Qualla: Battle of Castle Itter https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:35 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/u/2/2/w/battle-of-castle-itter-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Castle Itter https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter Battle of Castle Itter: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter/ Photo credit C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five days after Adolf Hitler's suicide, two days before Germany's unconditional surrender, American and German soldiers fought on the same side. On May 5, 1945, at a small castle on a hill near the village of Itter in Austria's North Tyrol, a force of fourteen American GIs, a handful of Wehrmacht defectors, a convalescing SS officer, and a group of high-profile French prisoners -- including two former prime ministers, two former commanders-in-chief, and Charles de Gaulle's elder sister -- held off an assault by 100 to 150 Waffen-SS troops. Popular accounts have called it the strangest battle of World War II. The facts make the label hard to argue with.

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Image: C.Stadler/Bwag | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/2/2/w/battle-of-castle-itter-wp/u22w-battle-of-castle-itter-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Castle Itter: A Castle Becomes a Prison https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter/ Photo credit Steve J. Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0. Castle Itter is a small fortress perched above the village of the same name. After the 1938 Anschluss, the German government leased it from its owner, Franz Gruner. In February 1943, SS Lieutenant General Oswald Pohl, acting on Heinrich Himmler's orders, seized the castle outrigh...

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Image: Steve J. Morgan | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/2/2/w/battle-of-castle-itter-wp/u22w-battle-of-castle-itter-a-castle-becomes-a-prison.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Castle Itter: A Cook on a Bicycle https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter/ Photo credit Steve J. Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0. As the Third Reich collapsed in early May 1945, the castle's SS guards abandoned their posts. The prisoners armed themselves with leftover weapons but feared roving SS patrols still loyal to the dying regime. On May 3, a Yugoslav prisoner named Zvonimir Cuckovic slipped out under...

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Image: Steve J. Morgan | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/2/2/w/battle-of-castle-itter-wp/u22w-battle-of-castle-itter-a-cook-on-a-bicycle.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Castle Itter: Besotten Jenny at the Gate https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter/ Photo credit Steve J. Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0. Lee's rescue force dwindled on the way to the castle. A flimsy bridge forced him to send back reinforcements from the 142nd Infantry Regiment. He arrived at Castle Itter with just fourteen American soldiers, Gangl, a driver, and ten former German artillerymen in a truck. Meanwhil...

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Image: Steve J. Morgan | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/2/2/w/battle-of-castle-itter-wp/u22w-battle-of-castle-itter-besotten-jenny-at-the-gate.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Castle Itter: The Last Morning of the War https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter/ Photo credit Steve J. Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0. The SS attacked on the morning of May 5. Machine gun fire and anti-aircraft shells shook the medieval walls hard enough to dislodge bricks; one struck and injured Schrader's wife. An 88mm gun destroyed Besotten Jenny, though its sole occupant -- a radioman trying to fix the tank'...

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Image: Steve J. Morgan | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/2/2/w/battle-of-castle-itter-wp/u22w-battle-of-castle-itter-the-last-morning-of-the-war.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Castle Itter: What Remained https://qualla.com/battle-of-castle-itter/ Photo credit Steve J. Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0. The French prisoners were evacuated that evening, reaching Paris on May 10. Lieutenant Lee was promoted to captain and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He died in 1973. Gangl, the German officer who chose his conscience over his orders, is honored with a street named afte...

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Image: Steve J. Morgan | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/2/2/w/battle-of-castle-itter-wp/u22w-battle-of-castle-itter-what-remained.mp3 0:06 6 full