PRELUDE TO PEACE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 134, 8 May 1945, Page 8

PRELUDE TO PEACE

TALKS IN SWITZERLAND. GENERALS BUY A DOG. (N.Z. Press Association. —Copyright.) RUGBY. May 6. How two Allied Generals spent three weeks in Switzerland as a . prelude to the German unconditional surrender in Italy is disclosed in a message from a correspondent- in Rome. The two Generals were Major-General L. L. Lemnitzer, of the United States armv and Major-General B. Airey, of the 'British Army. They went to Switzerland dressed -as American tourists, ostensibly to buy a German dachshund. Actually' they conducted discussions with General Wolff, the German Waf•fen S.S. leader.

The story begins late in February of this year when Allied agents in Switzerland reported that peace feelers were being put out and that representatives of a high-ranking Nazi commander and diplomats had made approaches. On March 8 Wolff himself arrived at a town on the Swiss border and requested a meeting with Allied representatives, and General Alexander sent Generals Lemnitzer and Airey. The two Allied Generals established their headquarters in a large Swiss city where they awaited word of arrangements for the first meeting with the Germans. They took particular care to cloak their movements and kept on moving from place to place throughout Switzerland. On March 17 word came that it would be possible to see Wolff in the vicinity of Locarno and the Allied party, travelling separately, reached the vicinity of Locarno the following day and took a small house where they could live in seclusion.

The purchase of a fine German dachshund named “Fritzel” was made the excuse and people around surmised that the American cnilians, as they thought them, were trying to buy the dog.

When the Allied Generals met Wolff on the afternoon of March 19 they did not give their names, but were merely introduced as “high-ranking Allied officers”. General Lemnitzer did the talking. He pointed out the helplessness of the German position in Europe, and in Italy in particular, and stated that he was only interested m <>ettin.>- uu authorised German representat/. e to General Alexander’s headquarters if the Germans wanted peace. KESSELRING READY.

Wolff told the Allied Generals that Kesselring had been recalled to Germany and this would make the position more difficult, as Kesselring had been prepared for surrender and he did not know how the new commander would react. It was agreed then to meet again in five days. Five days later Wolff did not turn up and the two Allied Generals waited five days more, hut nothing happened. A few days later they learned that Wolff was unable to come because Himmler had telephoned and asked him why he had gone to Switzerland. Wolff explained he had made the trip to arrange the transfer of prisoners. Himmler instructed him not to go to Switzerland- again and that he would call Wolff regularly to ensure that his instructions were being carried out.

On April 4 the two Allied Generals returned to Caserta and five days later the Allies launched their spring offensive. , , Two weeks afterwards word came that Wolff was returning to CwitzerInticl and that he had with him two plenipotentiaries to proceed to General Alexander’s headquarters. Geneial Alexander sent an aircraft to meet the plenipotentiaries on April 28, but ho was willing to meet them only if they came, with full power to accept unconditional surrender. QUICK FINISH. After that negotiations were speeded up. When the plenipotentiaries arrived at Caserta on April 29 they were met 'by General Morgan who asked them if they had full power to act for their commander, 'they replied, “Yes,” and General Morgan- handed them copies of the instrument of suirender and asked them to study. it. The Germans after some bargaining, were told that unless they surrendered unconditionally and without delay the negotiations would he terminated immediately. They surrendered. It was revealed by Wolff that he visited Berlin on April 18 and had a talk with Himmler, who mentioned three possibilities about his own and Hitler’s future. One was to fight it out in Berlin, the second to retreat to the alpine redoubt, arid the third to retreat by aircraft to Berchtes-f-aden On the second day of his visit to Berlin, Wolff saw Hitler who seemed in low spirits but not hopeless Hitler had said : “We must fight ,on to gain time. In two months a break between the Anglo-Saxons djkl the Russians will come about- and I will join the party which approaches rue first—it makes no difference which party.”