This series of posts at looks at Hitler’s hearing impairment. It is certainly not a tribute, but an interesting discussion of a hearing loss that was accumulated over a lifetime by an historical figure. This series is a re-visit of a topic that was first discussed at Hearing International August 27-September 10, 2013. While much of the content will be taken from the 2013 originals, components have been added in this visitation of Hitler’s Hearing Loss. At the end of this 3-week series, there will be an estimate of his likely hearing impairment.
While history will never know the extent of this impairment, there is evidence that can be compared with what we know today that gives us clues as to the extent of his hearing impairment. Did this have any effect on behavior? Did this cause miscommunication among trusted generals and others? Other issues? At the end of our discussion …you decide….RMT
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It is widely known that Adolf Hitler, like many World War I veterans, was exposed to intense noise during his time in the trenches. Speculation suggests that he may have suffered from high-frequency sensori-neural hearing loss as a result. While this remains speculative, there is documented medical evidence indicating that he experienced some hearing impairment during World War II, particularly as a consequence of drug injections and the failed assassination attempt against him on July 20, 1944.
In Part I of this series, we delve into the background of the plot to assassinate Hitler and the individuals involved.
Background: Plots Against Hitler
Since approximately 1938, there had been several plots within the German Army and Military Intelligence Organization to remove Hitler from power. Initially, these plots were driven by political adversaries of Hitler and his National Socialist Party, with no intention of forcefully taking over the German government. One such group, known as the Kreisau Circle, regularly convened at the home of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke in Kreisau (now Krzyżowa, Poland).
The circle aimed to plan and propose a peacetime government for Germany, founded on Christian values, without any plans to overthrow the Nazi state. However, their peaceful intentions would ultimately lead to their demise, as van Moltke remarked to his wife shortly before his execution, “we are to be hanged for thinking together.”
The July 20 Plot: Operation Valkyrie
The July 20 plot emerged as a modification of Operation Valkyrie (Unternehmen Walküre). Originally approved by Hitler, Operation Valkyrie was designed to be implemented in the event of a breakdown in civil order caused by Allied bombings or uprisings of forced laborers in German factories. Its purpose was to create the Reserve Army, which included members of the Kreisau Circle. However, these individuals drastically altered the Valkyrie plan, incorporating the assassination of not only Adolf Hitler but also Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler. German Army officers General Friedrich Olbricht, Major General Henning von Tresckow, and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg aimed to seize control of German cities, disarm the SS, and arrest the Nazi leadership following Hitler’s assassination. The death of Hitler was crucial to release German soldiers from their oath of loyalty to him.
By mid-1943, the tide of war had turned against Germany, prompting the Army plotters and their civilian allies to believe that assassinating Hitler would allow for the establishment of a government acceptable to the Western Allies. They hoped to negotiate a separate peace before the Soviet invasion of Germany became imminent.
Count von Stauffenberg Joins the Resistance
In August 1943, Major General Henning von Tresckow encountered Lieutenant Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg for the first time. Count von Stauffenberg, a conservative political figure, staunch German nationalist, and devout Roman Catholic, had been gravely wounded in North Africa. By early 1942, he shared the same conviction as many military officers: Germany was heading towards disaster, and Hitler’s removal from power was imperative.
After the Battle of Stalingrad in December 1942, despite his religious reservations, von Stauffenberg concluded that assassinating Hitler was a lesser moral evil than allowing him to remain in power. Von Stauffenberg’s involvement injected a newfound decisiveness into the resistance movement. When Tresckow was deployed to the Eastern Front, von Stauffenberg assumed responsibility for planning and executing the assassination attempt.
Plot Development: Operation Valkyrie Revised
After meticulous preparation, the plot was finally ready to be executed in 1944. While it was a modification of the plans proposed by the Kreisau Circle, General Olbricht suggested that it could serve as a means to mobilize the Reserve Army for the coup. In August and September 1943, Tresckow drafted the revised Valkyrie plan and supplementary orders. The secret declaration began with the words:
“The Führer Adolf Hitler is dead! A treacherous group of party leaders has attempted to exploit the situation by attacking our embattled soldiers from the rear in order to seize power for themselves.”
Detailed instructions were prepared for the occupation of government ministries in Berlin, Himmler’s headquarters in East Prussia, radio stations, telephone offices, and other Nazi apparatus through military districts and concentration camps.
Although it was previously believed that von Stauffenberg was primarily responsible for the Valkyrie plan, documents recovered by the Soviet Union after the war, released in 2007, suggest that Tresckow had developed the plan by autumn 1943. All written information was handled by Tresckow’s wife, Erika, and his secretary, Margarete von Oven, both of whom wore gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. The success of the plan relied on the cooperation or neutralization of General Friedrich Fromm, the commander of the Reserve Army, as only he had the authority to execute Operation Valkyrie. Fromm, like many senior officers, possessed knowledge of the military conspiracies against Hitler but neither supported nor reported them to the Gestapo.
Next up: The execution of the plot and how Hitler actually received a significant portion his hearing loss.
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