Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
Encyclopedia
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative
German
politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime
. Had the 20 July plot of 1944 succeeded, Goerdeler would have served as the Chancellor
of the new government.
civil servants in Schneidemühl, Germany
(now Piła, Poland
) in the Prussian Province of Posen
. Goerdeler's parents were supporters of the Free Conservative Party
, and Goerdeler's father served in the Prussian Landtag as a member of that party after 1899. Goerdeler's upbringing was described by his biographer and friend Gerhard Ritter
as a part of a large, loving middle-class family that was cultured, devoutly Lutheran, nationalist, and conservative. Goerdeler studied economics
and law
at the University of Tübingen between 1902 and 1905. Starting in 1911, Goerdeler worked as a civil servant for the municipal government of Solingen
. That same year, Goerdeler married Anneliese Ulrich, by whom he had five children. Goerdeler was described as:
During World War I
, Goerdeler served as a junior officer on the Eastern Front
, rising to the rank of Captain. From February 1918, Captain Goerdeler worked as part of the German military government in Minsk
. After the end of war in November 1918, Goerdeler served on the headquarters of the XVII Army Corps based in Danzig (now Gdańsk
, Poland). In June, 1919, Goerdeler submitted a memorandum to his superior, General Otto von Below
, calling for the destruction of Poland
as the only way of preventing territorial losses on Germany's eastern borders. After his discharge from the German Army, Goerdeler joined the ultra-conservative German National People's Party
(DNVP). Like most of the political class of Germany at that time, Goerdeler strongly rejected the Versailles Treaty, which stipulated that Germany cede territories to the restored Polish state. In 1919, before the exact boundaries of the Polish-German border were determined, he suggested restoring West Prussia
to Germany. Despite his strongly held hostile feelings towards Poland, Goerdeler played a key role in breaking a strike by the Danzig dockers, who wished to shut down the Polish economy by closing Poland's principal port during the Polish–Soviet War of 1920 on the grounds that however undesirable Poland was as a neighbour, Soviet Russia
would be even worse.
In 1922, Goerdeler was elected as the mayor (Bürgermeister) of Königsberg
(now Kaliningrad
, Russia
) in East Prussia
before being elected mayor of Leipzig on May 22, 1930. During the Weimar Republic
, Goerdeler was widely considered to be a hard-working and outstanding municipal politician. On December 8, 1931, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning
, a personal friend of Goerdeler, appointed him as Reich Price Commissioner, and entrusted him with the task of overseeing his deflationary policies. The sternness with which Goerdeler administered his task as Price Commissioner made him a well known figure in Germany. In the early 1930s, Goerdeler was a leading advocate of the viewpoint that the Weimar Republic had failed as proven by the Great Depression, and what was needed was a right-wing revolution to replace democracy.
After the downfall of the Brüning government in 1932, Goerdeler was considered to be a potential Chancellor and was sounded out by General Kurt von Schleicher
, who ultimately chose Franz von Papen
instead. Following the fall of his government on May 30, 1932, Brüning himself recommended to President Paul von Hindenburg
that Goerdeler succeed him. Hindenburg vetoed Goerdeler because of his membership in the German National People's Party
(DNVP). Starting in 1928, under the leadership of Alfred Hugenberg
, the DNVP had waged a vituperative campaign against Hindenburg, claiming that he was one of the "November Criminals" who were alleged to have "stabbed Germany in the back" in 1918, which led Hindenburg to loathe and hate the DNVP. As a result, by 1932, no member of the DNVP was acceptable to Hindenburg as Chancellor. Later in 1932, Goerdeler was offered a position in Papen's cabinet, which he refused.
declared against all Jewish businesses in the Reich, Goerdeler appeared in full uniform of the Oberbürgermeister of Leipzig to order the SA
to cease and desist in their efforts to enforce the boycott, and ordered the Leipzig police to free several Jews taken hostage by the SA. Several times, he attempted to help Leipzig
Jewish businessmen threatened with the "Aryanization
" economic policies of the Nazi regime. A few days after the boycott, Goerdeler found himself as mayor of Leipzig enforcing the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
, which unlike the Nuremberg Laws
of 1935 did not give him cause for complaint.
As part of his efforts to influence the Nazi regime, Goerdeler had sent Hitler long memoranda containing his advice on economic policy, and in the second half of 1935, wrote up a new draft law on the powers and responsibilities of municipal governments. Despite his early sympathy for the regime and considerable pressure from the National Socialists, Goerdeler always refused to join the NSDAP. By the mid-1930s, Goerdeler grew increasingly disillusioned with the Nazis as it become more and more apparent that Hitler had no interest in reading any of Goerdeler's memoranda, but instead was carrying out economic and financial polices that Goerdeler regarded as highly irresponsible. In addition, the fact that the Nazis in the Leipzig municipal government massively increased the debts owed the city was a major source of worry for Goerdeler.
In 1933, a Reich law forbade doctors who were members of the KPD
or who were "non-Aryans" from participating in public health insurance, exempting only those who were World War I veterans, or children or parents of veterans. A second decree of 1934 banned all physicians from participating in public health insurance who had one or more Jewish grandparents regardless of their religion, or if they were married to a "non-Aryan". However, these laws did not affect those physicians who received their approbation under the Weimar Republic. On April 9, 1935, the Deputy Mayor of Leipzig, the National Socialist Rudolf Haake, in defiance of the existing laws, banned all Jewish doctors from participating in public health insurance, and advised all municipal employees not to consult Jewish doctors. In response, the Landesverband Mitteldeutschland des Centralvereins deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens e. V (Saxon Association of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith) complained to Goerdeler about Haake's actions, and asked him to enforce the existing anti-Semitic laws, which at least allowed some Jewish doctors to practice. On April 11, 1935, Goerdeler ordered the end of Haake's boycott, and provided a list of "non-Aryan" physicians permitted to operate under the existing laws, and those who were excluded. Critics of Goerdeler such as the American political scientist Daniel Goldhagen
have asserted that, because Goerdeler published a list of "non-Aryan" physicians to be excluded from practicing under public insurance, Goerdeler was an anti-Semite; by contrast, Goerdeler's defenders like the Canadian historian Peter Hoffmann have argued that Goerdeler's insistence on enforcing the laws served to protect those Jewish physicians entitled to practice.
In November 1934, Goerdeler was again appointed Reich Price Commissioner, and ordered to combat inflation caused by rearmament. Gestapo
reports from the 1934 record that the German public greeted the news of Goerdeler's reappointment as Price Commissioner as a positive development. The appointment of Goerdeler was Hitler's response to the increasing problem of inflation. Despite the great fanfare which greeted Goerdeler's appointment, he was given little real power. In 1934, Goerdeler was strongly opposed to the idea of devaluing the Reichmark
, and had supported Hitler and Dr. Schacht against the advocates of devaluation. During his second term as Price Commissioner in 1934–1935, Goerdeler often came into conflict with the Economics Minister and Reichsbank president Dr. Hjalmar Schacht
over his inflation
ary policies. In Goerdeler's opinion, these posed a grave danger to the German economy, and finally prompted his resignation in 1935 as Price Commissioner. As Price Commissioner, Goerdeler became increasingly troubled by Nazi economic policies, as well as being disgusted by rampant corruption within the Nazi Party. In September 1935, as Mayor of Leipzig, Goerdeler found himself enforcing the Nuremberg Laws
, laws that he found deeply distasteful.
In October 1935, Goerdeler sent Hitler a memorandum in which he urged that the priorities for the use of German foreign exchange should be shifted from buying raw materials that Germany lacked for rearmament, and instead be used to buy food that Germany was short of like fats. In his report, Goerdeler wrote that the foremost goal of German economic policy should be: "the satisfactory provisioning of the population with fats, even in relation to armaments, as having political priority". In the same report, Goerdeler argued that the root of German economic problems was rearmament, and advocated as the solution reducing military spending, increasing German exports, and returning to a free market economy. Goerdeler warned that to continue the present course of increasing statism
in the economy and the current levels of high military spending would result in the total collapse of the economy with an extremely drastic drop in living standards. After Hitler ignored Goerdeler's report, Goerdeler asked Hitler to dissolve the Reich Commisariat for Price Surveillance since there was nothing for that office to do. In the spring of 1936, Goerdeler came into increasing conflict with Haake over the question of demolition of a monument to the German-Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn
.
In the summer of 1936, Goerdeler was heavily involved in trying to influence the decision-making regarding the great economic crisis which gripped Germany that year. Despite his earlier differences with Dr. Schacht, Goerdeler together with Schacht headed the "free-market" faction in the German government who during the economic crisis of 1936 urged Hitler to reduce military spending, turn away from autarkic and protectionist policies, and reduce statism
in the economy. Supporting the "free-market" faction were some of Germany's leading business executives, most notably Hermann Duecher of AEG
, Robert Bosch
of Robert Bosch GmbH
, and Albert Voegeler of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
. Goerdeler and Schacht were opposed by another faction centered around Hermann Göring
calling for the opposite. Despite his disagreements with Göring over the best economic course to follow, on August 6, 1936, Göring commissioned a report from Goerdeler as a leading economic expert about whether Germany should devalue the Reichmark or not. Goerdeler began his report by rejecting the policies of Dr. Schacht's New Plan of 1934 as untenable. Making a U-turn from his stance of 1934, Goerdeler now embraced devaluation of the Reichmark as the best solution to the economic crisis. Goerdeler argued that the tolerance of other Western nations, especially the United States
for German state's subsiding the dumping
of exports was wearing thin, and would soon result in harsh new tariffs being applied against German goods. Goerdeler argued that the only way of the economic crisis which gripped the German economy in 1936 was the devaluation
of the Reichmark, and abandoning all of the restrictions governing foreign exchange in Germany. Goerdeler argued that for devaluation of the Reichmark to be successful would require co-ordination with other nations, especially the United States
, the United Kingdom
and France
, who otherwise might be tempted to engage in competitive devaluations of the dollar
, the pound
and the franc
respectively. To secure their co-operation, Goerdeler argued for rapprochement with the Western powers. In his memorandum for Göring, Goerdeler wrote of the "grandiose possibility" that a German reengagement with the world economy, and the end of protectionism and autarchism would lead to a new age of economic co-operation among the world's largest economies. To this end, Goerdeler argued in exchange for Anglo-French-American economic co-operation and support, Germany should at a minimum cease its unilateral economic policies, and sharply cut military spending. In addition, Goerdeler felt that the price of Western economic support would a moderation of the Nazi regime's policies in regards to the "Jewish question, freemasonry question, question of the rule of law, Church question". Goerdeler wrote that "I can well imagine that we will have to bring certain issues...into a greater degree of alignment with the imponderable attitudes of other peoples, not in substance, but in the manner of dealing with them".
The British historian Adam Tooze
has argued that Goerdeler was following his own agenda in seeking to moderate the regime's domestic policies in his memorandum, and that it is highly unlikely that outside powers would have required the concessions on anti-Semitic and other domestic policies that Goerdeler advocated as the price of Western economic support (through Tooze does feel that Goerdeler was correct in arguing that the West would have made cutbacks in military spending a precondition of economic support). Goerdeler argued his policies of economic liberalization and devaluation would in the short run cause 2 million-2.5 million unemployed in Germany, but argued that in the long-run, the increase in exports would make the German economy stronger. In public, Göring called Goerdeler's memorandum "completely unusable." Göring's copy of Goerdeler's memorandum is covered with handwritten personal comments by Göring on the side such as "What cheek!", "Nonsense!", and "Oho!" When Göring forwarded a copy of Goerdeler's memorandum to Hitler, his covering letter stated:
as the way out of the 1936 economic crisis. Hitler himself found Goerdeler's report objectionable, and Hitler's "Four-Year Plan Memorandum" may have been written in part as a reply to Goerdeler's memorandum (Gerhard Ritter
favored this theory whereas Gerhard Weinberg
rejects it) On September 4, 1936 speaking before the German Cabinet, Göring cited Goerdeler's memorandum as an example of flawed economic thinking, and announced that Germany would pursue heavy military spending, protectionism, and autarky regardless of the economic consequences.
In the fall of 1936, Goerdeler's on-going dispute with Haake over the Mendelssohn statue came to a head. After much argument, Goerdeler agreeded to have the statue moved from its location in front of the Gewandhaus concert hall to a less high profile position. In the autumn of 1936, Goerdeler left for a trip to Finland
promoted by the German Chamber of Commerce. Before leaving, Goerdeler met with Adolf Hitler
and the Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
, and received their promise that nothing would happen to the statue during his trip. During his trip, the statue was demolished on Haake's orders. Upon his return, Haake stated that the matter of the statue was "only the outward occasion of the conflict" and declared that "Dr. Goerdeler's attitude in the Jewish Question had been revealed particularly clearly in the matter of the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy statue". Goerdeler tried to have the statue rebuilt. After failing that, he declined to accept his reelection as mayor of Leipzig
and resigned from office on March 31, 1937.
AG, which was at the time Germany's largest corporation. However, Hitler forbade Goerdeler to take up this appointment, and ordered Krupp to withdraw the offer. Goerdeler instead became the director of the overseas sales department at the firm of Robert Bosch GmbH
. Shortly after his resignation, Goerdeler became involved in anti-Nazi plots. Bosch, who was a friend of Goerdeler's, agreed to turn a blind eye to his anti-Nazi work. As a conservative and self-proclaimed follower of the Bismarck
ian tradition, Goerdeler was opposed to what he considered the extreme radicalism of the Nazis, and was fearful of what the results of Hitler's foreign policy might be. Starting in 1936, Goerdeler worked to build an opposition fraction out of his circle, comprising mostly civil servants and businessmen. Despite his anti-Nazi plotting, Goerdeler continued to submit memoranda to Hitler and the other Nazi leaders out of the hope that he might somehow convince them to change course. The case of Goerdeler has been used by the historian Hans Mommsen
to support his view of “resistance as a process”, with Goerdeler going from an ally of the regime to increasing disillusionment by Nazi economic policies in the mid-1930s, and finally becoming committed to the regime’s overthrow by 1937. By early 1938, Goerdeler was convinced that "something must be done" about the Nazi regime.
Using the "cover" of his job as chief of overseas sales at Bosch, between 1937–1938, Goerdeler often travelled abroad, mostly to France
, the United Kingdom
, the United States
, the Balkans
, the Middle East
and Canada
, to warn anyone who would listen about what he considered to be the aggressive and dangerous foreign policy of Nazi Germany
. Though opposed to what he considered to be a reckless foreign policy, Goerdeler often demanded in his meetings with his foreign friends that the Great Powers back the cession of the Sudetenland
, the Polish Corridor
, the Memelland
(modern Klaipėda
, Lithuania
), and the Free City of Danzig
, together with the return of the former German colonies
in Africa
, to Germany. At the same time, Goerdeler became a member of General Ludwig Beck
's private intelligence network. Goerdeler's reports were received not only by General Beck, but by General Werner von Fritsch
. The German historian Klaus-Jürgen Müller observed that Goerdeler, in his contacts abroad, tended to falsely portray himself as representing a more organized movement than was in fact the case, and presented himself to his foreign contacts as the secret spokesman of a well-organized "German Opposition". Besides trying to influence foreign governments, Goerdeler attempted to use his reports to the Army leadership to try to influence the Army into considering an anti-Nazi putsch. During one of his visits to London
, in June 1937, Goerdeler told Sir Robert Vansittart
that he would like to see the Nazi regime replaced by a right-wing military dictatorship that would seek British friendship, in exchange for which Goerdeler wanted British support for annexing parts of Poland and Czechoslovakia. In October 1937, during a visit to the United States, Goerdeler stayed with the British historian Sir John Wheeler-Bennett
at the latter's estate in Virginia
, and informed him of his desire to restore the monarchy in Germany. During the same trip, Goerdeler drafted his "Political Testament" attacking Nazi economic policies, and criticized the regime for its anti-Christian policies, widespread corruption, and lawlessness. In this period, Goerdeler met several times with Winston Churchill
and Vansittart.
During the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair and the attendant crisis caused by the court-martial of General Werner von Fritsch
, Goerdeler became closely associated with several loose groupings of German rightists in the Civil Service and the military who, for various reasons, were unhappy with aspects of the Third Reich. Goerdeler attempted to use the Fritsch crisis to try to turn the Army leadership against the Nazi regime, but his efforts were in vain. In April 1938, Goerdeler visited London, where he advised the British government both to resist the Nazi claim to the Sudetenland
area of Czechoslovakia, while at the same time declaring that he wanted to see the area transferred to Germany as soon as possible. As Gerhard Weinberg
observed, Goerdeler's contradictory statements left the British somewhat confused. In the spring of 1938, Goerdeler, in association with Hans von Dohnanyi
, Colonel Hans Oster
, and Johannes Popitz
, became involved in planning a putsch against the Nazi regime should the regime launch Fall Grün, the codename for the invasion of Czechoslovakia
. In June 1938, General Beck often consulted with Goerdeler over the question of whether or not he should resign as Chief of the General Staff as a way of stopping Fall Grün.
Vansittart introduced Goerdeler to one of his spies, the British industrialist A.P. Young, who was a close business partner to several German corporations, and as such often visited Germany. Because Young did frequent business with Bosch and because of Goerdeler's position there, the two could meet often without raising suspicion. Starting in August 1938, Goerdeler started to leak information to London, informing the British that Hitler intended to launch Fall Grün in September 1938. In August 1938, Goerdeler met with Young in the village of Rauschen Dune in East Prussia
. During his meeting with Young, Goerdeler asked that Young convey a message to the British government, to the effect that London should apply diplomatic and economic pressure on Germany to cease the persecution of the Jews. In order to have more frequent meetings with his British contacts, Goerdeler stayed in Switzerland in August–October 1938. Though those British politicians and civil servants who met with Goerdeler were impressed with his candor and earnestness, it was judged too risky by the Chamberlain government in 1938 to stake all upon the Goerdeler's projected putsch, especially given that the chances for success were uncertain at best, and the discovery of British backing for an unsuccessful putsch was likely to cause the war the Chamberlain government was seeking to avert in 1938. Moreover, as one British civil servant wrote on August 22, 1938:
wrote in his diary that Goerdeler was "imprudent", but at least "he wants to act rather than grumble", which was a marked difference to the generals who indicated that maybe they might act against the Nazi regime if Germany attacked Czechoslovakia, or maybe they won't.
