Heat in Berlin's Bendlerblock: soldiers collapse in public vows

Every year on July 20, the Bundeswehr commemorates the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944.

Heat in Berlin's Bendlerblock: soldiers collapse in public vows

Every year on July 20, the Bundeswehr commemorates the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944. This time, however, the circumstances are extremely adverse: With temperatures well above 30 degrees and in the blazing sun, not all recruits can stand.

The heat in the capital made things difficult for soldiers of the Bundeswehr during their solemn vow on Wednesday. Around 400 recruits lined up in Berlin's Bendlerblock to take their vows on the 78th anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler.

28 of them had circulatory problems during the event, as the Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter. "All those affected are now back with their relatives - we are very happy about that!" The soldiers were treated immediately on site, said a spokesman for the ministry. Three of them were also taken to the Bundeswehr hospital for treatment as a precaution.

On July 20, 1944, Wehrmacht officers around Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg tried in vain to kill Hitler with a bomb and thus end the war. July 20 is an "outstanding day" for the Bundeswehr, said Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht from the SPD at the pledge.

"There is no day of the year more appropriate to commit Bundeswehr recruits to the values ​​of our Basic Law, to democracy and to loyal service."