The Plot to Kill Hitler: Prologue–Chapter 4

The children—four boys and four girls—went to school at home, in a makeshift classroom with desks, chalkboards, and a trunk full of wigs, hats, and costumes.

The family had a governess, a nursemaid, a cook, a housemaid, and a chauffeur, but their mother, Paula Bonhoeffer, was their teacher.

Everyone was present and accounted for—except seven-year-old Dietrich.
The nursemaid went out on the veranda and called his name over and over again.

He came in sheepish and sunburned, completely oblivious to the fact that he’d held up dinner.

He came in sheepish and sunburned, completely oblivious to the fact that he’d held up dinner.

His father, Karl, was one of the most prominent psychiatrists in Germany, and his mother came from an aristocratic family full of intellectuals.

His father, Karl, was one of the most prominent psychiatrists in Germany, and his mother came from an aristocratic family full of intellectuals.

Dietrich’s sisters were formidable, too. Ursula was a beauty, and, like her father, she studied psychiatry. Christel studied zoology. Sabine, Dietrich’s twin, was athletic. And Suzanne, the baby, seemed to be good at everything.

Dietrich sometimes felt lost in this big, rambunctious, and talented family.

He would watch the clouds scud by overhead, feel the breeze rustle the pine needles in the forest nearby, and think.

And sometimes while the others were outside chasing butterflies, he would plink away at the piano keys. Soon he was playing Mozart sonatas. By twelve, he was composing his own songs.

With his brothers away at school, now it was Dietrich’s turn to drag his little sisters into games where they spied on enemy troops and stormed the ramparts—acting out the latest triumph of the German troops.

The British came in on the side of the French, and a world war had begun. It would last for more than four years and result in almost nine million combatant deaths and more than seven million civilian deaths, mainly because of a protracted stalemate in France.

The British came in on the side of the French, and a world war had begun. It would last for more than four years and result in almost nine million combatant deaths and more than seven million civilian deaths, mainly because of a protracted stalemate in France.

When there were food shortages, Dietrich became the family scout, scouring the streets to find out which shops still had plums and exploring the nearby fields for mushrooms.

A few days later, there was more bad news: Now Klaus was to report for duty.
His father was distraught, his mother inconsolable.

A few days later, there was more bad news: Now Klaus was to report for duty.
His father was distraught, his mother inconsolable.

On the day of Walter’s funeral, Dietrich stepped up to the altar. He looked out at his heartbroken parents. Then he took a breath and sang, in a clear, unwavering voice, one of Walter’s favorite hymns.

His parents were touched by their youngest son’s valiant effort to comfort them.

Now that death had come to his family, all his idealistic notions about eternity were thrown into doubt.

Karl-Friedrich and Klaus finally returned home—exhausted and disillusioned.

The country's gold, ships, lumber, coal, and other natural resources were seized to pay these war reparations.

Dietrich wanted to achieve something special all his own. Something that dealt with ideas more mysterious than isotopes and electrons.

Then a letter arrived inviting Dietrich to attend a prestigious music conservatory.

Then a letter arrived inviting Dietrich to attend a prestigious music conservatory.

The church, they told him, was a petty, feeble, bourgeois institution.

The church, they told him, was a petty, feeble, bourgeois institution.

Only his mother seemed to appreciate his yearning for an explanation for the big questions in life.

As soon as she saw how devout he was, she knew that a life of faith was his destiny.

But he never explained why he became a minister. And he would always say that the roots of a person’s innermost vocation should be private.

Perhaps his choice of a “quiet, uneventful” path was a way to set himself apart from the busy and talented older brothers who had always overshadowed him.

Finally, he would meet learned men who would help him grapple with the big thoughts that had been spinning through his mind since he was a little boy.

At Tubingen, he joined a fraternity known as the Hedgehogs.

He also reveled in the heady, scholarly atmosphere at Tubingen.

He sat up late into the night debating the fine points of philosophy with his fellow classmates, and he impressed his professors with provocative questions.

He challenged his professors relentlessly; some of his fellow students even saw him as arrogant.

Unemployment was rampant, and the German currency, the mark, was nearly worthless as the government struggled to pay back its war debt.

A young rabble-rouser named Adolf Hitler took advantage of the turmoil and tried to overthrow the government.

While Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood in a cathedral pondering the ways that faith can unite people, Adolf Hitler toiled in a jail cell, writing his manifesto of hate, Mein Kampf.

While Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood in a cathedral pondering the ways that faith can unite people, Adolf Hitler toiled in a jail cell, writing his manifesto of hate, Mein Kampf.