French term (edited): � son combl�

I think that 'à son comble' probably does mean 'at its height' here. The Polish Campaign began on 1st September and I don't think the witch hunt had finished by then. Maybe the main participants had already been killed, but not all of them.

HTH


Sheila

The Polish September Campaign — also known as "Polish-German War of 1939", in Poland often as Wojna obronna 1939 roku ("Defensive War of 1939"), in Germany as "Polish Campaign" (Polenfeldzug), codenamed Fall Weiss (Case White) in the German General Staff — was the invasion of Poland by the armies of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small contingent of Slovak forces during the Second World War. ***The campaign began on 1 September 1939,*** one week after the signing of the secret Hitler-Stalin Pact, and ended on 6 October 1939, with Germany and the Soviet Union occupying the entirety of Poland. None of the major participants — Germany, the Western Allies, the Soviet Union, or Poland itself — expected that this German invasion of Poland would lead to a war that would surpass the First World War in scale and cost

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_September_Campaign


The July 20 Plot was a failed coup d'état which involved an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. It was initiated on July 20, 1944, by officers of the Wehrmacht. The leader of the plot was Oberst (Colonel) Claus von Stauffenberg. Others who participated in the plot include General Ludwig Beck, Carl Goerdeler, Alfred Delp, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Bernardis, Carl Szokoll, Count Hans-Jürgen von Blumenthal, Adam von Trott zu Solz, Gottfried von Bismark, Princess Marie Vassiltchikov. Scores of others, including Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and Günther von Kluge, may have been involved in the plot, ***and in any event were forced to commit suicide because of it.***

The plot ringleaders, Oberst Claus von Stauffenberg, General Friedrich Olbricht, Oberst Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim and Leutnant Werner von Haeften were caught in the late evening and shot by firing squad in the courtyard of the Bendler-Block (War Ministry), although many, including Hitler, believed that the quick trials and executions were intended to quickly silence the coup plotters so that they would not implicate others. ***Hitler went on to instigate the purging and execution of nearly 5,000 known opponents of his regime, some of whom were tortured to death.***

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_20_Plot


Günther von Kluge (nicknamed "Hans") (October 30, 1882 - August 19, 1944), was a German military leader. He was born into a Prussian military family. Kluge was the master of Blitzkrieg and became a Field Marshal of Germany in July 1940...

The head of the German military resistance, Henning von Tresckow, served as his chief of staff of Army Group Center. Kluge was somewhat involved in the military resistance. He knew about von Tresckow's plan to shoot Hitler during a visit at Army Group Center. Kluge, however, refused to provide any support to the conspirators of the July 20 plot as soon as he found out that Hitler had survived Stauffenberg's assassination. He was appointed as von Rundstedt's replacement as Commander-in-chief West. He was recalled to Berlin for a meeting with Hitler after Stauffenberg's failed coup; thinking that Hitler would punish him as a conspirator, he committed suicide on the plane to Berlin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Günther_von_Kluge





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Note added at 25 mins (2005-10-22 11:19:49 GMT)
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Rommel, for example - who may have been involved in the plot - did not commit suicide until October 14th 1944:

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (listen [▶]) (November 15, 1891 – ***October 14, 1944***) was one of the most distinguished German Field Marshals and commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps in World War II. He is also known by his nickname The Desert Fox (Wüstenfuchs, listen [▶]), for the skillful military campaigns he waged on behalf of the German Army in North Africa. He is often remembered not only for his remarkable military prowess, but also for his chivalry towards his adversaries.


The plot against Hitler
May 1944, Rommel with his closest staff members, his chief of staff General Hans Speidel, chief naval aide Admiral Friedrich Ruge and his personal aide Captain Hellmuth Lang, all of whom were heavily involved in the anti-Nazi conspiracy within the Wehrmacht.
Enlarge
May 1944, Rommel with his closest staff members, his chief of staff General Hans Speidel, chief naval aide Admiral Friedrich Ruge and his personal aide Captain Hellmuth Lang, all of whom were heavily involved in the anti-Nazi conspiracy within the Wehrmacht.

On July 17, 1944 Rommel's staff car was strafed by an RCAF Spitfire, and he was hospitalized with major head injuries. In the meantime, after the failed July 20 Plot against Adolf Hitler a major crackdown was conducted throughout the Wehrmacht. As the investigation proceeded, numerous connections started appearing that tied Rommel with the conspiracy, in which many of his closest aides were deeply involved. At the same time, local Nazi party officials reported on Rommel's extensive and scornful criticism of Nazi leadership during the time he was hospitalized. Bormann was certain of Rommel's involvement, Goebbels was not.

The true extent of Rommel's knowledge of, or involvement with, the plot is still unclear. After the war, however, his wife maintained that Rommel had been against the plot as it was carried out. It has been stated that Rommel wanted to avoid giving future generations of Germans the perception that the war was lost because of a backstab, the infamous Dolchstoßlegende, as it was commonly believed by some Germans following WWI. Instead, he favored a coup where Hitler would be taken alive and made to stand trial before the public.