In the tense atmosphere of September 1938, with the crisis in Central Europe
looking likely to explode into war at any moment, Goerdeler was waiting anxiously for the putsch to overthrow the Nazi regime, and his taking over the reins of the German state as the new Chancellor. During his planning for the coup, Goerdeler was in contact with Chinese intelligence, using General Alexander von Falkenhausen
as intermediary. Like most German conservatives, Goerdeler favoured Germany’s traditional informal alliance with China, and was strongly opposed to the volte-face
in Germany’s Far Eastern policies effected in early 1938 by the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
, who abandoned the alliance with China for an alignment with Japan. In a September 1938 meeting with Young, the latter reported that "X" (as Goerdeler was code-named by the British) had stated about the domestic situation in Germany: "the working classes are nervous, distrustful of the Leader. Their allegiance is doubtful." In another meeting on September 11, 1938, in Zurich, Young recorded Goerdeler as saying:
was turning German public opinion against the regime. The British historian Sir John Wheeler-Bennett
, who knew Goerdeler well, noted that Goerdeler failed to realize that Hitler was not bluffing with Fall Grün and had every intention of attacking Czechoslovakia on October 1, 1938, and that he regarded Munich
as a personal set-back.
In 1938, Goerdeler was deeply disappointed with the Munich Agreement
, which in his view, though it turned over the Sudetenland to Germany, was undesirable in that it removed what Goerdeler considered to be best chance of a putsch against the Nazi regime. After the Munich Agreement, Goerdeler wrote to one of his American friends:
, the British Ambassador to Germany went on sick leave, the acting heads of the Embassy in Berlin sent a series of reports to the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax
intended to effect a change in British policy towards Germany. Goerdeler emgered as one of the Embassy's leading informants.
In November 1938, Goerdeler met with Young in Switzerland
and asked if were possible for the British government to intercede on the behalf of 10,000 Polish Jews the Germans had expelled from Germany, and whom the Poles refused to accept. Goerdeler declared that the treatment of the Polish Jews, stranded on the German-Polish border, was "barbaric". In December 1938-January 1939, Goerdeler had a further series of meetings with Young in Switzerland, where he informed Young that the Kristallnacht
pogrom of November 1938 had been ordered by Hitler personally, and was not a "spontaneous" demonstration as the Nazis had claimed. Goerdeler recommended that Young inform London that as soon as "the new persecution of the Jews is started, it is absolutely essential to break diplomatic relations". Goerdeler also informed Young of his belief that Hitler was seeking world conquest, and that the Führer had "decided to destroy the Jews-Christianity-Capitalism". Speaking to Young about the economic situation in Germany, Goerdeler stated:
In December 1938, Goerdeler again visited Britain, where he alienated those British civil servants he met by his extreme German nationalist language, together with demands that the British support the return of Danzig, the Polish Corridor, and the former German colonies in Africa, plus making a huge loan to a post-Nazi government. Goerdeler asked Frank Ashton-Gwatkin of the Foreign Office to ensure that Britain gave a post-Nazi government an interest-free loan of £500 million in exchange for which Goerdeler would end protectionism, end the efforts to place the Balkans into the German sphere of influence, and support Britain in the Mediterranean against Italy and in the Far East against Japan. In addition, the fact that Goerdeler was exaggerating the extent of anti-Nazi feeling in Germany, and his inability to organize a putsch, were becoming increasing clear to the British. Sir Alexander Cadogan wrote about Goerdeler's offer "We are to deliver the goods and Germany gives I.O.Us". Chamberlain was more hostile, writing "These people must do their own job". In the same month, Goerdeler wrote his "World Peace Programme" calling an international conference of all the world's leading powers to consider disarmament, a "moral code" for relations between the states, and the stabilization of the various currencies. The end of Goerdeler's "World Peace Programme" read "Whoever abstains from co-operating wants war and is a breaker of the peace."
, and Erwin Planck
about how best to overthrow the Nazi regime. At the same time, Hitler grew increasingly annoyed with Goerdeler's memoranda urging him to exercise caution. Goerdeler, together with Dr. Schacht, General Beck, Hassell, and the economist Rudolf Brinkmann, were described by Hitler as "the overbred intellectual circles" who were trying to block him from fulfilling his mission by their appeals to caution, and but for the fact that he needed their skills "otherwise, perhaps we could someday exterminate them or do something of this kind to them". During the winter of 1938–1939, Goerdeler sent reports to the British stating that Hitler was pressuring Italy
into attacking France
, was planning to launch a surprise air offensive against Britain, intended to achieve a "knock-out blow" by razing British cities to the ground sometime in the second half of February 1939, and was considering an invasion of Switzerland
and the Low Countries
as a prelude to attacking France and Britain. Unknown to Goerdeler, he was transmitting false information provided by the Abwehr
chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris
and General Hans Oster
who was hoping that these reports might lead to a change in British foreign policy. In this, Canaris and Oster achieved their purpose as Goerdeler's misinformation resulted in first the "Dutch War Scare" which gripped the British government in late January 1939, which in turn led to the public declarations by the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
in February that any German attack upon France, Switzerland, and the Low Countries would be automatically considered the casus belli for an Anglo-German war, leading to the British "continental commitment" to defend France with a large ground force.
On March 16, 1939, Goerdeler suggested to Young that Britain call an international conference to discuss "legitimate" German demands for changes in the international order. Goerdeler claimed that Hitler would refuse to attend the conference and this would so discredit him as to bring about his downfall". Young passed on Goerdeler's conference idea to Cordell Hull
, who was so impressed with it that he offered to bring about the proposed conference to be chaired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
. This was the origin of Roosevelt's famous appeal to Hitler and Mussolini on April 15, 1939 that the two leaders publicly promise never to disturb the peace for the next ten years, in exchange for which Roosevelt promised a new economic international order.
In the second half of March 1939, Goerdeler together with Dr. Schacht and Hans Bernd Gisevius
visited Ouchy
, Switzerland
to meet with a senior French intelligence agent representing the Premier Édouard Daladier
Goerdeler told the Deuxième Bureau
agent that the strain of massive military spending had left the German economy on the verge of collapse, that Hitler was determined to use the Danzig issue as an excuse to invade Poland, which in itself was only a prelude for a German seizure of all of Eastern Europe
, that a forceful Anglo-French diplomatic stand could deter Hitler, and that if Hitler were deterred long enough, then the economic collapse of Germany would cause the downfall of his regime. In April 1939, during a secret meeting with the British diplomat Sir Gladwyn Jebb, Goerdeler stated that if the British continued with their "containment" policy adopted in March 1939, then they might see the "Hitler adventure...liquidated before the end of June [1939]." There is considerable debate as to the accuracy of this information, with some historians such as Richard Overy
arguing that Goerdeler and other German conservatives had exaggerated German economic problems to the British and the French. Overy charged that what Goerdeler wanted was a very firm Anglo-French stand in favour of Poland, hoping that if confronted with such a situation the German Army would overthrow Hitler rather than risk a world war, and as such Goerdeler exaggerated the economic problems of the Reich to encourage such a stand. The "X documents", and how to interpret them played a key role in the debate in the late 1980s between Overy and the Marxist Timothy Mason
about whatever the German attack on Poland was a "flight into war" forced on Hitler by an economic crisis. Other historians have contended that Goerdeler's information about German economic problems was correct, and have pointed to the fact that only massive Soviet economic support, combined with plundering occupied lands, saved the German economy from collapse in the winter of 1939–1940. Even with Soviet economic support (especially oil) and the exploitation of Poland
and the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia
, under the impact of the British blockade, there occurred a 75% decline in value and tonnage of German imports during the Phoney War.
On 6 May 1939 Goerdeler leaked information to the British Foreign Office stating that the German and Soviet governments were secretly beginning a rapprochement with the aim of dividing Eastern Europe between them. In May 1939, Goerdeler visited London
to repeat the same message to the British government. During his London trip, Goerdeler told the British that the state of the German economy was so deplorable that even if war occurred then it could only have the effect of accelerating the German economic collapse, and that Germany simply lacked the economic staying power for an extended war. During the same visit to London in May 1939, Goerdeler claimed that the German Army leadership was willing to overthrow the regime, that he himself favored launching a putsch immediately, but that "the leaders of the whole movement...still considered it too early". The German historian Klaus-Jürgen Müller commented that Goerdeler in making these claims was either lying to the British or else was seriously self-deluded. Goerdeler's assessment of the German diplomatic-military-economic situation had considerable influence on decision-makers in the British and French governments in 1939, who, based on Goerdeler's reports, believed that a firm Anglo-French diplomatic stand for Poland might bring about the fall of Hitler without a war, or failing that at least ensure that the Allies faced war on relatively auspicious economic terms.
Besides trying to influence opinion abroad, Goerdeler urged the German military to overthrow Hitler, and frequently found himself frustrated by the unwillingness of the generals to consider a putsch. In a memo written at the end of July 1939 during a visit to Turkey, Goerdeler took the view that Hitler was bluffing in his demands against Poland, and if he could be forced to stand down by a firm Anglo-French stand, that would be such a blow as to topple the Nazi regime. Later, as the summer of 1939 went on, Goerdeler changed his views about Hitler's intentions towards Poland. In August 1939, Goerdeler contacted General Walter von Brauchitsch, and advised him if Germany attacked Poland, the result would not be the limited war that Hitler expected, but rather a world war pitting Germany against Britain and France. Goerdeler advised Brauchitsch that the only way to save Germany from such a war would be a putsch to depose Hitler. Braunchitsch was not interested in Goerdeler's opinions, and told him that he shared Hitler's belief that Germany could destroy Poland without causing a world war in 1939. On August 25, 1939 on discovering that the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact had not led as intended to an Anglo-French abandonment of Poland, Hitler ordered the temporary postponement of Fall Weiß
, which had been due to begin the next day. Goerdeler was convinced that the postponement was a fatal blow to Hitler's prestige. On August 26, he went to a trip to Sweden
that he had been considering canceling because of the international situation. On August 27, 1939 Goerdeler told the British diplomat Gladwyn Jebb to continue to make a firm diplomatic stand for Poland as the best way of bringing down the Nazi regime. At the same time, Goerdeler's insistence on restoring Germany to 1914 borders and his intense German nationalism left many British diplomats to distrust Goerdeler as they regarded him as not much different from Hitler. At the beginning of September 1939, Goerdeler returned to Germany a dejected man. Goerdeler was most disappointed and unpleasantly surprised when Germany attacked Poland on September 1, which was followed up by Anglo-French declarations of war on September 3, which was followed up by the German Army doing nothing to overthrow Hitler. This marked the beginning of a recurring pattern where Goerdeler would invest great hopes in his beloved German Army rising up against Hitler, only to discover time after time that Army officers much preferred to fight for the Führer as opposed to fighting against him.
, General Ludwig Beck
, and Johannes Popitz
, in opposition to Adolf Hitler
. On 11 October 1939 speaking to Hassel of German war crimes in Poland, Goerdeler commented that both General Halder and Admiral Canaris were afflicted with nervous complaints as a result of "our brutal conduct of the war" in Poland. In October 1939, Goerdeler drafted peace terms that a post-Nazi government would seek with Great Britain
and France
. Under Goerdeler's terms, Germany would retain all the areas of Poland
that had been part of Germany prior to 1918, Austria
, and the Sudetenland
with independence being restored to Poland and Czechoslovakia with general disarmament, the restoration of global free trade
and the ending of protectionism
as the other major goals for the new regime. On 3 November 1939, Goerdeler paid another visit to Sweden, where he met with Marcus Wallenberg, Gustav Cassell, and Dr. Sven Hedin
. Hedin wrote in his diary that "he [Goerdeler] believed in Göring and thought that a speedy peace was the only thing to save Germany, but that peace was unthinkable so long as Hitler remained at the head of affairs". At the same time, Goerdeler was deeply involved in the planning of an abortive putsch intended to be launched on 5 November 1939, and as such was in very high spirits prior to that day. Hassell wrote in his diary that with worry that "He [Goerdeler] often reminds me of Kapp." (Wolfgang Kapp
, the nominal leader of the Kapp Putsch
was notorious for his irresponsibility) The proposed putsch became stillborn when Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch and General Franz Halder
, the leaders of the planned putsch got cold feet, and dropped their support. Brauchitsch and Halder had decided to overthrow Hitler after the latter had fixed "X-day" for the invasion of France for November 12, 1939; an invasion that both officers believed to be doomed to fail. During a meeting with Hitler on November 5, Brauchitsch had attempted to talk Hitler into putting off "X-day" by saying that morale in the German Army was worse than what it was in 1918, a statement that enraged Hitler who harshly berated Brauchitsch for incompetence. After that meeting, both Halder and Brauchitsch told Goerdeler that overthrowing Hitler was simply something that they could not do, and he should find other officers if he that was what he really wanted to do. Equally important, on November 7, 1939 following heavy snowstorms, Hitler put off "X-Day" until further notice, which removed the reason that had most motivated Brauchitsch and Halder to consider overthrowing Hitler. On November 23, 1939, Goerdeler met with Halder to ask him to re-consider his attitude. Halder gave Goerdeler the following reasons why he wanted nothing to do with any plot to overthrow Hitler:
Despite all of Goerdeler's best efforts, Halder would not change his mind.
In January–February 1940, Goerdeler together with Popitz, Beck and Hassell spent of their time working on the sort of constitutional, economic, social and educational system that a post-Nazi government would carry out. The basis of all their planning was the restoration of the monarchy. Goerdeler believed that the main reason why the Army would not overthrow Hitler was the lack of a postitive goal to inspire them with the hope of a better tomorrow, and if he and his colleagues could work out plans for a better future, then the Army leaders would change their minds. During their discussions for a post-Hitler future, it was agreed that various Nazi leaders like Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, provided that they were willing to break with Hitler could have a leading role in a post-Nazi government. The only Nazi leader besides Hitler whom Goerdeler and his circle were admanent could play no role in a post-Nazi government was the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
who Goerdeler personally hated as an obnoxious bully, and whose foreeign policy Goerdeler viewed as criminally inept. In early April 1940, Goerdeler met secretly with General Franz Halder
, the Chief of the General Staff, and asked him to consider a putsch while the Phoney War was still on, while the British and French were still open to a negotiated peace. Halder refused Goerdeler's request. Goerdeler told Halder that too many people had already died in the war, and this refusal to remove Hitler at this point would ensure that the blood of millions would be on his hands. Halder told Goerdeler that his oath to Hitler and his belief in Germany`s inevitable victory in the war preluded his acting against the Nazi regime. Halder told Goerdeler that "The military situation of Germany, particulary on account of the pact of non-aggression with Russia is such that a breach of my oath to the Führer could not possibly be justified" [Halder was referring to the Hitler oath
here], that only if Germany was faced with total defeat would he consider breaking his oath, and that Goerdeler was a fool to believe that World War II could be ended with a compromise peace. In June 1940, much to Goerdeler`s intense disappointment, following the German victory over France, the German Army lost all interest in anti-Nazi plots. Not until December 1941 following the first German defeats in the Soviet Union were Army officers again to show interest in becoming involved in Goerdeler`s anti-Nazi plots.
would occupy the throne of Germany after the overthrow of the Nazis. Goerdeler supported the claim of Prince Oskar of Prussia
. They developed a future constitution
for Germany and even a list of potential ministers. Popitz favored a return to the pre-1918 political system. But Goerdeler argued with his fellow conspirators in favor of a British-style constitutional monarchy with an Emperor who was "...not meant to govern, but to watch over the Constitution and to represent the State."
Goerdeler's proposed constitution called for a strong executive branch, a high degree of decentralisation, a Reichstag
partially elected on the British style-"First-past-the-post
" system instead of election by party lists, and partially elected by members of local councils, and a Reichsrat composed of representatives nominated by Christian Churches, trade unions, universities, and business groups. To assist with the drafting of the future constitution, Goerdeler enlisted the help, through his friend Dietrich Bonhoeffer
, of the so-called Freiburger Kreis (Freiburg Circle), an anti-Nazi discussion group of professors at Freiburg University founded in 1938 and which included Adolf Lampe, Erich Wolf, Walter Eucken
, Constantin von Dietze
, and Gerhard Ritter
. Had the July 20 Plot
succeeded, Goerdeler would have served as Chancellor in the new government that would have been formed after Hitler's assassination and the overthrow of the Nazi regime. In August 1941, Goerdeler was most disappointed with the Atlantic Charter
. He felt that the demands contained in Clause 8 calling the disarmament of Germany would make both the task of recruiting the German Army to overthrowing the regime more difficult, and were unacceptable since Goerdeler believed in maintaining a strong military. Starting in 1941, Goerdeler expanded his network of anti-Nazi contacts to include Social Democrats like Wilhelm Leuschner
and Hermann Maas.
In late 1941, under the impact of the news of the deportations of German Jews to the death camps in Eastern Europe, Goerdeler submitted a memo to the German government calling for all Jews who had been German citizens or were descended from Jews who been German citizens before 1871 to be classified as Germans, and those Jews who were descended from Jews who had not lived within the borders of Germany prior to 1871 to be considered citizens of Jewish state whose creation would occur later. In the memo entitled "The Goal", Goerdeler wrote that a Jewish state should be created somewhere in South America or Canada, to which almost the entire Jewish population of Europe would be deported to; only German-Jewish veterans of World War I or those German Jews descended from Jews who were German citizens in 1871 would be allowed to stay. Meanwhile, pending the deportation of the Jews to the Americas, Goerdeler called in "The Goal" for the Nuremberg Laws
to stay in force while demanding the repeal of the post-Kristallnacht anti-Semitic laws. Some controversy has been attracted by this memo. Goerdeler's critics are offended by his suggestion that German Jews whose ancestors had not lived within the borders of the German Empire before July 1, 1871 should not be considered German citizens, whereas Goerdeler's defenders such as the Canadian historian Peter Hoffmann have argued that Goerdeler was trying to present the Nazi regime with an alternative to genocide. The German historian Hans Mommsen
wrote that Goerdeler’s anti-Semitism was typical of the German right, where Jews were widely considered to be part of an alien body living in Germany. Mommsen went on to comment that given Goerdeler’s background in the fiercely anti-Semitic German National People’s Party, what is surprising was not his anti-Jewish prejudices, but rather that he was able to make any sort of moral objection to Nazi anti-Semitism. In January 1942, Goerdeler submitted another memo to the German government protesting at the deportation of Leipzig Jews. In April 1942, during another visit to Sweden, Goerdeler contracted the Wallenberg family, asking them to contract Winston Churchill
about the peace terms that the British would conclude with Germany once the Nazi regime was overthrown. In May 1942, Goerdeler was much saddened when his son Christian was killed in action while serving on the Eastern Front.
