Editing 20 July plot (section)

=== Failure of the coup ===
{{see also|List of people killed or wounded in the 20 July plot}}
At around 18:10, the commander of Military District III (Berlin), General [[Joachim von Kortzfleisch]], was summoned to the [[Bendlerblock]]; he angrily refused Olbricht's orders, kept shouting "the Führer is alive",{{sfn|Hoffmann|1996|p=426}} was arrested, and held under guard. General [[Karl Freiherr von Thüngen]] was appointed in his place but proved to be of almost no help. General [[Fritz Lindemann]], who was supposed to make a proclamation to the German people over the radio, failed to appear and as he held the only copy, Beck had to work on a new one.{{sfn|Fest|1997|pp=270–272}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-109-19A, Berlin, Soldaten und Waffen-SS im "Bendlerblock".jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|right|Soldiers and Waffen SS men at the [[Bendlerblock]], July 1944]]
At 19:00, Hitler was sufficiently recovered to make phone calls. He called Goebbels at the Propaganda Ministry. Goebbels arranged for Hitler to speak to Major [[Otto Ernst Remer]], commander of the troops surrounding the Ministry. After assuring him that he was still alive, Hitler ordered Remer to regain control of the situation in Berlin and capture the conspirators alive. Major Remer ordered his troops to surround and seal off the Bendlerblock, but not to enter the buildings.{{sfn|Galante|Silianoff|1981|p=209}} At 20:00 a furious Witzleben arrived at the Bendlerblock and had a bitter argument with Stauffenberg, who was still insisting that the coup could go ahead. Witzleben left shortly afterwards. At around this time the planned seizure of power in Paris was aborted when Field Marshal [[Günther von Kluge]], who had recently been appointed commander-in-chief in the West, learned that Hitler was alive.

As Remer regained control of the city and word spread that Hitler was still alive, the less resolute members of the conspiracy in Berlin began to change sides. Fromm was freed from his room and fighting broke out in the Bendlerblock between officers supporting and opposing the coup; Stauffenberg was wounded after a shootout. As the fighting was still ongoing, Remer and his forces arrived at the Bendlerblock and the conspirators were overwhelmed and arrested; by 23:00 Fromm and Remer had regained control of the building.

Perhaps hoping that a show of zealous loyalty would save him, Fromm convened an ''impromptu'' [[court martial]] consisting of himself, and sentenced Olbricht, Stauffenberg, Haeften and another officer, Colonel [[Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim]], to death, while putting Beck under arrest; Beck, realising the situation was hopeless, asked for a pistol and shot himself—the first of many attempted suicides in the coming days. At first Beck only seriously wounded himself—he was then shot in the neck and killed by soldiers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/july-plot |title=July Plot |date=November 9, 2009 |website=History.com |access-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204213551/https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/july-plot |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite protests from Remer (who had been ordered by Hitler to arrest the conspirators), at 00:10 on 21 July the four officers were executed in the courtyard outside, possibly to prevent them from revealing Fromm's involvement.{{sfn|Kurtz|1946|p=227}} Others would have been executed as well, but at 00:30 [[Waffen-SS]] personnel led by [[Obersturmbannführer|SS-''Obersturmbannführer'']] [[Otto Skorzeny]] arrived and further executions were forbidden.