One of the darkest aspects of World War II unfolded inside the execution chamber of Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. Dozens of former soldiers, including senior officers and generals, were hanged from a large wooden beam. Before facing their deaths, they were subjected to torture. These were the men implicated in the July 20 plot, a conspiracy that saw Hitler’s headquarters, the Wolf’s Lair, hit by a devastating explosion.
Several people inside the meeting when the bomb detonated were killed that day. However, the dictator, who was the intended target, survived by pure chance. Enraged and seeking revenge for the attack, Adolf Hitler organized horrific executions. He also made an extraordinarily cruel request. He allegedly ordered that the executions of these traitors be filmed so he could watch them later and see with his own eyes that justice had been carried out.
The decision to film the executions of his enemies is closely tied to the brutal vengeance that followed the bombing at the Wolf’s Lair. Claus von Stauffenberg, a high-ranking officer and colonel, carried the bomb into Hitler’s military headquarters in East Prussia. The bomb exploded during a conference, killing four people. Hitler survived with a perforated eardrum and minor injuries.
The bombing was only the first part of a much larger plan. The conspirators intended to kill Hitler, seize control of Germany using the Reserve Army, dismantle the Nazi leadership, and attempt to negotiate an end to World War II. When the coup collapsed quickly, Stauffenberg and several key conspirators were executed that same night in Berlin. They were shot near the headquarters where the plot was coordinated.
Hitler wanted far more revenge than a quick execution. The Gestapo launched a massive investigation into the conspiracy. Thousands of people were arrested, including senior military officers, politicians, civil servants, and relatives or associates of suspected conspirators. In the end, thousands were executed or killed as the Third Reich dealt with the betrayal with extreme brutality.
Hitler viewed the plot as an exceptional betrayal because many involved came from military, aristocratic, and conservative establishment backgrounds. They were not ordinary people from the lower classes or communists trying to undermine him. This was a sophisticated military conspiracy from an influential group that nearly succeeded in toppling the Reich’s leadership. Because of this, Hitler wanted the main conspirators not only killed but also publicly humiliated before their deaths.
Many of the conspirators appeared before the infamous People’s Court, presided over by Judge Roland Freisler. These trials were essentially show trials. Freisler screamed at the defendants, berated them, and insulted them. He prevented them from properly explaining their actions. Several defendants were not allowed to wear belts or suspenders, causing their trousers to fall down during the trial. They were forced to stand holding them up. It was a pathetic attempt to bring shame upon them, but it shows how cruel Hitler was and how determined he was to humiliate these men.
Some were also forced to wear ragged clothing. Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben was one of those subjected to this treatment. The trials were filmed, and the regime hoped the footage would show the shame and betrayal of the conspirators and deter others from becoming traitors.
Something even darker happened after the death sentences were handed down. Hundreds and thousands of military and armed forces personnel were executed in groups. On August 8, 1944, the first group of condemned conspirators was taken to Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. This was a notorious prison. The group included Erwin von Witzleben, Erich Hoepner, and several other prominent resistance members.
As military officers, some might have expected a firing squad. This was considered a military death with some honor, but Hitler did not want that. He chose instead to have these men hanged. The method of execution was deliberately degrading. The execution chamber at Plötzensee had meat hooks mounted on the walls and a thick wooden beam for hanging overhead. The condemned men were hanged with thin ropes rather than being given a firing squad.
The thin rope was deliberately cruel, allowing the men to be hanged in a painful way. They were then lowered, revived, and the process was repeated over and over until they finally died. As noted, the executions were filmed on Hitler’s orders. The filming served several purposes.
The executions represented Hitler’s personal desire for revenge against those who tried to kill him. The July 20 bomb plot had come terrifyingly close to success. Hitler considered those involved not just political opponents but traitors who had personally attempted to assassinate him and overthrow his government. Recording their deaths provided proof that his orders had been carried out. It also turned the executions into a spectacle that he and other Nazi leaders could watch without actually attending.
Did Hitler himself watch the films? It has long been believed that Hitler watched the execution footage. Some claim he watched it repeatedly and laughed. There is a problem with this claim. We do not know for certain whether Hitler watched the films or how he reacted. What is confirmed is that some executions related to the bomb plot were filmed, but we do not know if Hitler enjoyed watching those cruel tapes.
The execution footage did not remain available to the public in the same way the People’s Court footage did. Today, we do not know where that footage is. It is possible the Nazis destroyed it at the end of the war. It is sometimes assumed the execution films were made to show the German people, but this is not true. Nazi Germany used execution as a tool of intimidation, but the actual execution footage was not shown in German cinemas. Most executions were carried out under strict control.
The filming was primarily intended for restricted viewing within the Nazi leadership. It was likely meant for Hitler’s eyes only. The goal was not to convince millions of Germans that the conspirators deserved punishment, but to prove to Hitler that revenge had been achieved. The camera also made the punishment permanent, turning the act of execution into an eternal visual record.
It is also worth noting that the bodies of the executed conspirators were denied any proper burial ceremonies. The bodies of those executed at Plötzensee were often taken for cremation instead of being returned to their families for traditional military or family burial. Prison records indicate the ashes were sent to the Reich Ministry of Justice. What happened to those ashes afterward is unknown.
The executions in August 1944 were just the beginning. More and more trials followed, and more death sentences were handed down to conspirators. In total, thousands were executed in brutal reprisals. Hitler wanted the executions filmed because he wanted revenge. He wanted to humiliate his enemies and intimidate others. He had survived one of the most serious attempts on his life ever made.
The plot revealed something deeply troubling for the Nazi leadership: opposition existed within the German armed forces and among the elites of German society. The response was designed to crush that opposition. Filming the executions was meant to prove directly to Hitler that his brutal wishes and vengeful actions in response to the assassination attempt had been carried out.