In November 1942, Goerdeler made a secret and illegal visit to Smolensk
using forged papers provided by Admiral Canaris to meet Field Marshal Günther von Kluge
and Henning von Tresckow
to gain their support for overthrowing Hitler. Both Kluge and Tresckow promised to arrest Hitler when he visited the Eastern front. Tresckow in particular was very favourably impressed with Goerdeler, whom he saw as a kindred spirit. Goerdeler returned to Berlin feeling assured about the future, and was most disappointed when he received a message from Kluge via General Beck stating he changed his mind about acting against the Nazi regime, and to include him out of any putsch. Kluge's change of mind about attempting to overthrow Hitler was related to the "gifts" he had received from Hitler in the fall of 1942. On October 30, 1942 Kluge was the beneficiary of an enormous bribe from Hitler who mailed a letter of good wishes together with a huge cheque totaling a half-million marks made out to him from the German treasury and a promise that whatever improving his estate might cost could be billed out to the German treasury. Hitler was unaware of Goerdeler's plotting, but had heard rumours that Kluge was unhappy with his leadership. After receiving receiving another "gift" of a half-million marks from Hitler later in November that was intended to buy his loyalty, it had the desired effect with Kluge's message to Goerdeler not to involve him in anti-Nazi plots.
In December 1942, the "Freiburg Circle" who were continuing their work with helping Goerdeler develop a constitution submitted the "Great Memorandum" to Goerdeler for the proposed post-Nazi German government, which also included "Proposals for a Solution of the Jewish Question in Germany". The "Proposals" rejected Nazi racial theories, but stated that the overthrow of the Nazis, German Jews would not have their German citizenship restored, would be restricted to living in ghettos and allowed only minimal contact with German Christians, and called for continuing the Nazi ban on marriage and sex between Jews and German Christians. The Israeli historian Saul Friedländer
used the "Proposals" to argue that Goerdeler was an anti-Semitic, and his differences with the Nazis on the "Jewish Question" were ones of degree, not kind.
After the Battle of Stalingrad
, the pace of Goerdeler's conspiratorial activities gathered speed. Between November 1942-November 1943, Goerdeler was in regular contact with his friends, the Wallenberg family of Sweden whom he used as middle-men in his efforts to make contact with the British and American governments. On January 22, 1943 at the home of Peter Yorck von Wartenburg
Goerdeler met with the Kreisau Circle
, during which he argued and debated forcefully about the social and economic policies to be pursued by a post-Nazi government. Only with some difficulty were Ulrich von Hassell
and Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg
able to patch up a measure of agreement between the Kreisau Circle and Goerdeler. Those present at the meeting of January 22 were Goerdeler, Hassell, General Beck, Johannes Popitz
and Jens Jessens for the conservative fraction and von der Schulenburg, Yorck von Wartenburg, Eugen Gerstenmaier
, Adam von Trott zu Solz
and Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
for the left-learning Kreisau Circle. In March 1943, Goerdeler wrote a letter addressed to several German Army
officers appealing to them to overthrow the Nazis and demanding that just one line should divide Germans "...that between decent and non-decent.". Goerdeler went on to write: "How is it possible that so basically decent a people as the Germans can put up for so long with such an intolerable system? Only because all offences against law and decency are carried out under the protection of secrecy and under the pressures of terror" Goerdeler argued that if only a situation was created "in which, if only for twenty-four hours, it is possible for the truth to be spoken again", then the Nazi regime would collapse like a house of cards. In May 1943, Goerdeler submitted a memo to the Wallenbergs, which he asked them to pass on to the Anglo-Americans outlining his thoughts on the German-Polish border. In the same memo, Goerdeler called for a "European community" comprising a German-dominated confederation, which in turn was to be sub-divided into an Eastern European confederation consisting of Poland
, Lithuania
, Latvia
and Estonia
, a confederation of the Scandinavian states, a South European confederation, and a Balkan confederation. The ``European confederation`` was to be one economic unit with one military ruled over by a Council consisting of two representatives from every state, who would elect a European President for a four year term. Helping the Council and the President was to be a Federal Assembly to which each of the various confederations would send five to ten members based on their populations. Finally, the European confederation was to serve as the nucleus of a "World Confederation of Nations" that would banish war everywhere, and promote peace and prosperity.
During the spring of 1943, Goerdeler grew increasing impatient with the military end of the conspiracy, complaining that those officers involved in the plot were better at finding excuses for inaction than reasons for action. In a letter to General Friedrich Olbricht
of May 17, 1943, Goerdeler wrote:
After a visit to western Germany where Goerdeler was horrified by the damage caused by Anglo-American bombing, in July 1943 Goerderler wrote a letter to Field Marshal Günther von Kluge
that read as:
In August 1943, Goerdeler and his friend, the Oberbürgermeister of Stuttgart, SA-Brigadeführer Karl Strölin sent a joint memo to the Reich Interior Minister, the Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler
complaining about the anti-Semitic and anti-Christian policies of the Nazi regime, asking for the end of the "emergency" laws that had suspended civil rights in Germancy since 1933, and called for the end of the NSDAP influence on the judiciary. Predictably enough, the memo drew the attention of the Gestapo
, who visited both men at their homes to deliver a "final warning" telling them if they continued with "trouble-making", they would be sent to a concentration camp. In September 1943, Goerdeler appealed to his friend Jacob Wallenberg to ask that the British suspend bombing attacks against Berlin
, Stuttgart
and Leipzig
until the middle of October because "the oppositional movement has its centres there and the interruption of communications would make the putsch more difficult" In a memo Goerdeler sent to the British and American governments in the fall of 1943, he called for a negotiated peace between the Allies and Germany once the Nazis were overthrown. In the same memo, Goerdeler called for the "1914 frontier" to serve as the basis of Germany's borders both in Western and Eastern Europe, called for Austria
and the Sudetenland
remaining part of the Reich, and for the annexation of the south Tyrol
region of Italy
. In the discussions within the German Opposition between the "Easterners" who favored reaching an understanding with the Soviet Union
after the overthrow of Hitler and the "Westerners" who favored reaching an understanding with Britain and the United States, Goerdeler belonged to the "Westerners", considering Communism
to be no different than National Socialism, and regarding the "Easterners" as being dangerously naive about the Soviets.
In the fall of 1943, Goerdeler first met Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg. The two men took an immediate dislike to each other. Goerdeler wrote that Stauffenberg “revealed himself as a cranky, obstinate fellow who wanted to play politics. I had many a row with him, but greatly esteemed him. He wanted to steer a dubious political course with the left-leaning Socialists and Communists, and gave me a bad time with his overwhelming egoism”. Goerdeler who had an been the unofficial leader of the German opposition since 1938, resented the efforts of Stauffenberg, who he regarded as a dangerous “romantic socialist”, to take over the conspiracy. Stauffenberg for his part, saw Goerdeler as the leader of “the revolution of the greybeards” . Stauffenberg saw Goerdeler as an out-of-touch reactionary, a man living in the past, whose plans to restore the monarchy were simply not relevant to the modern world. Moreover, Stauffenberg was an "Easterner" who favored making contacts with the underground KPD
, and wished for a post-Nazi Germany to ally herself with the Soviet Union; Goerdeler by contrast was a "Westener", and thus a resolute anti-Communist and wanted a post-Nazi Germany to align herself with the Western powers.
Unlike the Kreisau Circle
, Goerdeler was a strong champion of laissez-faire
capitalism
, and was very much opposed to what he saw as the socialism
of the Kreisau Circle. In Goerdeler's vision, this economic system was to serve as the basis of the "democracy of the Ten Commandments
." However, Goerdeler was heavily criticised by other members of the German resistance (for example by some members the Kreisau Circle) for objecting to killing Hitler (whom Goerdeler wanted to see tried; Goerdeler had no objection to Hitler being executed after his conviction), for his sympathy for reintroducing monarchy
, and for his extremely anti-communist ideology. In late February 1944, Goerdeler sent Strölin to meet Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
to see if he would like to join the anti-Nazi conspiracy, and was delighted when Strölin gave him a positive report about Rommel's attitude towards the conspiracy. Goerdeler decided that Rommel would be the ideal person to play a leading role in a post-Hitler government and asked Strölin to find out if Rommel would be willing to play that role. As Rommel was fully engaged in preparations to resist the expected Allied landing in France all through the spring of 1944, it proved difficult for Strölin to make contact again. After meeting Goerdeler in March 1944, Strölin described him in a high-strung state, constantly afraid that he could be arrested at any moment, and anxious to recruit Rommel while attempting to juggle Rommel's demand that he be Army Commander-in-Chief with his prior promise that position would go to Erwin von Witzleben
if Hitler were overthrown. Not until May could a meeting be arranged to sort out where Rommel stood in regards to the conspiracy. On May 27, 1944, Goerdeler attended a secret meeting with Strölin, the former Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath
and General Hans Speidel
(who was representing Rommel) at Speidel's apartment in Freudenstadt. At the meeting, Speidel speaking on behalf of Rommel made clear that his chief wanted nothing to do with any attempt to assassinate Hitler, but was prepared to serve in a government headed by Goerdeler. Later in 1944, Goerdeler told Kunrath von Hammerstein that "In those days your father stood at the helm of world history", by which Goerdeler meant that if General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
had carried out a putsch in 1933, then the present state of world troubles in 1944 might have been avoided.
. Some historians such as Christof Dipper and Martin Broszat
have argued that Goerdeler agreed with the antisemitic policy of the regime until 1938, though afterwards he did resist the Holocaust and other forms of mass murder. The German historian Christof Dipper in his 1983 essay "Der Deutsche Widerstand und die Juden" (translated into English as "The German Resistance and the Jews") argued that the majority of the anti-Nazi national-conservatives such as Goerdeler were anti-Semitic. Dipper wrote that for Gordeler and his social circle "the bureaucratic, pseudo-legal deprivation of the Jews practised until 1938 was still considered acceptable" Through Dipper noted no-one in the Widerstand movement supported the Holocaust
, he also claimed that the national-conservatives like Goerdeler did not intend to restore civil rights to the Jews after the overthrow of Hitler. By contrast, the Canadian historian Peter Hoffmann in his 2004 essay "The German Resistance and the Holocaust" has contended that Goerdeler was opposed to anti-Semitism in all forms, and that this opposition played a major role in motivating his efforts to overthrow the Nazi regime. Most recently in his 2011 book Carl Goerdeler and the Jewish Question, 1933-1942 Hoffmann has sought to defend Goerdeler against the charge that he was an anti-Semite. The Israeli historian Danny Orbach in his 2010 book Valkyrie: Hahitnagdut Hagermanit Lehitler (Valkyrie: Germans Against Hitler) defended Goerdeler against the charge that he was an anti-Semite by noting Goerdeler's strong support for Zionism
and his work with Chaim Weizmann
in encouraging German Jews to move to the British Mandate for Palestine.. In a recent article, Orbach also argued that Dipper's accusations of anti-Semitism are based on a misreading, if not distortion, of Goerdeler's memoranda, thus ignoring Goerdeler's plan to restore emancipation to the German Jews and securing a national homeland for their Polish brethren . The Israeli historian Tom Segev
has dismissed Orbach's claims that Goerdeler was a philo-Semitic, stating that Goerdeler was an anti-Semitic who supported Zionism only because he disliked the idea of German Jews living in Germany, and much preferred if they all move to Palestine.
commented Goerdeler's plans to talk Hitler into resigning reflected a certain lack of realism on his part. In June 1944, Goerdeler finished off his final Cabinet list. Had the putsch of 20 July 1944 succeeded, the Cabinet that would have taken power included the following:
The position of Minister of Foreign Affairs would have gone to either Ulrich von Hassell
(former ambassador to Italy) or Count Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg
(former ambassador to the Soviet Union) depending upon whether the Western powers or the Soviet Union signed an armistice with the new German government first. In the radio address Goerdeler planned to deliver once the putsch had triumphed included the statement "The persecution of the Jews, which has been carried out in the most inhuman, deeply shaming and quite irreparable ways, is to cease".
On 16 July 1944 Goerdeler saw his wife and children for the last time in Leipzig, and then departed for Berlin to prepare for the putsch planned for later that month. In the days preceding the putsch attempt of 20 July 1944, Goerdeler stayed at the home of General Beck in the Berlin suburb of Lichterfelde. Unlike Beck, Goerdeler was very confident of the success of the planned putsch, and in a most optimistic mood. On 17 July 1944, a warrant for Goerdeler's arrest was issued, causing him to go into hiding. Goerdeler spent the day of the putsch hiding out at the estate of his friend, Baron Palombrini, in an anxious and agiated state, listining obsessively to the radio for news of success. Following the failure of 20 July putsch, the Gestapo searched the room in which Goerdeler had been hiding at in the Anhalter Bahnhof hotel, in which they discovered a vast collection of documents relating to the putsch such as the text of Goerdeler's planned radio address to the German people as Chancellor. Much to Goerdeler's deep disappointment, it was Army troops led by Major Otto Ernst Remer
rather than the SS which crushed the putsch of July 20, marking the final time Goerdeler's hopes in the Army were to be dashed.
Goerdeler managed to escape from Berlin, but he was apprehended on 12 August 1944 after being denounced by an innkeeper in Marienwerder (modern Kwidzyn
, Poland) while visiting the grave of his parents. After his arrest, eight members of Goerdeler's family were sent to the concentration camps under the Sippenhaft
law. His brother Fritz
was also sentenced to death and executed on 1 March 1945. Under Gestapo interrogation and torture, Goerdeler claimed that the Holocaust
was the major reason for his seeking to overthrow the Nazi regime. On 9 September, after a trial at the People's Court, he was sentenced to death. Goerdeler was not physically tortured by the Gestapo
, and freely co-operated with the Gestapo in naming names, which made him the object of a considerable hatred from the other prisoners, who saw him as a spineless rat. Goerdeler's friend, the historian Gerhard Ritter
who shared the same prison with him reported that Goerdeler was never tortured, but was instead subjected to "the overheating of cells, painfully tight shackling especially at night, bright light shining on one's face while one tried to sleep, completely insufficient food". One prisoner recalled that Goerdeler was often "groaning aloud from hunger". Goerdeler's hope in confessing all was to overload the Gestapo with information, and thereby buy time to save his life and the others imprisoned; in the process, he caused hundreds involved in the plot to be arrested. During his time in prison, Goerdeler was asked by the SS to assist with writing the constitution of a future SS-ruled Germany. Goerdeler agreed, and often met with Otto Ohlendorf
and Dr. Mäding of the SD to provide his advice. Whatever Goerdeler was sincere in wishing to help the SS, or just tying to buy time to save his life remains unclear. During his time in prison, Goerdeler, who had always been a highly devout Lutheran when confronted with the loneliness of imprisonment and the utter defeat of his cause became increasingly preoccupied with spiritual matters. Goerdeler was overwhelmed with despair over what he considered to be the triumph of evil and the destruction of all that he loved. Goerdeler's friend, the historian Gerhard Ritter
saw Goerdeler in prison in January 1945 and reported:
While Goerdeler was on death row, he wrote a letter which called the Holocaust
the very worst of Nazi crimes. But at the same time, Goerdeler remained anti-Semitic. In his "Thoughts of a Man condemned to Death" written towards the end of 1944 in prison, Goerdeler wrote:
in Berlin
. While awaiting his death sentence, Goerdeler wrote a farewell letter, which ended with "I ask the world to accept our martyrdom as penance for the German people."
.
English actor Kevin McNally
portrays Goerdeler in the 2008 Bryan Singer
thriller Valkyrie
.
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Had the 20 July plot of 1944 succeeded, Goerdeler would have served as the Chancellor
Chancellor of Germany
The Chancellor of Germany is, under the German 1949 constitution, the head of government of Germany...
of the new government.
Early life and career
Goerdeler was born to a family of PrussianKingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
civil servants in Schneidemühl, Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
(now Piła, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) in the Prussian Province of Posen
Province of Posen
The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....
. Goerdeler's parents were supporters of the Free Conservative Party
Free Conservative Party
The Free Conservative Party was a right-wing political party in Prussia and the German Empire, which emerged from the Conservatives in the Prussian Landtag in 1866...
, and Goerdeler's father served in the Prussian Landtag as a member of that party after 1899. Goerdeler's upbringing was described by his biographer and friend Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter was a conservative German historian.-Before the Third Reich:...
as a part of a large, loving middle-class family that was cultured, devoutly Lutheran, nationalist, and conservative. Goerdeler studied economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Tübingen between 1902 and 1905. Starting in 1911, Goerdeler worked as a civil servant for the municipal government of Solingen
Solingen
Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
. That same year, Goerdeler married Anneliese Ulrich, by whom he had five children. Goerdeler was described as:
"Goerdeler's own career had been both impressive and idiosyncratic. He came of conservative Prussian stock with a strong sense of duty and service to the State; his father had been a district judge. His upbringing had been happy, but sternly intellectual and moral; his legal training had pointed to a career in local administration and economics...He was a born organiser, an able, voluble speaker and writer, tough and highly individual; in politics he became a right-wing liberal. Although at heart a very humane man, Goerderler's frigid, spartan belief in hard work and his austere, puritanical morality-he would not tolerate a divorced man or woman in his house-lacked warmth and comradeship. He was, in fact, an autocrat by nature and his commanding personality, combinded with his utter belief in the rightness of his point of view, enabled him to persuade weak or uncertain men over-easily to accept his own particular point of view while he was with them"
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Goerdeler served as a junior officer on the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
, rising to the rank of Captain. From February 1918, Captain Goerdeler worked as part of the German military government in Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
. After the end of war in November 1918, Goerdeler served on the headquarters of the XVII Army Corps based in Danzig (now Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
, Poland). In June, 1919, Goerdeler submitted a memorandum to his superior, General Otto von Below
Otto von Below
Otto von Below was a Prussian general. He was born at and died at Danzig .Before World War I, Otto von Below became major-general in 1909 and lieutenant-general in 1912. On August 1, 1914 he took command of the I. Reserve Corps, which on the outbreak of the war was to be assigned to the Eight Army...
