Karl Hubert Lanz (22 May 1896 – 15 August 1982) was a German general during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in which he led units in the Eastern Front and in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. After the war, he was tried for war crimes and convicted in the Southeast Case, specifically for several atrocities committed by units under his command in the Balkans. Released in 1951, he joined the liberal Free Democratic Party and served as its adviser on military and security issues.

Early career

Lanz entered the Army on 20 June 1914, shortly before the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and served in the Western Front, and ended it with the rank of lieutenant (''Oberleutnant''). He was retained in the reduced post-war

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

, being promoted to captain on 1 February 1928. In the period 1932–1934 he commanded a company in an infantry regiment at

Gumbinnen Gusev (; ; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of Gusevsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Pissa and Krasnaya Rivers, near the border with Poland and Lithuania, east of Chernyakhovsk. It is p ...

, and was subsequently employed in staff duties, being promoted to lieutenant-colonel and Chief of Staff of IX Army Corps on 1 March 1937. After a period of command of the 100th ''Gebirgsjäger'' Regiment from November 1937 to August 1938, he assumed the position of Chief of Staff of the Military District V.

World War II

France and Yugoslavia

On 15 February 1940, he was posted as Chief of Staff for the XVIII Corps. On 1 October, he was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...

for his performance in this position during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

. On 26 October, he assumed command of the 1st Mountain Division, which was earmarked for Operation Felix, the assault on

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. With Felix cancelled, the division was transferred East, where it took part in the

Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...

in April 1941 as part of the 2nd Army.

Eastern Front

In June 1941, Lanz led his division in the invasion of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. On 30 June, his division conquered

Lvov Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. There, the Germans discovered several thousand bodies of prisoners who had been executed by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

, as they could not be evacuated.

Hannes Heer Hans Georg Heer (known as ''Hannes'') (born 16 March 1941) is a German historian, chiefly known for the ''Wehrmachtsausstellung'' (German: "Wehrmacht Exhibition") in the 1990s. While controversial at that time, the exhibition is nowadays widely c ...

, Einübung in den Holocaust: Lemberg Juni/Juli 1941; in: ZfG 5/2001Hannes Heer
''Blutige Ouvertüre. Lemberg, 30. Juni 1941: Mit dem Einmarsch der Wehrmachttruppen beginnt der Judenmord''
DIE ZEIT Nr. 26/2001; S. 90 As the news spread, a large-scale anti-Jewish

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

broke out, in which the town's Ukrainian population participated, stirred up in part by German and OUN posters and proclamations calling for revenge against the "Jewish

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

murders". Lanz continued to command the division during its advance in the Soviet Union, participating in the breakthrough of the Stalin Line and the advance to the Dnjepr and the Mius River. In May 1942, Lanz's division fought in the

Second Battle of Kharkov The Second Battle of Kharkov or Operation Fredericus was an Axis powers, Axis counter-offensive in the region around Kharkov against the Red Army Izium bridgehead offensive conducted 12–28 May 1942, on the Eastern Front (World War II), Easter ...

and then participated in the Fall Blau offensive through southern Russia and into the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

(

Operation Edelweiss The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis powers, Axis and Soviet Union, Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-D ...

). In a symbolic

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

move, on 21 August, Lanz sent a detachment of his men to raise the German flag on

Mount Elbrus Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. It is situated in the south ...

. Although the feat was widely publicized by

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

, Hitler was furious at this. Relieved of command on 17 December 1942, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross on the 23rd. Following the collapse of the German front after the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

, on 26 January 1943 Lanz was promoted to general and placed in command of the Army Detachment Lanz (''Armeeabteilung Lanz''), a formation made up of various German forces after the collapse of the Italian 8th Army, including the elite troops of the II SS Panzer Corps under General Paul Hausser.Hoffmann (1996), p. 279 Lanz was tasked by Hitler to hold the area of

Kharkov Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, even though he was outnumbered by almost 4:1. Following the loss of the city to the advancing

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, he was again dismissed on 20 February, although the decision to abandon the city without a fight had been taken by Hausser against Lanz's orders. On 25 June he was appointed provisional commander of XXXXIX Mountain Corps in the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

, a post he retained for a month.

