KMEM AC101 RIZLIFE Life and Works of Rizal

OPERATION VALKYRIE, OPERATION LAONG LAAN

20th of July 1944, Thursday, the plot to assassinate Hitler was launched inside the Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The scheme was headed by a clique of ambitious officers (as Hitler labeled them) who were planning to bring down Hitlers dictatorship. They were composed of BrigadierGeneral Hans Oster, General Ludwig Beck, Colonel Henning von Tresckow, General Friedrich Fromm, General Friedrich Olbricht, Colonel Albrecht Ritter Mertz von Quirnheim, Werner von Haeften and a young staff officer named Lieutenant Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. Colonel Stauffenberg is a German colonel who served as a catalyst and instrument in the plan to slay Adolf Hitler and oust the Nazi Party from authority. With his ability to organize everything according to plan, and his remarkable firmness, he was able put an end to idleness caused by doubts and tales and got the connivers (conspirators) to be united to execute their plot. The Colonel was mindful that he was committing disloyalty under the German ruling. However, he believes that he is perpetrating high treason with all his might and that he would defend millions of peoples lives from the Fuhrer. Stauffenbergs role is somewhat similar to our very own, Jose Rizal. As we all know, Rizal fought for our country in the means of his pen and paper (plumat papel) to achieve equal rights amongst the Spaniards. He was against the discrimination, unfairness and injustices prevalent in our country back then. Stauffenberg and Rizal have this ambition, and this was to be freed from any cause of their impediments for the further development and progress of their own nation. Stauffenberg wanted freedom from the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, and Rizal aspired to implement equal rights between the Filipinos and Spaniards, and to be uncontrolled by the friars lording in our country. Another similiarity I observed from the movie is when Stauffenberg lost his left eye which brought me to the fact that Rizal is an ophthalmologist. Both the Colonel and Rizal had concerns when it comes to ocular matters. There was also a resemblance on the way they both accepted death. Rizal died shouting Consummatum est!" (It is finished!) while Colonel Sttauffenberg died crying Es lebe unser heiliges Deutschland!" (Long Live Germany!).

However, in the middle of their likeness, there will always be a spot for disparity. One thing I figured out is, Rizal wants his matters executed in a peaceful way while the other accomplishes his tasks through bombs and firing. Nevertheless, I believe that both of them are humanist because they understand their own roles and how vital their positions are to spark a change and bring about change in their country. They realized that they were someone who had to take the brave steps that ultimately cost them their lives for the sake of the bigger population.