Hornlein had orders that he relayed to us that we were to treat our enemy with respect, no matter how brutal they were. We would allow the police units to find guilty parties and bring them to justice. In certain situations, we would have to bring justice quickly when dealing with partisans, which today is still acceptable military law. On the opposite hand, I saw the brutality of the Soviet soldier in Ost Prussia, I saw first-hand the murdered civilians whose only crime was being a German.

You were in the Wach Battalion during the events of 20 July; can you tell me what happened?
Otto: Well, as you know traitors tried to kill the Führer. Sadly, it came from the officer corps of the Wehrmacht. It was a strange day for me, we were on alert and I received orders to arrest NSDAP officials. This just did not fit with logic. I was told an attempt was made on the Führer, and he was dead. The party was the most loyal to the Führer, so it was inconceivable that they did this to him. I followed my orders, but I kept an open mind. There had been rumors that some of the Generals disliked Hitler and refused to follow his orders, costing us battles and lives. Therefore, I had that in the back of my mind as I went to arrest Dr. Goebbels. When I went to his office, many were asking what was going on but I brushed them aside as I needed to meet with him. As I entered his office, I stated to him that I was ordered to arrest him as the Führer has been assassinated. He smiled and told me that it was a lie, the Führer was alive and well, he asked me to take the phone and speak to the Führer. I knew his voice as I met him on many occasion. He confirmed to me that traitorous officers had planted a bomb and they must be arrested immediately, and that I had full power to do so. I thanked Dr. Goebbels and ordered my men to release those they detained, and we moved on to take down the traitors.

I was offered unlimited help from the police and army. I was so full of disgust that these men would try to kill the man they swore an oath too, just because the war was not going well for us. This was a very small group of people, mostly from the old aristocratic class, that never fully understood National Socialism. They never wanted to relinquish the better than thou class structure that they lived in. There was a brief skirmish, and then we took Stauffenburg and the others into custody. Against the Führer's orders, some ended up quickly executed on the orders of one of the traitors it turned out. It was a sad nasty affair and now these traitors are made out to be heroes by the victors, if they had tried to kill Churchill they would be seen as regular criminals. One man’s traitor is another man’s hero.

The bomb plot only seems to prove what the Allies claim that Hitler was evil and incompetent and some in the army knew it, so they finally acted to end the war and save lives. You do not agree.
Otto: No, I do not, you have to fully understand the motives of the traitors and what guided them. They claim to have opposed Hitler from the very beginning. So I say let us get this straight just so we all understand. A man is elected who takes a shaken and distraught nation, restores morals, faith, and hope. Giving the very common person a bright future, who in the aristocratic world is looked down on, with great jobs and these people were opposed to that? The NS state removed unfit and unqualified aliens who self-rewarded themselves due to the power and money they possessed, and this upset some of the German aristocracy? This makes no sense to me, as Hitler was a charitable, humble, and loving leader. This is why the German people fought for him until we had no more to fight with, our cities literally rubble, and our infrastructure gone, we fought on because we knew we were right. I can only think, that as the war turned against us, some generals were frustrated that their ideas were not being implemented, so as they vented to each other. [continued]