Operation Valkyrie: Angela Merkel pays tribute to the general who attempted to assassinate Hitler

(Patria) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid tribute to the military officers who attempted to assassinate Hitler 75 years ago.

A group of officers led by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg planned to assassinate Hitler in 1944, as well as a coup d'état to overthrow the Nazi party from power.

Speaking at the commemoration of the anniversary of the assassination, the Chancellor said that (the officers) 'following their conscience proved themselves true patriots', and added that their example 'encourages us to be vigilant and confront racism and nationalism in all their forms'.

Her words come at a time of the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has become the largest opposition party in parliament with 91 out of 709 seats.

75 years ago, German officer von Stauffenberg went with colleagues to a military conference with Hitler at the 'Wolf's Lair', Hitler's first military headquarters on the Eastern Front (present-day Poland), with a bomb in his briefcase.

The plan consisted of von Stauffenberg briefly leaving the meeting with the excuse of going to the bathroom, where he would activate the bomb which he would place near Hitler.

The bomb did indeed explode, killing four people, but Hitler escaped with minor injuries because he was shielded by the leg of a large conference table.

Von Stauffenberg and his colleagues who planned the attack with him were executed within hours of the attack, after which about 5,000 military personnel were killed in a 'purge' of the ranks of the German army.

Hitler committed suicide less than a year later as Allied tanks approached Berlin, writes Euronews.