List of people killed or wounded in the 20 July plot

On 22 June 1944, the Soviet Armed Forces launched a massive attack against the German forces based in Belorussia, which formed what was known as Army Group Centre. As had become routine in military crises, Adolf Hitler ordered Field Marshal Ernst Busch, the commander of the German forces, to stand and fight wherever the enemy was met and never retreat. By mid July, Army Group Centre had lost no fewer than 250,000 men in less than a month of fighting, making the German position close to hopeless.

In deciding what to do, a series of military conferences was scheduled at the Wolf's Lair headquarters in East Prussia. On 22 July, Hitler and his top military commanders entered the briefing hut of the headquarters, as the usual bombproof room, with no windows and thick walls of solid concrete, and was considered "unbearably hot". In attendance was Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg who had lost an eye, his right hand and half his left in action during the North African theatre of war. Although unknown to Hitler's ring of bodyguards, Stauffenberg was secretly carrying a British-made bomb in his briefcase. His plan was to get as close as possible to Hitler, leave the briefcase nearby, and then make an excuse to quickly leave the conference by car with his adjutant and fellow conspirator Werner von Haeften. This was part of a larger and carefully planned coup d'état led by a group of disillusioned army officers, appalled by the way Hitler was leading Germany. Stauffenberg's plan went like clockwork, until the bomb exploded as he was walking towards his car, earlier than hoped. Although strictly against security doctrines imposed at the Wolf's Lair, Stauffenberg and Haeften were allowed to pass all checkpoints and proceed to the airport, succeeding in getting away before clarity could be established back at the now completely demolished briefing hut.

As Stauffenberg had seen the huge explosion with his own eyes, and aware of the exact location he had placed the bomb when he left, he was unshakably convinced that Hitler was dead. Unaware to Stauffenberg, however, was that staff officer Heinz Brandt had moved the briefcase containing the bomb further away from Hitler, behind a solid wooden table leg, as it was in his way. Luck had yet again come to Hitler's rescue, and he survived with only minor injuries, as did most of the others present, although three officers and a stenographer were killed by the shockwave.