his father) by his serious commitment to the German resistance to
Hitler. Known as 476 according to the OSS rolls, he became a full-
time executive officer, unlike most of the other numbered sources.
An attempt to provide him with cover as an attaché for the Office
of Economic Warfare met with the stern disapproval of the State
Department, and Gaevernitz therefore remained outwardly a private
citizen engaging in diverse business activities. His chief function was
to screen individuals desiring an audience with Dulles, as neutral
Switzerland teemed with exiles, spies, Nazis, anti-Nazis, and sheer
curiosity-seekers. Particularly noteworthy was Gaevernitz’s role in
bringing Hans Bernd Gisevius of the Abwehr to his chief’s atten-
tion. Gaevernitz also coordinated the efforts of an informal group of
exiled politicians calling themselves “Das demokratische Deutsch-
land” (Democratic Germany), who were concerned about the postwar
configuration of the country.
The official Allied policy of “unconditional surrender” adopted
at the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 severely complicated
the work of Gaevernitz and Dulles. While bound to respect its provi-
sions, they nevertheless gave a measure of “quiet encouragement”
to the German resistance, especially those involved in the plot of 20
July 1944 to assassinate Hitler. Gaevernitz figured prominently as
well in Operation sunrise, the secret negotiations that resulted in
an early surrender of German forces in northern Italy. Yet his plan to
have captured German officers accompany advancing Allied armies
as an advisory force was rejected by the staff of U.S. General Dwight
D. Eisenhower.
With the military defeat of Germany, Gaevernitz, along with
Dulles, advocated a lenient and less categorical occupation policy.
Remaining in Switzerland, he attempted to rehabilitate the Ger-
man contacts he had brought to the OSS and compiled a card file
of Germans who should and should not be consulted by occupation
authorities. His last major cooperative effort with Dulles was a writ-
ten account of Operation sunrise, The Secret Surrender (1966). Two
years later, Gaevernitz revised a motion picture script based on the
book. He died on 6 April 1971 in the Canary Islands.SCHUMANN CHRISTA-KARIN. See BAUMANN-ZAKRZOWSKI,
WINFRIED.
408 • SCHUMANN CHRISTA-KARIN