Stephen Harding (1) (1952–)

I'm surprised to see the overall low rating this book receives, but I guess some readers were expecting a long drawn-out description of the actual battle for Schloss Itter rather than a long prologue introducing all the characters. The actual battle didn't take too long, though it must have been an eternity for those trapped inside by the encircling Nazi forces. And, of course, there is a long epilogue telling us what became of everyone, as there should be. The lasting impressions this book leaves me is of a group of men who put their own lives at risk to do what needed to be done, and I'm happy their story has been told so well in English for the first time. The audiobook is very well read, and I highly recommend it. (Perhaps some of those who found themselves bored might benefit from trying this version!)… (altro)

This is the true story of a battle that took place two days before World War II was officially over, and which might be the strangest battle of the whole war. Castle Itter in the mountains of Austria, and was being used as a prison for people too important to hold in concentration camps. The "honor prisoners" housed at Castle Itter were mostly French politicians, some high-ranking military officials, and their associates. They were famous, powerful, or valuable enough to make them useful bargaining chips. This also made them important enough that the Waffen-SS wanted to kill them at the end of the war to hurt France, even though Hitler was dead and the Nazi cause was hopeless. As the Waffen-SS closed in the prisoners sought every bit of help they could get. That was how Americans and Germans ended up fighting alongside a few dozen French political prisoners, some prisoners from Dachau, and one ex-SS officer against hundreds of Waffen-SS soldiers who were determined to kill them all.

The author of this book is a conscientious journalist/historian, and thoroughly cites everything he relates without embellishment. He supplements historical documents with interviews of the surviving veterans who were present at the events. The most exciting part of the book, the fighting, occurs on page 135 through 165.

Castle Itter was one of 197 facilities under operational control of the infamous Dachau concentration camp. It's commandant and guards had all been stationed at Dachau. The "number prisoners" (who have never been identified, but who all survived the battle) brought to Castle Itter to act as servants had been in that camp. The inscription, "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." was left above the entrance to the castle.

As the war was wrapping up, the commander of Dachau itself came to Castle Itter, and committed suicide after having dinner with the commandant of the Castle. Fearing that the prisoners might be executed, the prisoner handyman, a Yugoslavian named Zoonimir Cuckovic, (who was sometimes allowed to run errands outside the prison by himself) escaped on a bicycle. This led to the commandant officially fleeing after making the prisoners sign a document saying he had not mistreated them. With their commander gone, the S.S. guards also abandoned the castle.

The VIP's armed themselves and sent small delegation to town. They retrieved Kurt-Siegfried Schrader, who was himself a former SS soldier but who had visited the prisoners and made it clear that he was disillusioned with the Nazis. The prisoners convinced Schrader to take command of them in case more German military came along.

Since Cuckovic had not returned after a few days they sent out the cook on another bike, and a few towns away he found a Wehrmacht Major named Gangl. Gangl had decided he wanted to surrender his troops to the first Allies available, and had taken lead of the Austrian Resistance in the city of Worgl. Gangl in turn sent his people out and they found some American soldiers with tanks.

Four tanks made it to the town of Worgl. Two stayed there, while two other tanks and one jeep with fourteen Americans headed to the castle. Ten German/Austrian soldiers from the "surrendered" forces of Worgl piled into a truck as well. One tank stopped at Bruggberg bridge to unwire demo charges, keeping seven Americans.

The tank that made it to the castle, the "Besotten Jenny", was too wide for the gatehouse archway, so it was backed carefully up a 60 foot long access road to the gatehouse. It stayed there and was very useful in the battle until it took too much damage to continue operating.

The strange assortment of men defended the Castle from dawn until mid-afternoon while the Waffen-SS tried to approach it from a few angles, and were rebuffed. When a large force of American troops finally arrived at about 4 PM, they captured over 100 Waffen-SS as prisoners while the remainder of the attacking force escaped into the woods.… (altro)

A well-told story of an astonishingly under-recognized real battle at the extreme end of World War II. The only battle in World War II where American GIs and the German Wehrmacht fought on the same side, it also featured a desperate defense against dead-ender SS soldiers of a medieval castle — and the squabbling French VIP prisoners it contained. Containing a detailed description of the battle and good biographical portraits of all the important characters, you'll be unsurprised to learn that it's in the process of being adapted into a Hollywood movie.… (altro)