Georg Elser

Family and early life Georg Elser (the name normally used to refer to him) was born in Hermaringen, Württemberg, to Ludwig Elser (1872–1942) and Maria Müller (1879–1960). His parents married one year after his birth, and Maria moved to Königsbronn to live with Ludwig on his smallholding. His father was a timber merchant, while his mother worked on the farm. Georg was often left to care for his five younger siblings: Friederike (born 1904), Maria (born 1906), Ludwig (born 1909), Anna (born 1910) and Leonhard (born 1913). He attended elementary school in Königsbronn from 1910 to 1917 and showed ability in drawing, penmanship and mathematics. His childhood was marred by his father's heavy drinking. Elser recalled in his interrogation by the Gestapo in 1939 how his father habitually came home late from work drunk. Career and social life In 1917, Elser worked for half a year assisting in his father's business. Seeking independence, he started an apprenticeship as a lathe operator at the smelter in Königsbronn, but had to quit for health reasons. Between 1919 and 1922, he was apprenticed to master woodworker Robert Sapper in Königsbronn. After topping his class at Heidenheim Trade School, he worked in the furniture factory of Paul Rieder in Aalen. In 1925, he left home to briefly work at the Wachter woodworking company in the small community of Bernried, near Tettnang. Exploring along Lake Constance on foot, he arrived at Friedrichshafen, where he found employment shaping wooden propellers for the fledgling aircraft-manufacturer Dornier. Elser met Josef Schurr, a Communist from Schnaitheim, at a Woodworkers' Union meeting in Königsbronn in 1933. Elser had antifascist views, supported by a letter that Schurr sent to a newspaper in Ulm in 1947 which stated that Elser "was always extremely interested in some act of violence against Hitler and his cronies. He always called Hitler a 'gypsy'—one just had to look at his criminal face." Elser's parents were Protestant, and he attended church with his mother as a child, though his attendance lapsed. His church attendance increased during 1939 – after he had decided to carry out the assassination attempt – either at a Protestant or Roman Catholic church. He claimed that church attendance and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer calmed him. He told his arresting officers: "I believe in the survival of the soul after death, and I also believed that I would not go to heaven if I had not had an opportunity to prove that I wanted good. I also wanted to prevent by my act even greater bloodshed." ==Prelude==

Motive During four days of interrogation in Berlin (19–22 November 1939), Elser articulated his motive to his interrogators: Five years later in Dachau concentration camp, SS officer Lechner claimed Elser revealed his motive to him: ==Plot==

In order to find out how best to implement his assassination plan, Elser travelled to Munich by train on 8 November 1938, the day of Hitler's annual speech on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch. Elser was not able to enter the Bürgerbräukeller until 10:30 p.m., when the crowd had dispersed. He stayed until midnight before going back to his lodging. The next morning, he returned to Königsbronn. "In the following weeks I slowly concocted in my mind that it was best to pack explosives in the pillar directly behind the speaker's podium," Elser told his interrogators a year later. He continued to work in the Waldenmaier armament factory in Heidenheim and systematically stole explosives, hiding packets of powder in his bedroom. Realising he needed the exact dimensions of the column to build his bomb he returned to Munich, staying 4–12 April 1939. He took a camera with him, a Christmas gift from Maria Schmauder. He had just become unemployed due to an argument with a factory supervisor. In April–May 1939, Elser found a labouring job at the Vollmer quarry in Königsbronn. While there, he collected an arsenal of 105 blasting cartridges and 125 detonators, causing him to admit to his interrogators, "I knew two or three detonators were sufficient for my purposes, but I thought the surplus will increase the explosive effect." Living with the Schmauder family in Schnaitheim he made many sketches, telling his hosts he was working on an "invention". In July, in a secluded orchard owned by his parents, Elser tested several prototypes of his bomb. Clock movements given to him in lieu of wages when leaving Rothmund in Meersburg in 1932 and a car indicator "winker" were incorporated into the "infernal machine". In August, after a bout of sickness, he left for Munich. Powder, explosives, a battery and detonators filled the false bottom of his wooden suitcase. Other boxes contained his clothes, clock movements and the tools of his trade. The Bürgerbräukeller Elser arrived in Munich on 5 August 1939. Using his real name, he rented a room in the apartments of two unsuspecting couples, at first staying with the Baumanns and from 1 September, Alfons and Rosa Lehmann. He soon became a regular at the Bürgerbräukeller restaurant for his evening meal. As before, he was able to enter the adjoining Bürgerbräukeller Hall before the doors were locked at about 10:30 p.m. Over the next two months, Elser stayed all night inside the Bürgerbräukeller 30 to 35 times. Working on the gallery level and using a flashlight dimmed with a blue handkerchief, he started by installing a secret door in the timber panelling to a pillar behind the speaker's rostrum. After removing the plaster behind the door, he hollowed out a chamber in the brickwork for his bomb. Normally completing his work around 2:00–3:00 a.m., he dozed in the storeroom off the gallery until the doors were unlocked at about 6:30 a.m. He then left via a rear door, often carrying a small suitcase filled with debris. Security was relatively lax at the Bürgerbräukeller. Christian Weber, a veteran from the Beer Hall Putsch and the Munich city councillor, was responsible. However, from the beginning of September, after the outbreak of war with Poland, Elser was aware of the presence of air raid wardens and two "free-running dogs" in the building. While he worked at night in the Bürgerbräukeller, Elser built his device during the day. He purchased extra parts, including sound insulation, from local hardware stores and became friends with the local master woodworker, Brög, who allowed him use of his workshop. On the nights of 1–2 November, Elser installed the explosives in the pillar. On 4–5 November, which were Saturday and Sunday dance nights, he had to buy a ticket and wait in the gallery until after 1 a.m. before he could install the twin-clock mechanism that would trigger the detonator. To celebrate the completion of his work, Elser recalled later, "I left by the back road and went to the Isartorplatz where at the kiosk I drank two cups of coffee." On 6 November, Elser left Munich for Stuttgart to stay overnight with his sister, Maria Hirth, and her husband. Leaving them his tool boxes and baggage, he returned to Munich the next day for a final check. Arriving at the Bürgerbräukeller at 10 p.m., he waited for an opportunity to open the bomb chamber and satisfy himself the clock mechanism was correctly set. The next morning he departed Munich by train for Friedrichshafen via Ulm. After a shave at a hairdresser, he took the 6:30 p.m. steamer to Konstanz. ==Bombing==

