Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945. World War
II was winding down, and many Germans looked forward to its end. Not the
fanatical SS men though. They prowled around, executing deserters and those who
hung out white sheets in anticipating of Allied troops.
High in the Austrian Alps, Wehrmacht Major Josef
(Sepp) Gangl got in touch with an Austrian resistance cell, determined to help
prevent fighting against the advancing American army and the destruction of
bridges and roads.
SS Captain Kurt-Siegfried Schrader also turned from
the Nazi mindset. Assigned as a supply officer in the Tyrol, his only goal was
to protect his family whom he’d moved to Wörgl.
Both Gangl and Schrader learned of VIP prisoners in
danger nearby. Important people who were famous or powerful or valuable and who
might have value in negotiations with the Allies were held in relative comfort
in hotels and castles throughout the Reich. The thirteenth-century Schloss
Itter held several French citizens, along with Eastern Europeans brought from
the Dachau concentration camp as servants. After the commandant committed
suicide and the guards fled, the prisoners remained sequestered at the castle
because of marauding Waffen-SS troops.
The French were a querulous lot. Among them were
bitter rivals, former prime ministers Édouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud.
General Maurice Gamelin had been sacked by Reynaud after Germany invaded
France. Reynaud recalled retired General Maxime Weygand who, hoping to save
France from destruction, sought an immediate armistice. Reynaud and Gamelin
were horrified to see Weygand and his wife arrive at Itter. Others included
labor leaders, Vichy government workers too vocal in their disdain for the
Nazis, and relatives of prominent people, like Charles de Gaulle’s sister and
brother-in-law.
Instead of supportive camaraderie, they existed in
fractious segregation. Several spent their days writing their memoirs that
vilified their fellow prisoners.
For a brief time, they united to plan their survival.
Messages went sent with the Croatian handyman, Zvonko Čučkovič, and the Czech
cook, Andreas Krobot, to find the American army they knew was nearby from
broadcasts on a hidden radio. They also summoned Schrader and formally asked
him to ensure their safety.
Čučkovič found the lead elements of the U.S. Army in
Innsbruck. Waiting for the commanders to arrive that night and for a rescue to
be organized would take time.
Cycling to Wörgl, Krobot was taken to Sepp Gangl.
Gangl knew he and his dozen men couldn’t prevail over a well-armed Waffen-SS
attack. He hurried to Kufstein, seven miles away, with a white flag. There he
found Captain Jack Lee and his tanks, spearhead of the 12th Armored
Division, awaiting word of a cease-fire.
The red dot marks the location of Itter. |
Lee accompanied Gangl back to the castle to
reconnoiter, by now late in the day. After meeting Schrader and the French
VIPs, he returned to organize his rescue effort.
Seven tanks set out for Itter, but three turned back
after a small, old bridge started to collapse after the fourth tank crossed.
Two more had to stay at Wörgl to bolster the town’s defense against roving
die-hard soldiers. Gangl summoned more of his men to reinforce Lee’s group.
They continued on—two tanks, fourteen American soldiers riding on the tanks, a
German kübelwagen (a jeep-like vehicle) and truck with ten German soldiers. The
second tank was left to guard a bridge that was the only route back to American
lines.
Lee’s group broke up a Waffen-SS
roadblock and he realized the situation was deteriorating. He immediately
deployed the men around the castle and distributed their weapons. They had
little, and were likely to be badly outnumbered in an attack. Schrader informed
Lee that they’d seen two antitank guns pulled into position.
The attack came just after 4 the
next morning. Four hours later, the defenders spotted a 20mm anti-aircraft
cannon and an 88mm gun brought into place, both fearsome weapons. Also, 100-150
men of the 17th SS Panzer-Grenadier Division were deployed around
the castle. They had spent the previous four hours probing the castle’s
defenses. Now they were ready for business.
The Waffen-SS also posed a threat
to the advancing U.S. forces. Lee wanted to notify them, but his tank’s radio
was inoperative. Schrader offered a novel idea: use the telephone. Gangl placed
a call to the resistance leaders in Wörgl to spread the word.
Lee’s tank was soon destroyed and
rounds from the 88 began slamming into the castle. Five of the Frenchmen
retrieved guns and began firing away with the soldiers, exhibiting more
enthusiasm than skill. Skirmishes with the SS had slowed the arrival of the
relief troops. Ammunition was running low, and Gangl was killed by a sniper.
Wehrmacht Major Josef (Sepp) Gangl and SS Captain Kurt-Siegfried Schrader |
Then the telephone rang. Lee was
able to tell Major Kramers, leading the Americans, how dire their situation was becoming before the line went dead.
Just as a squad of Waffen-SS men
positioned their panzerfaust at the front gate, the sound of tank guns and
automatic weapon fire heralded the arrival of the American relief force. The SS
disappeared into the woods.
The attack had lasted twelve hours
on May 5. The Americans would not have been able to safeguard the French VIPs
without Gangl, his men, and Schrader fighting alongside them. The French
returned to their squabbling.
For further reading: The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the
Waning Hours of World War II in Europe by Stephen Harding. 2013
You always have such interesting posts!
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