Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann Erwin von Witzleben was a German Generalfeldmarschall in the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. A leading conspirator in the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he was designated to become Commander-in-Chief of the Wehrmacht in a post-Nazi regime had the plot succeeded.
Field Marshal von Witzleben in 1940 or 1941
Witzleben (r.) with Reichswehr Generaloberst Wilhelm Heye, c. 1930
Hitler, Witzleben and SS-Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Field Marshals Rundstedt and Witzleben in France, March 1941
The 20 July plot was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and subsequently to overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German resistance, mainly composed of Wehrmacht officers. The leader of the conspiracy, Claus von Stauffenberg, planned to kill Hitler by detonating an explosive hidden in a briefcase. However, due to the location of the bomb at the time of detonation, the blast only dealt Hitler minor injuries. The planners' subsequent coup attempt also failed and resulted in a purge of the Wehrmacht.
Martin Bormann, Hermann Göring, and Bruno Loerzer surveying the damaged conference room
Battle fronts in Europe as of 15 July 1944
Stauffenberg with Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim in June 1944
Generaloberst Ludwig Beck