Since March 1945, SS ObergruppenführerKarl Wolff, the commander of the German occupying forces in Italy, had begun negotiations for the local surrender of Axis forces in Italy. The Allies sent different negotiators, notably OSS agent Allen Dulles to negotiate the surrender in Switzerland. Wolff believed that a separate peace agreement might break the alliance of United States, United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, as the Allies agreed that they would accept only unconditional surrender during the Casablanca Conference. Hearing of the negotiations, the Soviet Union also wanted to send a Soviet representative to be part of the negotiations, but the other Allies refused.
Owing in part to Allied air attacks, the German forces in Italy had received no supplies from Germany since the first week of April.[2] Since Allied aircraft had destroyed all bridges across the Po river, the Germans abandoned their heavy weapons and motor vehicles south of it during the Allied spring offensive.[3][4] What was left of the German infantry along with the RSI forces was mostly wiped out during the fighting.[4] The remaining troops had retreated across the Po using improvised transports and were reorganized by blocking detachments to man the front line and fight on, but without arms their situation was hopeless.[4]
Surrender
On 26 April, Wolff convinced Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, the Minister of Defence of the Italian Social Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Army Group Liguria, to sign a surrender document of the German and RSI forces under his command equivalent to the German surrender document. Graziani signed the surrender document and gave it to Wolff and later endorsed them to Major Wenner. On 29 April, Graziani handed himself on General Crittenberger's US IV Corps.
German Commander-in-Chief of Army Group CHeinrich von Vietinghoff had noted on 28 April that fighting would cease within one or two days regardless of negotiations, the German troops having neither arms nor ammunition left.[5] Further destruction was thus unlikely, Army Group C having decided already on 11 April not to carry out Hitler's scorched earth policy.[5]
The surrender ceremony was held at Caserta. The German delegations were received by the Allied representatives, then the Allied representatives asked the two officers to present their credentials, Lt. Col. Schweinitz stated that he was acting on behalf of Vietinghoff, while Major Wenner stated that he was acting on behalf of Wolff, Wenner adds that he was also acting on behalf of Graziani. They were then given the surrender document in which the two accepted.
At 1400, Lt. Col. Schweinitz signed the surrender document on behalf of General Vietinghoff, then Major Wenner signed on behalf of SS Obergruppenführer Wolff and Marshal Graziani. For the Allies, Lt. Gen. Morgan signed on behalf of Field Marshal Alexander. On 1 May, Graziani ordered the Army Group Liguria to surrender, while all German and RSI forces in Italy surrendered a day after.
The Soviets were present at the signing event. The Soviet Military Command sent General Aleksei Kislenko [ru] to Caserta to witness the signing ceremony after the Soviets protested the secret negotiations between the other Allies and the German and RSI forces in Northern Italy. Polish Lt. Vraeveskj was also present as a representative for Poland to witness the signing ceremony.
Major Eugen Wenner - on behalf of SS ObergruppenführerKarl Wolff, as commander of the SS police in Italy and Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, as Minister of Defence of the Italian Social Republic
British Field MarshalHarold Alexander in statement said that the Surrender of Caserta shortened the war in Europe by six to eight weeks and saved Northern Italy from more destruction along with tens of thousands of lives.
Gallery
Graziani's proxy of surrender (in German)
Vietinghoff's proxy of surrender
Wolff's proxy of surrender
Recording of proxy for the photostat copies of the Axis commanders in Italy (Vietinghoff, Wolff, and Graziani)
Frieser, Karl-Heinz; Schmider, Klaus; Schönherr, Klaus; Schreiber, Gerhard; Ungváry, Kristián; Wegner, Bernd (2007). Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten [The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring Fronts] (in German). Vol. VIII. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. ISBN978-3-421-06235-2. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
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