The theme to the Third Man is so awesome. Is watching the composer perform it live on his zither better than hearing it played over and over in the film? I don’t know. Georg Elser, the carpenter unassociated with any political movement devised a plan to kill Hitler in 1939 because he realized the stakes for Germany led by a madman. At his own expense travelled months in advance south to Munich, stayed in a rooming house, surveyed the beer hall where Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler were scheduled to speak, made precise measurements, drew his own maps, returned north and obtained a job in munitions where the lax security of his employer allowed him opportunities to siphon explosives, just enough each week to not be noticed. He taught himself how to construct time bombs and experimented with their detonation in the countryside. Later, he returned to the beer hall where the three Nazis would be on stage together in seven days time. Each night leading up to it he slinked into the theatre before closing, hid in a closet and after the lights were put out he spent the remainder of night facilitating the placement of his bomb which meant hollowing out a pillar, establishing a false door and insulating the cavity with cork to impede people hearing the sounds of ticking. After he collected the debris, and by morning when the hall reopened, he exited unseen where he then disposed of the accumulated dirt from his night time activities. He didn’t fail, but Hitler changed plans at the last minute and left a few minutes earlier than when the bomb exploded. Elser also was a musician, flute, accordion and a zither player. He knew how practising pays off. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"