Due to Rommel's popularity with the German people, Hitler gave him an option to commit suicide with cyanide or face a humiliating sham trial before Roland Freisler's "People's Court" and retaliation against his family and staff. Rommel ended his own life on October 14, 1944, and was buried with full military honours. After the war his diary was published as The Rommel Papers. He is the only member of the Third Reich establishment to have a museum dedicated to his person and his career.

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Note added at 30 mins (2005-10-22 11:24:51 GMT)
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Erwin von Witzleben was killed on 8th August 1944:


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Job-Wilhelm Georg "Erwin" von Witzleben (born 4 December 1881 in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland); died 8 August 1944 in Berlin, executed) was a German army officer (by 1940 a Generalfeldmarschall) and in the Second World War an Army commander and a resistance fighter in the July 20 plot.

In 1944, the conspirators around Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg saw Erwin von Witzleben as the key man in their plans. Whereas Colonel General Beck was foreseen as provisional head of state and Colonel General Hoepner as Commander of the Ersatzheer ("Substitute Army"), Generalfeldmarschall von Witzleben was to take over supreme command of the whole Wehrmacht as the highest German soldier. Von Witzleben, however, was arrested on 20 July 1944 – the day of von Stauffenberg's attempt on Hitler's life at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia – upon arriving at OKH-HQ (Oberkommando des Heeres Headquarters) in Berlin to assume command of the coup forces. He was then unceremoniously cast out of the Wehrmacht by the so-called Ehrenhof der Wehrmacht ("The Regular Army's Yard of Honour"), a conclave of officers set up after the attempted assassination to remove officers from the Wehrmacht who had been involved in the plot, mainly so that they could be tried at the Volksgerichtshof rather than at court-martial.

***On 7 August 1944, von Witzleben was in the first group of accused conspirators to be brought before the Volksgerichtshof.*** The presiding judge was Roland Freisler, and that same day, he sentenced von Witzleben to death for his part in the plot. Von Witzleben's closing words in court – addressed to Freisler – were:

"You can hand us over to the hangman. In three months, the disgusted and harried people will bring you to book and drag you alive through the dirt in the streets!"

Erwin von Witzleben was put to death that same day at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. According to some accounts, he was hanged naked. Some sources also claim that he was hanged with piano wire.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_von_Witzleben

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Note added at 39 mins (2005-10-22 11:33:32 GMT)
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Hey, now I'm totally confused - I think I might be wrong - the Fall Weiss took place in 1939 - and we are talking about 1944 - sorry for being so stupid! So, I'm now not sure what they mean by the 'affaire Weiss'!!!


Fall Weiss ("Case White", German spelling Fall Weiß) was a German strategic plan for a war with Poland prepared before 1939 and put into action on 1 September 1939.

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Note added at 43 mins (2005-10-22 11:37:42 GMT)
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Perhaps it refers to this:

1944 Erich Priebke, a Nazi SS captain, is accused of slaughtering 335 people in Rome. Eric Weiss, in Rome as an interrogator with the British army, questions Priebke¹s superior.
1945 Gerda Weiss and Peres Sych are saved when Allies liberate Bergen-Belsen and other concentration camps. Hitler commits suicide. The war ends.
1946 Frances Weiss (later Mayer) leaves Israel to join her parents in Portland.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/israel/timeline/timeline2.h...

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Note added at 48 mins (2005-10-22 11:43:02 GMT)
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Or was this it?


Oppositions, cercles et mouvements de résistance, 1939-1944

"Pendant la guerre, les nazis renforcent la répression contre les jeunes gens qui veulent défendre leur indépendance à l'égard de la jeunesse hitlérienne. Un peu partout, se constituent des groupes de jeunes reconnaissables à leur insigne, un edelweiss. Les Edelweiss-Piraten cherchent l'affrontement direct avec les jeunesses hitlériennes. Leur existence est considérée comme une véritable opposition au régime , bien que seul une minorité de jeunes soit en mesure de mener une lutte politique active contre celui-ci. Nombre d'entre-eux sont rapidement considéré comme des "dépravés" ou comme "des éléments nuisibles à la communauté". Ils sont alors soit déportés, soit condamnés à mort par les tribunaux ou assassinés sans la moindre procédure.(...)

Hans et Sophie Scholl avec Christophe Probst, membre du mouvement de la "Rose blanche"

© Gedenstätte Deutscher Widerstand (Berlin)

Un groupe de jeunes étudiants de Munich pratique, depuis 1942, une résistance animée par des raisons d'éthique et de morale, choqués par les exécutions massives en Pologne et en Russie. Ce mouvement connu sous le nom de la Rose blanche (Weisse Rose) , est constitué par Hans et Sophie Scholl, Willi Graf, Christoph Probst et Alexander Schmorell auxquels s'est joint le professeur Kurt Huber. Leur message est de dénoncer le régime et d'encourager leurs camarades à se révolter. Ils préconisent dans leurs tracts diffusés par la poste, mais aussi par des slogans inscrits sur les murs, la résistance passive et le sabotage dans les fabriques d'armement. Les tracts de la Rose blanche comptent parmi les très rares textes de la Résistance allemande où est dénoncée, avec véhémence, l'extermination des juifs."(...)

http://www.v1.paris.fr/musees/Memorial/annales_musees/comuni...