, calling for the destruction of Poland
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
as the only way of preventing territorial losses on Germany's eastern borders. After his discharge from the German Army, Goerdeler joined the ultra-conservative German National People's Party
German National People's Party
The German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...
(DNVP). Like most of the political class of Germany at that time, Goerdeler strongly rejected the Versailles Treaty, which stipulated that Germany cede territories to the restored Polish state. In 1919, before the exact boundaries of the Polish-German border were determined, he suggested restoring West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
to Germany. Despite his strongly held hostile feelings towards Poland, Goerdeler played a key role in breaking a strike by the Danzig dockers, who wished to shut down the Polish economy by closing Poland's principal port during the Polish–Soviet War of 1920 on the grounds that however undesirable Poland was as a neighbour, Soviet Russia
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
would be even worse.
In 1922, Goerdeler was elected as the mayor (Bürgermeister) of Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
(now Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
before being elected mayor of Leipzig on May 22, 1930. During the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, Goerdeler was widely considered to be a hard-working and outstanding municipal politician. On December 8, 1931, Chancellor Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Brüning was Chancellor of Germany from 1930 to 1932, during the Weimar Republic. He was the longest serving Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, and remains a controversial figure in German politics....
, a personal friend of Goerdeler, appointed him as Reich Price Commissioner, and entrusted him with the task of overseeing his deflationary policies. The sternness with which Goerdeler administered his task as Price Commissioner made him a well known figure in Germany. In the early 1930s, Goerdeler was a leading advocate of the viewpoint that the Weimar Republic had failed as proven by the Great Depression, and what was needed was a right-wing revolution to replace democracy.
After the downfall of the Brüning government in 1932, Goerdeler was considered to be a potential Chancellor and was sounded out by General Kurt von Schleicher
Kurt von Schleicher
Kurt von Schleicher was a German general and the last Chancellor of Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic. Seventeen months after his resignation, he was assassinated by order of his successor, Adolf Hitler, in the Night of the Long Knives....
, who ultimately chose Franz von Papen
Franz von Papen
Lieutenant-Colonel Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen zu Köningen was a German nobleman, Roman Catholic monarchist politician, General Staff officer, and diplomat, who served as Chancellor of Germany in 1932 and as Vice-Chancellor under Adolf Hitler in 1933–1934...
instead. Following the fall of his government on May 30, 1932, Brüning himself recommended to President Paul von Hindenburg
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....
that Goerdeler succeed him. Hindenburg vetoed Goerdeler because of his membership in the German National People's Party
German National People's Party
The German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...
(DNVP). Starting in 1928, under the leadership of Alfred Hugenberg
Alfred Hugenberg
Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Hugenberg was an influential German businessman and politician. Hugenberg, a leading figure within nationalist politics in Germany for the first few decades of the twentieth century, became the country's leading media proprietor within the inter-war period...
, the DNVP had waged a vituperative campaign against Hindenburg, claiming that he was one of the "November Criminals" who were alleged to have "stabbed Germany in the back" in 1918, which led Hindenburg to loathe and hate the DNVP. As a result, by 1932, no member of the DNVP was acceptable to Hindenburg as Chancellor. Later in 1932, Goerdeler was offered a position in Papen's cabinet, which he refused.
Role in the Nazi government
In the early 1930s, Goerdeler considered Hitler an "enlightened dictator", who, provided he received the proper advice, would be a force for good. After 1933, Goerdeler was one of very few politicians willing to oppose the ruling Nazis. On April 1, 1933, the day of the national boycottNazi boycott of Jewish businesses
The Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses in Germany took place on 1 April 1933, soon after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor on 30 January 1933...
declared against all Jewish businesses in the Reich, Goerdeler appeared in full uniform of the Oberbürgermeister of Leipzig to order the SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
to cease and desist in their efforts to enforce the boycott, and ordered the Leipzig police to free several Jews taken hostage by the SA. Several times, he attempted to help Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
Jewish businessmen threatened with the "Aryanization
Aryanization
Aryanization is a term coined during Nazism referring to the forced expulsion of so-called "non-Aryans", mainly Jews, from business life in Nazi Germany and the territories it controlled....
" economic policies of the Nazi regime. A few days after the boycott, Goerdeler found himself as mayor of Leipzig enforcing the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service , also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-establish the Civil Service, was a law passed by the National Socialist regime on April 7, 1933, two months after Adolf...
, which unlike the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
of 1935 did not give him cause for complaint.
As part of his efforts to influence the Nazi regime, Goerdeler had sent Hitler long memoranda containing his advice on economic policy, and in the second half of 1935, wrote up a new draft law on the powers and responsibilities of municipal governments. Despite his early sympathy for the regime and considerable pressure from the National Socialists, Goerdeler always refused to join the NSDAP. By the mid-1930s, Goerdeler grew increasingly disillusioned with the Nazis as it become more and more apparent that Hitler had no interest in reading any of Goerdeler's memoranda, but instead was carrying out economic and financial polices that Goerdeler regarded as highly irresponsible. In addition, the fact that the Nazis in the Leipzig municipal government massively increased the debts owed the city was a major source of worry for Goerdeler.
In 1933, a Reich law forbade doctors who were members of the KPD
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
or who were "non-Aryans" from participating in public health insurance, exempting only those who were World War I veterans, or children or parents of veterans. A second decree of 1934 banned all physicians from participating in public health insurance who had one or more Jewish grandparents regardless of their religion, or if they were married to a "non-Aryan". However, these laws did not affect those physicians who received their approbation under the Weimar Republic. On April 9, 1935, the Deputy Mayor of Leipzig, the National Socialist Rudolf Haake, in defiance of the existing laws, banned all Jewish doctors from participating in public health insurance, and advised all municipal employees not to consult Jewish doctors. In response, the Landesverband Mitteldeutschland des Centralvereins deutscher Staatsbürger jüdischen Glaubens e. V (Saxon Association of the Central Association of German Citizens of Jewish Faith) complained to Goerdeler about Haake's actions, and asked him to enforce the existing anti-Semitic laws, which at least allowed some Jewish doctors to practice. On April 11, 1935, Goerdeler ordered the end of Haake's boycott, and provided a list of "non-Aryan" physicians permitted to operate under the existing laws, and those who were excluded. Critics of Goerdeler such as the American political scientist Daniel Goldhagen
Daniel Goldhagen
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is an American author and former Associate Professor of Political Science and Social Studies at Harvard University. Goldhagen reached international attention and broad criticism as the author of two controversial books about the Holocaust, Hitler's Willing Executioners and...
have asserted that, because Goerdeler published a list of "non-Aryan" physicians to be excluded from practicing under public insurance, Goerdeler was an anti-Semite; by contrast, Goerdeler's defenders like the Canadian historian Peter Hoffmann have argued that Goerdeler's insistence on enforcing the laws served to protect those Jewish physicians entitled to practice.
In November 1934, Goerdeler was again appointed Reich Price Commissioner, and ordered to combat inflation caused by rearmament. Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
reports from the 1934 record that the German public greeted the news of Goerdeler's reappointment as Price Commissioner as a positive development. The appointment of Goerdeler was Hitler's response to the increasing problem of inflation. Despite the great fanfare which greeted Goerdeler's appointment, he was given little real power. In 1934, Goerdeler was strongly opposed to the idea of devaluing the Reichmark
German reichsmark
The Reichsmark was the currency in Germany from 1924 until June 20, 1948. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig.-History:...
, and had supported Hitler and Dr. Schacht against the advocates of devaluation. During his second term as Price Commissioner in 1934–1935, Goerdeler often came into conflict with the Economics Minister and Reichsbank president Dr. Hjalmar Schacht
Hjalmar Schacht
Dr. Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht was a German economist, banker, liberal politician, and co-founder of the German Democratic Party. He served as the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank under the Weimar Republic...
over his inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
ary policies. In Goerdeler's opinion, these posed a grave danger to the German economy, and finally prompted his resignation in 1935 as Price Commissioner. As Price Commissioner, Goerdeler became increasingly troubled by Nazi economic policies, as well as being disgusted by rampant corruption within the Nazi Party. In September 1935, as Mayor of Leipzig, Goerdeler found himself enforcing the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
, laws that he found deeply distasteful.
In October 1935, Goerdeler sent Hitler a memorandum in which he urged that the priorities for the use of German foreign exchange should be shifted from buying raw materials that Germany lacked for rearmament, and instead be used to buy food that Germany was short of like fats. In his report, Goerdeler wrote that the foremost goal of German economic policy should be: "the satisfactory provisioning of the population with fats, even in relation to armaments, as having political priority". In the same report, Goerdeler argued that the root of German economic problems was rearmament, and advocated as the solution reducing military spending, increasing German exports, and returning to a free market economy. Goerdeler warned that to continue the present course of increasing statism
Statism
Statism is a term usually describing a political philosophy, whether of the right or the left, that emphasises the role of the state in politics or supports the use of the state to achieve economic, military or social goals...
in the economy and the current levels of high military spending would result in the total collapse of the economy with an extremely drastic drop in living standards. After Hitler ignored Goerdeler's report, Goerdeler asked Hitler to dissolve the Reich Commisariat for Price Surveillance since there was nothing for that office to do. In the spring of 1936, Goerdeler came into increasing conflict with Haake over the question of demolition of a monument to the German-Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
.
In the summer of 1936, Goerdeler was heavily involved in trying to influence the decision-making regarding the great economic crisis which gripped Germany that year. Despite his earlier differences with Dr. Schacht, Goerdeler together with Schacht headed the "free-market" faction in the German government who during the economic crisis of 1936 urged Hitler to reduce military spending, turn away from autarkic and protectionist policies, and reduce statism
Statism
Statism is a term usually describing a political philosophy, whether of the right or the left, that emphasises the role of the state in politics or supports the use of the state to achieve economic, military or social goals...
in the economy. Supporting the "free-market" faction were some of Germany's leading business executives, most notably Hermann Duecher of AEG
AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau....
, Robert Bosch
Robert Bosch
Robert Bosch was a German industrialist, engineer and inventor, founder of Robert Bosch GmbH.-Biography:...
of Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
, and Albert Voegeler of Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG
The Vereinigte Stahlwerke AG was a German industrial conglomerate producing coal, iron, and steel in the interbellum and during World War II....
. Goerdeler and Schacht were opposed by another faction centered around Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
calling for the opposite. Despite his disagreements with Göring over the best economic course to follow, on August 6, 1936, Göring commissioned a report from Goerdeler as a leading economic expert about whether Germany should devalue the Reichmark or not. Goerdeler began his report by rejecting the policies of Dr. Schacht's New Plan of 1934 as untenable. Making a U-turn from his stance of 1934, Goerdeler now embraced devaluation of the Reichmark as the best solution to the economic crisis. Goerdeler argued that the tolerance of other Western nations, especially the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for German state's subsiding the dumping
Dumping (pricing policy)
In economics, "dumping" is any kind of predatory pricing, especially in the context of international trade. It occurs when manufacturers export a product to another country at a price either below the price charged in its home market, or in quantities that cannot be explained through normal market...
of exports was wearing thin, and would soon result in harsh new tariffs being applied against German goods. Goerdeler argued that the only way of the economic crisis which gripped the German economy in 1936 was the devaluation
Devaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
of the Reichmark, and abandoning all of the restrictions governing foreign exchange in Germany. Goerdeler argued that for devaluation of the Reichmark to be successful would require co-ordination with other nations, especially the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, who otherwise might be tempted to engage in competitive devaluations of the dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
, the pound
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
and the franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
respectively. To secure their co-operation, Goerdeler argued for rapprochement with the Western powers. In his memorandum for Göring, Goerdeler wrote of the "grandiose possibility" that a German reengagement with the world economy, and the end of protectionism and autarchism would lead to a new age of economic co-operation among the world's largest economies. To this end, Goerdeler argued in exchange for Anglo-French-American economic co-operation and support, Germany should at a minimum cease its unilateral economic policies, and sharply cut military spending. In addition, Goerdeler felt that the price of Western economic support would a moderation of the Nazi regime's policies in regards to the "Jewish question, freemasonry question, question of the rule of law, Church question". Goerdeler wrote that "I can well imagine that we will have to bring certain issues...into a greater degree of alignment with the imponderable attitudes of other peoples, not in substance, but in the manner of dealing with them".
The British historian Adam Tooze
Adam Tooze
Adam Tooze is a British historian and was Reader in Modern European Economic History at the University of Cambridge. In 2002, he was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize for Modern History. As of Summer 2010, he is a professor of history at Yale University.He is currently best known for his economic...
has argued that Goerdeler was following his own agenda in seeking to moderate the regime's domestic policies in his memorandum, and that it is highly unlikely that outside powers would have required the concessions on anti-Semitic and other domestic policies that Goerdeler advocated as the price of Western economic support (through Tooze does feel that Goerdeler was correct in arguing that the West would have made cutbacks in military spending a precondition of economic support). Goerdeler argued his policies of economic liberalization and devaluation would in the short run cause 2 million-2.5 million unemployed in Germany, but argued that in the long-run, the increase in exports would make the German economy stronger. In public, Göring called Goerdeler's memorandum "completely unusable." Göring's copy of Goerdeler's memorandum is covered with handwritten personal comments by Göring on the side such as "What cheek!", "Nonsense!", and "Oho!" When Göring forwarded a copy of Goerdeler's memorandum to Hitler, his covering letter stated:
"This may be quite important, my Führer, for your memorandum, since it reveals the complete confusion and incomprehension of our bourgeois businessmen, Limitation of armaments, defeatism, incomprehension of the foreign policy situation alternate. His [Goerdeler's] recommendations are adequate for a mayor, but not for the state leadership."Goerdeler's advice was rejected by Hitler in his "Four-Year Plan Memorandum" of August 1936, and instead in the fall of 1936, the Nazi regime launched the Four Year Plan
Four year plan
The Four Year Plan was a series of economic reforms created by the Nazi Party. The main aim of the four year plan was to prepare Germany for war in four years...
as the way out of the 1936 economic crisis. Hitler himself found Goerdeler's report objectionable, and Hitler's "Four-Year Plan Memorandum" may have been written in part as a reply to Goerdeler's memorandum (Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter was a conservative German historian.-Before the Third Reich:...
favored this theory whereas Gerhard Weinberg
Gerhard Weinberg
Gerhard Ludwig Weinberg is a German-born American diplomatic and military historian noted for his studies in the history of World War II. Weinberg currently is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been a member of the...
rejects it) On September 4, 1936 speaking before the German Cabinet, Göring cited Goerdeler's memorandum as an example of flawed economic thinking, and announced that Germany would pursue heavy military spending, protectionism, and autarky regardless of the economic consequences.
In the fall of 1936, Goerdeler's on-going dispute with Haake over the Mendelssohn statue came to a head. After much argument, Goerdeler agreeded to have the statue moved from its location in front of the Gewandhaus concert hall to a less high profile position. In the autumn of 1936, Goerdeler left for a trip to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
promoted by the German Chamber of Commerce. Before leaving, Goerdeler met with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
and the Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
, and received their promise that nothing would happen to the statue during his trip. During his trip, the statue was demolished on Haake's orders. Upon his return, Haake stated that the matter of the statue was "only the outward occasion of the conflict" and declared that "Dr. Goerdeler's attitude in the Jewish Question had been revealed particularly clearly in the matter of the Mendelssohn-Bartholdy statue". Goerdeler tried to have the statue rebuilt. After failing that, he declined to accept his reelection as mayor of Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and resigned from office on March 31, 1937.
Opposition to the Nazi regime
After his resignation as Oberbürgermeister of Leipzig, Goerdeler was offered the position of heading the finance department at the firm of KruppKrupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
AG, which was at the time Germany's largest corporation. However, Hitler forbade Goerdeler to take up this appointment, and ordered Krupp to withdraw the offer. Goerdeler instead became the director of the overseas sales department at the firm of Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
. Shortly after his resignation, Goerdeler became involved in anti-Nazi plots. Bosch, who was a friend of Goerdeler's, agreed to turn a blind eye to his anti-Nazi work. As a conservative and self-proclaimed follower of the Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
ian tradition, Goerdeler was opposed to what he considered the extreme radicalism of the Nazis, and was fearful of what the results of Hitler's foreign policy might be. Starting in 1936, Goerdeler worked to build an opposition fraction out of his circle, comprising mostly civil servants and businessmen. Despite his anti-Nazi plotting, Goerdeler continued to submit memoranda to Hitler and the other Nazi leaders out of the hope that he might somehow convince them to change course. The case of Goerdeler has been used by the historian Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen is a left-wing German historian. He is the twin brother of the late Wolfgang Mommsen.-Biography:He was born in Marburg, the son of the historian Wilhelm Mommsen and great-grandson of the Roman historian Theodor Mommsen. He studied German, history and philosophy at the University of...
to support his view of “resistance as a process”, with Goerdeler going from an ally of the regime to increasing disillusionment by Nazi economic policies in the mid-1930s, and finally becoming committed to the regime’s overthrow by 1937. By early 1938, Goerdeler was convinced that "something must be done" about the Nazi regime.
Using the "cover" of his job as chief of overseas sales at Bosch, between 1937–1938, Goerdeler often travelled abroad, mostly to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, to warn anyone who would listen about what he considered to be the aggressive and dangerous foreign policy of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Though opposed to what he considered to be a reckless foreign policy, Goerdeler often demanded in his meetings with his foreign friends that the Great Powers back the cession of the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
, the Polish Corridor
Polish Corridor
The Polish Corridor , also known as Danzig Corridor, Corridor to the Sea or Gdańsk Corridor, was a territory located in the region of Pomerelia , which provided the Second Republic of Poland with access to the Baltic Sea, thus dividing the bulk of Germany from the province of East...
