General Ludwig Beck:  General Beck was Chief of Army Staff in 1935.  He had advocated that all the Generals resign as a protest to Hitler's aggressive war policies.  Upon his resignation in 1938 he joined with other members of the civilian and military resistance and became a principle leader in the July 20 plot .  After an aborted suicide attempt he was executed on the evening of July 20, 1944.[back]
 
Concordat of  20 July 1933: Agreement between the Vatican and German governments which supposedly guaranteed the Church's rights in  Germany.  In the agreement Hitler guaranteed that Catholic institutions and organizations would be protected under German law.  For its' part the Church promised not to meddle in matters of the German State, etc.  Hitler did not fully honor his agreement and a number of Catholics were persecuted although senior clerics and the ritual procedures of Catholic practice were, for the most part, left alone.  The agreement enabled Hitler to secure a larger percentage of the Catholic vote in 1933. [back]

Confessing Church:   The Confessing  Church was developed from the "Pastors' Emergency League" an organization founded by Pastor Niemoller, Detrich Bonhoeffer, and other ministers who opposed  the "Deutscher Christen" manipulation of Christian teaching. Members of the Confessing Church were initially concerned with  the German Christian movement's efforts to aryanize Christian teaching.  They opposed efforts by the German Christians to eliminate the Old Testament, block non-aryans from joining the Church Community, etc. Eventually, the Confessing Church (many of its members) publicly opposed the regime's political and racial policies.   Many lost their lives as a result of their oppositon.[back]

Einsatzgruppen: Large killing units of the Security Police and SS Security Service that accompanied the German army into the Soviet Union. They were responsible for the execution of a countless number of Jews and other victims, executions were carried out mainly by mass shootings but various other means of brutality were implemented. [back]
 

Euthanasia Project: Secret Project initiated by Hitler to remove "Lebensunwertes Leben"(Life Unworthy of Life).  Countless numbers of crippled, mentally Ill (mostly children) were executed via carbon monoxide gassing, lethal injection, neglect, and various other means.  These victims were thought to be of inferior genetic stock and thus a drain on Germany's resources.  The project was protested against publicly and temporarily shut down.  In reality, it continued and was a preview of the impending Holocaust.[back]

Michael von Faulhaber: Catholic Bishop who actively protested Nazi intimidation of the Churches.  Gave a series of sermons condeming the "German Christian's" efforts to remove the Old Testament from Christian teaching.  [back]

Foreign Service:  The German Foreign Service became a crucial area by which the resisters could maintain contacts with the Allies and other outside organizations.  Foreign Service representatives like Adam von Trott zu Solz and others spent much of their time trying to arrange for a collaborative relationship with the Allies.[back]

Baron Werner von Fritsch:  General Fritsch had been incensed over the murders of  General Schleicher and his assistant.  He was dismissed on trumped up charges of homosexuality.  Although later reinstated his career had been ruined. He died in combat.[back]
 

Bishop August Graf von Galen:  Bishop of Munster who attacked Hitler's notions of racial purity.  Actively protested the Nazi Euthanasia Program which earned him the nickname of the "Lion of Munster". [back]

July 20 Plot (1944):  Failed coup attempt in which  Stauffenberg, General Olbricht and others had hoped to kill Hitler and stage a military coup under the guise of a domestic defense plan known as "Operation Valkyrie". [back]

Martin Niemoller: Former W.W.I Submarine Commander & war hero turned Evangelical Priest.  Active member in the Confessing Church.  Pastor Niemoller spent the duration of the war in various concentration camps as "personal prisoner of the Fuhrer".[back]

Night of the Long Knives:  Hitler purge of the SA, which took place on June 30, 1934.  During the "Night of the Long Knives" Hitler had many of the SA leadership murdered as well as others whom he viewed as a threat to his power.[back]

General Friedrich Olbricht:  Chief of the OKW General Army Office in Berlin from 1941- 44.  Developed plans for Operation Valkyrie with Beck, Stauffenberg and others.  General Olbricht gave the signal to launch Operation Valkyrie after Stauffenberg's bombing of the Wolf's lair.  [back]