Hitler's escape The high-ranking Nazis who accompanied Adolf Hitler to the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch on 8 November 1939 were Joseph Goebbels, Reinhard Heydrich, Rudolf Hess, Robert Ley, Alfred Rosenberg, Julius Streicher, August Frank, Hermann Esser and Heinrich Himmler. Hitler was welcomed to the platform by Christian Weber. Unknown to Elser, Hitler had initially cancelled his speech at the Bürgerbräukeller to devote his attention to planning the imminent war with France, but changed his mind and attended after all. As fog was forecast, possibly preventing him from flying back to Berlin the next morning, Hitler decided to return to Berlin the same night by his private train. With the departure from Munich's main station set for 9:30 p.m., the start time of the reunion was brought forward half an hour to 8 p.m. and Hitler cut his speech from the planned two hours to a one-hour duration. • Maria Henle (30), cashier and waitress at the Bürgerbräukeller • Franz Lutz (53), SA-Sturmhauptführer • Wilhelm Kaiser (50), SA-Sturmhauptführer, deputy leader of NSKK Regiment 86 • Wilhelm Weber (37), SA-Mann, radio equipment technician • Leonhardt Reindl (57), Nazi member since 1923, awarded with the Honour Chevron for the Old Guard for being part of Alte Kämpfer • Emil Kasberger (54), long-time Nazi member, flautist in Traditionsgau München-Oberbayern • Eugen Schachta (32), SA-Mann, radio equipment technician, Haupteinsatzleiter for • Michael Schmeidl (73), Nazi member since before 1930 and retired Oberamtmann; died 13 November from arm injuries Honouring the victims In Munich on 9 November, the annual guard of honour for the sixteen "blood martyrs" of the NSDAP who died in the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 was held at the Feldherrnhalle as usual. Two days later, at the same location, an official ceremony for the victims of the Bürgerbräukeller bombing took place. Hitler returned from Berlin to stand before seven flag-draped coffins as Rudolf Hess addressed the SA guard, the onlookers, and listeners to Grossdeutsche Rundfunk ("Greater German Radio"). In his half-hour oration, Hess was not short on hyperbole: After "Der gute Kamerad" was played, Hitler placed a wreath of chrysanthemums on each coffin, then stepped back to lift his arm in the Nazi salute. The very slow playing of "Deutschland über alles" ended the solemn ceremony. Buried in the German archives in Koblenz until 1964, this report is now considered the most important source of information on Elser. The report did not mention the interrogation of Elser's family members and Elsa Härlen in Berlin, as the report contains only the answers Elser gave to his interrogators. On the vital question that he was the sole instigator, Elser had this to say: When Himmler read the final report, he flew into a rage and scrawled in green ink on the red cover: "What idiot wrote this?" Photos of two British SIS officers, Richard Henry Stevens and Sigismund Payne Best, captured in the Venlo Incident on 9 November 1939, shared the front page of Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung with a photo of Georg Elser. SS officer Walter Schellenberg later wrote in his memoirs (The Labyrinth): The Swiss magazine Appenzeller Zeitung reported on 23 November 1939 that Otto Strasser had denied any knowledge of Elser, Best or Stevens in an interview in Paris. On 13 November, Swiss authorities had expelled Strasser from Switzerland, after he was found to have made disparaging remarks about Hitler in a foreign newspaper in October. Torture, drugs and hypnosis The basement cells of the Berlin Gestapo Headquarters were notorious for the inhumane treatment of prisoners. It was rumoured Elser was kept imprisoned on the top floor until January or February 1941. Arthur Nebe told Hans Gisevius of Elser's frayed state during this period. Gisevius wrote later, Walter Schellenberg wrote of a conversation with Heinrich Müller, who told him, Three days later, Schellenberg heard from Müller that three doctors had worked on Elser for twenty-four hours, injecting him with "sizable quantities of Pervitin", but he continued to say the same thing. Four hypnotists were summoned. Only one could put Elser into a trance, but the prisoner stuck to the same story. The psychologist wrote in his report that Elser was a "fanatic" and had a pathological desire for recognition. He concluded by saying pointedly: Elser had the "drive to achieve fame by eliminating Hitler and simultaneously liberating Germany from the evil of Hitler.'" Reconstruction of the bomb While at Berlin Gestapo Headquarters, Müller put Elser into a workshop and ordered him to reconstruct the explosive device he used at the Bürgerbräukeller. When Reinhard Heydrich and Walter Schellenberg visited Elser in the workshop, Schellenberg noted, "He [Elser] responded to questioning only with reluctance but opened up when he was praised for his craftsmanship. Then he would comment on his reconstructed model in detail and with great enthusiasm." Elser's reconstruction of his Bürgerbräukeller bomb was held in such high regard by the Gestapo, they adopted it into their field manuals for training purposes. ==Aftermath==