, the Memelland
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
(modern Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
), and the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
, together with the return of the former German colonies
German colonial empire
The German colonial empire was an overseas domain formed in the late 19th century as part of the German Empire. Short-lived colonial efforts by individual German states had occurred in preceding centuries, but Imperial Germany's colonial efforts began in 1884...
in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, to Germany. At the same time, Goerdeler became a member of General Ludwig Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
's private intelligence network. Goerdeler's reports were received not only by General Beck, but by General Werner von Fritsch
Werner von Fritsch
Werner Thomas Ludwig Freiherr von Fritsch was a prominent Wehrmacht officer, member of the German High Command, and the second German general to be killed during World War II.-Early life:...
. The German historian Klaus-Jürgen Müller observed that Goerdeler, in his contacts abroad, tended to falsely portray himself as representing a more organized movement than was in fact the case, and presented himself to his foreign contacts as the secret spokesman of a well-organized "German Opposition". Besides trying to influence foreign governments, Goerdeler attempted to use his reports to the Army leadership to try to influence the Army into considering an anti-Nazi putsch. During one of his visits to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, in June 1937, Goerdeler told Sir Robert Vansittart
Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart
Robert Gilbert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart GCB, GCMG, PC, MVO was a senior British diplomat in the period before and during the Second World War...
that he would like to see the Nazi regime replaced by a right-wing military dictatorship that would seek British friendship, in exchange for which Goerdeler wanted British support for annexing parts of Poland and Czechoslovakia. In October 1937, during a visit to the United States, Goerdeler stayed with the British historian Sir John Wheeler-Bennett
John Wheeler-Bennett
Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett , GCVO, CMG, OBE, FBA, FRSL was a conservative English historian of German and diplomatic history, and the official biographer of King George VI.-Early career:...
at the latter's estate in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and informed him of his desire to restore the monarchy in Germany. During the same trip, Goerdeler drafted his "Political Testament" attacking Nazi economic policies, and criticized the regime for its anti-Christian policies, widespread corruption, and lawlessness. In this period, Goerdeler met several times with Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
and Vansittart.
During the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair and the attendant crisis caused by the court-martial of General Werner von Fritsch
Werner von Fritsch
Werner Thomas Ludwig Freiherr von Fritsch was a prominent Wehrmacht officer, member of the German High Command, and the second German general to be killed during World War II.-Early life:...
, Goerdeler became closely associated with several loose groupings of German rightists in the Civil Service and the military who, for various reasons, were unhappy with aspects of the Third Reich. Goerdeler attempted to use the Fritsch crisis to try to turn the Army leadership against the Nazi regime, but his efforts were in vain. In April 1938, Goerdeler visited London, where he advised the British government both to resist the Nazi claim to the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
area of Czechoslovakia, while at the same time declaring that he wanted to see the area transferred to Germany as soon as possible. As Gerhard Weinberg
Gerhard Weinberg
Gerhard Ludwig Weinberg is a German-born American diplomatic and military historian noted for his studies in the history of World War II. Weinberg currently is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been a member of the...
observed, Goerdeler's contradictory statements left the British somewhat confused. In the spring of 1938, Goerdeler, in association with Hans von Dohnanyi
Hans von Dohnanyi
Hans von Dohnanyi was a German jurist, rescuer of Jews, and German resistance fighter against the Nazi régime.-Early life:...
, Colonel Hans Oster
Hans Oster
Hans Oster was a German Army general, deputy head of the Abwehr under Wilhelm Canaris, and an opponent of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He was a leading figure of the German resistance from 1938 to 1943.-Early career:...
, and Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz was a Prussian finance minister and a member of the German Resistance against Nazi Germany.- Life :...
, became involved in planning a putsch against the Nazi regime should the regime launch Fall Grün, the codename for the invasion of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. In June 1938, General Beck often consulted with Goerdeler over the question of whether or not he should resign as Chief of the General Staff as a way of stopping Fall Grün.
Vansittart introduced Goerdeler to one of his spies, the British industrialist A.P. Young, who was a close business partner to several German corporations, and as such often visited Germany. Because Young did frequent business with Bosch and because of Goerdeler's position there, the two could meet often without raising suspicion. Starting in August 1938, Goerdeler started to leak information to London, informing the British that Hitler intended to launch Fall Grün in September 1938. In August 1938, Goerdeler met with Young in the village of Rauschen Dune in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
. During his meeting with Young, Goerdeler asked that Young convey a message to the British government, to the effect that London should apply diplomatic and economic pressure on Germany to cease the persecution of the Jews. In order to have more frequent meetings with his British contacts, Goerdeler stayed in Switzerland in August–October 1938. Though those British politicians and civil servants who met with Goerdeler were impressed with his candor and earnestness, it was judged too risky by the Chamberlain government in 1938 to stake all upon the Goerdeler's projected putsch, especially given that the chances for success were uncertain at best, and the discovery of British backing for an unsuccessful putsch was likely to cause the war the Chamberlain government was seeking to avert in 1938. Moreover, as one British civil servant wrote on August 22, 1938:
"We have had similar visits from other emissaries of the Reichsheer, such as Dr. Goerdeler, but those for whom these emissaries claim to speak have never given us any reasons to suppose that they would be able or willing to take action such as would lead to the overthrow of the regime. The events of June 1934 and February 1938 do not lead one to attach much hope to energetic action by the Army against the regime." [the diplomat was referring here to the Night of the Long KnivesUlrich von HassellNight of the Long KnivesThe Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
in 1934 and the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair of 1938]
Ulrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell was executed in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot.- Family :...
wrote in his diary that Goerdeler was "imprudent", but at least "he wants to act rather than grumble", which was a marked difference to the generals who indicated that maybe they might act against the Nazi regime if Germany attacked Czechoslovakia, or maybe they won't.
In the tense atmosphere of September 1938, with the crisis in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
looking likely to explode into war at any moment, Goerdeler was waiting anxiously for the putsch to overthrow the Nazi regime, and his taking over the reins of the German state as the new Chancellor. During his planning for the coup, Goerdeler was in contact with Chinese intelligence, using General Alexander von Falkenhausen
Alexander von Falkenhausen
Alexander Ernst Alfred Hermann Freiherr von Falkenhausen was a German general. He was the head of the military government of Belgium from 1940–44 during its occupation by Germany in World War II....
as intermediary. Like most German conservatives, Goerdeler favoured Germany’s traditional informal alliance with China, and was strongly opposed to the volte-face
Volte-face
Volte-face is a total change of position, as in policy or opinion; an about-face.The expression comes through French, from Italian voltafaccia and Portuguese volte face, composed of volta and faccia ....
in Germany’s Far Eastern policies effected in early 1938 by the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
, who abandoned the alliance with China for an alignment with Japan. In a September 1938 meeting with Young, the latter reported that "X" (as Goerdeler was code-named by the British) had stated about the domestic situation in Germany: "the working classes are nervous, distrustful of the Leader. Their allegiance is doubtful." In another meeting on September 11, 1938, in Zurich, Young recorded Goerdeler as saying:
"the feeling among the people against the war is welling up at an alarming rate. His [Goerdeler's] recent talks with leading industrialists had satisfied him that the workers' feelings have been bitterly roused to the point where, if they were in possession of arms, they would physically revolt against the regime"On September 29, 1938 Goerdeler informed the British, through one of Vansittart's contacts, Colonel Graham Christie, that the mobilization of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
was turning German public opinion against the regime. The British historian Sir John Wheeler-Bennett
John Wheeler-Bennett
Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett , GCVO, CMG, OBE, FBA, FRSL was a conservative English historian of German and diplomatic history, and the official biographer of King George VI.-Early career:...
, who knew Goerdeler well, noted that Goerdeler failed to realize that Hitler was not bluffing with Fall Grün and had every intention of attacking Czechoslovakia on October 1, 1938, and that he regarded Munich
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
as a personal set-back.
In 1938, Goerdeler was deeply disappointed with the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, which in his view, though it turned over the Sudetenland to Germany, was undesirable in that it removed what Goerdeler considered to be best chance of a putsch against the Nazi regime. After the Munich Agreement, Goerdeler wrote to one of his American friends:
"...The German people did not want war; the Army would have done anything to avoid it;...the world had been warned and informed in good time. If the warning had been heeded and acted upon Germany would by now be free of its dictator and turning against Mussolini. Within a few weeks we could have begun to build lasting world peace on the basis of justice, reason and decency. A purified Germany with a government of decent people would have been ready to solve the Spanish problem without delay in company with Britain and France, to remove Mussolini and with the United States to create peace in the Far East. The way would have been open for sound co-operation in economic and social fields, for the creation of peaceful relations between Capital, Labour and the State, for the raising of ethical concepts and for a fresh attempt to raise the general standard of living..."In the same letter, Goerdeler wrote "You can hardly conceive the despair that both people and the Army feel about the brutal, insane and terroristic dictator and his henchmen". Wheeler-Bennett commented that Goerdeler was vastly exaggerating the extent of anti-Nazi feelings, both in the German Army and among the German public. After Munich, Goerdeler told Young that:
"It is vitally important to realise that Hitler is deeply and definitely convinced that after his unexpected victory at Munich, anything is possible to him...He says that he [Hitler] is now convinced that England is degenerate, weak, timid and never will have the guts to resist any of his plans. No war will ever be needed against either England or France"In November 1938, when Sir Nevile Henderson
Nevile Henderson
Sir Nevile Meyrick Henderson, KCMG , was the third child of Robert and Emma Henderson and was born at Sedgwick Park near Horsham, West Sussex. Ambassador of Great Britain to Germany from 1937 to 1939, he believed that Adolf Hitler could be controlled and pushed toward peace and cooperation with...
, the British Ambassador to Germany went on sick leave, the acting heads of the Embassy in Berlin sent a series of reports to the Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax
E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, , known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and as The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was one of the most senior British Conservative politicians of the 1930s, during which he held several senior ministerial posts, most notably as...
intended to effect a change in British policy towards Germany. Goerdeler emgered as one of the Embassy's leading informants.
In November 1938, Goerdeler met with Young in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and asked if were possible for the British government to intercede on the behalf of 10,000 Polish Jews the Germans had expelled from Germany, and whom the Poles refused to accept. Goerdeler declared that the treatment of the Polish Jews, stranded on the German-Polish border, was "barbaric". In December 1938-January 1939, Goerdeler had a further series of meetings with Young in Switzerland, where he informed Young that the Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
pogrom of November 1938 had been ordered by Hitler personally, and was not a "spontaneous" demonstration as the Nazis had claimed. Goerdeler recommended that Young inform London that as soon as "the new persecution of the Jews is started, it is absolutely essential to break diplomatic relations". Goerdeler also informed Young of his belief that Hitler was seeking world conquest, and that the Führer had "decided to destroy the Jews-Christianity-Capitalism". Speaking to Young about the economic situation in Germany, Goerdeler stated:
"Economic and financial situation gravely critical. Inner situation desperate. Economic conditions getting worse"Goerdeler’s reports to Young were later published by the latter in 1974 as The “X” Documents.
In December 1938, Goerdeler again visited Britain, where he alienated those British civil servants he met by his extreme German nationalist language, together with demands that the British support the return of Danzig, the Polish Corridor, and the former German colonies in Africa, plus making a huge loan to a post-Nazi government. Goerdeler asked Frank Ashton-Gwatkin of the Foreign Office to ensure that Britain gave a post-Nazi government an interest-free loan of £500 million in exchange for which Goerdeler would end protectionism, end the efforts to place the Balkans into the German sphere of influence, and support Britain in the Mediterranean against Italy and in the Far East against Japan. In addition, the fact that Goerdeler was exaggerating the extent of anti-Nazi feeling in Germany, and his inability to organize a putsch, were becoming increasing clear to the British. Sir Alexander Cadogan wrote about Goerdeler's offer "We are to deliver the goods and Germany gives I.O.Us". Chamberlain was more hostile, writing "These people must do their own job". In the same month, Goerdeler wrote his "World Peace Programme" calling an international conference of all the world's leading powers to consider disarmament, a "moral code" for relations between the states, and the stabilization of the various currencies. The end of Goerdeler's "World Peace Programme" read "Whoever abstains from co-operating wants war and is a breaker of the peace."
Prelude to World War II
Despite what Goerdeler perceived as a major set-back after Munich, he continued with his efforts to bring about the downfall of the Nazi regime. Goerdeler was an unyielding optimist; he believed that if only he could convince enough people, he could overthrow the Nazi regime. Goerdeler believed that through sheer force of will and the goodness of his cause that he could bring down the Nazi regime. Goerdeler spent much of the winter of 1938–1939 holding discussions with General Beck, the diplomat Ulrich von HassellUlrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell was executed in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot.- Family :...
, and Erwin Planck
Erwin Planck
Erwin Planck was a German politician, and a resistance fighter in the Third Reich.Born in Berlin, Erwin Planck was theoretical physicist Max Planck's and his first wife's fourth child. After his Abitur in 1911, Planck went into the military and pursued a career as an officer...
about how best to overthrow the Nazi regime. At the same time, Hitler grew increasingly annoyed with Goerdeler's memoranda urging him to exercise caution. Goerdeler, together with Dr. Schacht, General Beck, Hassell, and the economist Rudolf Brinkmann, were described by Hitler as "the overbred intellectual circles" who were trying to block him from fulfilling his mission by their appeals to caution, and but for the fact that he needed their skills "otherwise, perhaps we could someday exterminate them or do something of this kind to them". During the winter of 1938–1939, Goerdeler sent reports to the British stating that Hitler was pressuring Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
into attacking France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, was planning to launch a surprise air offensive against Britain, intended to achieve a "knock-out blow" by razing British cities to the ground sometime in the second half of February 1939, and was considering an invasion of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
as a prelude to attacking France and Britain. Unknown to Goerdeler, he was transmitting false information provided by the Abwehr
Abwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
chief Admiral Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...
and General Hans Oster
Hans Oster
Hans Oster was a German Army general, deputy head of the Abwehr under Wilhelm Canaris, and an opponent of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. He was a leading figure of the German resistance from 1938 to 1943.-Early career:...
who was hoping that these reports might lead to a change in British foreign policy. In this, Canaris and Oster achieved their purpose as Goerdeler's misinformation resulted in first the "Dutch War Scare" which gripped the British government in late January 1939, which in turn led to the public declarations by the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
in February that any German attack upon France, Switzerland, and the Low Countries would be automatically considered the casus belli for an Anglo-German war, leading to the British "continental commitment" to defend France with a large ground force.
On March 16, 1939, Goerdeler suggested to Young that Britain call an international conference to discuss "legitimate" German demands for changes in the international order. Goerdeler claimed that Hitler would refuse to attend the conference and this would so discredit him as to bring about his downfall". Young passed on Goerdeler's conference idea to Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull
Cordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II...
, who was so impressed with it that he offered to bring about the proposed conference to be chaired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
. This was the origin of Roosevelt's famous appeal to Hitler and Mussolini on April 15, 1939 that the two leaders publicly promise never to disturb the peace for the next ten years, in exchange for which Roosevelt promised a new economic international order.
In the second half of March 1939, Goerdeler together with Dr. Schacht and Hans Bernd Gisevius
Hans Bernd Gisevius
Hans Bernd Gisevius was a German diplomat and intelligence officer during World War II. A strong opponent of the Nazi regime, he served as a liaison in Zürich between Allen Dulles, station chief for the American OSS and the German Resistance forces in Germany.-Pre World War II:Gisevius was born...
visited Ouchy
Ouchy
Ouchy is a commune, port, and popular lakeside resort located south of the city of Lausanne in Switzerland at the edge of the Lake Léman ....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
to meet with a senior French intelligence agent representing the Premier Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
Goerdeler told the Deuxième Bureau
Deuxième Bureau
The Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany...
agent that the strain of massive military spending had left the German economy on the verge of collapse, that Hitler was determined to use the Danzig issue as an excuse to invade Poland, which in itself was only a prelude for a German seizure of all of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, that a forceful Anglo-French diplomatic stand could deter Hitler, and that if Hitler were deterred long enough, then the economic collapse of Germany would cause the downfall of his regime. In April 1939, during a secret meeting with the British diplomat Sir Gladwyn Jebb, Goerdeler stated that if the British continued with their "containment" policy adopted in March 1939, then they might see the "Hitler adventure...liquidated before the end of June [1939]." There is considerable debate as to the accuracy of this information, with some historians such as Richard Overy
Richard Overy
Richard Overy is a British historian who has published extensively on the history of World War II and the Third Reich. In 2007 as The Times editor of Complete History of the World he chose the 50 key dates of world history....
arguing that Goerdeler and other German conservatives had exaggerated German economic problems to the British and the French. Overy charged that what Goerdeler wanted was a very firm Anglo-French stand in favour of Poland, hoping that if confronted with such a situation the German Army would overthrow Hitler rather than risk a world war, and as such Goerdeler exaggerated the economic problems of the Reich to encourage such a stand. The "X documents", and how to interpret them played a key role in the debate in the late 1980s between Overy and the Marxist Timothy Mason
Timothy Mason
Timothy Wright Mason was a British Marxist historian of Nazi Germany.-Life and work:He was born in Birkenhead, the child of school-teachers and was educated at Birkenhead School and Oxford University. He taught at Oxford from 1971–1984 and was twice married. He helped to found the...
about whatever the German attack on Poland was a "flight into war" forced on Hitler by an economic crisis. Other historians have contended that Goerdeler's information about German economic problems was correct, and have pointed to the fact that only massive Soviet economic support, combined with plundering occupied lands, saved the German economy from collapse in the winter of 1939–1940. Even with Soviet economic support (especially oil) and the exploitation of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and the Reich Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was the majority ethnic-Czech protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is today the Czech Republic...
, under the impact of the British blockade, there occurred a 75% decline in value and tonnage of German imports during the Phoney War.
