Max Husmann (9 March 1888 – 19 February 1965) was a Swiss citizen who helped instigate and orchestrate Operation Sunrise (by Winston Churchill referred to as Crossword), the secret negotiations that led to the surrender of German troops in Italy in 1945, the beginning of the end of World War II.
[2] Max Husmann played a crucial role in persuading high-ranking officers of the Wehrmacht and the SS to force a surrender of German troops in spite of Hitler's orders.
[4][5][6] Max Husmann was a teacher who founded Institut Montana, a residential school near Zug in Switzerland, in 1926, based on the belief that education could help build a more tolerant and more peaceful world.
The Institut Montana opened the following year, and then expanded, acquiring the Felsenegg in 1937 making space to create sports grounds, dig a swimming pool, and equip science laboratories and workshops.
In February 1945, an Italian baron, Luigi Parrilli, contacted Max Husmann with information about an alleged German plan to scorch the earth of northern Italy, destroying agriculture, industry and homes as the Allied advance put the Wehrmacht into retreat.
This Swiss teacher would complete his task with astonishing success; in fact, he, a civilian, managed to convince high and very high-ranking SS officers that their ideal world and their position of power were actually founded on error and would therefore soon collapse.
Max Husmann appeared in court on behalf of Wolff as did the other members of the Sunrise coterie – Allen Dulles, Lyman Lemnitzer, Gero von Gaevernitz, Terence Airey.
In August 1947, he wrote a letter at the request of Telford Taylor, chief counsel of the U.S. prosecution, stating that such promises had been made although Dulles was unable to confirm this in writing because of the delicate political situation.
Research has since demonstrated that it is most likely that deals were made that traded working towards surrender against protection in war crimes trials, and that this accounts for the lenient sentence eventually served on Karl Wolff.