Plan to arrest Hitler

While Lanz was in command of the defence of Kharkov, he, along with his Chief of Staff Hans Speidel (later chief of staff to

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

and involved in the

20 July plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...

) and Colonel von Strachwitz formulated a plan to arrest Hitler during his scheduled visit to Lanz's headquarters at

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

. To accomplish this, the plotters planned to use von Strachwitz's '' Großdeutschland'' Panzer regiment to overpower Hitler's SS bodyguard. This "Plan Lanz" was known in certain military circles, including the leadership of

Army Group B Army Group B () was the name of four distinct German Army Group, army group commands that saw action during World War II. The first Army Group B was created on 12 October 1939 (from the former Army Group North) and fought in the Battle of France ...

, and was even communicated to Field Marshal

.Hoffmann (1996), p. 280 However, on 17 February, when Hitler made his front visit, he chose Manstein's headquarters at Zaporozhye instead of Poltava.

Greece

Security warfare in Epirus

On 9 September 1943, Lanz assumed command of the newly formed (on 20 August) XXII Mountain Corps in

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

.Meyer, Hermann Frank: Die 1. Gebirgs-Division in Epirus im Sommer 1943
/ref> The Germans feared an Allied landing in Greece (a belief reinforced by British

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

measures like

Operation Mincemeat Operation Mincemeat was a successful British disinformation, deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who die ...

), and were engaged in continuous anti- partisan sweeps, during which several hundred villages were depopulated and often torched.

Collective punishment Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group or whole community for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member or some members of that group or area, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends a ...

of entire localities for guerrilla attacks was common, with directives to execute 50 to 100 hostages for each German casualty; only four days before Lanz assumed command, men of the 98th Regiment of 1st Mountain Division under Lieutenant-Colonel Josef Salminger, an ardent Nazi, had executed 153 civilians in the village of Mousiotitsa and another 317 in the village of Kommeno. Lanz himself was often at odds with his new subordinates. A conservative officer of the old school, and a devout

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, he had little in common with the energetic and fanatical young officers of the division like Salminger. Lanz was certainly no Nazi, and his involvement with the circles of the

was known; after its failure, he was said to sleep with a revolver under his pillow. Despite Lanz's personal misgivings and his clashes with his subordinate, General Walter von Stettner, over the treatment of civilians, reprisals remained a standard tactic: following the death of Salminger in a guerrilla ambush in late September, Lanz issued an order demanding "ruthless retaliatory action" in a 20 km area around the place of the ambush. As a result, at least 200 civilians were executed, including 92 in the village of Lingiades alone. Although these large-scale operations proved to have little permanent effect on the guerrilla groups themselves, the reprisals instilled sufficient terror in the local population to deter cooperation with the guerrillas. Furthermore, in late 1943, pressed by both the Germans and rival leftist ELAS guerrillas, General

Napoleon Zervas Napoleon Zervas (; May 17, 1891 – December 10, 1957) was a Hellenic Army officer and resistance leader during World War II. He organized and led the National Republican Greek League (EDES), the second most significant (after National Liberation ...

, the leader of EDES, the dominant guerrilla group in Epirus, reached a tacit agreement with Lanz and restricted his forces' operations against the Germans.

Cephalonia and Corfu massacres

On 8 September, Italy surrendered to the Allies. This began a race to disarm and intern the Italian garrisons of the Balkans before the Allies could take advantage of it. Lanz was tasked with overcoming the Italian forces in Epirus and the

Ionian Islands The Ionian Islands (Modern Greek: , ; Ancient Greek, Katharevousa: , ) are a archipelago, group of islands in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese ("Seven Islands"; , ''Heptanēsa'' or , ''Heptanē ...

. In two cases, in

Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

and

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

, the Italians offered resistance. Lanz himself was initially in favour of negotiating the Italian surrender, but in the end followed his orders and stormed these islands. In Cephalonia, the battle raged for a week before the Italians surrendered. After their surrender, and according to a directive from Hitler, more than 5,000 Italians were executed by the Germans. Lanz was present in Cephalonia both during the battle and the subsequent massacre. In Corfu, resistance lasted only for a day, but all 280 Italian officers on the island were shot and their bodies were disposed of in the sea, on Lanz's orders.

