On 30 April 1945, news of Hitler’s death reached the world. For many German soldiers this meant the war was over. However, some fanatical troops continued to resist the advancing Allies. This resulted in one of the most remarkable battle of the war: the battle for Itter Castle.
Itter Castle, or Schloss Itter as it was known in Austria, was used for a high-profile prisoners, whom the Germans felt had potential value as hostages. The castle itself had been under administrative control of the infamous concentration camp of Dachau since 1943 and was guarded by the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-Skull Brigade). The inmates, all of which were French, were kept in relatively good conditions. They had fairly spacious holding cell, had access to the castle’s library, and were allowed to walk in the courtyard.
On 3 May, Eduard Weiter, the former commandant of Dachau, who had fled to the castle, realized he would be trialled and put to death by the Allies and chose to kill himself. He shot himself in the heart, but somehow survived. Despite being severely wounded, he managed to squeeze off another shot and commit suicide.
With the Allies closing in on the area and Weiter dead, the commander of the prison, Sebastian Wimmer, fled Itter Castle. The guards followed suit, and by 4 May the French prisoners realized they free. However, SS troops were still in the area and the prisoners had good reason to fear they would be murdered by the retreating members of the Schutzstaffel, and the former inmates decided to act.
On May 4, Zoonimir Cuckovic, the castle handyman, left the castle and managed to sneak through the enemy’s line. He reached the 103th Infantry Division and convinced the Americans to send a rescue party. Unfortunately, the troops were caught in an artillery barrage and retreated.
Unaware of Cuckovic’s failed attempt, a second messenger left the castle in search for help. Andreas Krobot, the catsle’s cook, also sneaked through the SS lines and managed to reach the town of Wörgl. There, Krobot found Major Josef “Sepp” Gangl, as German soldier who had teamed up with Austrian resistance fighters. Gangl agreed to aid the trapped prisoners of Itter Castle, possibly because this would reflect well on him and his men. More help arrived when Captain Kurt-Siegfried Schrader, a Waffen-SS officer who lived close to the castle and had turned the SS, joined the inmates and took charge of the defense.
Gangl’s troops found an American recon division led by Army Captain John C. “Jack” Lee Jr. of Company B of the 23rd Tank Battalion, and shortly after, a handful of American soldiers, German soldiers, and one tank (named “Besotten Jenny”) arrived at Castle Itter.
Around 2300hrs, Waffen-SS troops opened fire in an attempt to test the defenders’ strength. Early the next morning, a well-concealed 88mm round hit “Besotten Jenny” and took it out. With the tank gone, the SS troops decided to attack the castle in an effort to push the defenders out.
Between of 100 and 150 SS troops attacked the castle with what was described as “extreme vigor”. By noon, the defenders were running seriously low on ammunition and well aware that they were running out of options. It was at that point that one of the prisoners, French tennis champion Jean Borotra, left the castle and located and guided a relief force of the 142 Infantry Regiment back to the castle. They returned around three in the afternoon, just in time to see the SS troops were about to assault the castle’s entrance.
In a matter of minutes, the SS attackers were overrun. Some were killed and others were wounded as they began retreating into the surrounding woods. Around 100 SS soldiers were taken prisoner.
Germany surrendered unconditionally on 8 May and the war in Europe was officially over. The battle for Itter Castle had been one of the last skirmishes of WWII, and it had been the only one in which Americans and Germans fought alongside each other.
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