Russian General: Stalin twice called off Hitler's assassination attempts

[JJC]

The Soviet leadership had at least two real chances to assassinate Adolf Hitler, but Stalin cancelled the plans over fears that Nazi Germany could strike a separate peace deal with the West, a retired Russian general said on Tuesday.
"A concrete plan to assassinate Hitler in his bunker was developed, but Stalin suddenly cancelled it in 1943 over fears that after Hitler's death his associates would conclude a separate peace treaty with Britain and the United States," Gen. (Ret.) Anatoly Kulikov, the chairman of the Club of Military Commanders, told a conference on military history in Moscow.
"We have documental evidence confirming that these talks took place," he added.
He also said Soviet Union had a second opportunity to kill Hitler in 1944 when the intended assassin managed to infiltrate Hitler's entourage and had a high degree of trust among the German leadership.
"A detailed assassination plan was prepared, but Stalin cancelled it again," the former general said.
According to foreign historians, at least 17 attempts on Hitler's life were planned during 1939-1945. None of them was successful.
Kulikov said the Club of Military Commanders has collected a great number of lesser-known facts about Russia's participation in World War Two and planned to publish them.
MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti) http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100525/159149958.html Stalin's reason doesn't make sense.

[JCR]

Actually it does.
Every putschist from military circles (and there were more than Stauffenberg) wanted to make peace with the west but continue fighting with the Soviets.
The people likely to replace Hitler were all conservative and very anticommunist.
Not to mention the fact that they were more competent than Hitler ;)

[Basillicus]

Wasn't it so that also Allies came to the same conclusion that the best way to defeat Germany was not to assassinate Hitler since he and his closest crew would likely be replaced with someone more competent?

[Ulytau]

As i know both side didnt try to do kind of thing cause honour thing or sth like that ''Read about it years ago''

[JJHH]

Stalin Blocked Attempts to Kill Hitler: General

MOSCOW (*******) - Soviet dictator Josef Stalin blocked two attempts to kill Adolf Hitler during World War Two, fearing that his replacement as Nazi leader would make peace with the Western Allies, a top Russian general said Tuesday. A plan to attack Hitler's bunker in 1943 and a 1944 plot involving an assassin who had gained the trust of the Nazi leadership were both canceled on Stalin's orders, General Anatoly Kulikov told a historical conference in Moscow.

"A plan to assassinate Hitler in his bunker was developed, but Stalin suddenly canceled it in 1943 over fears that after Hitler's death his associates would conclude a separate peace treaty with Britain and the United States," Russia's RIA news agency quoted Kulikov as saying.

In 1944 the Soviets again plotted to kill Hitler after a potential assassin managed to gain the trust of the Nazi leadership. "A detailed assassination plan was prepared, but Stalin canceled it again," Kulikov was quoted as saying. Hitler killed himself on April 30, 1945, as Soviet forces closed on Berlin, effectively ending the war in Europe and setting the stage for the Cold War stand-off between Russia and the West.

An estimated 27 million Soviet citizens died in the 1941-1945 war with Nazi Germany. Kulikov was Russia's Interior Minister from 1995 to 1998 under President Boris Yeltsin. He said that the Club of Military Leaders, which he heads, would include details of the assassination attempts in a forthcoming book on World War Two.

(Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/*******/2010/05/25/world/international-us-russia-hitler.html?_r=1&ref=world

[Breakfast in Vegas]

Sounds plausible to me. Doesn't mean the attempts would have succeeded. Hitler was lucky that way.

[PsihoKeke]

Bastard survived more assasination attemtps than the Borgias.

[Some Dude]

Sounds like an interesting book. It's always been rumored that the head of the Getaspo was a spy for the Soviets, as well as Hitler's secretary Martin Borrman. It would be interesting if the assassin was some high-ranking Wehrmact offical. I wonder who the trusted assassin was?

[TakeIt]

Bastard survived more assasination attemtps than the Borgias. 40 or more, btw. Devil's luck indeed.

