Wehrmacht General Henning von Tresckow had his first opportunity to take action against the Führer’s life when Hitler, after countless delays, was finally scheduled to visit the Eastern Front near Smolensk. Along with other conspirators, Tresckow practiced pistol shooting to kill both Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler during lunch in the officers’ mess as they sat down. However, partly due to Himmler’s cancellation of the visit, Field Marshal von Kluge was determinedly opposed. Although personally complicit, he convinced the conspirators not to carry out their plan due to the risk of civil war that a living Himmler would pose, pitting the army against the SS. Tresckow, however, had a backup plan, which he put into action the following day.
