The Day American Soldiers Shocked the SS by Fighting Beside German Soldiers
WW2 Honor
25,578 views
Why American and German Soldiers Fought Side by Side Against the SS
One medieval castle.
One American lieutenant.
And German soldiers who chose to fight the SS.
SUMMARY
This documentary tells the true story of the Battle of Castle Itter — one of the strangest battles of World War II.
On May 5, 1945, just three days before the war in Europe ended, American soldiers and German Wehrmacht soldiers fought side by side against the Waffen-SS in the Austrian Alps.
Inside Castle Itter were some of the most important French prisoners in Europe: former prime ministers Paul Reynaud and Édouard Daladier, generals Maxime Weygand and Maurice Gamelin, Léon Jouhaux, Marie-Agnès Cailliau, the sister of Charles de Gaulle, and tennis champion Jean Borotra.
The SS had used the castle as a special prison connected to Dachau. As the Third Reich collapsed, the guards fled — but SS units in the surrounding forests were still armed, organized, and ready to kill the prisoners before the Americans arrived.
A Czech cook named Andreas Krobot escaped by bicycle to seek help. A German Wehrmacht major named Josef “Sepp” Gangl chose to betray the SS and surrender to the Americans. He found First Lieutenant John “Jack” Lee of the 23rd Tank Battalion and asked for help.
Lee trusted him.
With one Sherman tank, a handful of American soldiers, several Wehrmacht veterans, and even help from an SS officer named Kurt-Siegfried Schrader, the defenders prepared to hold the castle against an SS assault.
The battle began at dawn. The SS attacked with machine guns, mortars, and an 88mm gun. Lee’s Sherman, Besotten Jenny, was destroyed. Ammunition ran low. Gangl was killed while trying to protect Paul Reynaud. Jean Borotra escaped over the wall, ran through enemy lines, and brought back American reinforcements.
By late afternoon, the relief force arrived.
The SS surrendered.
This is the story of the only known battle where American soldiers and German soldiers fought together — not for victory, but to decide who they would stand beside when the war was almost over.
CHAPTERS
00:00 The Strangest Battle of WWII
00:47 Andreas Krobot’s Bicycle Ride
02:20 Castle Itter
03:21 The Honor Prisoners
07:13 Josef Gangl
10:04 Lieutenant Jack Lee
11:27 The SS Guards Flee
13:15 The First Rescue Attempt Fails
15:44 Gangl Reaches the Americans
18:52 Lee Trusts a German Major
20:50 One Sherman, Twenty-Six Men
22:55 Americans and Germans Fire Together
23:23 The Castle Defense Begins
24:16 Schrader, the SS Officer Who Helped
25:31 Lee Organizes the Defense
28:49 Waiting Through the Night
30:09 The SS Attack
32:45 Besotten Jenny Is Destroyed
33:49 Josef Gangl Is Killed
35:18 Jean Borotra Runs for Help
39:41 The Relief Column Arrives
40:18 The Battle Ends
41:37 What Happened Afterward
44:27 Why the Story Was Forgotten
INSIDE THIS DOCUMENTARY
▸ Why Castle Itter held high-value French prisoners
▸ How a Czech cook triggered the rescue
▸ Why Josef Gangl turned against the SS
▸ How Jack Lee led Americans and Germans together
▸ Why the SS attacked the castle
▸ How Jean Borotra’s escape helped save everyone inside
SOURCES & REFERENCES
• U.S. Army 12th Armored Division Records
• U.S. 36th Infantry Division Accounts
• Castle Itter Battle Reports
• French Prisoner Memoirs
• Austrian Resistance Records
• Stephen Harding, The Last Battle
#WorldWarII #WW2Documentary #CastleItter #BattleOfCastleItter #WWII
13 Comments
The decision of the German soldiers and the Waffen SS officer who had befriended the locals had made the decision to do the right thing.
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The Day American Soldiers Shocked the SS by Fighting Beside German Soldiers
WW2 Honor
25,578 views
Why American and German Soldiers Fought Side by Side Against the SS
One medieval castle.
One American lieutenant.
And German soldiers who chose to fight the SS.
SUMMARY
This documentary tells the true story of the Battle of Castle Itter — one of the strangest battles of World War II.
On May 5, 1945, just three days before the war in Europe ended, American soldiers and German Wehrmacht soldiers fought side by side against the Waffen-SS in the Austrian Alps.
Inside Castle Itter were some of the most important French prisoners in Europe: former prime ministers Paul Reynaud and Édouard Daladier, generals Maxime Weygand and Maurice Gamelin, Léon Jouhaux, Marie-Agnès Cailliau, the sister of Charles de Gaulle, and tennis champion Jean Borotra.
The SS had used the castle as a special prison connected to Dachau. As the Third Reich collapsed, the guards fled — but SS units in the surrounding forests were still armed, organized, and ready to kill the prisoners before the Americans arrived.
A Czech cook named Andreas Krobot escaped by bicycle to seek help. A German Wehrmacht major named Josef “Sepp” Gangl chose to betray the SS and surrender to the Americans. He found First Lieutenant John “Jack” Lee of the 23rd Tank Battalion and asked for help.
Lee trusted him.
With one Sherman tank, a handful of American soldiers, several Wehrmacht veterans, and even help from an SS officer named Kurt-Siegfried Schrader, the defenders prepared to hold the castle against an SS assault.
The battle began at dawn. The SS attacked with machine guns, mortars, and an 88mm gun. Lee’s Sherman, Besotten Jenny, was destroyed. Ammunition ran low. Gangl was killed while trying to protect Paul Reynaud. Jean Borotra escaped over the wall, ran through enemy lines, and brought back American reinforcements.
By late afternoon, the relief force arrived.
The SS surrendered.
This is the story of the only known battle where American soldiers and German soldiers fought together — not for victory, but to decide who they would stand beside when the war was almost over.
CHAPTERS
00:00 The Strangest Battle of WWII
00:47 Andreas Krobot’s Bicycle Ride
02:20 Castle Itter
03:21 The Honor Prisoners
07:13 Josef Gangl
10:04 Lieutenant Jack Lee
11:27 The SS Guards Flee
13:15 The First Rescue Attempt Fails
15:44 Gangl Reaches the Americans
18:52 Lee Trusts a German Major
20:50 One Sherman, Twenty-Six Men
22:55 Americans and Germans Fire Together
23:23 The Castle Defense Begins
24:16 Schrader, the SS Officer Who Helped
25:31 Lee Organizes the Defense
28:49 Waiting Through the Night
30:09 The SS Attack
32:45 Besotten Jenny Is Destroyed
33:49 Josef Gangl Is Killed
35:18 Jean Borotra Runs for Help
39:41 The Relief Column Arrives
40:18 The Battle Ends
41:37 What Happened Afterward
44:27 Why the Story Was Forgotten
INSIDE THIS DOCUMENTARY
▸ Why Castle Itter held high-value French prisoners
▸ How a Czech cook triggered the rescue
▸ Why Josef Gangl turned against the SS
▸ How Jack Lee led Americans and Germans together
▸ Why the SS attacked the castle
▸ How Jean Borotra’s escape helped save everyone inside
SOURCES & REFERENCES
• U.S. Army 12th Armored Division Records
• U.S. 36th Infantry Division Accounts
• Castle Itter Battle Reports
• French Prisoner Memoirs
• Austrian Resistance Records
• Stephen Harding, The Last Battle
#WorldWarII #WW2Documentary #CastleItter #BattleOfCastleItter #WWII