On 6 May 1939 Goerdeler leaked information to the British Foreign Office stating that the German and Soviet governments were secretly beginning a rapprochement with the aim of dividing Eastern Europe between them. In May 1939, Goerdeler visited London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to repeat the same message to the British government. During his London trip, Goerdeler told the British that the state of the German economy was so deplorable that even if war occurred then it could only have the effect of accelerating the German economic collapse, and that Germany simply lacked the economic staying power for an extended war. During the same visit to London in May 1939, Goerdeler claimed that the German Army leadership was willing to overthrow the regime, that he himself favored launching a putsch immediately, but that "the leaders of the whole movement...still considered it too early". The German historian Klaus-Jürgen Müller commented that Goerdeler in making these claims was either lying to the British or else was seriously self-deluded. Goerdeler's assessment of the German diplomatic-military-economic situation had considerable influence on decision-makers in the British and French governments in 1939, who, based on Goerdeler's reports, believed that a firm Anglo-French diplomatic stand for Poland might bring about the fall of Hitler without a war, or failing that at least ensure that the Allies faced war on relatively auspicious economic terms.
Besides trying to influence opinion abroad, Goerdeler urged the German military to overthrow Hitler, and frequently found himself frustrated by the unwillingness of the generals to consider a putsch. In a memo written at the end of July 1939 during a visit to Turkey, Goerdeler took the view that Hitler was bluffing in his demands against Poland, and if he could be forced to stand down by a firm Anglo-French stand, that would be such a blow as to topple the Nazi regime. Later, as the summer of 1939 went on, Goerdeler changed his views about Hitler's intentions towards Poland. In August 1939, Goerdeler contacted General Walter von Brauchitsch, and advised him if Germany attacked Poland, the result would not be the limited war that Hitler expected, but rather a world war pitting Germany against Britain and France. Goerdeler advised Brauchitsch that the only way to save Germany from such a war would be a putsch to depose Hitler. Braunchitsch was not interested in Goerdeler's opinions, and told him that he shared Hitler's belief that Germany could destroy Poland without causing a world war in 1939. On August 25, 1939 on discovering that the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact had not led as intended to an Anglo-French abandonment of Poland, Hitler ordered the temporary postponement of Fall Weiß
Fall Weiß (1939)
Fall Weiss was the Nazi strategic plan for the invasion of Poland. The German military High Command finalized its operational orders on 15 June 1939 and the invasion commenced on 1 September, precipitating World War II.- Plan details :The origins of the plan went back to 1928 when Werner von...
, which had been due to begin the next day. Goerdeler was convinced that the postponement was a fatal blow to Hitler's prestige. On August 26, he went to a trip to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
that he had been considering canceling because of the international situation. On August 27, 1939 Goerdeler told the British diplomat Gladwyn Jebb to continue to make a firm diplomatic stand for Poland as the best way of bringing down the Nazi regime. At the same time, Goerdeler's insistence on restoring Germany to 1914 borders and his intense German nationalism left many British diplomats to distrust Goerdeler as they regarded him as not much different from Hitler. At the beginning of September 1939, Goerdeler returned to Germany a dejected man. Goerdeler was most disappointed and unpleasantly surprised when Germany attacked Poland on September 1, which was followed up by Anglo-French declarations of war on September 3, which was followed up by the German Army doing nothing to overthrow Hitler. This marked the beginning of a recurring pattern where Goerdeler would invest great hopes in his beloved German Army rising up against Hitler, only to discover time after time that Army officers much preferred to fight for the Führer as opposed to fighting against him.
The Phoney War and attack on the West
In 1939–1940, Goerdeler assembled conservative politicians, diplomats and generals, most notably Ulrich von HassellUlrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell was executed in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot.- Family :...
, General Ludwig Beck
Ludwig Beck
Generaloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
, and Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz was a Prussian finance minister and a member of the German Resistance against Nazi Germany.- Life :...
, in opposition to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. On 11 October 1939 speaking to Hassel of German war crimes in Poland, Goerdeler commented that both General Halder and Admiral Canaris were afflicted with nervous complaints as a result of "our brutal conduct of the war" in Poland. In October 1939, Goerdeler drafted peace terms that a post-Nazi government would seek with Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Under Goerdeler's terms, Germany would retain all the areas of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
that had been part of Germany prior to 1918, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
with independence being restored to Poland and Czechoslovakia with general disarmament, the restoration of global free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
and the ending of protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
as the other major goals for the new regime. On 3 November 1939, Goerdeler paid another visit to Sweden, where he met with Marcus Wallenberg, Gustav Cassell, and Dr. Sven Hedin
Sven Hedin
Sven Anders Hedin KNO1kl RVO was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, and travel writer, as well as an illustrator of his own works...
. Hedin wrote in his diary that "he [Goerdeler] believed in Göring and thought that a speedy peace was the only thing to save Germany, but that peace was unthinkable so long as Hitler remained at the head of affairs". At the same time, Goerdeler was deeply involved in the planning of an abortive putsch intended to be launched on 5 November 1939, and as such was in very high spirits prior to that day. Hassell wrote in his diary that with worry that "He [Goerdeler] often reminds me of Kapp." (Wolfgang Kapp
Wolfgang Kapp
Wolfgang Kapp was a Prussian civil servant and journalist. He was a strict nationalist, and a nominal leader of the so-called Kapp Putsch.-Early life:...
, the nominal leader of the Kapp Putsch
Kapp Putsch
The Kapp Putsch — or more accurately the Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch — was a 1920 coup attempt during the German Revolution of 1918–1919 aimed at overthrowing the Weimar Republic...
was notorious for his irresponsibility) The proposed putsch became stillborn when Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch and General Franz Halder
Franz Halder
Franz Halder was a German General and the head of the Army General Staff from 1938 until September, 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
, the leaders of the planned putsch got cold feet, and dropped their support. Brauchitsch and Halder had decided to overthrow Hitler after the latter had fixed "X-day" for the invasion of France for November 12, 1939; an invasion that both officers believed to be doomed to fail. During a meeting with Hitler on November 5, Brauchitsch had attempted to talk Hitler into putting off "X-day" by saying that morale in the German Army was worse than what it was in 1918, a statement that enraged Hitler who harshly berated Brauchitsch for incompetence. After that meeting, both Halder and Brauchitsch told Goerdeler that overthrowing Hitler was simply something that they could not do, and he should find other officers if he that was what he really wanted to do. Equally important, on November 7, 1939 following heavy snowstorms, Hitler put off "X-Day" until further notice, which removed the reason that had most motivated Brauchitsch and Halder to consider overthrowing Hitler. On November 23, 1939, Goerdeler met with Halder to ask him to re-consider his attitude. Halder gave Goerdeler the following reasons why he wanted nothing to do with any plot to overthrow Hitler:
- That General Erich LudendorffErich LudendorffErich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff was a German general, victor of Liège and of the Battle of Tannenberg...
had launched the KaiserschlachtSpring OffensiveThe 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht , also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I, beginning on 21 March 1918, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914...
in March 1918, which led directly to Germany's defeat in November 1918, yet most people in Germany still considered Ludendorff one of Germany's greatest heroes. By contrast, the men who staged the November Revolution and signed the armistice that took Germany out of a losing war were hated all over the Reich as the "November Criminals". Even if Hitler were to launch an invasion of France that signally failed, most people would still support Hitler, just as the failure of the Kaiserschlacht had failed to hurt Ludendorff's reputation as it should have, so the Army could do nothing to overthrow Hitler until the unlikely event that his prestige was badly damaged. Until Hitler was discredited, anyone who acted against him to end the war would be a "new November Criminal". - That Hitler was a great leader, and there was nobody to replace him.
- Most of the younger officers in the Army were extreme National Socialists who would not join a putsch.
- Hitler deserved "a last chance to deliver the German people from the slavery of English capitalism".
- Finally, "one does not rebel when face to face with the enemy".
Despite all of Goerdeler's best efforts, Halder would not change his mind.
In January–February 1940, Goerdeler together with Popitz, Beck and Hassell spent of their time working on the sort of constitutional, economic, social and educational system that a post-Nazi government would carry out. The basis of all their planning was the restoration of the monarchy. Goerdeler believed that the main reason why the Army would not overthrow Hitler was the lack of a postitive goal to inspire them with the hope of a better tomorrow, and if he and his colleagues could work out plans for a better future, then the Army leaders would change their minds. During their discussions for a post-Hitler future, it was agreed that various Nazi leaders like Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, provided that they were willing to break with Hitler could have a leading role in a post-Nazi government. The only Nazi leader besides Hitler whom Goerdeler and his circle were admanent could play no role in a post-Nazi government was the Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop was Foreign Minister of Germany from 1938 until 1945. He was later hanged for war crimes after the Nuremberg Trials.-Early life:...
who Goerdeler personally hated as an obnoxious bully, and whose foreeign policy Goerdeler viewed as criminally inept. In early April 1940, Goerdeler met secretly with General Franz Halder
Franz Halder
Franz Halder was a German General and the head of the Army General Staff from 1938 until September, 1942, when he was dismissed after frequent disagreements with Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
, the Chief of the General Staff, and asked him to consider a putsch while the Phoney War was still on, while the British and French were still open to a negotiated peace. Halder refused Goerdeler's request. Goerdeler told Halder that too many people had already died in the war, and this refusal to remove Hitler at this point would ensure that the blood of millions would be on his hands. Halder told Goerdeler that his oath to Hitler and his belief in Germany`s inevitable victory in the war preluded his acting against the Nazi regime. Halder told Goerdeler that "The military situation of Germany, particulary on account of the pact of non-aggression with Russia is such that a breach of my oath to the Führer could not possibly be justified" [Halder was referring to the Hitler oath
Hitler oath
The term Hitler oath refers to the oaths of allegiance sworn by German Wehrmacht officers and soldiers as well as civil servants during the Third Reich between the years 1934 and 1945...
here], that only if Germany was faced with total defeat would he consider breaking his oath, and that Goerdeler was a fool to believe that World War II could be ended with a compromise peace. In June 1940, much to Goerdeler`s intense disappointment, following the German victory over France, the German Army lost all interest in anti-Nazi plots. Not until December 1941 following the first German defeats in the Soviet Union were Army officers again to show interest in becoming involved in Goerdeler`s anti-Nazi plots.
The Ineffective plotter
During the winter of 1940–1941, Goerdeler spent much of his time discussing with Popitz, Beck and Hassell which of the HohenzollernsHouse of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
would occupy the throne of Germany after the overthrow of the Nazis. Goerdeler supported the claim of Prince Oskar of Prussia
Prince Oskar of Prussia
Prince Oskar of Prussia was the fifth son of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein.-Education:...
. They developed a future constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
for Germany and even a list of potential ministers. Popitz favored a return to the pre-1918 political system. But Goerdeler argued with his fellow conspirators in favor of a British-style constitutional monarchy with an Emperor who was "...not meant to govern, but to watch over the Constitution and to represent the State."
Goerdeler's proposed constitution called for a strong executive branch, a high degree of decentralisation, a Reichstag
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
partially elected on the British style-"First-past-the-post
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
" system instead of election by party lists, and partially elected by members of local councils, and a Reichsrat composed of representatives nominated by Christian Churches, trade unions, universities, and business groups. To assist with the drafting of the future constitution, Goerdeler enlisted the help, through his friend Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. He was a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plans by members of the Abwehr to assassinate Adolf Hitler...
, of the so-called Freiburger Kreis (Freiburg Circle), an anti-Nazi discussion group of professors at Freiburg University founded in 1938 and which included Adolf Lampe, Erich Wolf, Walter Eucken
Walter Eucken
Walter Eucken was a German economist and father of ordoliberalism. His name is closely linked with the development of the "social market economy".-Life:...
, Constantin von Dietze
Constantin von Dietze
Friedrich Carl Nicolaus Constantin von Dietze was an agronomist, lawyer, economist, and theologian...
, and Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter was a conservative German historian.-Before the Third Reich:...
. Had the July 20 Plot
July 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
succeeded, Goerdeler would have served as Chancellor in the new government that would have been formed after Hitler's assassination and the overthrow of the Nazi regime. In August 1941, Goerdeler was most disappointed with the Atlantic Charter
Atlantic Charter
The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement first issued in August 1941 that early in World War II defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies...
. He felt that the demands contained in Clause 8 calling the disarmament of Germany would make both the task of recruiting the German Army to overthrowing the regime more difficult, and were unacceptable since Goerdeler believed in maintaining a strong military. Starting in 1941, Goerdeler expanded his network of anti-Nazi contacts to include Social Democrats like Wilhelm Leuschner
Wilhelm Leuschner
Wilhelm Leuschner was a social-democratic politician who opposed the Third Reich....
and Hermann Maas.
In late 1941, under the impact of the news of the deportations of German Jews to the death camps in Eastern Europe, Goerdeler submitted a memo to the German government calling for all Jews who had been German citizens or were descended from Jews who been German citizens before 1871 to be classified as Germans, and those Jews who were descended from Jews who had not lived within the borders of Germany prior to 1871 to be considered citizens of Jewish state whose creation would occur later. In the memo entitled "The Goal", Goerdeler wrote that a Jewish state should be created somewhere in South America or Canada, to which almost the entire Jewish population of Europe would be deported to; only German-Jewish veterans of World War I or those German Jews descended from Jews who were German citizens in 1871 would be allowed to stay. Meanwhile, pending the deportation of the Jews to the Americas, Goerdeler called in "The Goal" for the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
to stay in force while demanding the repeal of the post-Kristallnacht anti-Semitic laws. Some controversy has been attracted by this memo. Goerdeler's critics are offended by his suggestion that German Jews whose ancestors had not lived within the borders of the German Empire before July 1, 1871 should not be considered German citizens, whereas Goerdeler's defenders such as the Canadian historian Peter Hoffmann have argued that Goerdeler was trying to present the Nazi regime with an alternative to genocide. The German historian Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen
Hans Mommsen is a left-wing German historian. He is the twin brother of the late Wolfgang Mommsen.-Biography:He was born in Marburg, the son of the historian Wilhelm Mommsen and great-grandson of the Roman historian Theodor Mommsen. He studied German, history and philosophy at the University of...
wrote that Goerdeler’s anti-Semitism was typical of the German right, where Jews were widely considered to be part of an alien body living in Germany. Mommsen went on to comment that given Goerdeler’s background in the fiercely anti-Semitic German National People’s Party, what is surprising was not his anti-Jewish prejudices, but rather that he was able to make any sort of moral objection to Nazi anti-Semitism. In January 1942, Goerdeler submitted another memo to the German government protesting at the deportation of Leipzig Jews. In April 1942, during another visit to Sweden, Goerdeler contracted the Wallenberg family, asking them to contract Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
about the peace terms that the British would conclude with Germany once the Nazi regime was overthrown. In May 1942, Goerdeler was much saddened when his son Christian was killed in action while serving on the Eastern Front.
In November 1942, Goerdeler made a secret and illegal visit to Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
using forged papers provided by Admiral Canaris to meet Field Marshal Günther von Kluge
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand “Hans” von Kluge was a German military leader. He was born in Posen into a Prussian military family. Kluge rose to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
and Henning von Tresckow
Henning von Tresckow
Generalmajor Herrmann Karl Robert "Henning" von Tresckow was a Major General in the German Wehrmacht who organized German resistance against Adolf Hitler. He attempted to assassinate Hitler in March 1943 and drafted the Valkyrie plan for a coup against the German government...
to gain their support for overthrowing Hitler. Both Kluge and Tresckow promised to arrest Hitler when he visited the Eastern front. Tresckow in particular was very favourably impressed with Goerdeler, whom he saw as a kindred spirit. Goerdeler returned to Berlin feeling assured about the future, and was most disappointed when he received a message from Kluge via General Beck stating he changed his mind about acting against the Nazi regime, and to include him out of any putsch. Kluge's change of mind about attempting to overthrow Hitler was related to the "gifts" he had received from Hitler in the fall of 1942. On October 30, 1942 Kluge was the beneficiary of an enormous bribe from Hitler who mailed a letter of good wishes together with a huge cheque totaling a half-million marks made out to him from the German treasury and a promise that whatever improving his estate might cost could be billed out to the German treasury. Hitler was unaware of Goerdeler's plotting, but had heard rumours that Kluge was unhappy with his leadership. After receiving receiving another "gift" of a half-million marks from Hitler later in November that was intended to buy his loyalty, it had the desired effect with Kluge's message to Goerdeler not to involve him in anti-Nazi plots.
In December 1942, the "Freiburg Circle" who were continuing their work with helping Goerdeler develop a constitution submitted the "Great Memorandum" to Goerdeler for the proposed post-Nazi German government, which also included "Proposals for a Solution of the Jewish Question in Germany". The "Proposals" rejected Nazi racial theories, but stated that the overthrow of the Nazis, German Jews would not have their German citizenship restored, would be restricted to living in ghettos and allowed only minimal contact with German Christians, and called for continuing the Nazi ban on marriage and sex between Jews and German Christians. The Israeli historian Saul Friedländer
Saul Friedländer
Saul Friedländer is an award-winning Israeli historian and currently a professor of history at UCLA.-Biography:...
used the "Proposals" to argue that Goerdeler was an anti-Semitic, and his differences with the Nazis on the "Jewish Question" were ones of degree, not kind.
After the Battle of Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
, the pace of Goerdeler's conspiratorial activities gathered speed. Between November 1942-November 1943, Goerdeler was in regular contact with his friends, the Wallenberg family of Sweden whom he used as middle-men in his efforts to make contact with the British and American governments. On January 22, 1943 at the home of Peter Yorck von Wartenburg
Peter Yorck von Wartenburg
Peter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg was a German jurist and a member of the German Resistance against Nazism.-Biography:...
Goerdeler met with the Kreisau Circle
Kreisau Circle
The Kreisau Circle was the name the Nazi Gestapo gave to a group of German dissidents centered on the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. The Kreisauer Kreis is celebrated as one of the instances of German opposition to the Nazi regime...
