Valkyrie: The Story of the Plot to Kill Hitler, by Its Last Member… (edition 2010)

This is a work of history, biography and fiction combined; no mean achievement in such a small volume. It is a history of Germany prior to, and during the Second World War. It is a biography of the Von Boeselager family, and it is fiction in its selection of facts.
Ostensively, this is the story of the attempt by army officers to assassinate their Führer, Adolf Hitler, when it became apparent that his fanatical proclivities would not win the Second World War. A war, it should be remembered, started by Germany, and fought overwhelmingly by the German army, and not by the Waffen SS (10% of the army), Gestapo or any other of extreme group conjured up by an insane dictator.
As history, it introduces the reader to the world of privilege and luxury in pre-war Germany. We get a good idea what it was like to be born into the nobility, and the trials and tribulations of hunting shooting and fishing, and the extension of that bucolic existence into the army of the 1930’s.
As a biography; and that is essentially, what the book is, we learn about Von Boeselager’s elder brother Georg. Boeselager confers almost god-like status on this sibling, and based on this information it would be justified. When he was not riding off into the woods destroying wildlife, he was busy riding the Russian steppes destroying Russians. He was wounded, and ultimately killed by them
Boeselager himself was no shrinking violet when it came to fighting, he was wounded five times and lived to tell the tale until he was ninety. The infusion of shot and shell did nothing to prejudice his longevity, and he has been able to relate his story to Florence and Jerome Fehrenbach whose prose has been admirably translated by Steven Rendall.
This work was originally published in Germany in 2008 as ‘We Wanted To Kill Hitler’, or something close to that in German. Someone had the great idea of bringing it to the USA to coincide with the release of Tom Cruse’s movie ‘Valkyrie’, so they did, and changed the name. I do not know if the idea worked. I am inclined to hope that it did not, as the two stories are very different. The 60 or so years, which have passed since the occurrences referred to, have taken their toll on the authors memory. This fact is very convenient as it enables Boeselager to distance himself by omission from the unpleasant activities occasioned by the German army in their relentless blitz-krieg of Western and Eastern Europe.
We are all soft and gullible these days, but it stretches credulity to its limits to suggest that these fine upstanding army officers were unaware of the atrocities meted out daily upon hundreds of thousands of people. The book refers only to the murder of five Gypsies. According to Boeselager, when the war was over and they were thoroughly beaten, his regiment strolled back to Paderborn and amused themselves with equestrian pursuits until America put their country back together.
A thorough investigation into Operation Valkyrie this book is not, but it is a good read nonetheless. I enjoyed reading it and would read it again. ( )

Better than the Movie, But Still Lacking

Having watched Tom Cruise's attempt at showcasing the German resistance, I picked up this book, "Valkyrie" by Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager who was the longest living conspirator in the plot to assassinate Hitler, in order to find out more about the motivations of the group.

The book is more than just about the plot. It is a semi-autobiographical memoir of Boeselager and his family. The lead up to the war is discussed and we get a glimpse into his aristocratic upbringing. The early military incursions are also briefly touched on, the blitzkrieg through France, and the failed attempt to invade the USSR.

While not much else is exposed about the plot that we didn't learn from the movie, Boeselager does give a glimpse -- if still too brief -- into the motivations and reasons behind the conspiracy. Unfortunately, there remains much ambiguity on this subject. For example, Boeselager is dismissive of Kristelnacht but claims to be morally outraged when he learns of the early slaughter of Jews in Gypsies prior to the actual Holocaust. What appears to have motivated them more was the need to save German lives, to align with the western allies in a combined effort to resist a Soviet invasion.

Ultimately, we are left still wondering if the conspiracy was mostly patriotic or moral in inspiration. My feeling is that they were patriotic and the moral indignation was a result of the guilt factor after the fact.

Overall, I do recommend reading the book either as a standalone or a companion text to the movie. There remains much that is still unknown about this historical event. ( )