The Valkyrie Movie

Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg


I am no follower of Tom Cruise nor the action-type movies he specializes in. I am, however, interested in German history, specifically the Third Reich, so I made it a point to go see the movie, "Valkyre" today. I know Cruise was already getting criticized for his role in this movie, and I myself expected him to be a poor choice to portray Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, the man who set the bomb that nearly killed Hitler on July 20, 1944 (especially since he had earlier proclaimed that he was stunned to hear the the story was actually true-duh).

I think for American audiences, it lends more authenticity to German movies if the actors are at least British and have some sort of accent. (Actually, I find German movies about the Hitlerian era to be more authentic because they have a closer cultural grasp of the way the figures really were.) At any rate, Cruise (in my opinion) kept his over-acting under control and did a credible job.

I also found it interesting that the film was shot in some of the actual places where the events occurred, such as the Bendlerblock in Berlin (Army headquarters). I was hoping that there would be some scenes shot in the Franconian town of Bamberg, which was Stauffenberg's last post of duty, and where his wife, Nina, was living. Unfortunately, there were only verbal references to Bamberg, a charming city located near where I had been stationed in my Army days in Germany (Erlangen).

At any rate, I enjoyed the movie. Were there any parts where Hollywood took dramatic license? In certain parts, perhaps, to avoid lengthening the film, such as Stauffenberg's turn against Hitler, which apparently came to pass on the Russian front. In addition, in one scene, Josef Goebbels slips a cyanide capsule in his mouth when troops come to arrest him, then removes it after turning the soldiers back over to the side of the Fuehrer. That may or may not be true, but it is the first I have heard of the cyanide capsule. In another scene, one of the conspirators, Ludwig Beck, is allowed to shoot himself. In actuality, his attempts to kill himself were unsuccessful and, after several minutes, he was dispatched by a soldier.

What the film left out was the fact that after the failed attempt, Stauffenberg's wife Nina was arrested by the Nazis under their Sippenhaft law, which punished the families of "traitors" as well as the individuals who carried out the acts. Pregnant at the time, she was imprisoned and her children taken away from her. They were reunited after the war.

After the war, Nina continued to live near Bamberg. She died in 2006.