Synopsis
This docu-drama presents the story of Claus von Stauffenberg's assassination and coup attempt against Hitler on 20th July 1944 with perhaps greater clarity and psychological insight than any straight factual account could succeed in conveying. Leading reviews from the Danish & German press - "The documentary-fiction of Stig Dalager is deeply fascinating as well as intriguing both as an elementary exciting tale and as a demonstration of the psychological and sociological factors which together influence human lives, and at some point with immense consequences for the world. The portrait of Hitler has an especially deep impact: the psychopath, whose illness makes him blind to the normal ethics of good and evil." Jyllandsposten "Dalager draws a penetrating portrait of Hitler and raises a wonderful memorial for the men who fought in vain against the evil". Der neue Tag Perhaps the Danish writer, Stig Dalager, found the real human being behind the hero's image. Punctually on the 60th anniversary at the end of June appeared the German translation of the novel Two Days in July. The days around the bomb attack are portrayed in two perspectives: Stauffenberg's and Hitler's. Dalager's Führer is a pitiable almost whimpering figure, looking back to his childhood, and conscious of the prospect of his downfall. Parallel to that, the romantic Stauffenberg in his self-imposed role of hero, experiences delusions of grandeur, fanaticism, and contempt for Adolf Hitler, all going hand-in-hand psychologically in order for him to succeed in his mission. Stauffenberg is obsessed. The picture which emerges of him is less heroic or sympathetic than usually portrayed but because of that is more credible. Matthias Lohre in Das Parliament
About the Author
Stig Dalager is one of the leading lights of contemporary Danish literature, the author of novels, plays for the theatre, radio, and TV, film scripts, volumes of poetry, and belles-lettres. He is also the editor of a leading literary magazine. Two Days in July is the first documentary novel to deal with the attempted coup staged by German officers during the Second World War which came within a hair's breadth of success. Had it not been thwarted, it could have been a turning point in the war and changed the course of world history. On that day, 20th July 1944, a small group of German officers, supported by German officials, undertook the only organised attempt by the Germans to unseat the Nazi regime. In so doing, they gave the lie to the impression of apparently unanimous support for the Hitler regime both among the German people and in the German army. After the war Winston Churchill paid tribute to the action of these German officers and officials as one of the few true "heroic actions" of the war.
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