Hitler’s Personal Security: Protecting the Führer, 1921-1945

The definitive account of the extraordinary security created to protect Hitler and of the multiple plots to kill him"I am immortal!" exulted Hitler in the wake of the failed assassination plot of July 20, 1944. As Peter Hoffmann shows in this startling book, that bombing was only the best known of more than thirty attempts on Hitler's life, the first coming as early as 1921, when he was the leader of the German Worker's Party.Using extensive archival material, Hoffmann details these assassination plots and outlines the fanatically complex security measures that developed to keep Hitler safe. He analyzes Hitler's SS escort and the other security groups responsible for his life — there were so many of them that they often counteracted one another — together with their arrangements for his transportation, public appearances, residences, and wartime headquarters.Providing remarkable new information about the workings of those devoted to defending and destroying him, this book is an invaluable contribution to the history of the Third Reich. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Reasons and Objectives of the Investigation....Pages 1-4 Before 1933....Pages 5-22 Head of Government....Pages 23-28 Reich Security Service....Pages 29-43 Hitler’s SS Escort....Pages 44-57 Hitler’s Escort Detachment and Other Security Groups....Pages 58-60 Transport....Pages 61-79 Public Appearances....Pages 80-125 Travel....Pages 126-156 Residences....Pages 157-203 Military Headquarters....Pages 204-263 Conclusions....Pages 264-267 Back Matter....Pages 268-321