for war crimes: for offence against "divine, international and positive law" in their words. He was to be taken at Borisov on 4 August, 1941 while visiting Army Group Center , a section honey-combed by anti-Nazi sentiment. Meticulous planning was done and in place and under ordinary circumstances, should have easily succeeded. However, Hitler's bodyguard chose this occasion to show up en masse and form an impenetrable phalanx of bodies and admiration for the fuehrer. His arrest was impossible and the attempt abandoned. Following this however, it was decided that Hitler must be killed rather than arrested. Smolensk , 13 March 1943 . Conspirators Maj-Gen von Tresckow and his aide Lt. von Schlabrendorff managed to slip two bombs disguised as bottles of brandy aboard Hitler's plane on its flight back to Rastenburg, the fuses timed to explode somewhere over Minsk. For some unexplained reason (the general theory being that the plane was flying too high for the pressure fuses to work) neither exploded. A hurried phone call was necessary to have the "bomb bottles" exchanged for real ones by a fellow conspirator at the other end. Berlin , 21 March 1943 . The same Maj-Gen von Treschkow, in conjunction with Col. von Gersdorff, had a bomb set for detonation during Hitler's visit to the Armoury on the Unter den Linden on the occasion of Heroes' Memorial Day. Hitler was to remain 30 minutes but when he left after only 8, the 10-minute fuse on the bombs had to be hurriedly deactivated. Zossen, November 1943. Hitler was to attend the modelling of a new greatcoat for use on the Russian Front. The young officer-model, Axel von dem Bussche, had agreed to act as a "suicide-bomber", activating bombs secreted in each greatcoat pocket at the moment of being presented to Hitler. On the very night before, an Allied air raid destroyed the warehouse and greatcoats it contained, forcing the cancellation of the event. Berchtesgaden , 11 July 1944 . Col. Claus von Stauffenburg, chief of staff to Gen. Fromm of the Reserve Army, carried a "briefcase bomb" to a conference with Hitler. However, since no other top Nazis were present (a precondition of such an attempt), it was abandoned. Rastenburg, 15 July 1944 . Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia , only some 40 miles ahead of the Russian armies. Stauffenburg with his bomb was again in attendance to Hitler, this time with Himmler and Goring present. However, at almost the precise moment that Stauffenburg was to set the timer, Hitler was called from the room on urgent business and did not return. This attempt was also cancelled. Rastenburg, 20 July 1944 . Stauffenburg made yet a third attempt, this time with few top Nazis present. He set the briefcase beside the thick oak leg of the trestle-type table being used by Hitler on the side toward him, set the timer and made an exit on the excuse of making an urgent call to his Berlin office. Col. Brandt, innocent of the plot, spied the briefcase and in case it inconvenienced Hitler, obligingly shifted it to the far side of the table support. It blew up in his face moments later, killing him and a few others across the table. Because the room was flimsily built and the windows wide open due to the heat, much of the explosion's force was dissipated and Hitler, among many others, was no more than lightly wounded. But Stauffenburg, upon seeing the explosion, believed Hitler to be dead and communicated that belief to the rest of the conspiratorial ring who set in play the planned takeover of most branches of the German forces and government. Even though Hitler was alive, the coup might have still succeeded had resolution been shown - after all, they now had nothing to lose. But practically all "froze", were soon arrested and executed for treason.
Göring and Luftwaffe aides inspect the Rastenburg explosion. Col. Claus von Stauffenburg The failure of the July 20 plot unleashed a bloodbath and not only of the captured conspirators. Some 5000 would meet their doom, many innocent of anything more than jealousy, the settling of accounts, or just because someone was not as rabidly Nazi as they should have been. Freisler, the vindictive judge of the "People's Court", convicted all who appeared before him: if accused, you must be guilty. He was still slamming the gavel on 8 Feb. 1945 when an Allied bomb literally dropped on top of him. In addition, hundreds - perhaps thousands - of German soldiers and officers found themselves abruptly ordered to the hottest part of the Russian Front where most perished, the victims of suspicion, nothing more. It now appears that the Allies were generally aware of the plot but refused to help, believing that the war effort was better served by preserving Hitler and allowing him to continue making (in their views) major mistakes rather than replacement by someone who would prolong the war by being better at the job. In their turn, they would be surprised by the Ardennes offensive that Christmas, a last-throw that failed primarily by the lack of resources to continue.
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NovemberA Nazi Assassination Attempt Wound Badge Renaissance of U.S. Coins: 1907-21 Brief Notes on the Roman Coinage of Britain
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