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It was 12.35 p.m. on July 20th, 1944, and Klaus von Staufenberg was running late.

The 36-year-old Nazi colonel hurried to keep up with his fellow officers as they escorted him to heavily guarded barracks deep in the woods of Poland.

The complex, known as the Wolf Slayer, was the Nazi's military headquarters

on the eastern front. Sweating from the scorching heat, Stolfenberg pulled a handkerchief from his

pocket to mop his brow. He was about to meet with the top leaders of the Nazi party, and he

didn't want them to think he was nervous.

Stoffenberg walked into the meeting, edging his way around the giant rectangular oak table.

Every head turned to watch him in silence.

He looked up to meet the gaze of the most important person in the room.

It was the man Staufenberg had vowed he would kill that day, the leader of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler.

Staufenberg had joined the German army in 1926 at just 19 years old. Over the years, he advanced to the rank of colonel. Though he was initially supportive of Hitler's military strategy and nationalist

pride, he began to disassociate from the

Nazi party. He was sickened by Hitler's plan to exterminate the Jews, and by late 1942,

nine years into the Nazi regime, he fully resented what was happening to Germany under the

furor. As the war dragged on, he came to the conclusion that there was only one way to stop Hitler.

Inside the barracks, an officer announced that Staufenberg would give updates on the reserve

army. Hitler gave a curt nod, then shook Staufenberg's hand. The young colonel met Hitler's

eye and tried to keep his nerves in check.

Stolfenberg took his seat at the table, with only two men between him and the furor.

As the meeting resumed, Stolfenberg quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching him.

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