In 1933 , at a Woodworkers Union meeting in Königsbronn Elser met Josef Schurr , a Communist from Schnaitheim . That Elser had extreme views is supported by a letter Schurr sent to a newspaper in Ulm in 1947 . It included the line : " He Elser was always extremely interested in some act of violence against Hitler and his cronies . He always called Hitler a ' gypsy ' — one just had to look at his criminal face . " Elser 's parents were Protestant , his mother being more devout than his father . As a child , he attended church with his mother , though his attendance lapsed . Only during 1939 , after he had decided to carry out the assassination attempt , did his attendance improve radically , either at a Protestant or Roman Catholic church . He claimed that church attendance and the recitation of the Lord 's Prayer calmed him . He told his arresting officers : " I believe in the survival of the soul after death , and I also believed that I would not go to heaven if I had not had an opportunity to prove that I wanted good . I also wanted to prevent by my act even greater bloodshed . " During five days of interrogation in Berlin ( 19 – 22 November 1939 ) , Elser articulated his motive to his interrogators : Five years later in Dachau concentration camp , SS officer Lechner claimed Elser revealed his motive to him : In order to find out how best to implement his assassination plan , Elser travelled to Munich by train on 8 November 1938 , the day of Hitler 's annual speech on the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch . Elser was not able to enter the Bürgerbräukeller until 10:30 p.m. , when the crowd had dispersed . He stayed until midnight before going back to his lodging . The next morning , he returned to Königsbronn . On the following day , 10 November , the anti-Jewish violence of the Kristallnacht took place in Munich
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Georg Elser