End of the war

After the German retreat from Greece in October 1944, Lanz and his troops moved through the Balkans towards

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, where they participated in

Operation Margarethe In March 1944, Hungary was occupied by the Wehrmacht. This invasion was formally known as Operation Margarethe (Unternehmen Margarethe). Course of events Hungarian Prime Minister Miklós Kállay, who had been in office from 1942, had the kno ...

, and the Austrian

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, where he surrendered to the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

on 8 May 1945.

Trial and subsequent life

Defendants in the dock and their lawyers during Hostages Trial USHMM 16806

Lanz was brought to trial in 1947 in the so-called " Southeast Case" of the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

, along with other Wehrmacht generals active in the Balkans. The trial was concerned with the atrocities carried out against civilians and

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

s in the area. In Lanz's case, the biggest issue was the Cephalonia massacre. However, his defence team cast doubt on the allegations concerning these events, and as the Italians did not present any evidence against him, Lanz convinced the court that he had resisted Hitler's directives and that the massacre did not happen.Lamb (1996), pp. 134–135 He claimed that the report to Army Group E reporting the execution of 5,000 soldiers had been a ruse employed to deceive the Army command, in order to hide the fact that he had disobeyed the Führer’s orders. He added that fewer than a dozen officers were shot and the rest of the ''Acqui'' Division was transported to

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

through

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

. His defence also argued that the Italians were under no orders to fight from the War Office in

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

, and would therefore have to be regarded as mutineers or ''

franc-tireur (; ) were irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). The term was revived and used by partisans to name two major French Resistance movements set up to fight against Nazi G ...

s'' who had no right to be treated as POWs under the

Geneva conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

. Ultimately, Lanz was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, a comparatively light sentence compared with other commanders involved with operations in the Balkans, like Lothar Rendulic. His sentence was reviewed by the " Peck Panel". On 1 February 1951, Lanz was released after his sentence was commuted to time served. To date, he is the only person to have served a prison sentence for the atrocities committed in Epirus or the Ionian islands. After his release, Lanz became active in the ranks of the FDP party and served as its adviser on military and security issues. In 1954, he published a book on the history of the 1st Mountain Division. He died in Munich in 1982.

Awards and decorations

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1914) 1st and 2nd class * Golden Württemberg Military Merit Medal on 30 August 1915 * Knight's Cross of the

Friedrich Order The Friedrich Order ( or ''Friedrichsorden'') was an order of merit of the German Kingdom of Württemberg. It was instituted on 1 January 1830 by the second king of Württemberg, Wilhelm I in remembrance of his father, King Friedrich I. In 1918, ...

with Swords * Knight's Cross of the Military Merit Order (Württemberg) * Military Merit Cross, 3rd class with Swords (Austria-Hungary) *

Wound Badge The Wound Badge () was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the Imperial German Army, German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between the worl ...

(1918) in Black *

Order of Vytautas the Great The Order of Vytautas the Great () is the Lithuanian Presidential Award.''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija. 84 straipsnis''. Priimta 1992 It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguish ...

, 5th class (Lithuania) on 8 September 1933 * Clasp to the Iron Cross (1939) ** 2nd Class (22 May 1940)Thomas 1998, p. 11. ** 1st Class (8 June 1940) *

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was lower in precedence than the Grand C ...

**Knight's Cross on 1 October 1940 as an ''Oberst'' in the General Staff and Chief of Staff of XVIII. ArmeekorpsScherzer 2007, p. 494. **160th Oak Leaves on 23 December 1942 as a ''Generalleutnant'' and commander of the 1. Gebirgs-DivisionFellgiebel 2000, p. 64.

References

Sources and bibliography

* Charles B. Burdick: Hubert Lanz. General der Gebirgstruppe 1896–1982, (= Soldatenschicksale des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts als Geschichtsquelle, Bd. 9), Osnabrück, 1988, * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanz, Hubert 1896 births 1982 deaths Epirus in World War II Failed assassins of Adolf Hitler Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians Generals of Mountain Troops German Army personnel of World War I German occupation of Greece during World War II German people convicted of crimes against humanity German people convicted of war crimes German perpetrators of World War II prisoner of war massacres Knights of the Order of Vytautas the Great Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals People from the Kingdom of Württemberg People from Tübingen (district) Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves Reichswehr personnel