Introduction

Operation Sunrise was a covert mission executed by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the final months of the Second World War in Europe. From March to May 1945 Allen Dulles, the OSS chief in Bern, met secretly with a number of German officials headed by the SS and police chief of northern Italy, SS Obergruppenfuhrer Karl Wolff, in an effort to arrange the secret surrender of Axis forces in northern Italy. Talks were long and complicated as controversy grew between the Western powers and the Soviet Union. Wolff and German generals delayed in negotiations as they feared retribution from Hitler and other Nazi leaders for arranging a surrender with the Allies and betraying the Third Reich. Many Americans are still unaware of the secret surrender of Italy that occurred on May 2, 1945 just five days prior to the final capitulation of all Axis powers in Europe. Prior to Operation Sunrise, the OSS had not contributed much to intelligence action in the war. This was the first significant intelligence operation undertaken by the OSS in Europe. The following questions will be investigated. What were the details of the operation? How did political and military goals influence the process of the mission? What were the overall implications of Operation Sunrise? How did it affect relations between the Allies and the Axis powers in the final months of the war? Finally, how did the operation affect East-West relations during and after the war?