12. Plan Lanz was created to arrest Hitler
By early 1943, German leaders on the Eastern Front were aware of the improbability of prevailing over the Red Army. They were equally aware that their view was not shared by Hitler, who was increasingly interfering with operations, usually to their detriment. The officers who created the plan known as the Lanz Plan did not commit it to paper, therefore its long suspected existence has never been proven, but enough circumstantial evidence exists to include it in a list of plots to overthrow Hitler. The plan was to place Hitler under arrest, which required the suppression of his SS guards, an action which would have undoubtedly led to gunfire and many casualties, including most likely the Fuhrer. Such a possibility was of no consequence to General Hubert von Lanz and Colonel Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz who planned the operation set for execution in February 1943, during a visit by Hitler to the Eastern Front.
Elements of the German army under the command of Strachwitz were to surround Hitler and his SS security troops when they arrived at Lanz’s headquarters at Poltava. Once Hitler was surrounded he was to be ordered to surrender and in the event of resistance the armored units of Strachwitz’s battalion were to open fire with heavy machine guns, eliminating the entire SS unit and Hitler’s personal guards, as well as Hitler. Hitler was scheduled to arrive at Poltava during the third week of February, but in the event, he decided to shorten his visit to the Eastern Front after inspecting the situation at Zaporizhzhia on February 17, in order to return to Berlin. Thus Hitler and his delegation escaped the planned coup and likely assassination, and the Gestapo and other German security forces never learned of the plan’s existence, nor the growing resistance to Hitler within the ranks of senior Army officers.