I wanted to prevent the war.
Georg Elser and the Assassination Attempt of November 8, 1939

For the first time, Hitler was originally intent on not speaking himself at the celebrations of the anniversary of the Munich Putsch, due to the war and the German troops’ impending attack in the West. His deputy Rudolf Hess was to speak in his place. However, Hitler then decided at short notice to use the opportunity for a speech on the fundamentals of his politics. His speech was considerably shorter than usual because he had to return to Berlin directly afterward.

After speaking, Hitler thus left the room with other important Nazi leaders at around 9:07 p.m., much earlier than expected. The bomb exploded at around 9:20 p.m. Where Hitler’s lectern once stood was a pile of rubble a meter high.