Operation Valkyrie and the Plot to Kill Hitler

On December 25, 2008, MGM studios will release VALKYRIE, the true story of the plot to kill Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944 by members of the German resistance. The film stars Tom Cruise as Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, the man who was given the task of planting the bomb intended to take out Hitler. It was filmed on location in Germany at many of the actual locations in which the events took place.

Recently, American Valor Quarterly editor Tim Holbert had the opportunity to speak with Christopher McQuarrie, co-producer and co-writer of the film. Included in this issue is that interview, which focuses on bringing one of the most incredible stories – and great tragedies – of World War II to the big screen.

Tim Holbert: Many of our readers will already know of the attempt on Hitler’s life on July 20, 1944. However, I would guess that few know just how involved the plot was and how many men were involved. Can you tell us a bit about the German resistance and Operation Valkyrie?

Christopher McQuarrie: Well, Operation Valkyrie was not actually the plot to overthrow Hitler. It was actually a plan that Hitler had designed to protect his government from any sort of internal uprising should he be cut off or killed. There was a concern that foreign workers and those opposed to him could rise up and overthrow the government should anything happen to him. Hitler had Valkyrie designed as a contingency plan to protect his government in that event.

The resistance secretly retooled that order to enable them to take over the government. They were going to create the impression that there was an attempt to overthrow Hitler from within the German government, as opposed to a civil uprising. At this point, Operation Valkyrie would go into effect, and the German Reserve Army would be used to unwittingly assist them in overthrowing the German government. That was the plan.

As far as the resistance movement was concerned, that is a much more complicated answer. There were many pockets of resistance, with different groups within both the German government and military, as well as civilian groups, that had been actively resisting Hitler and plotting against him from as early as the 1930s.

Tim Holbert: That is what is so interesting about this plot – that Operation Valkyrie was a plan that Hitler had signed off on, and it was used against him.

I saw the film at a recent screening and it struck me as being remarkably accurate. How did you get involved in the project and what interested you in the subject? Also, please tell us about the research that goes into a film like this, based on a largely unrecognized true story.

Christopher McQuarrie: I had been in Germany in early 2002. A tour guide was showing me the city, and the last place he took me was the Bendlerblock on the Stauffenberg-Strasse, or Bendler Strasse during the war. That was the site of the German Army High Command, and is now a monument to the German resistance. I knew a little bit about the story, and had seen other movies that referenced it. There is a subplot about it in The Desert Fox and a subplot in The Winds of War, and there are other German movies that have been made about the subject.

This plot is always something that has fascinated me. What I did not really know about was the extent to which they had gone to actually overthrow Hitler. The real challenge was not killing Hitler (though that was a significant challenge) the real challenge was overthrowing the government once he was gone. That is what really interested me. Like many, I had always assumed that one who was in the German Army during World War II was a Nazi or a member of the Nazi party. What I discovered was that a great many people within the German Army were not Nazis, but were former aristocrats who actually opposed the Nazis. There was a great deal of conflict within the German Army, and between the German Army – the Wehrmacht – and the SS. There was also conflict among members of the German High Command, between those who supported and those who opposed the Nazis. It was a much more complex picture than what is usually painted of the Germans who were in the military during World War II.