How did the explosion not kill or critically wound Hitler? The satchel bag was only like 5-10 feet away from him and the blast was quite large. I wasn't exactly wide awake while watching, but I didn't understand that. What am I missing?
shareThe table-top was very thick and heavy, and the bag was moved by one of the generals to the other side of the table's leg, away from Hitler by only a few inches, but which was a wide piece of heavy wood. The opened windows dispersed the explosion's effects. If the meeting hadn't moved from the original bunker due to the hot weather, Hitler would have died.
shareAlso, if Stauffenberg had only placed the second block of plastique explosive into the same briefcase, even though its detonator hadn't been set, the explosion of the first block would have detonated the second, and again, Hitler (and Keitel and the other survivors) would surely all have perished. But Stauffenberg got confused and put it into a different briefcase, apparently thinking the detonator had to be armed manually, and handed that briefcase to his adjutant.
"I don't deduce, I observe."