The Nazi Plan to Assassinate FDR, Churchill, and Stalin in One Go
Ernst Kaltenbrunner utilized Germany’s prize undercover agent in the Middle East, the Albanian Elyesa Bazna (codename “Cicero”), to lay the groundwork for Operation Long Jump. To carry out the actual attack, Kaltenbrunner turned to SS Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny. By 1943 Skorzeny, a former bodyguard of Hitler who had gone into special operations work, had solidified his status as Germany’s premier commando. That September, he had successfully carried out an intrepid airborne raid that rescued deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from captivity in a mountaintop ski resort. He then personally piloted a small plane that flew the freed fascist leader to safety. In short, Skorzeny was a highly capable, and highly dangerous, operative.
Fortunately, the Allies got wind of the German scheme. A Soviet intelligence agent, who posed as a Wehrmacht officer in Nazi occupied Ukraine, came across an SS officer who was prone to blabbing when in his cups. The Soviet operative got the SS man drunk, and the inebriated Nazi began to boast about his access and insider knowledge. Among the nuggets he let slip was that a “big” operation was in the works. It was to take place in Iran, and was expected to upend WWII and strike the Allies a serious blow by assassinating their leaders.
