Student’s Curiosity Leads to National Publication Senior Victoria Walton’s 64-page research paper, “Operation Valkyrie: The German Military Resistance to Adolf Hitler and the 20 July Plot,” was published in the fall issue of the Concord Review, a national journal which champions high school research writing. We asked Victoria to walk us through her research and writing process in this essay. 6
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By Victoria C. Walton ‘19 As the librarian in the main reading room of the Library of Congress handed me a box of materials, she stated in a tone not to be questioned: “Gloves must remain on. No pens, paper clips or water.” Feeling both excited and overwhelmed, I wondered, how did I get here? I’ve always been most excited and engaged when studying how things work, or how they came to be. Some people are happy to enjoy the show, but I’m always trying to see what’s behind the curtain. My interest in why things are as they are started at The Summit in second grade with the Bio Bottle project. Each student chose a person from history, decorated a bottle with their likeness and presented on their background. I chose Laura Ingalls Wilder and was so insistent on seeing “the prairie” that my parents relented, and we journeyed downtown to the main library, walked the stacks and checked out oversized photobooks depicting the northern plains. My curiosity in “why” increased during my eighth grade capstone project on the 1994 Rwandan genocide. As part of the project, I returned to the main library to read newspaper articles and interviewed a Lutheran social services aid worker present during the massacres. Speaking with an eyewitness taught me that no substitute exists for first-hand accounts and impressions. An actual observer to the genocide holds small details and feelings that are never revealed in general histories of events. The slaughter became all too real when I heard someone actually describe their own fears in that situation. For our sophomore year research paper, Social Studies teacher Jeff Stayton presented us with a list of names and assigned us to research the impact of an historical figure on the person’s era. Because I have always had an interest in studying the Holocaust and those who resisted the Nazis’ efforts, I chose Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. Stauffenberg was the German officer during WWII who led Operation Valkyrie, the unsuccessful “20 July 1944” coup attempt against Adolf Hitler. Trying to tell the story of his life and analyze his impact for the first time was a daunting task. When the paper was completed, I felt I had barely
scratched the surface of the German resistance. Other than Colonel Stauffenberg’s involvement, I did not have the time or paper length to investigate critical questions about the resistance including other key members of the 20 July plot. I decided to challenge myself and write a more detailed research paper on Colonel Stauffenberg and a history of the German military resistance to Hitler in hopes of being published in the Concord Review, as my older sisters, Caroline ’17 and Emily ’15, had done. Mr. Stayton and Social Studies teacher Kelly Cronin agreed to mentor me, while reminding me that The Concord Review accepted very few papers for publication. During the summer, I followed the process Mr. Stayton had taught us: I outlined my research methods and set to work. I wanted to start with the very beginning of the military opposition to Hitler in 1933 and follow their efforts until the 20 July 1944 plot. For my Concord Review paper, I wanted to find as many original sources and eyewitness accounts as possible. Much of the original documentation concerning the 20 July plot was destroyed by Allied air raids during the war. I knew I would have to search and think of alternative ways to understand the resistance movement. At the start of my search, none of my sources provided any new angles about the resistance or its motivations. Most of the eyewitnesses and conspirators to the 20 July plot had been executed after the failed attempt, frustrating my efforts to better understand their motivations. Did they act out of revulsion to the Nazi regime or to save themselves from defeat? Were they courageous or cowards? Despite countless trips to the main library for original sources, I turned up empty handed. During one of my research efforts, I ran across a reference to a statement by German Admiral Erich Raeder, the leader of the German Navy until 1942. In the affidavit, taken by the American army after the war, Admiral Raeder spoke favorably about a German general who had been executed for participating in the resistance. As I kept digging, I learned that the entire affidavit and other similar materials were located with the original Nuremberg war crimes trial materials housed Summit Magazine 7
at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. At the same time, I also discovered the library and archives that are part of the U.S. Holocaust Museum contained video and audio interviews of various individuals whose testimony touched on aspects of resistance or the night of 20 July. Although my dad agreed to take me to Washington D.C. in July, he made it clear that I was on my own. I applied for a researcher’s card at both institutions and spent two-and-half days in both locations, finding and copying as many materials as I could.
made with a pen. Touching the documents made the text seem alive, vivid and anguished. Reading the first-hand accounts gave me a window into the conspirators’ motivations. Analyzing the interrogations of Nazis who had survived, particularly Gestapo Chief Kaltenbrunner, showed that the 20 July coup plot had a greater impact on Hitler and the Nazi elite than I had realized. I also located a partial transcript of the trial of several of the main conspirators. Their testimony about Colonel Stauffenberg demonstrated the uniqueness and courage of the man.
