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Johann Georg Elser (4 January 1903 - 9 April 1945) was a German opponent of Nazism. He is best remembered for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1939. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... Assassin and Assassins redirect here. ... Hitler redirects here. ...

Vocational career and social life

special issue stamp from Deutsche Post, 100. birthday of Georg Elser (2003)

Elser was born in Hermaringen, Württemberg. His parents were Ludwig Elser and Maria Müller, who married one year after Georg's birth. Georg attended elementary school in Königsbronn from 1910 to 1917 and showed ability in drawing and handicrafts. His father was a farmer and lumber dealer, and expected his son to succeed him in this trade, but Georg, who had helped his father in his work, chose instead to pursue interests of his own. He began an apprenticeship as a lathe operator in a foundry, which, two years later, he had to cancel for health reasons. He began an apprenticeship as a carpenter, which he finished in 1922. Next, he worked as a carpenter in several joineries in Königsbronn, Aalen and Heidenheim. From 1925 to 1929, he worked in a watch factory in Konstanz where he acquired the knowledge enabling him to build the timer for the bomb, which he was later to use in the assassination attempt. From 1929 to 1932 he worked, again, as a carpenter, in Switzerland. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Deutsche Post Tower in Bonn Deutsche Post AG (ISIN: DE0005552004, LSE: DPO) is a German post, logistics and courier headquartered in Bonn, previously the German state-owned mail monopolist. ... Hermaringen is a small village in the South of Germany. ... Arms of the Kingdom of Württemberg The title of this article contains the character ü. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Wuerttemberg. ... Königsbronn is a town in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of skilled crafts practitioners, which is still popular in some countries. ... Center lathe with DRO and chuck guard. ... A foundry is a factory which produces castings of metal, both ferrous and non-ferrous. ... Carpenter at work in Tennessee, June 1942. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Joiner is a woodworker who makes and installs architectural woodwork, including things that are called Finish carpentry and millwork in the USA. Joiners fabricate and install building components such as doors, windows, stairs, wooden panelling, mouldings, shop cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and other wooden fittings. ... Aalen (pronounced ) is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. ... Heidenheim an der Brenz (short: Heidenheim) is a city in eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Konstanz in 1925 seen from the lake Schnetztor, a section of the former city wall Another gate from city wall Shops in Konstanz The Konzilgebäude in Konstanz Konstanz (in English formerly known as Constance) is a university town of around 80,000 inhabitants at the western end of Lake... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

After his return to Königsbronn, he worked with his parents. From 1936, he worked in a fitting factory in Heidenheim. While working here, he became familiar with the Nazis' rearmament program. 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ...

Elser was a quiet yet sociable man, joining in different cultural societies and clubs, amongst others, a Tracht club. He played the cithara and the double bass for the local choir. He also loved to hike together with his friends. An Austria folkloric group There has been a renewed interest in Germanic traditional costumes, or Tracht. ... The kithara, also spelled cithara, was an ancient Greek musical instrument. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

In 1930 his girlfriend, Mathilde Niedermann, gave birth to his son Manfred. This pregnancy was not planned and to some extent mirrors Elser's own birth, but, unlike his parents, Elser did not marry Mathilde and separated from her soon afterwards. He was obliged to pay child support for his son's upbringing; he did this with some resentment, and was not always on time. Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... In many countries, child support or child maintenance is the ongoing obligation for a periodic payment made by a non-custodial parent to a custodial parent, caregiver or guardian, for the care and support of children of a relationship or marriage that has been terminated. ...

Political and philosophical thinking

Elser's political thinking was first stirred during his years as an apprentice. He became a member of the federation of wood workers union. He believed that one should join a union, and gave this as his explanation for his own membership. In 1928, a colleague persuaded him to join the Red Front Fighters' Association, a militant organization affiliated with the Communist Party.^[1] Elser did not devote much time to these memberships. Though he was not a convinced Communist - he was a devoted church going Protestant - he voted for the Communist Party until 1933, as he considered them to be the best defenders of workers' interests.^[1] Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rotfrontkämpferbund (RFB, other variants: Rote Frontkämpferbund, Roter Frontkämpferbund) (English: Red Front Fighters League, Red Front Fighters Association) was a paramilitary organization of the Communist Party of Germany, created on July 18, 1924 in Germany of the Weimar Republic period. ... 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ... 1932 KPD poster, End This System The Communist Party of Germany (German Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands – KPD) was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Elser was opposed to Nazism from the beginning of the regime, and after 1933 refused to perform the Hitler salute, or to join others in listening to Hitler's speeches broadcast on the radio. Nor did he vote in the Third Reich's pseudo-elections or referendums.^[1] Nazism in history Nazi ideology Nazism and race Outside Germany Related subjects Lists Politics Portal         Nazism or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... Adolf Hitler and others at a Nazi party rally, Nuremberg, Germany, performing the salute. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ...

