Novel by Tom Ferry

Georg Elser – The Zither Player

The true story of Georg Elser's assassination attempt on on the Nazi leaders in November 1939 and the so-called Venlo Incident at the same time

"When the curtains were falling thunderously on the last moments of the Nazi regime, Hitler suddenly remembered the existence of the zither player – and as if possessed by a sudden and inexplicable shame, this murderer of millions attempted to conceal his execution of the assassin who had long since been forgotten by the world."

Hans Bernd Gisevius

Infused with obsessive energy, the zither playing cabinetmaker, Georg Elser, planned the elimination of the Nazi leaders to prevent a catastrophic world war in 1939. While he sweated over the installation of his deadly device in a Munich beer hall, British secret service agents were meeting with German military officers urging regime change.

But things went terribly wrong.The Nazis were gifted a propaganda windfall with the capture of the failed lone wolf assassin and the British agents.

Life hung in the balance for all the plotters until the barbaric machinations of Nazi regime climaxed in 1945. Still questions remain. With the blood of innocents on his hands was Elser’s act terrorism or morally justified?

Only a fraction of the extraordinary story of one mans precisely calculated vendetta against Adolf Hitler is told in the 2015 German film 13 Minutes. His daring lone wolf act came tantalizing close to changing the course of history – yet one simple error combined with a botched British peace operation, blunted the will of others in the German Opposition to resist the Nazi reign of terror – that resulted in the deadliest conflict in world history.

For many decades Elser was thought to be a stooge of the Nazis. Now he is recognised as a genuine resistance fighter of Third Reich. Recently released top secret British documents enhance this true story that is written like fiction. Look inside...

Tom Ferry: Georg Elser: The Zither Player, CreateSpace 2016, 332 pages, $14.90.

Paperback available at

Tom Ferry (rechts) übergibt Joachim Ziller am 8. November 2015 eine Vorabversion seines Buches.

Der in Australien lebende Autor verknüpft in seinem sich genau an die Tatsachen haltenden Roman die Geschichte von Georg Elsers Attentat auf die nationalsozialistische Führung im November 1939 mit dem zur gleichen Zeit stattfindenden sogenannten Venlo Zwischenfall.

Als Quellen dienten ihm unter anderem das Berliner Verhörprotokoll sowie die Memoiren von Sigismund Payne Best und Walter Schellenberg.

2015 besuchte er die Wirkungsorte Elsers in Berlin, München, am Bodensee, in Hermaringen, Schnaitheim und Königsbronn und wurde von Joachim Ziller, dem Leiter der Georg Elser Gedenkstätte Königsbronn, empfangen. Tom Ferry wurde seit 2014 von der Redaktion dieser Website als Consultant Editor kritisch unterstützt.

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