Evening star., 1945-07-07
RingIeoder of 1914 Attempt to Kill Hitler
Tells Of PIons, Failure and PIotters' Fate

NHiSiOONSi VI
ellis Of PIuns,
This is the first jul and au-
thentic account of the German
underground plot last July 20
to kill Hitler, By the only knotDn
surDiuor OF the rtngledders OF the
plot.J
By L. s. B. SHAPIRO.
BERLIN, July 7.--After two day
of investigation amid the ruins O.
Berlin, this correspondent tracet
down the principal ringleader of th'
plot against Adolf Hitler, which cul
minated in the attempted assassina
ton on July 20, 1914. Though h
had been sentenced to death by ;
special tribunal Of the peoples court
he managed, by bribery, trickery ant
underground help to delay the ex
ecution until the Russians arrivet
in Berlin and his liberation ensued
He is DR.. Andreas Hermes, Ger
man cabinet minister during pre-
Hitler regimes and at present act
ing food commissioner for the Ber
lin district. In a tiny Office hardl.
big enough to hold desk, DR.
Hermes related the story of the plo
against Hitler. Here Is DR.. Hermes
story:
IT will first tell you of my back.
ground so you will understand hoV
my long and intimate association
with the western nations led to m,
becoming one Of the chief collab'
orators in our unfortunately unsuc.
cessful attempt to end the war II
July, 1914. After the war of 1914
1918 I was for two years Ger
man food minister under Friedrich
Ebert's presidency and for anothel
year was finance minister undel
Chancellor Karl Joseph Wirth.
"In 1921 I was offered the ambas.
sadorship to the United States which
honor I was forced to refuse due Il
family reasons. I resigned my cab
met post in 1923 to become vict
president of the Central Bank o.
German Co-operatives.
Visited United States.
"In this capacity I visited tn,
United States for six months IL
1924 and spent several weeks ir
Sacramento, Calf, as the guest o
the late David Lubin. 'During thi!
visit had many conversations with
President Calvin Coolidge.
In 1928 I was elected to the Reichs'
tag as Catholic Center party
member, where I remained unit
1888. Then on March 81 of that
year the Nazis arrested me on tht
pretext that I had wrongly admin
istered several million marks in my
capacity as president of the German
Union of Agricultural Co-operatives
I spent five months in prison. Aftel
my release I spent a year writing
a book to prove that the charge.
were completely false but I did no
succeed in reversing the decision o
the Nazi-controlled court.
I'm 1895 I finally left Germany
The president of the Republic o
Colombia invited me to Bogota a.
a technical adviser on agriculture
co-operatives and I gladly accepted
I spent three years in Bogota befor,
returning to Germany in March
1899, merely for the purpose o
bringing my five children back u
Colombia. But before I could com
plete travel arrangements war brok,
out and I was trapped. knew tina
I was in a dangerous position be-
cause, in Colombia, I was known q!
a protector" Of Jews for my worl
In helping settle Jewish refuge'
families on the land.
when Germany made war OF
Poland in August, 1899. knew thi
would become another World Wa
and that we were bound to lose
Better than that fool, Won Ribben,
trop. I knew that Britain wouls
honor her treaty obligation towart
Poland. Even after the quick con
quest of France I was convinced
that we must lose. was sure tht
United States would never allow
England to be beaten. I then re-
tired as obscurely as possible Il
my home at Bad Godesburg on tn,
Rhine.
Tells Of Plot.
"It was early in 1943-one day II
February, I believe-that I first be-
came involved in plot to overthrow
Hitler. DR.. Goerdeler. former ober'
burgomeister of Leipzig and prom
inent member Of the German Ma.
tionalist party, came to visit m,
at Bad Godesburg. We talked fol
long time and Goerdeler described
several meetings he had with Col
Gen. Beck, former chief of the Ger.
man general staff.
at seems the original idea de.
veloped in Goerdeler's mind, ane
he quickly found that Beck and 8
coterie of younger colonels agreed
with him that Hitler must be over.
thrown. by force if necessary, ane
the var must be brought to an enc
promptly. Goerdeler had come te
Bad Godesburg to offer me the posi-
of Minister of Agriculture In the
new government, which we knew
must be prepared to administer
Germany the moment the Nazi,
were overthrown.
II don't think the date of Febru.
ary, 1943, which you remember, wa.
shortly after Stalingrad, Alameir
and your North African landings, i.
particularly significant. Goerdelel
gave me a strong impression thai
he and Beck had been weaving ths
plot against Hitler for about a veal
before that. I think they realized
as well as I did that, from the mo.
ment the war began, we could moi
possibly win, and also that the
Nazis had launched criminal anc
senseless war.
Agrees to Accept Post.
"T agreed to accept the cabinet
position and to recruit certain
trusted friends of mine into the or.
ganization. There were really two
organizations-one military and on,
civilian-the military organization
Sf 1ao olar h~r !.