[The following takes place during the aftermath of Claus von Stauffenberg’s failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.]
When generals telephoned from the far reaches of the German Reich to learn whether, as some had heard, Hitler was dead, the Führer was furious that they should even raise the question. With froth on his lips, he shouted, “Traitors in the bosom of their own people deserve the most ignominious of deaths… Exterminate them! …I’ll put their wives and children into concentration camps and show them no mercy!”
He even confronted his Alsatian dog: “Look my in the eyes, Blondi! Are you also a traitor like the generals of my staff?”
Source:
Beschloss, Michael R. “The Plot to Murder Hitler.” The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman, and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007. 3. Print.
Further Reading:
While Hitler was busy interrogating the dog, Kitler quietly rose in the ranks