Their executions were filmed and later shown to senior
members of both the NSDAP and the armed forces.
Hitler believed that General Erwin Rommel, Germany's most famous military leader, was also involved in the July Plot. Rommel was so popular that Hitler was unwilling to have him executed for treason. Rommel was therefore forced to commit suicide and the public was told that he had died of a heart attack.
In January 1945, the Soviet troops entered Nazi Germany. Hitler was forced to leave his headquarters in East Prussia and moved south to Berlin. Soon afterwards he was joined by his mistress, Eva Braun. Hitler talked of the possibility that Britain and the United States would go to war with the Soviet Union and that Germany would be saved. He told one of his generals that "throughout history coalitions have always gone to pieces sooner or later." Hitler was right that the Soviet Union and the United States would eventually be in conflict, but unfortunately for him this did not happen until after the war had ended.
Hitler was now nearly fifty-five years old but looked much older. His hair had gone grey, his body was stooped, and he had difficulty in walking. His voice had become feeble and his eyesight was so poor that that he needed special lenses even to read documents from his 'Fuehrer typewriter'.
Hitler also developed a tremor in his left arm and leg. He had originally suffered from this during the First World War and also after the failure of the Munich Putsch in 1923. It was a nervous disorder that reappeared whenever Hitler felt he was in danger.
People who had not seen him for a few months were shocked by his appearance. One man remarked: "It was a ghastly physical image he presented. The upper part of his body was bowed and he dragged his feet as he made his way slowly and laboriously through the bunker from his living room.. If anyone happened to stop him during this short walk (some fifty or sixty yards), he was forced either to sit down on one of the seats placed along the walls for the purpose, or to catch hold of the person he was speaking to.. Often saliva would dribble from the comers of his mouth.. presenting a hideous and pitiful spectacle."
Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goering both considered the possibility of overthrowing Hitler. One plan involved Himmler arresting Hitler and announcing to the German people that Hitler had retired due to ill-health. Their main concern was to do a deal with Britain and the United States that would prevent the Soviet Union occupying Germany.