ABSTRACT
In looking beyond the coup d'état itself, it was clear to all of us within the resistance that swift and decisive action against the top Nazi leaders and the SS would have to be taken immediately following the overthrow of the Hitler regime. It was imperative that we render powerless, within the shortest possible time, those representing the might of the Nazi Party, thereby eliminating with one stroke any danger of the Nazi forces regrouping and endangering the interim government which was to take over after Hitler's death. Our plans were complicated by the facts that Germany was at war and that Soviet troops were close to the Eastern borders. We knew, from our clandestine contacts with non-German countries, that we could expect little change in attitude by those at war with Germany, even in the event of an overthrow of the Nazi regime and the creation of an anti-Hitler government. We should in fact have to fend off the external adversary with one hand while trying to eliminate the internal enemy with the other—hardly an easy or enviable task.
