1943 Zeitzler developed the initial plans for Operation Citadel, the final major German offensive in the east, and convinced Hitler to undertake the offensive despite the objections raised by several other senior officers. This battle ended in a strategic defeat for the Germans, and a series of defensive battles ensued. Zeitzler's relationship with Hitler deteriorated during 1944. Hitler blamed him for the German defeat in the Crimea during April and May. This caused Zeitzler to signal his desire to resign. By the middle of the year Zeitzler had lost all faith in Hitler's tactics as a result of the deteriorating situation in Western Europe after the Allied landing at Normandy and Hitler's refusal to allow Army Group Centre to withdraw to more defensible positions on the Eastern Front. On 1 July Zeitzler suffered a nervous breakdown, and fled Hitler's Berghof residence. Hitler never spoke to him again, and had him dismissed from the Army in January 1945, refusing him the right to wear a uniform. Postwar life At the end of the war, Zeitzler was captured by British troops. He was a prisoner of war until the end of February 1947. He appeared as a witness for the defense during the Nuremberg trials, and worked with the Operational History Section (German) of the Historical Division of the U.S. Army. Zeitzler died in 1963 in Hohenaschau in Upper Bavaria. Positions in World War II Awards Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 18 May 1941 as Oberst i.G. and Chef des Generalstabes Panzer-Gruppe 1 References Bibliography Beevor, Antony Stalingrad New York, NY: Viking, 1998. Liddell Hart, B.H. The German Generals Talk. New York, NY: Morrow, 1948. Shirer, William L. The rise and fall of the Third Reich; a history of Nazi Germany New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1960. External links 1895 births 1963 deaths People from Dahme-Spreewald German Army personnel of World War I Prussian Army personnel German Army generals of World War II Colonel generals of the German Army (Wehrmacht) German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom People from the Province of Brandenburg Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class Reichswehr personnel Military personnel from Brandenburg