His opposition was initially motivated by his concerns about working conditions, and the lowering of working wages. His understanding of politics was influenced strongly by his political associations. He detested the restrictions on civil rights. He especially despised Nazi restrictions on workers' freedoms, such as the choice of employment and the right to organize. Equally, he loathed the Nazis' propaganda and their total control of the educational system, as well as the curtailing of religious freedoms.

Regarding his religious beliefs, Elser was a Protestant of a simple, non-intellectual and traditional type. His only prayer was the Lord's Prayer, which he said daily, and which he said sustained him in the burdensome preparations for his assassination attempt^{[citation needed]}. The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch. ...

The assassination attempt

In autumn of 1938, Europe was on the verge of war because of the Sudetenland Crisis. After the experience of World War I, the Germans were apprehensive about another war and Elser shared this anxiety. Though war was averted at the last minute, Elser mistrusted Hitler's peace proclamations and considered removing the Nazi leadership by assassination. Reflecting on how to implement his plan, Elser travelled to Munich on 8 November, 1938, to attend Hitler's annual speech on the anniversary of the failed Hitler Putsch. The craftsman from Königsbronn not only judged the poorly-guarded event to be a favourable opportunity, but also witnessed the same night the outbursts of anti-Jewish violence during the Kristallnacht. This experience convinced Elser that a leadership capable of inciting such violence would plunge Germany into a major war, and that only Hitler's death could stop this move into catastrophe. Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the annual global security meeting held in Munich, see Munich Conference on Security Policy Chamberlain holds the paper containing the resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by both Hitler and himself on his return from Germany in September 1938. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Beer Hall Putsch was a failed coup détat that occurred between the evening of Thursday, November 8 and the early afternoon of Friday, November 9, 1923, when the Nazi partys leader Adolf Hitler, the popular World War I General Erich Ludendorff, and other leaders of the Kampfbund... Kristallnacht, also known as Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, Crystal Night and the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom[1] against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on November 9–November 10, 1938. ... For other uses, see War (disambiguation). ...

Elser chose the next anniversary of the Hitler Putsch, when Hitler would return to Munich, and decided to kill him with a bomb during his speech. After he had constructed the bomb, Elser travelled to Munich again. He managed to stay inside the Bürgerbräukeller after closing hours each night for over a month, during which time he hollowed out the pillar behind the speaker's rostrum, and placed the bomb inside it. The Bürgerbräukeller was an inn cellar in Munich, by 1933 one of the preferred gathering saloons of the NSDAP. It was one of the large beer halls of the Bürgerliches Brauhaus public limited company, and after its merger with Löwenbräu, the cellar was transferred to...

While he was making these preparations, World War II broke out on 1 September 1939, proving his estimations correct. Elser however, being focused on his work, hardly noticed this. Unbeknownst to Elser, Hitler had cancelled his planned speech at the Bürgerbraukeller because of the war, but then changed his mind, and agreed to attend the anniversary after all. This was on the condition that he could return to Berlin that same night. Since fog prevented a flight back to Berlin, Hitler decided to take the train, which meant finishing his speech earlier than expected. On 8 November, 1939, the bomb exploded at 21:20, exactly as Elser had planned, but Hitler had already left the room thirteen minutes earlier. Eight people died and sixty-three were injured, sixteen of them seriously, and Elser's plot to assassinate Hitler had failed.^[1] Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Arrest and custody

Elser was arrested by chance at 20:45, about 35 minutes before the bomb exploded, by the customs border police in Konstanz when he tried to cross the border into Switzerland. At first the officers did not suspect his involvement in the assassination attempt, but then they found picture postcards from the Bürgerbräukeller in Elser's coat. Elser was transferred to Munich, where he was interrogated by the Gestapo. Elser remained silent and denied any involvement in the explosion, but the evidence pointing to his complicity became increasingly clear. What finally pointed to Elser as the would-be assassin, were his bruised, scraped knees. As it turned out, the hollow space in the column where the explosives had been hidden, could only have been reached by an assassin crawling on his knees. Waitresses then identified Elser as a frequent patron of the Bürgerbräukeller, and he eventually confessed. The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...