, during which he argued and debated forcefully about the social and economic policies to be pursued by a post-Nazi government. Only with some difficulty were Ulrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell was executed in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot.- Family :...
and Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg
Fritz-Dietlof von der Schulenburg
Fritz-Dietlof Graf von der Schulenburg-Tressow was a German government official and a member of the German Resistance in the July 20 Plot against Adolf Hitler.-Personal development:...
able to patch up a measure of agreement between the Kreisau Circle and Goerdeler. Those present at the meeting of January 22 were Goerdeler, Hassell, General Beck, Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz
Johannes Popitz was a Prussian finance minister and a member of the German Resistance against Nazi Germany.- Life :...
and Jens Jessens for the conservative fraction and von der Schulenburg, Yorck von Wartenburg, Eugen Gerstenmaier
Eugen Gerstenmaier
Eugen Karl Albrecht Gerstenmaier was a German Evangelical theologian, resistance fighter in the Third Reich, and a CDU politician...
, Adam von Trott zu Solz
Adam von Trott zu Solz
Adam von Trott zu Solz was a German lawyer and diplomat who was involved in the conservative opposition to the Nazi regime, and who played a central part in the 20 July Plot...
and Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke was a German jurist who, as a draftee in the German Abwehr, acted to subvert German human-rights abuses of people in territories occupied by Germany during World War II and subsequently became a founding member of the Kreisau Circle resistance group, whose members...
for the left-learning Kreisau Circle. In March 1943, Goerdeler wrote a letter addressed to several German Army
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
officers appealing to them to overthrow the Nazis and demanding that just one line should divide Germans "...that between decent and non-decent.". Goerdeler went on to write: "How is it possible that so basically decent a people as the Germans can put up for so long with such an intolerable system? Only because all offences against law and decency are carried out under the protection of secrecy and under the pressures of terror" Goerdeler argued that if only a situation was created "in which, if only for twenty-four hours, it is possible for the truth to be spoken again", then the Nazi regime would collapse like a house of cards. In May 1943, Goerdeler submitted a memo to the Wallenbergs, which he asked them to pass on to the Anglo-Americans outlining his thoughts on the German-Polish border. In the same memo, Goerdeler called for a "European community" comprising a German-dominated confederation, which in turn was to be sub-divided into an Eastern European confederation consisting of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, a confederation of the Scandinavian states, a South European confederation, and a Balkan confederation. The ``European confederation`` was to be one economic unit with one military ruled over by a Council consisting of two representatives from every state, who would elect a European President for a four year term. Helping the Council and the President was to be a Federal Assembly to which each of the various confederations would send five to ten members based on their populations. Finally, the European confederation was to serve as the nucleus of a "World Confederation of Nations" that would banish war everywhere, and promote peace and prosperity.
During the spring of 1943, Goerdeler grew increasing impatient with the military end of the conspiracy, complaining that those officers involved in the plot were better at finding excuses for inaction than reasons for action. In a letter to General Friedrich Olbricht
Friedrich Olbricht
General Friedrich Olbricht was a German general and one of the plotters involved in the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia on 20 July 1944.-Early life:...
of May 17, 1943, Goerdeler wrote:
"MY DEAR GENERAL.Goerdeler had great faith in his idea that if only he could meet with Hitler and explain to him that his leadership was grossly inadequate on military and economic grounds, then Hitler could be persuaded to resign in his favor, thereby ending Nazi Germany through non-violent means. It took considerable effort on the part of Goerdeler's friends to talk him out of this plan.
I have again and again considered the view that we must wait for the psychologically right moment.
If by this we mean the moment at which events cause us to take action, then it will coincide with the beginnings of the collapse; action would then be too late to be exploited politically. In the meantime irreplacable cultural monuments and the most important industrial centers would be heaps of ruins and the responsibility for precious lives would fall on the military leaders. Therefore we must not wait for the 'psycholgicaly right' moment to come, we must bring it about [emphasis in the original]. For we are certainly agreed that leadership without far-sighted correct action is impossible.
For the sake of the future of our fatherland I would not like to see the intelligentsia which has grown up throughout the centuries excluded from this leadership; for the same reason the experienced leaders among our soldiers should not be excluded either.
StalingradBattle of StalingradThe Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
and Tunis are defeats unparalleled in German history since Jena and AuerstädtBattle of Jena-AuerstedtThe twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia...
. In both cases the German people were told that for decisive reasons armies had to be sacrificed. We know how false this is; for soldiers and politicians can only describe such sacrifices as necessary when they are justified by successes in other fields which outweight the sacrifice. The truth is that our leadership is incapable and unscrupulous; if it had been true leadership both tragic sacrifices would have been avoided and a favourable military and political situation would have been established..
The number of civilians, men, women and children of all nations and of Russian prisoners of war ordered to be put to death before and during this war exceeds one million. The manner of their deaths is monstrous and is far removed from chivalry, humanity, and even from the most primitive ideas of decency among savage tribes. But the German people are falsely led to believe that it is Russian Bolshevists who are constantly committing monstrous crimes against innocent victims.
The list of such things can be extended at will. I chose these two examples, because they are obvious examples of the poisoning of people's minds, and taken in conjunction with a corruption never before known in German history and the supression of law, they offer every opportunity of creating [emphasis in the original] the 'psychologically right' moment. The vast majority of the German people, almost the whole working class, knows to-day that this war cannot be brought to a successful conclusion.
In face of this the patience of the people is inexplicable. But this perversity is based only on the fact that terror fosters secrecy, lies, and crime. It will disappear as soon as the people realize that terror is being attacked, corruption removed and that sincerity and truth are taking the place of secrecy and falsehood. At that time every German will pull himself together again, both the decent and corrupt, each will reject and condemn the action which he tolerated yesterday or to which he took no exception, because it was secret, because the decent German will again see decency and the others will be faced with responsibility.
If we can find no other way I am ready to do everything to talk personally to Hitler. I would tell him what he must be told, namely that in the vital interests of the people, his resignation is essential. If such a personal talk can be brought about, there is no reason why it should end badly. Surprises are possible, not probable, but the risk must be taken. Only it is not unreasonable on my part to demand that action must be taken immediately.
The political conditions for this exist..
I urgently entreat you, my dear General, to consider again whether the difficulties standing in the way of the technical measures cannot also be overcome. I also ask you to think over the method I have suggested and to give an opportunity on my return to discuss the situation and the posssibilites calmely.
With my best wishes.
Yours sincerely.
GOERDELER"
After a visit to western Germany where Goerdeler was horrified by the damage caused by Anglo-American bombing, in July 1943 Goerderler wrote a letter to Field Marshal Günther von Kluge
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand “Hans” von Kluge was a German military leader. He was born in Posen into a Prussian military family. Kluge rose to the rank of Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
that read as:
"The idea fostered by the High Military authorities that the devastation in the West was not so bad and that after a few days, during which they ‘gathered up their chattels from among the ruins’, the workers return to work, induced me to look at the devastation for myself. You would be as shocked as I was. The work of a thousand years is nothing, but rubble. There is no point in describing my feelings when I looked down from the Trolleturm on the ruins of the town of Barman and on ElberfeldKluge refused to answer Goerdeler's letter, despite the fact that Goerdeler was all but calling the Field-Marshal a coward for his refusal to join the conspiracy.ElberfeldElberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...
, half of which is destroyed. In EssenEssen- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
it is almost impossible to find one’s way through the streets because all of the familiar landmarks are lost in the rubble. Sixty per cent of KruppKruppThe Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
s is destroyed and it is only working to 30 per cent of capacity. It is untrue to say that the contrary is the case. The damaged sections have not even been rebuilt in other parts of Germany; the process of shifting the industry is only in its initial stages. Whoever has the courage to think must realize even without special technical knowledge that buildings must first be found, then adapted, then machinery must be procured, most of it new, and then coal and labour must be obtained. In Elberfeld even undamaged factories in the Vohwinkel area are only working to 30 per cent capacity, because the workers have left. In Essen and Wupertal about two-thirds of the population have disappeared and in CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
about four-fifths. That is how it is with the people who in three days gather up their chattels from the rubble. The coal output of the RuhrRuhrThe Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
has now dropped from 420,000 to 300,000 tons a day and is decreasing daily. In June the output of the South German armaments industry declined sharply for the first time, because the drop in supplies from the Ruhr is making itself felt. Furthermore, nothing can be done with these ruins. They are heaps of debris, concrete, and iron. Reconstruction will take generations. The debris cannot be disposed of on German soil, it would ruin too much land. It must therefore be dumped into the sea. The removal of debris from Essen alone will take 3 years, using 100 wagons a day.
One hundred milliard marks would not be too high a estimate for the damage sustained so far. At present our national debt is 250 milliards, in 3 months our debts will be as high as our total assets..
You, Field-Marshal know that all theories which maintain that this means nothing and that a pernicious economy based on debt can go on unpunished are sheer nonsense. No, the German people is faced with the decision either to declare itself bankrupt; then we have all lost everything and industry has no capital. As this is an impossible situation because it would mean revolution on the largest scale, those whose money is invested in real estate must part with some of this, in order to finance the firms which must be kept going in order to maintain economy and avert revolution. Thus everyone will be poor. Or the German people can again disguise the truth and start on the road to inflation by incurring further debts and by letting things go on as they are doing now. In the end, this would come to the same as the other. For the chances of 1923 will not occur a second time.
Even now the difficulties of maintaining life of the German people for war and peace are tremendous. For the whole of Europe has been thoroughly ruined by Hitler’s madness. In 1918 Norway, Denmark and Holland at least were intact. To-day every European country is to a great extent laid waste, robbed of its supplies and its gold and currency ruined. One can be seized with holy rage when one hears how frivolously even well-educated people talk of reconstruction after the war. It fills one with horror that cultured people are simply living from day to day at the expense of a universe which is collapsing and content themselves with the thought that we have not yet collapsed, fondly imagining that this can go on.
The transition to peace-time conditions when millions of soldiers have lost the habit of work and are looking for homes and jobs and finding only ruins can only come about if we have as the basis of our action a moral, idealist conception which will seize men’s minds and lift them above the material difficulties and if we can win the people over to this.
To-day the bonds of morality have been torn away; what is left is merely convention. Anyone who travels as I do almost constantly see what is going on, for example in the big hotels. He can see officers who have nothing in common with our good officer class; he can see young louts with a party badge who talk victory but never think of doing their duty as soldiers. Even in the Wehrmacht the bases of morality must be shattered, because the religious background has been forsaken and comrade can denounce comrade behind his back without himself being treated as a scoundrel. The introduction of the special court into the military tribunal, the penetration of the Army with secret agents, speak volumes. A week ago I heard a report by a SS soldier, aged 18 ½, who had previously been a decent lad, but who now said calmly that ‘it wouldn’t be exactly a very pleasant thing to machine gun trenches filled with thousands of Jews and then to throw earth over their quivering bodies’. What has become of the proud army of the Wars of LiberationWar of the Sixth CoalitionIn the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
and of the Emperor Wilhelm the FirstWilliam I, German EmperorWilliam I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
? But the people know and feel this with a certainty which is admirable and instinctive, and which, thank God, still exists. For God’s sake, Field-Marshal, do not be deceived when you are told the people believe the lies which are forced down their throats. The people despise these lies and hate those who spread them abroad. That is the truth. It will break forth with all the greater force the longer people try to surpass it. But it will go hard with all those with responsibility.
Hitler has made his fifth military blunder in the South. He is pouring German soldiers and valuable arms into SicilySicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, whereas reason must tell him that Italy can no longer be saved. The squandering of German strength, the useless sacrifice of German soldiers is a crime; for even the time gained by defending Sicily means nothing. The secret hints of powerful new weapons are, according to my enquiries, mere irresponsible chatter, for even if these new weapons are really ready one day, they will not alter the decision which has been reached already in men’s minds-quite apart from the fact that the enemy has just as effective weapons. Thus from the military angle the same mistake is being made as in 1918-only more senselessly; one has not the courage to face the inevitable facts in time. But in 1943 that is a great deal more fateful than 1918, for then our leaders were mentally and morally sound, whereas to-day they are insane and morally corrupt.
If there is still anyone who wants proof of this insanity, he will no longer require it when he hears that Hitler has told his entourage that his aim is the partition of Italy! In the end Mussolini would be forced to ask him for help, he says, then he would perhaps appoint him Governor of Northern Italy, and make the ApenninesApennine mountainsThe Apennines or Apennine Mountains or Greek oros but just as often used alone as a noun. The ancient Greeks and Romans typically but not always used "mountain" in the singular to mean one or a range; thus, "the Apennine mountain" refers to the entire chain and is translated "the Apennine...
the German frontier! Hitler is also prepared to accord Russia-provided she makes peace-frontiers which a decent German government would not have to grant even today; he is dreaming of another victory nearer home. In view of this national disaster which is now becoming obvious and into which we have been led by an insane and godless leadership, which disregards human rights, I take the liberty of making a last appeal to you, Field-Marshal. You may be sure that it will be the last. The hour has now come at which we must take the final decision on our personal fate. On the one hand there is the way clearly indicated by conscience; on the other, a different easier way. The former may have its dangers, but it is the honourable way; the latter will lead to a disastrous end and to terrible remorse. In face of the terrible and increasing destruction of German cities, do you my dear Field-Marshal, know of yet another way to achieve victory which will (1) make it possible to hold Russia off from Europe for good, (2) force the U.S.A. and the British Empire to give up these attacks and finally make peace? That, from the political and military point of view, is the question with which we faced. If such a victory exists, then the chances of it must be made clear to the German people not with lies, but with the truth, which by then must be a reality. But if there is no such victory, then it is a sheer crime to continue the war, because there is never a heroic ending for the people, but simply the necessity to go on living.
I have again ascertained, and I accept the responsibility for this, that there is still the possibility to conclude a favourable peace, if we Germans again make ourselves capable of taking action. It is self-evident that no statesmen in the world can negotiate with criminals and fools because he cannot lightly place the fate of his people in the hands of fools. Our own conscience too tells us that. Naturally, the possibilities are less easy to realize a year ago. They can only be exploited if the politician still has a certain time for freedom of action, that is, if he is not, as in 1918, faced overnight by the military Diktat ‘we can do no more!’ If this second condition, which depends on the military authorities, is fulfilled that we can calmly and by reasonable action slow down the tempo of the war, at once in the case of the war in the air, and gradually in the land fighting. Anyone who to-day can tell the German people that the war in the air is over have the people behind him, and no one will dare a word or lift a finger against him. That and none other is the state of affairs.
I am at your service, no matter what the risk, for any such action which simply calls things by their proper name and deals with criminals. For this purpose I could become an officer again if only I knew that would ensure quick organized action. I can tell you to-day, that I can win over to you, Field-Marshal and to any other General resolved to take the necessary action the overwhelming majority of the German working class, the German civil service and the German business world. I also, if you so desire, make Herr Goebbels or Herr Himmler your ally; for even these two men have long realized that with Hitler they are doomed. [Goerdeler was over-selling the extent of opposition to Hitler to Kluge here; there is no evidence that Himmler or Goebbels were a part of Goerdeler's anti-Nazi circles.] Therefore, all this is required is really a decision, bold thinking and right action. What is most dangerous and in the end unbearable is to shut one’s ears day after day to the voice of conscience. In this I am sure that you, my dear Field-Marshal will agree with me.
You must, however, know my opportunities for action are limited in time. For many years I have been looked upon as a militarist, an admirer of the military, as a promoter of militarism and as the friend of many Generals. I have had many an unpleasant moment in my life because of that, both after the first war and in recent years; for many in Germany expected nothing of the Generals for the start. But I always took their part, saying that one could rely on their character, and their sense of responsibility. Now it has come to this that I myself feel ridiculed and in South Germany, where I have many excellent friends, I am told that Prussian militarism is to blame for everything. They are not fools, the men who say this; they are men who love Germany, and the German soldier, but who despair because with our eyes open, our minds working and our hearts feeling we are letting the Fatherland be led into the abyss by criminals and fools and are letting German youth and German manhood be driven unresisting to death and mutilation.
We must put an end to this state of affairs in which we allow fools to force their delusions and lies on the German people. We must make the war of conquest, started from a spirit of domination, into a war of necessary defence. We have absolutely no cause to fear Bolshevism or the Anglo-Saxons [Goerdeler was playing down his anti-Communism in order to entice Kluge into joining the conspiracy by trying to counter Nazi claims that Hitler was the world's only bulwark against the Soviet Union]. People in those countries are the same as we are and we have much to throw into the balance. But German interests must once again be represented with force and reason by decent Germans.
I will not trespass any further on your time, my dear Field-Marshal; I only ask one more answer from you , and I know what it means if you do not give me this answer. One thing I ask you; not to refuse to answer because you are afraid. I have learned to be silent and I shall not forget the lesson. I know what I owe to the men whom I trust. Unless at least three or four men in Germany have more confidence in each other, then we go out of business.
With best wishes.
Yours sincerely.
Goerdeler."
In August 1943, Goerdeler and his friend, the Oberbürgermeister of Stuttgart, SA-Brigadeführer Karl Strölin sent a joint memo to the Reich Interior Minister, the Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
complaining about the anti-Semitic and anti-Christian policies of the Nazi regime, asking for the end of the "emergency" laws that had suspended civil rights in Germancy since 1933, and called for the end of the NSDAP influence on the judiciary. Predictably enough, the memo drew the attention of the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, who visited both men at their homes to deliver a "final warning" telling them if they continued with "trouble-making", they would be sent to a concentration camp. In September 1943, Goerdeler appealed to his friend Jacob Wallenberg to ask that the British suspend bombing attacks against Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
and Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
until the middle of October because "the oppositional movement has its centres there and the interruption of communications would make the putsch more difficult" In a memo Goerdeler sent to the British and American governments in the fall of 1943, he called for a negotiated peace between the Allies and Germany once the Nazis were overthrown. In the same memo, Goerdeler called for the "1914 frontier" to serve as the basis of Germany's borders both in Western and Eastern Europe, called for Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
remaining part of the Reich, and for the annexation of the south Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
region of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In the discussions within the German Opposition between the "Easterners" who favored reaching an understanding with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
after the overthrow of Hitler and the "Westerners" who favored reaching an understanding with Britain and the United States, Goerdeler belonged to the "Westerners", considering Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
to be no different than National Socialism, and regarding the "Easterners" as being dangerously naive about the Soviets.
