Allen Dulles, the OSS, and Nazi War Criminals

Kerstin von Lingen is Research Group Leader and Lecturer in the Cluster of Excellence 'Asia and Europe' and the Department of Contemporary History at Heidelberg University, Germany. She is the author of Kesselring's Last Battle: War Crimes Trials and Cold War Politics, 1945–1960 (2009, translated from the German by Alexandra Klemm). Professor von Lingen has testified in court as an expert witness in recent war crimes trials concerning Nazi war crimes committed in Italy during World War II.

• 1. The protagonists: Karl Wolff and Allen Dulles; 2. Surrender in northern Italy: Operation Sunrise; 3. War crimes policy; 4. Protection from prosecution, 1945–1949; 5. Wolff's public image: hero or vernichtungsburokrat, 1950–1984; 6. Immunity and its origins: geopolitical interests; Conclusion.

'Kerstin von Lingen's most important book sheds light on a fascinating, cinema-like story. For the first time we learn how Karl Wolff, one of the most prominent surviving SS generals, managed to avoid prosecution with the help of the OSS. This well-researched book is essential reading for everyone interested in the astonishing story of German war criminals in the postwar period.' Sönke Neitzel, London School of Economics and Political Science