military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (11/08/89)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Wednesday, 8 November, 1939 On the anniversary of his 1923 putsch, Hitler speaks at the Burgerbrau Keller beer hall in Munich, announcing Germany's preparedness to fight and win a five-year war, if necessary. Hitler leaves unexpectedly, and 13 minutes later, a bomb explodes, killing seven and wounding 63, including Eva Braun's father. When told by Goebbels of the bombing, Hitler exclaims, "The fact that I left earlier than usual is a corroboration of Providence's intention to let me reach my goal." Germany's Catholic press declares his survival a miraculous working of providence, and Cardinal Faulhaber instructs that a Te Deum be sung in the Munich cathedral. The Pope sends personal congratulations to Hitler. Berlin sources claim that the plot bears traces of foreign origin, and offers a reward of 500,000 marks (about $200,000) for information identifying the perpetrators. Foreign sources, though, are quick to claim that the bombing may be a ruse to bolster Hitler's popularity. William Shirer opines that "it smells of another Reichstag fire." First Sea Lord Churchill, in a speech before the House of Commons, looks optimistically toward the sea war, declaring that the U-boats were being mastered. He also ridicules the numerous German claims of sinking warships such as HMS Hood and Ark Royal, quipping that he would be "content to engage the entire Germany Navy, using only vessels which at one time or another they have declared they destroyed." Reporters: Bob Beville (rbeville%tekig5.pen.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET) Tom Tedrick (tedrick@ernie.Berkeley.EDU) Reference: BERLIN DIARY, William L. Shirer -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@cbnews.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "The reply to this crime, therefore, cannot be doubted. Now all enemies of the State still in the territory of the Greater German Reich will be harshly cleaned out." - Volkischer Beobachter, Nazi Party paper