Final Negotiations

On April 21, the Combined Chiefs of Staff sent a recommendation to the Soviets that all three Allied powers would appoint officers to serve as surrender representatives. On April 25, General Kislenko was appointed to be the Russian representative in Caserta. Anglo-American generals were not willing to have him play a meaningful role in capitulation. When Kislenko was excluded from the first talks, he protested vehemently. The German representatives were Schweitz (representing Vietinghoff) and Major Wenner (representing Wolff). The Allied team was led by General Morgan. His first mistake was that he handed capitulation terms to the Germans without first making certain that they indeed had the authority to implement an unconditional surrender. The document included a 2 page unconditional surrender as well as 18 pages of detailed appendices. The Germans had problems with paragraph 8 in the appendices, as they wanted to ensure that the troops would not be sent away. The Allies would not make concessions, as the Germans had no choice but to surrender or be killed.  Schweintz wanted to confer with Vietinghoff before doing anything, as he had not been authorized to sign until Berlin fell or Italy had been cut off from the Reich. However, due to restraints in methods of sending the document to Vietinghoff, Schweintz was told on April 29 that he would have to sign without his commander’s approval. That afternoon the final surrender meeting took place. The capitulation instrument had been amended to state that hostilities would end at noon on May 2 at noon Greenwich time. Before signing, Schweintz made a statement reiterating that he had received powers from Vietinghoff but they were only valid within certain limits and although approval was likely he could not give absolute assurance. With that act the Sunrise surrender negotiations were over, and in the eyes of the Allies the war in Italy ended with them. The Combined Chiefs were informed of the capitulation and that hostilities were to end on May 2.

Source:

Smith, Bradley F. & Agarossi, Elena. Operation Sunrise: The Secret Surrender. New York: Basic Books, 1979