In the fall of 1943, Goerdeler first met Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg. The two men took an immediate dislike to each other. Goerdeler wrote that Stauffenberg “revealed himself as a cranky, obstinate fellow who wanted to play politics. I had many a row with him, but greatly esteemed him. He wanted to steer a dubious political course with the left-leaning Socialists and Communists, and gave me a bad time with his overwhelming egoism”. Goerdeler who had an been the unofficial leader of the German opposition since 1938, resented the efforts of Stauffenberg, who he regarded as a dangerous “romantic socialist”, to take over the conspiracy. Stauffenberg for his part, saw Goerdeler as the leader of “the revolution of the greybeards” . Stauffenberg saw Goerdeler as an out-of-touch reactionary, a man living in the past, whose plans to restore the monarchy were simply not relevant to the modern world. Moreover, Stauffenberg was an "Easterner" who favored making contacts with the underground KPD
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
, and wished for a post-Nazi Germany to ally herself with the Soviet Union; Goerdeler by contrast was a "Westener", and thus a resolute anti-Communist and wanted a post-Nazi Germany to align herself with the Western powers.
Unlike the Kreisau Circle
Kreisau Circle
The Kreisau Circle was the name the Nazi Gestapo gave to a group of German dissidents centered on the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. The Kreisauer Kreis is celebrated as one of the instances of German opposition to the Nazi regime...
, Goerdeler was a strong champion of laissez-faire
Laissez-faire
In economics, laissez-faire describes an environment in which transactions between private parties are free from state intervention, including restrictive regulations, taxes, tariffs and enforced monopolies....
capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, and was very much opposed to what he saw as the socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
of the Kreisau Circle. In Goerdeler's vision, this economic system was to serve as the basis of the "democracy of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
." However, Goerdeler was heavily criticised by other members of the German resistance (for example by some members the Kreisau Circle) for objecting to killing Hitler (whom Goerdeler wanted to see tried; Goerdeler had no objection to Hitler being executed after his conviction), for his sympathy for reintroducing monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, and for his extremely anti-communist ideology. In late February 1944, Goerdeler sent Strölin to meet Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
to see if he would like to join the anti-Nazi conspiracy, and was delighted when Strölin gave him a positive report about Rommel's attitude towards the conspiracy. Goerdeler decided that Rommel would be the ideal person to play a leading role in a post-Hitler government and asked Strölin to find out if Rommel would be willing to play that role. As Rommel was fully engaged in preparations to resist the expected Allied landing in France all through the spring of 1944, it proved difficult for Strölin to make contact again. After meeting Goerdeler in March 1944, Strölin described him in a high-strung state, constantly afraid that he could be arrested at any moment, and anxious to recruit Rommel while attempting to juggle Rommel's demand that he be Army Commander-in-Chief with his prior promise that position would go to Erwin von Witzleben
Erwin von Witzleben
Job-Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben was a German army officer and in the Second World War an Army commander and a conspirator in the July 20 Plot.-Early years:...
if Hitler were overthrown. Not until May could a meeting be arranged to sort out where Rommel stood in regards to the conspiracy. On May 27, 1944, Goerdeler attended a secret meeting with Strölin, the former Foreign Minister Baron Konstantin von Neurath
Konstantin von Neurath
Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath was a German diplomat remembered mostly for having served as Foreign minister of Germany between 1932 and 1938...
and General Hans Speidel
Hans Speidel
Hans Speidel: Born in Metzingen, was a German general during World War II and the first German NATO Commander during the Cold War.- 1914–1945 :...
(who was representing Rommel) at Speidel's apartment in Freudenstadt. At the meeting, Speidel speaking on behalf of Rommel made clear that his chief wanted nothing to do with any attempt to assassinate Hitler, but was prepared to serve in a government headed by Goerdeler. Later in 1944, Goerdeler told Kunrath von Hammerstein that "In those days your father stood at the helm of world history", by which Goerdeler meant that if General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord
Kurt Gebhard Adolf Philipp Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord was a German general who served for a period as Commander-in-Chief of the Reichswehr...
had carried out a putsch in 1933, then the present state of world troubles in 1944 might have been avoided.
Views on the "Jewish Question"
A latter-day controversy about Goerdeler concerns his attitude towards Anti-SemitismAnti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
. Some historians such as Christof Dipper and Martin Broszat
Martin Broszat
Martin Broszat was a German historian specializing in modern German social history whose work has been described by The Encyclopedia of Historians as indispensable for any serious study of the Third Reich. Broszat was born in Leipzig, Germany and studied history at the University of Leipzig and...
have argued that Goerdeler agreed with the antisemitic policy of the regime until 1938, though afterwards he did resist the Holocaust and other forms of mass murder. The German historian Christof Dipper in his 1983 essay "Der Deutsche Widerstand und die Juden" (translated into English as "The German Resistance and the Jews") argued that the majority of the anti-Nazi national-conservatives such as Goerdeler were anti-Semitic. Dipper wrote that for Gordeler and his social circle "the bureaucratic, pseudo-legal deprivation of the Jews practised until 1938 was still considered acceptable" Through Dipper noted no-one in the Widerstand movement supported the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
, he also claimed that the national-conservatives like Goerdeler did not intend to restore civil rights to the Jews after the overthrow of Hitler. By contrast, the Canadian historian Peter Hoffmann in his 2004 essay "The German Resistance and the Holocaust" has contended that Goerdeler was opposed to anti-Semitism in all forms, and that this opposition played a major role in motivating his efforts to overthrow the Nazi regime. Most recently in his 2011 book Carl Goerdeler and the Jewish Question, 1933-1942 Hoffmann has sought to defend Goerdeler against the charge that he was an anti-Semite. The Israeli historian Danny Orbach in his 2010 book Valkyrie: Hahitnagdut Hagermanit Lehitler (Valkyrie: Germans Against Hitler) defended Goerdeler against the charge that he was an anti-Semite by noting Goerdeler's strong support for Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and his work with Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
in encouraging German Jews to move to the British Mandate for Palestine.. In a recent article, Orbach also argued that Dipper's accusations of anti-Semitism are based on a misreading, if not distortion, of Goerdeler's memoranda, thus ignoring Goerdeler's plan to restore emancipation to the German Jews and securing a national homeland for their Polish brethren . The Israeli historian Tom Segev
Tom Segev
Tom Segev is an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's so-called New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives.-Early life:Segev was born in Jerusalem in 1945...
has dismissed Orbach's claims that Goerdeler was a philo-Semitic, stating that Goerdeler was an anti-Semitic who supported Zionism only because he disliked the idea of German Jews living in Germany, and much preferred if they all move to Palestine.
The end
In May 1944, Goerdeler revived his idea of 1943 of talking Hitler into resigning as a way of achieving a peaceful end to Nazi Germany. Again, Goerdeler proposed to meet with Hitler, explain to him why his leadership was defective, and hoped that Hitler would resign and appoint Goerdeler his successor. Again, it took considerable effort on the part of Goerdeler's friends to talk him out of this plan, which they considered to be as bizarre as it was impractical. The British historian Ian KershawIan Kershaw
Sir Ian Kershaw is a British historian of 20th-century Germany whose work has chiefly focused on the period of the Third Reich...
commented Goerdeler's plans to talk Hitler into resigning reflected a certain lack of realism on his part. In June 1944, Goerdeler finished off his final Cabinet list. Had the putsch of 20 July 1944 succeeded, the Cabinet that would have taken power included the following:
- President of Germany (Regent) (Reichsverweser) : Colonel General Ludwig BeckLudwig BeckGeneraloberst Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general and Chief of the German General Staff during the early years of the Nazi regime in Germany before World War II....
- State Secretary to the Regent: Ulrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von SchwanenfeldUlrich Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von SchwanenfeldUlrich-Wilhelm Graf Schwerin von Schwanenfeld was a German landowner, officer, and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime.- Biography :...
- Chancellor: Goerdeler (DNVPGerman National People's PartyThe German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...
) - State Secretary to the Chancellor: Count Peter Yorck von WartenburgPeter Yorck von WartenburgPeter Graf Yorck von Wartenburg was a German jurist and a member of the German Resistance against Nazism.-Biography:...
- Vice-Chancellor: Wilhelm LeuschnerWilhelm LeuschnerWilhelm Leuschner was a social-democratic politician who opposed the Third Reich....
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) - Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Jakob KaiserJakob KaiserJakob Kaiser was a German politician and resistance leader during World War II.Jakob Kaiser was born in the Franconian town of Hammelburg. Following in his father’s footsteps, Kaiser began a career as a bookbinder...
(Christian Trade Union leader) - Minister of War: General Friedrich OlbrichtFriedrich OlbrichtGeneral Friedrich Olbricht was a German general and one of the plotters involved in the attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolfsschanze in East Prussia on 20 July 1944.-Early life:...
- State Secretary to the Minister of War: Colonel Count Claus von StauffenbergClaus Schenk Graf von StauffenbergClaus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg commonly referred to as Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer and Catholic aristocrat who was one of the leading members of the failed 20 July plot of 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler and remove the Nazi Party from...
- Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces: Field Marshal Erwin von WitzlebenErwin von WitzlebenJob-Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben was a German army officer and in the Second World War an Army commander and a conspirator in the July 20 Plot.-Early years:...
- Commander in Chief of the Army: Colonel General Erich HoepnerErich HoepnerErich Hoepner was a German general in World War II. A successful panzer leader, Hoepner was executed after the failed 20 July Plot in 1944.- Life :Hoepner was born in Frankfurt an der Oder, Brandenburg...
- Minister of the Interior: Julius LeberJulius LeberJulius Leber was a German politician of the SPD and a member of the German Resistance against the Nazi régime.-Early life:...
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) - Minister of Economics: Dr. Paul Lejeune-JungPaul Lejeune-JungPaul Adolf Franz Lejeune-Jung, was a German economist, politician, syndic in the pulp industry, and resistance fighter against Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.-Early life:Lejeune-Jung's roots were in an old Huguenot family in Berlin...
(lawyer and economist) - Minister of Finance: Ewald LoeserEwald LoeserEwald Oskar Ludwig Loeser was a German lawyer, a board member of Krupp AG and a member of the resistance to Nazism....
(formerly of the DNVPGerman National People's PartyThe German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...
) - Minister of Justice: Joseph Wirmer (ZentrumCentre Party (Germany)The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
) - Minister of Education: Eugen BolzEugen BolzEugen Anton Bolz was a German politician and a member of the resistance to the Nazi régime.- Life :Born in Rottenburg am Neckar, Eugen Bolz was his parents' twelfth child. His father, Joseph Bolz, was a salesman. His mother was Maria Theresia Bolz . Bolz studied law in Tübingen and there became a...
(ZentrumCentre Party (Germany)The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
) - Minister of Agriculture: Andreas HermesAndreas HermesAndreas Hermes was a German Christian Democratic Union politician, agricultural scientist, Finance Minister of the Weimar Republic, and a member of the resistance to Nazism.- Life :...
(ZentrumCentre Party (Germany)The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
) - Minister of Reconstruction: Bernhard LetterhausBernhard LetterhausBernhard Letterhaus was a German Catholic Trade Unionist and member of the resistance to Nazism.He grew up in Barmen, Wuppertal and after an apprenticeship in a textile factory, he was an active member of the Association of Christian textile workers...
(Christian Trade Union leader) - Minister of Information: Theodor HaubachTheodor HaubachTheodor Haubach was a German journalist, SPD politician, and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime....
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
).
The position of Minister of Foreign Affairs would have gone to either Ulrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell
Ulrich von Hassell was a German diplomat during World War II. A member of the German Resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler, Hassell was executed in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot.- Family :...
(former ambassador to Italy) or Count Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg
Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg
Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg was a German diplomat who served as the last German ambassador to the Soviet Union before Operation Barbarossa. He began his diplomatic career before World War I, serving as consul and ambassador in several countries...
(former ambassador to the Soviet Union) depending upon whether the Western powers or the Soviet Union signed an armistice with the new German government first. In the radio address Goerdeler planned to deliver once the putsch had triumphed included the statement "The persecution of the Jews, which has been carried out in the most inhuman, deeply shaming and quite irreparable ways, is to cease".
On 16 July 1944 Goerdeler saw his wife and children for the last time in Leipzig, and then departed for Berlin to prepare for the putsch planned for later that month. In the days preceding the putsch attempt of 20 July 1944, Goerdeler stayed at the home of General Beck in the Berlin suburb of Lichterfelde. Unlike Beck, Goerdeler was very confident of the success of the planned putsch, and in a most optimistic mood. On 17 July 1944, a warrant for Goerdeler's arrest was issued, causing him to go into hiding. Goerdeler spent the day of the putsch hiding out at the estate of his friend, Baron Palombrini, in an anxious and agiated state, listining obsessively to the radio for news of success. Following the failure of 20 July putsch, the Gestapo searched the room in which Goerdeler had been hiding at in the Anhalter Bahnhof hotel, in which they discovered a vast collection of documents relating to the putsch such as the text of Goerdeler's planned radio address to the German people as Chancellor. Much to Goerdeler's deep disappointment, it was Army troops led by Major Otto Ernst Remer
Otto Ernst Remer
Otto-Ernst Remer was a German Wehrmacht officer who played a decisive role in stopping the 1944 20 July Plot against Adolf Hitler. During the war he was wounded nine times in combat...
rather than the SS which crushed the putsch of July 20, marking the final time Goerdeler's hopes in the Army were to be dashed.
Kwidzyn
Kwidzyn is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa river, with 40,008 inhabitants . It has been a part of the Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, and was previously in the Elbląg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Kwidzyn County.-History:...
, Poland) while visiting the grave of his parents. After his arrest, eight members of Goerdeler's family were sent to the concentration camps under the Sippenhaft
Sippenhaft
Sippenhaft or Sippenhaftung was a form of collective punishment practised in Nazi Germany towards the end of the Second World War. It was a legalized practice in which relatives of persons accused of crimes against the state were held to share the responsibility for those crimes and subject to...
law. His brother Fritz
Fritz Goerdeler
Fritz Hermann Goerdeler was a German jurist and resistance fighter. Goerdeler was born as the younger brother of Carl Friedrich Goerdeler in Schneidemühl and grew up in Marienwerder, where his father had taken office as a judge at the local court in 1890. Goerdeler studied law and worked as a...
was also sentenced to death and executed on 1 March 1945. Under Gestapo interrogation and torture, Goerdeler claimed that the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
was the major reason for his seeking to overthrow the Nazi regime. On 9 September, after a trial at the People's Court, he was sentenced to death. Goerdeler was not physically tortured by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, and freely co-operated with the Gestapo in naming names, which made him the object of a considerable hatred from the other prisoners, who saw him as a spineless rat. Goerdeler's friend, the historian Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter was a conservative German historian.-Before the Third Reich:...
who shared the same prison with him reported that Goerdeler was never tortured, but was instead subjected to "the overheating of cells, painfully tight shackling especially at night, bright light shining on one's face while one tried to sleep, completely insufficient food". One prisoner recalled that Goerdeler was often "groaning aloud from hunger". Goerdeler's hope in confessing all was to overload the Gestapo with information, and thereby buy time to save his life and the others imprisoned; in the process, he caused hundreds involved in the plot to be arrested. During his time in prison, Goerdeler was asked by the SS to assist with writing the constitution of a future SS-ruled Germany. Goerdeler agreed, and often met with Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Inland-SD , a section of the SD. Ohlendorf was the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which conducted mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus...
and Dr. Mäding of the SD to provide his advice. Whatever Goerdeler was sincere in wishing to help the SS, or just tying to buy time to save his life remains unclear. During his time in prison, Goerdeler, who had always been a highly devout Lutheran when confronted with the loneliness of imprisonment and the utter defeat of his cause became increasingly preoccupied with spiritual matters. Goerdeler was overwhelmed with despair over what he considered to be the triumph of evil and the destruction of all that he loved. Goerdeler's friend, the historian Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Ritter
Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter was a conservative German historian.-Before the Third Reich:...
saw Goerdeler in prison in January 1945 and reported:
"I was...astonished at his undiminished intellectual power, but at the same time I was shocked by his outward appearance. It was a man grown old who stood before me, shackled hand and foot, in the same light summer clothes as had on when captured, shabby and collarless, face thin and drawn, strangely different. But it was his eyes that shocked me the most. They were once bright grey eyes and had flashed beneath the heavy eyebrows; that had always been the most impressive thing about him. Now there was no light in them; they were like the eyes of a blind man, yet like nothing I had seen before. His intellectual power was as it had always been; his spiritual strength was not. His natural cheerfulness had gone; his look seemed turned inward. What I beheld was a man with the weariness of death in his soul".
While Goerdeler was on death row, he wrote a letter which called the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
the very worst of Nazi crimes. But at the same time, Goerdeler remained anti-Semitic. In his "Thoughts of a Man condemned to Death" written towards the end of 1944 in prison, Goerdeler wrote:
"We should not attempt to minimize what has been happening, but we should also emphasize the great guilt of the Jews, who had invaded our public life in ways that lacked customary restraint"He was finally executed by hanging on 2 February 1945 at Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison was a Prussian institution built in Berlin between 1869 and 1879 near the lake Plötzensee, but in the neighbouring borough of Charlottenburg, on Hüttigpfad off Saatwinkler Damm. During Adolf Hitler's time in power from 1933 to 1945, more than 2,500 people were executed at...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. While awaiting his death sentence, Goerdeler wrote a farewell letter, which ended with "I ask the world to accept our martyrdom as penance for the German people."
Depiction in media
East German actor Max Bernhardt portrayed Goerdeler in the 1971 film Liberation: Direction of the Main BlowLiberation (film series)
Liberation is an epic five-part film series considered the most large-scale World War II film ever made in the Soviet Union. Filmed from 1967 to 1971, the first part was released during 1970 for the 25th anniversary of Victory Day...
.
English actor Kevin McNally
Kevin McNally
Kevin McNally is an English actor who has worked in theatre and radio extensively as well as in film and television.-Life and career:...
portrays Goerdeler in the 2008 Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially well-known among fans of the science fiction and superhero genres for his work on the X-Men films and Superman Returns.-Early life:Singer was born in New...
thriller Valkyrie
Valkyrie (film)
Valkyrie is a 2008 American historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot in 1944 by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country...
.