Operation Flash:  An early attempt by General Tresckow and other resisters in Army Group Center to Kill Hitler.  One of Treskow's collaborators convinced another staff officer to ferry a package supposedly containing brandy to a comrade, the package was actually a bomb.  The officer carrying the package was flying with Hitler.  The bomb failed to detonate and Hitler subsequently survived .  Fortunately, for the plotters, the package was retrieved before the bomb was ever discovered. [back]

"People's Court" Trials:  These trials were modeled after the Stalinist mock trials in the Soviet Union.  Resisters and others were placed on public trial dressed in drab clothing, etc. in the hopes of presenting a negative image of those who opposed the regime.  Most individuals were executed hours after their supposed trial.[back]

Bishop Konrad Graf von Preysing: Became Bishop of Berlin in 1935, attacked Nazi policies in his various sermons.  Known to have met frequently with Military Resisters, is said to have given a personal blessing to Klaus von Staufenberg.[back]

Ernst Rohm:  National Socialist leader of SA and early compatriot of Hitler.  Rohm was dissatisfied with the "slow pace" the National Socialist were taking in seizing power.  He advocated a "Second National Socialist Revolution".  Hitler viewed this as a threat to his seizure of power via political maneuvering.  Rohm among many others was murdered during the " Night of the Long Knives". [back]
 

SA:  [also referred to as the "Brown Shirts"] The storm troops of the early Nazi party; organized in 1921. Utilized by the National Socialist in many of the street battles during ending years of the Weimar Republic.  Committed numerous brutalities against opponents of the National Socialist, Communist, and Jews.  Under the leadership of Ernst Rohm they nearly numbered 1 million. [back]

Lieutenant Fabian von Schlabrendorff:  Served as General Tresckow's adjuctant.  He was the chief contact between the resistance in Army Group Center and Beck's people in Berlin.  Survived the War and enjoyed a long legal carreer in Germany.  He died in 1980. [back]

Major-General Kurt von Schleicher:  Chancellor and political foe who preceded Hitler,  Schleicher was murdered (along with his wife) in his apartment during the "knight of the Long Knives" [back]

SS :   Abbreviation  for Schutzstaffel (Defense Protective Units). Originally organized as Hitler's personal bodyguard, they were effectively utilized by Hitler in his purge of the SA.  The SS developed into a fairly complex and mammoth organization under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler and it's primary focus was the extermination of European Jews.  The SS was also implemented in the battlefield.[back]
 

Sonderweg Thesis :  Notion that Germany developed along a singular path, setting it apart from other European countries.  This notion has often been used to explain events leading to the rise of National Socialism, the Holocaust, and German anti Semitism , etc.[back]

Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg:  Career officer, after being seriously wounded in Africa, Stauffenberg found himself disillusioned by  Hitler's war objectives.  He joined up with the resistance in Berlin and volunteered to plant a bomb in the Wolf's lair.  Stauffenberg was executed on the evening of the failed July 20 coup.[back]

Treaty of Versailles:(View copy of Treaty on Yale University's Avalon Project)  Treaty designed by members of the allied powers in the aftermath of World War I, its' chief objective was to keep Germany from being a future military threat.  The Treaty entailed the loss of territory to Germany, the establishment of the Polish corridor which separated East Prussia from the "Fatherland", and required that the German standing army exceed no more than 100,000 men.  The treaty also demanded a heavy cost on the German economy in the form of war reparations.  Once in power, Hitler began to break all aspects of the treaty.  [back]

Major-General Henning von Tresckow:  Tresckow was general staff officer of Army Group Center 1941-43.  In 1942 made several plans to kill Hitler.  Later, he worked with Stauffenberg in implementing Operation Valkyrie. Tresckow had voiced dissent over the actions against Jews and Russian POW's in the East.  He committed suicide after the attempted coup of July 20.[back]

Wolf's Lair: In the winter of 1940-41 Hitler established his new headquarters near Rastenburg. During the following years, the compound included extensive bunker systems and was well hidden from possible aerial attack. It was at the Wolf's Lair that Stauffenberg planted a bomb, in the hopes of staging a coup.[back]