After his confession to the crime in Munich, Elser was taken to the headquarters of the German Reich's security agency in Berlin, where he was severely tortured by the Gestapo. The SS chief Heinrich Himmler was not satisfied that a diminutive Swabian, a craftsman with a grade-school education, could have almost managed to assassinate the Führer without accomplices. The protocol from the Gestapo was recovered at the end of the 1960s. These 203 pieces of paper are the most important sources of information about Georg Elser. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and the Nazi hierarchy. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ...

Elser was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. Although he consistently claimed to have been acting on his own, the Nazis, especially Goebbels persisted in suspecting a British-led conspiracy, and intended to stage a trial exposing this alleged plot after the war. Elser was kept in special custody. The mystery about the identity of this "special security prisoner" sometimes led to malicious rumours among his fellow inmates. Even after the war, Martin Niemöller, also in custody at Sachsenhausen, claimed that Elser had been a member of the SS and that the whole assassination attempt had been staged by the Nazis to portray Hitler as being protected by Providence. However, historical research (Anton Hoch, 1969) has confirmed that Elser acted completely alone, and no evidence involving the regime, or any outside group has been found. Entry to the camp Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp in Germany, operating between 1936 and 1950. ... The main entrance just after the liberation Memorial at the camp, 1997. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ) (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (January 14, 1892 – March 6, 1984) was a prominent German anti-Nazi theologian[1] and Lutheran pastor. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop...

See, however also "The Venlo Incident" by Captain S. Payne Best by HUTCHINSON & CO. (Publishers) Ltd., London 1950. As a longtime prisoner (1939-45) in Sachenhausen Concentration Camp, he befriended Georg Elser, and got to know a slighter different version, as to the background for the assination (chapter VI, p. 127 f.f.)

Death

In April 1945 German defeat became imminent and Allied troops were drawing nearer to Dachau. This meant that the Nazis' aim of staging a trial became futile, so Hitler ordered the killing of the "special security prisoner Eller", the name by which Elser was called in Dachau. The head of the Gestapo, SS-Gruppenführer Heinrich Müller delivered the order for this killing to the Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, Obersturmbannführer Eduard Weiter. Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... This article is about the independent states that comprised the Allies. ... The main entrance just after the liberation Memorial at the camp, 1997. ...

Following order has arrived: At one of the next terror attacks on Munich area of Dachau, "Eller" has a deadly accident. I ask you to liquidate "Eller" without attracting attention after such a situation appears. Also take special care that only a few people who are specially bound come to know of this. The message for me then shall be something like...

On...caused by a terror attack (air raid) on.... security prisoner "Eller" fatally injured"

Elser was killed by gunshot on 9 April 1945, in the Dachau concentration camp, just a few weeks before the end of war. The plaque below is dedicated to his memory. It is to be found in Königsbronn. is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... The main entrance just after the liberation Memorial at the camp, 1997. ...

"I wanted through my deed to prevent even greater bloodshed".

"In remembrance of Johann Georg Elser, who spent his youth in Königsbronn. On 8 November 1939, he wanted to thwart genocide with his assassination attempt on Hitler. On 9 April 1945, Johann Georg Elser was murdered at Dachau concentration camp."

A small square in the Maxvorstadt in downtown Munich is named Georg-Elser-Platz after him. A concert hall in Munich - the Georg Elser Halle - is named after him. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 255 pixelsFull resolution (1590 × 506 pixel, file size: 87 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Gedenktafel am Georg-Elser-Museum in Königsbronn (Image 2003 by redbird) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Claus Christian Malzahn (November 8, 2005). The Carpenter Elser Versus the Führer Hitler. Der Spiegel International. Retrieved on 2006-01-26.

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Georg Elser

• The Carpenter Elser Versus the Führer Hitler from Der Spiegel (in English)
• http://www.georg-elser.de
• http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/ElserJohannGeorg/
• http://www.shoa.de/p_georg_elser.html
• http://www.radio-bremen.de/online/elser/index.html
• http://www.heiligenlexikon.de/index.htm?BiographienG/Georg_Elser.html
• http://www.georg-elser-hallen.com
• "The Carpenter Elser Versus the Führer Hitler" Der Spiegel, 8th November 2005
• Einer aus Deutschland The 1989 Movie, also known as Georg Elser or Seven Minutes.