July 20, 1944, Paris
While Operation Valkyrie sputtered and died in Berlin, its first steps went smoothly in Paris.
Conspirators learned on July 19th that another assassination attempt would be made the following day. The code “Exercise” delivered to two different conspirators at the same time on the morning of the 20th confirmed that Claus von Stauffenberg was moving forward with the plan at Wolfsschanze. The code “Finished,” delivered at 2:30 pm, confirmed that the mission had been accomplished, Hitler was dead, and the Paris Wehrmacht prepared to launch the coup.
At 3:00 pm, Gen. Karl-Heinrich Stülpnagel, leader of the conspiracy in Paris, made an announcement to his staff and French officials who had gathered for a meeting about housing refugees from Normandy, telling them the Valkyrie Operation cover story: “There has been a Gestapo putsch—an attempt on the Führer’s life. All the SS and SD men here in Paris must be arrested. Do not hesitate to use force if there is any resistance. They all must be rounded up.” (Nigel Jones: Countdown to Valkyrie, p 204-2050)
At 6:00 pm, Stülpnagel received a call from Col. Gen. Ludwig Beck himself. “Are you aware of what’s happened in the last few hours?” the general asked.
“Yes,” Stülpnagel answered.
“In that case, I must ask if you are still with us?”
“General, I only await the opportunity.”
Aware that some conspirators were having second thoughts about moving ahead without clear confirmation of Hitler’s death, Beck probed: “The blow has been struck,” he acknowledged, “but we still don’t have any exact information on the outcome…are you with us, no matter what happens?”
“Yes. I’ve ordered the arrest of all the SS and SD men in Paris. We can rely on our troops here—as well as their commanding officers,” Stülpnagel responded.
“In any event,” Beck noted, “the die is cast. It’s impossible to turn back now.” (Countdown to Valkyrie, p 217)
By that time, the 1st Guards Regiment was ready to start arresting SS and SD men across the city. The arrests were delayed til nightfall, however, so “we won’t gratify the Parisians with the spectacle of Germans arresting their fellow countrymen,” the regiment commander reported. (Countdown to Valkyrie, p 218)
Once Lt. Col. Caesar von Hofacker heard from Stauffenberg that Hitler could no longer be alive, “The way to action [was] open.” (Eberhard Zeller: The Flame of Freedom, p 322)
Hofacker, Stülpnagel, and Col. Otfried Linstow set other aspects of Operation Valkyrie in motion:
Senior German signals officer in France, Gen. Oberhauser, was told to cut all radio and telephone communications between France and Germany (except for messages from Valkyrie Operation headquarters at Bendlerblock).
The Paris City Commandant and his chief of staff were told to arrest senior SS leaders and SD men in Paris and other French cities.
Col. Eberhard Finckh announced that a new German government had been formed under martial law and it was being led by Valkyrie operatives and leaders of the German military resistance: Col. Gen. Ludwig Beck and former German city mayor Carl Friedrich Goerdeler.
Other actors had to wait for orders from Field Marshal Günther von Kluge.
But Kluge was not sure about ordering other actions, particularly a general military revolt. He wanted to be absolutely convinced that Hitler was dead, but he kept getting mixed messages. While speaking to Beck, Kluge unfolded a piece of paper recapping the gist of a radio broadcast reporting that the assassination attempt on Hitler’s life had failed and insisted he be told exactly what had happened and what headquarters were doing about it. Yet Beck could not confirm one way or another.
Kluge received the first general order to proceed with the coup, supposedly from the new martial law government, at 7:30, stating: “The Führer is dead. All measures ordered are to be carried out with maximum speed.” (Flame, p 325) So he prepared to work directly with Allies on an armistice. Yet less than 30 minutes later, Kluge a message from the German High Command that countermanded all such orders and affirmed that the Führer was still alive.
Both Stülpnagel and Hofacker urged Kluge to pursue the coup. “Hitler did not matter anymore, only Germany,” said Stülpnagel. Hofacker pleaded to Kluge: “Your word and your honour are at stake. The fate of millions of Germans, the honour of the Army lies in your hands.” (Flame, p 328) But Kluge refused their entreaties.
Nevertheless, by that time, troops had gathered under the trees of the Bois de Boulogne, driven to SS and Gestapo headquarters at 82-86 Avenue Foch near the Arc d Triomphe, formed ranks in front of the building, and entered, leveling their weapons. The head of the SS in Paris, Obergruppenführer Carl-Albrecht Oberg, speaking to the German Ambassador to France on the telephone in his office on the Boulevard Lannes, had dropped the receiver, jumped up from his desk, and demanded to know why a German soldier was brandishing a weapon in his face before acquiescing. When told there had been a putsch in Berlin, Oberg had surrendered, assuming there had been a misunderstanding.
The head of the SD in Paris, Standartenführer Helmut Knochen, called back to his office from a nightclub, had been arrested and confined to a suite with Oberg at the Hotel Continental.
By midnight on July 20, 1944, 1200 Gestapo, SD, and SS men were locked in the jail of the military fort at St. Denis, sandbags were being piled up along the outer walls, and firing squads were being assembled. (Countdown)
Meanwhile, coup leaders in Paris were finding out about their compatriots in Berlin. Before 11:00 pm, Linstow reported what he had learned from Stauffenberg himself that “all is lost. Stauffenberg…gave the terrible news himself. His murderers were already raging around the corridors outside his room.” (Flame of Freedom, p 330)
At 1:00 am, just after Hitler’s speech was broadcast, units from the German Naval Group HQ West were freeing Gestapo, SD, and SS from detention, the Garrison Regiment that had arrested them was disarmed and the men taken into custody. By 2:00 am, all detainees had been released.
Though the immediate threat to the German rule in Paris and France had been dispelled, the actions taken on July 20 sparked fury against the army. The German ambassador to France Otto Abetz moved quickly to intercede, saying: “No matter what happened in Berlin today, here in France, with the battle for Normandy raging on our doorsteps, we Germans must stand shoulder to shoulder.” (Countdown, p 239)
Abetz mollified Oberg by explaining he had been arrested based on information that had been obtained in good faith and that had led Stülpnagel to believe the SS had been behind the attack on Hitler.
In the end, the army and the SS decided to cover up the entire affair. Noting that few French people were even aware of the arrests in the first place, the operation could for the most part be ignored. If any questions arose, the explanation was a simple one: simply a wartime exercise. (Flame of Freedom, p 332, Countdown, p 238)
Sources:
Nigel Jones: Countdown to Valkyrie, Frontline Books, 2008.
Eberhard Zeller: The Flame of Freedom, University of Miami Press, 1963