Can the alarm be stopped without killing the Nazi Commander?

I suck at stealth, but I do enjoy trying to beat levels without raising the alarm. In the event that I do set off the alarm is there any way to lower it without taking out the Nazi Commander? It seems to be very sensitive and even if I run far away from any soldiers the alarm remains up, even though the soldiers have shown they are no longer able to locate me. Killing the commander will disable the alarm, but I’d like to have a way to stop it so I can continue to sneak without having to reload a check point.