[Mr.K]

All amusing threads start off with "Russian general" or "Russian ex-general" or "Former KGB agent" :)

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

Sounds like an interesting book. It's always been rumored that the head of the Getaspo was a spy for the Soviets, as well as Hitler's secretary Martin Borrman. It would be interesting if the assassin was some high-ranking Wehrmact offical. I wonder who the trusted assassin was?

I read the Borman book, Hitler's Traitor. I wasn't impressed. He never provided anything but circumstantial evidence that Borman was the Soviet spy "Werther."

On the other hand, Heinrich Muller disappeared in May 1945 and was never seen again. Who knows what he may have been doing.

In reality, Werther was not a codename for a specific individual but a codename for all information coming from sources in the OKW.

[Rictor]

The reasoning seems sound. As the war progressed, Hitler became Nazi Germany's worst enemy - it stands to reason that whoever replaced him would have adopted a more pragmatic approach, though whether the US and UK would have even agreed to a separate truce is a questionable.

[Russianlynxy]

Sounds very plausible.

And old Churchill would welcome the new alliance with open arms, as long as it looked cleaner on Britain's image.

Not to mention Soviet Union/Russia's existence was not really expedient for anyone, Germany or the allies.

[3rdMillhouse]

Stalin's reason sounds pretty sane to me.

[Sydor Ukie]

Bastard survived more assasination attemtps than the Borgias.

Nevermind all those artillery shells during the Great War... Quite a lucky one he was, except when it came to contracting syphilis from slum prostitutes.

[Kitsune]

Stalin's behaviour made every sense. From the moment he became convinced that his armies were winning (probably some time in 1943), he had no interest in Hitler's early death anymore. For one, the fascist dictator provided a focal point of hate, even for the Western Allies, making it unlikely that a separate peace between Germany and the West would be made. Equally important, the Red Army could continue marching on and on westward on its mission to destroy the super-villain

In fact, Stalin went further than just not to attempt to assassinate Hitler. That the fascist dictator was alive served him so well that he kept him alive - atleast virtually. After Hitler's suicide was confirmed by a Soviet intelligence unit, Stalin kept this fact secret from everyone. As a result there was a great uncertainty about Hitler's fate for many years after the end of WWII (giving rise to all these stories about Hitler surviving in Germany/Brazil/Antarctica). With the apparent possibility of the Über-Nazi hiding somewhere, Stalin had every justification to keep parts of Germany occupied (after all, Hitler might come out of some basement anytime, take over Germany again, and invade the poor, hapless Sovietunion once more). And again this created mistrust between the Western Allies and the Germans, and keeping those groups separated was very important for Stalin. It worked well.

The secret of Hitler's death gave Stalin even the chance to throw some darts in very specific directions. Some month after the end of WWII, he accused the British of hiding Hitler in their occupation zone. Britain reacted with embarassed denial, but could not prove a negative - the only one who could have done so was Stalin himself, of course. The Soviet dictator used this secret even against his own people: on a different occasion, he accused Zhukov, a general who had become to powerful for Stalin's liking, of having failed to capture or kill Hitler. Again, Zhukov, who hadn't been informed about the suicide in the Führerbunker, couldn't really defend himself.

[TakeIt]

It was only a secret Soviet intelligence unit, which had learned that Hitler had committed suicide which gave Stalin the chance to keep this fact kept secret from everyone. What's this? I don't even...

[checkout]

more interesting how he used this to keep Germany occupied, it was evil Stalin who occupied 2/3 of germany with untouched industries, definately it was done to keep ruined part of Germany and feeding its dwellers, and the world of stories of hitlers survival. Stalin didnt need to occupy Germany, but no way he'd just give it to western 'friends'.

[Ulytau]

Bastard survived more assasination attemtps than the Borgias.

I believe Fidel Castro have record about surviving from assasination attemtps.

[shilka234]

40 or more, btw. Devil's luck indeed. Reagan survived to one nontheless

[owner_bsp]

Mr.Voitov told us that there was no military program involving Black Eagle. That was just a project designed by Omsk Transmash bureau, they had their intentions, but military didnt accept them. And yes, that statement sounds strange, since we saw the thing riding in the field during exhibitions. Basically, that was not a tank in its complete shape, just a project.