ABSTRACT
As early as 1943 Major Stillfried, together with Colonel Lahousen, attempted to establish a link between the Austrian Resistance and the Allies. These were the only concrete attempts to reestablish contacts that had existed but had been disrupted by the war. The development of an information service was the almost automatic corollary of the contact and collaboration with the Allies and the establishment of a courier route across Austria into Switzerland and Italy. The connection between Vienna and the Allies made it possible to bring Allied liaison officers to Austria, and this was done with both Frenchmen and Americans beginning in September and October 1944. The facilities that the Austrian Resistance was able to offer the Allies, specifically the Americans and the French, were probably unique, and they were gladly and gratefully utilized. Between 1938 and 1945 more than a million Austrians were conscripted into the Wehrmacht, and thus the German army’s units contained a large number of Austrian soldiers.