Consequences for associates The day after the bombing at the Bürgerbräukeller, outraged SS guards at Buchenwald Concentration Camp responded by killing twenty-one Jews by firing squad and imposing three days of food deprivation on Jews in the camp. The Gestapo descended on the village of Königsbronn to interrogate the inhabitants, asking the same questions over and over for months on end. The village was stigmatized as a nest of criminals and became known as "Assassinville". Elsewhere, everyone who might have had contact with Elser was hunted down and interrogated by the Gestapo. Waldenmaier, the owner of the Waldenmaier armaments factory in Heidenheim, was more fortunate than Vollmer. With the backing of the Abwehr in 1944, he received the War Service Cross First Class for significant contributions to the war effort. In 1940, a Gestapo man had told him: "In spite of repeated torture, Elser had stuck to his story that he had carried out the attack in order to save the working people and the entire world from war." Martin Niemöller was also a special inmate in the Sachsenhausen "bunker" and believed the rumours that Elser was an SS man and an agent of Hitler and Himmler. Elser kept a photo of Elsa Härlen in his cell. In early 1945, Elser was transferred to the bunker at Dachau concentration camp. The order, dated 5 April 1945, from the Gestapo HQ in Berlin, was addressed to the Commandant of the Dachau concentration camp, SS-Obersturmbannführer Eduard Weiter. The order came into the possession of Payne Best in May 1945, and appeared in Best's book, The Venlo Incident. He was 42 years old. In 1954, SS-Oberscharführer Theodor Bongartz, the man in charge of the crematorium at Dachau, was determined to have been the murderer of Georg Elser, during a German court proceeding in which SS-Unterscharführer Edgar Stiller was on trial as an accessory to murder. As the SS man in charge of the special prisoners at Dachau from 1943 to 1945, Stiller was accused of escorting Elser to the crematorium where he was allegedly shot by Bongartz. Theodor Bongartz was not brought to account as he had died of an illness in 1945. ==Memorials==

In contrast to the conspirators of the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler, Elser was barely acknowledged in the official commemorative culture of the Federal Republic of Germany until the 1990s. A breakthrough to a positive way of looking at Elser came with the publication of a biography by Hellmut G. Haasis in 1999 followed by an expanded and revised edition in 2009. Since 2001, every two years the Georg-Elser Prize is awarded for courage, and on the occasion of Elser's 100th birthday in January 2003, Deutsche Post issued a special stamp. There are at least 60 streets and places named after Elser in Germany and several monuments. Welt journalist wrote in 2005: "That he was for so long ignored by the historians of both East and West Germany, merely goes to show just how long it took Germany to become comfortable with honestly confronting its own history. Johann Georg Elser, though, defied ideological categorization—and for that reason, he is a true German hero." In 2008, a music venue called Georg Elser Hallen was demolished in Munich. However, as of 2014, there were five venues in Munich bearing the name Georg Elser Hallen. In 2011, a steel sculpture of Georg Elser was unveiled in Berlin, by German playwright Rolf Hochhuth. The memorial, which cost 200,000 euros, was built on Hochhuth's initiative, after the city authorities dismissed the project as too expensive. In the end, the Berlin state senate financed the Elser sculpture, alongside a 50,000 euro donation by an anonymous benefactor. In September 1979, the Bürgerbräukeller was demolished. On its site now stands the GEMA Building, the Gasteig Cultural Centre and the Munich City Hilton Hotel. A plaque in the pavement at the entrance to the GEMA Building marks the position of the pillar that concealed Elser's bomb. 8. November 1939 is the name of the Johann Georg Elser Memorial in Munich to commemorate the resistance fighters fighting against the Nazis. The monument is located in the Maxvorstadt district. The story of Elser is commemorated in the 1989 film Seven Minutes () directed by Klaus Maria Brandauer, and the 2015 film 13 Minutes (), directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. The Georg Elser Prize was established in 2001. It is awarded every two years to individuals who have demonstrated civil courage or civil disobedience against injustice committed by the state. ==See also==