Secret Surrender: The Classic Insider's Account of the Secret Plot to Surrender Northern Italy During Wwii

by Allen W. Dulles

On April 17, 1945, Adolph Hitler sent a memorandum to a German general who wanted to fall back to a more advantageous position in Northern "The Führer expects the utmost steadfastness to defend every inch of the North Italian area entrusted to your command. I desire to point out the serious consequences for all those higher commanders who do not carry out the Führer's orders to the last word." Such was Adolph Hitler's insane directive and unambiguous threat to anyone who contemplated anything other than Hitler's last-man defense. But Allen Dulles, who worked in Switzerland for "Wild Bill" Donovan's OSS-the precursor to the CIA-was conducting Operation Sunrise, a secret plot to effect the surrender of Nazi and Fascist troops in Italy.
Dulles guided the delicate, top-secret negotiations in Switzerland. In an immediate, personal, and page-turning narrative that has all the hallmarks of
a suspense novel, Dulles reveals the extraordinary details of one of the most successful intelligence operations of all time.
In The Secret Surrender, Dulles re-creates the climate of paranoia and terror that paralyzed the German top military command, vividly conveying the hidden antagonisms of important Nazis concerned for their personal safety. He describes the hazards of keeping channels of communication with the SS general in Italy who defied Hitler's "scorched earth" command, and recounts the tension-packed weeks during which Allied support of the surrender plan was secured in spite of Stalin's plot to wreck the enterprise.
The Secret Surrender conveys the breathless excitement of a fictional thriller, and furnishes valuable firsthand insight into one of the most dramatic events in World War II.

Genres: History, Military History, Politics, World War II, War, Espionage, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

American public official Allen Welsh Dulles served from 1953 as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and after the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs resigned in 1961.

This diplomat and lawyer flourished.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_D...

Reviews

[tbt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Allen Dulles is quite an enjoyable writer and he certainly tells a good story but he seems only marginally more honest than memoirs written by former nazis.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest accomplishments of the Second World War was not achieved on the battlefield, but in a secret negotiations. During the war, Allen Dulles was the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) chief in Switzerland. The OSS was the precursor to the CIA. As a neutral country having borders with Germany and Fascist controlled Italy during the war, it was a place where both sides could move and interact relatively freely.
In the last year of the war as the Allies bloodily moved up the Italian peninsula, it became increasingly clear that Germany was going to be defeated. The questions then took the form of how many would die, how much physical destruction there would be, and which forces would be in control of what territory on the day the war ended.
Dulles and his team were the intermediaries between Allied commanders, the German commanders in northern Italy and the Italian partisan fighters working against the Germans. Through perseverance, determination, great courage on the part of some German commanders and some incredible luck, a surrender in place of the German forces took place May 2, 1945. This action saved a great deal of death and destruction in northern Italy and kept communist forces from taking control of a large section of Italian territory.
This is a fascinating book as Dulles explains all of the conflicting forces in play as German power and control began to wane in Northern Italy. Some of the German commanders took great personal risk in their negotiations, there were genuine threats against their person and members of their families. History is replete with colossal failures of the intelligence communities this was one of the incredible successes.

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping. Interesting insights regarding how the Soviet Union influences American military and diplomatic policy. A million Axis troops surrendered at one time, saving thousands of lives, both Allied and Axis.