Later in the week, I visited the library located at the top of The size and the U.S. Holocaust ornateness of the Museum. The Library of Congress staff was incredibly was overwhelming enthusiastic and and awe-inspiring at helpful. They gave me the same time. The countless audio and only other person in video tapes. One of the research room was videos included the a librarian at a large, account of Lisa Slater, round wooden desk in a woman who worked the center of the room. for the German I asked her for the Reserve Army and Nuremberg materials was in the building I wanted. I was with the plotters on expecting her to laugh the night of 20 July. and escort me out of She described the the room. Instead, she chaos and confusion Victoria Walton stands outside the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. indicated that some of in a way none of the the files required me histories I had located to wear gloves and handle the documents with had detailed. I also found a video interview of an particular care. SS soldier Rochus Misch, who discussed being ordered by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels Within 30 minutes, the first boxes of material to guard with his life the main radio station in began to arrive from the storage facilities in the Berlin against the coup plotters. basement. Over the next two days, I had made two new friends and the librarians were constantly The new sources provided me with greater insight checking to discover what information I had into the events on the night of 20 July as well as located and examine the material themselves. the impact of the coup on Nazi Germany during The power of the paper transcripts was impressive. the remaining months of the war. With this new I had never before held a typewritten document. material, I returned home and spent the next I could feel the indentions of the keys and see six months writing and rewriting my paper. The random blotches of black ink and corrections paper would have never happened without the encouragement and advice of Mr. Stayton and Ms. 8
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Cronin. They were patient with my efforts and gave me suggestions on how to better organize, focus, streamline and present the material. When I submitted the paper to the Concord Review in the spring, Ms. Cronin reminded me that very few submissions are printed. I felt my
true accomplishment had been giving a voice to Colonel Stauffenberg and the others who had the courage to launch the coup attempt. Now that it is published, I hope my paper furthers that goal in a small way.
Summit’s Top Writers: Where Are They Now Senior Victoria Walton is the seventh student from The Summit to be published in the Concord Review, a national quarterly which champions high school research writing. It has been said that it is harder to get published in the Concord Review than to gain admission to Harvard University. Never the less, seven of the nine Cincinnati students published in the Concord Review have been Summit students. Caroline Walton ’17 explored how Tudor monarchs avoided much of the religious warfare that engulfed continental Europe during the Protestant Reformation. Caroline is majoring in chemistry and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Emily Walton ’15 analyzed evidence presented at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, to illustrate the close relationship between politics and religion in 16th Century Europe. She received the Concord Review’s Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize. Emily is pursuing a double major in psychology and chemistry at Wake Forest University. Theresa Rager ’13 explored the history of tuberculosis research and its effects on the development of the medical field. Theresa completed a service year with the National Health Corps Chicago AmeriCorps Program after getting a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston College with a medical humanities minor. At Boston College, she was the managing editor of The Medical Humanities Journal and on the executive council for student government. Now, she is pursuing a Master of Science in Global Health at the University of Notre Dame and working for Community Health Initiative, Haiti as the Marketing & Communications Coordinator. She will conduct her capstone research in Haiti this summer centering on detecting
environmental reservoirs of cholera. She hopes to begin medical school in August. Jane Abbottsmith ’08 focused on religion and nationalism in Ireland in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. She won the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize and her paper was republished in the Concord Review Readers Series. Jane received a bachelor’s degree in religion with a certificate in values and public life from Princeton University and a Master of Philosophy at Cambridge University in England. Now, she is M.D./Ph.D. student at Yale School of Medicine, studying religion and medical ethics. Nick Corser ‘08 explored the role of the Catholic church in the European witch trials. Nick received a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Vanderbilt University and both an M.B.A. and juris doctor degree from Emory Law School in Atlanta. He is now labor and business litigation attorney with Freed Howard in Atlanta. Dr. Margaret (Niehaus-Sauter) Fuchs ’03 focused on the role of music in the life of the North American slave. She received a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from Kenyon College and a medical degree from The Ohio State University. Dr. Fuchs is now a Cardiovascular Disease Fellow at the Mayo Clinic. The Summit’s signature Writing Program is a rigorous curriculum that starts in the preschool and culminates in complex research and writing projects across the curriculum in the Middle and Upper Schools. In a recent survey, 89 percent of The Summit’s young alumni ranked their writing ability higher than their college peers, compared to 61 percent at benchmark independent schools like The Summit. Summit Magazine 9