13 MINUTES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
The Carpenter Elser Versus the Führer Hitler
By Claus Christian Malzahn
Many consider Nov. 9 to be a fateful date for Germany. But it was 13 minutes on Nov. 8, 1939 that really changed the course of 20th century history. A carpenter from southern Germany, Johann Georg Elser, almost managed to assassinate Hitler before World War II had engulfed the continent and the world. For decades after the war, though, he remained largely forgotten.
By Claus Christian Malzahn
Many consider Nov. 9 to be a fateful date for Germany. But it was 13 minutes on Nov. 8, 1939 that really changed the course of 20th century history. A carpenter from southern Germany, Johann Georg Elser, almost managed to assassinate Hitler before World War II had engulfed the continent and the world. For decades after the war, though, he remained largely forgotten.
Nov. 9 is often considered a fateful date in German history. The first German republic was proclaimed in Berlin on Nov. 9, 1918. On Nov. 9, 1923, Adolf Hitler attempted to overthrow the German government in Munich. On Nov. 9, 1938, Jewish businesses and synagogues throughout Germany were set on fire during the nationwide pogrom known as the Night of the Broken Glass. And on Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. A fateful date? Definitely one imbued with the weight of history.
But it is the day before -- Nov. 8 -- which shows how tragic the mixture of coincidence, nature, and human activity can be. Indeed, had the world not lost 13 minutes on the evening of Nov. 8, 1939, an entire series of later, ominous dates in German history would never have taken place. Even the fall of the Berlin Wall would never have happened. Indeed, the Wall would never have been built.
Those 13 minutes on Nov. 8, 1939 were the most costly in the history of the 20th century. Within a period of less than six years, from 1939 to 1945, they cost humanity 50 million lives and virtually wiped European Jewry from the map. For the Germans, these 13 minutes resulted in post-war expulsions from Poland and Czechoslovakia -- and a divided nation.
The Munich airport was shut down on Nov. 8, 1939 because of heavy fog. As a result, the city's most prominent visitor on that day was forced to cancel his flight to Berlin and take the train instead. Adolf Hitler, who, on Sept. 1, 1939, had ordered the German Wehrmacht to attack Poland, thereby triggering World War II, had come to Munich to give a speech at the Munich beer hall called the Bürgerbräukeller, just as he had done on Nov. 8 in previous years. It was where the founding members of the Nazi party met every year to celebrate the attempted putsch of Nov. 8, 1923 -- a putsch that ended with Adolf Hitler in jail.
But it is the day before -- Nov. 8 -- which shows how tragic the mixture of coincidence, nature, and human activity can be. Indeed, had the world not lost 13 minutes on the evening of Nov. 8, 1939, an entire series of later, ominous dates in German history would never have taken place. Even the fall of the Berlin Wall would never have happened. Indeed, the Wall would never have been built.
Those 13 minutes on Nov. 8, 1939 were the most costly in the history of the 20th century. Within a period of less than six years, from 1939 to 1945, they cost humanity 50 million lives and virtually wiped European Jewry from the map. For the Germans, these 13 minutes resulted in post-war expulsions from Poland and Czechoslovakia -- and a divided nation.
The Munich airport was shut down on Nov. 8, 1939 because of heavy fog. As a result, the city's most prominent visitor on that day was forced to cancel his flight to Berlin and take the train instead. Adolf Hitler, who, on Sept. 1, 1939, had ordered the German Wehrmacht to attack Poland, thereby triggering World War II, had come to Munich to give a speech at the Munich beer hall called the Bürgerbräukeller, just as he had done on Nov. 8 in previous years. It was where the founding members of the Nazi party met every year to celebrate the attempted putsch of Nov. 8, 1923 -- a putsch that ended with Adolf Hitler in jail.
Because of the fog in Munich, Hitler began his speech at the Hofbräuhaus at 8:00 p.m., 30 minutes earlier than planned, so as not to miss the night train to Berlin. The Führer left the Bürgerbräukeller at 9:07 p.m. As it turned out, the bad weather saved his life. A bomb hidden in a column directly behind where Hitler had been speaking exploded at 9:20 p.m. The explosion was so powerful that part of the ceiling collapsed. Eight people were killed and 60 wounded, some seriously. When the bomb went off, Hitler was already sitting in a heated limousine, on his way to the train station.
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