Operation Spark (1940)
Encyclopedia
Operation Spark was a plan generated in the early 1940s by German
anti-Nazis to assassinate Adolf Hitler
. Another Operation Spark
was conducted by the Red Army
during the siege of Leningrad
in 1943.
The name was coined by General Henning von Tresckow
, who believed that only after a 'spark' (Hitler's death) would other wavering collaborators agree to launch an internal coup d'état to stop the war.
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...
anti-Nazis to assassinate 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...
. Another Operation Spark
Operation Spark (1943)
Operation Iskra was a Soviet military operation during World War II, designed to break the German Wehrmacht's Siege of Leningrad. Planning for the operation began shortly after the failure of the Sinyavino Offensive. The German defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad in late 1942 had weakened the...
was conducted by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
during the siege of Leningrad
Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad, also known as the Leningrad Blockade was a prolonged military operation resulting from the failure of the German Army Group North to capture Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, in the Eastern Front theatre of World War II. It started on 8 September 1941, when the last...
in 1943.
The name was coined by General 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...
, who believed that only after a 'spark' (Hitler's death) would other wavering collaborators agree to launch an internal coup d'état to stop the war.
Collaborators
- 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....
– former Chief of General Staff of the German Army (Heer) - General Henning von TresckowHenning von TresckowGeneralmajor 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...
– Chief Operation Officer, Army Group Center, Russian FrontEastern Front (World War II)The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945... - Lieutenant Fabian von SchlabrendorffFabian von SchlabrendorffFabian Ludwig Georg Adolf Kurt von Schlabrendorff , was a German jurist, soldier and member of the resistance against Adolf Hitler....
– Tresckow's Special Operations Officer - Colonel Rudolph-Christoph von Gersdorff – Tresckow's AbwehrAbwehrThe 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...
Intelligence Liaison Officer - Captain Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche, Wehrmacht officer who served on the Eastern Front and witnessed the mass execution of Jews in DubnoDubnoDubno is a city located on the Ikva River in the Rivne Oblast of western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Dubno Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
in 1942 - Captain Eberhard von BreitenbuchEberhard von BreitenbuchEberhard von Breitenbuch was a German cavalry officer who served in Army Group Centre of the Wehrmacht during World War II with the rank of Rittmeister and took part in the military-based conspiracy against Adolf Hitler that culminated in the July 20 Plot.He was born in Dietzhausen near Suhl,...
, Cavalry Captain in Army Group Center and past aide to Field Marshals 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:...
and Günther von KlugeGünther von KlugeGünther 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... - Lieutenant Colonel Werner SchraderWerner SchraderWerner Schrader was a German military officer involved in the 20 July plot, a coup d'état attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
.
Planned Attempts
- Bomb on Hitler's aircraft: On 13 March 1943, Colonel Henning von TresckowHenning von TresckowGeneralmajor 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...
and Lieutenant Fabian von SchlabrendorffFabian von SchlabrendorffFabian Ludwig Georg Adolf Kurt von Schlabrendorff , was a German jurist, soldier and member of the resistance against Adolf Hitler....
planted a bomb on an aircraftAircraftAn aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
that Hitler was to fly between his military headquarters in Rastenburg, East PrussiaEast PrussiaEast 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...
and Army Group Center Headquarters in SmolenskSmolenskSmolensk 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...
, USSR. The bomb was a simple one – triggered by a timer fuse, a bottle of acid would break and the acid eat through a wire that held back a hammer that would detonate the bomb. It was adapted from a captured silent BritishUnited KingdomThe 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...
Plastic-C time bomb. They ensured that the bomb (in the shape of two bottles of CointreauCointreauCointreau is a brand of triple sec produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France. It is drunk as an apéritif and digestif, and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called "Curaçao Blanco Triple Sec".-Production:...
liqueurLiqueurA liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
), was safely taken aboard Hitler's aircraft (A Lufthansa Focke-Wolfe 200 Condor) with Hitler in it. They also waited until the aircraft had flown. However, the bomb did not explode and Hitler arrived safely. Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff who retrieved the bombs found that the bomb had remained as it was. The fuse worked, the glass cover was broken, the acid cut down the wire, the little hammer hit the bomb, but the bomb didn't react. This may have been the one flaw in the British C bombs – they sometimes did not explode at low temperatures (as may have been on the flight).
- Bomb At Museum: On 21 March 1943 Army Group Center organized a display of Russian Army flags seized at the Eastern Front. This was organized at a weapons museum in BerlinBerlinBerlin 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...
. Colonel Rudolph-Christoph von Gersdorff volunteered to be the human time bomb, and would embrace Hitler as the bombs exploded ensuring his and Hitler's deaths. He had with him bombs with ten-minute fuses, knowing that Hitler would be in the museum for 20 minutes. However, at the last minute just before Hitler was to appear, the duration of his stay was reduced to just eight minutes as a security precaution. Hitler breezed through in two minutes. As a result, Gersdorff could not accomplish his mission, and the assassination plan failed again, but he barely managed to get out and defuse the bombs.
- Winter Uniform Bomb: On 16 November 1943, Captain Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche planned to assassinate Hitler by exploding a bomb placed inside a planned demonstration of a new winter uniform. The night before the scheduled demonstration, however, the train car in which the new uniforms had been stored sustained a direct hit from an Allied bombing raid.
- Suicide Mission: On 11 March 1944, Captain Eberhard von BreitenbuchEberhard von BreitenbuchEberhard von Breitenbuch was a German cavalry officer who served in Army Group Centre of the Wehrmacht during World War II with the rank of Rittmeister and took part in the military-based conspiracy against Adolf Hitler that culminated in the July 20 Plot.He was born in Dietzhausen near Suhl,...
(another Tresckow recruit) volunteered to walk into Hitler's conference room and shoot the Führer at point blank range knowing that he himself would be killed by SS guards. But Breitenbuch never had his chance because, owing to a Führer directive issued the same day he planned to carry out his mission, officers of his rank were no longer allowed to attend Führer briefings.
- Watertower Bomb: In yet another attempt two army conspirators smuggled a bomb into Hitler's Wolf's Lair and lowered it into a watertower. But the bomb mysteriously exploded a few weeks later jolting the SS guards. SS Chief Himmler immediately launched an inquiry into the incident which was deliberately blocked by Lieutenant Colonel Werner SchraderWerner SchraderWerner Schrader was a German military officer involved in the 20 July plot, a coup d'état attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler.-Early life:...
– the investigative officer in charge and, as it turned out, a fellow conspirator.
Additional readings
- Moorhouse, Roger, Killing Hitler, (2006), London, Jonathan Cape, ISBN 0-224-07121-1
- Dulles, Allen W., Germany's Underground (1947), Da Capo Press, ISBN 0-313-20287-7
- Galante, Pierre with Silianoff, Eugène. Operation Valkyrie: The German Generals' Plot against Hitler. Translated from the French by Mark Howson and Cary Ryan. (2002) New York: Cooper Square Press, ISBN 0-8154-1179-0
- Dunn, Walter S. Jr. Heroes or Traitors: The German Replacement Army, the July Plot, and Adolf Hitler. (2003) Westport: Praeger Publishers, ISBN 0-275-97715-3