All language subtitles for Forgotten.Frontlines.S01E02.Battle.Of.The.Castle.Itter.1080p.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

[bombs exploding]

- [Narrator] On May 5th, 1945,

during the final days of World
War II in Western Austria,

a small group of
American soldiers formed

an unlikely Alliance with
members of the German army

to protect the lives of
French politicians and VIPs

who have been imprisoned
in a medieval castle.

- This is the most
unlikely battle

by the most ragtag
eclectic mix of fighters

in military history,
yet alone World War II.

- [Narrator] Attacked
by elite SS troops,

this band of unlikely brothers,
outnumbered and outgunned,

would fight one of
the craziest battles

of the Second World
War, in a fight for their lives

and the lives of the
French prisoners.

- These Frenchmen
want the end of the war.

Of course, they
want "Free France".

They wanna get back into
the country that they love,

but they know before they
do, they have to survive.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] In 1925, Adolf
Hitler becomes the leader

of the reestablished Nazi Party.

After the stock market crash
of 1929, Germany is destitute.

Hitler capitalizes on that

and becomes chancellor
of Germany in 1933,

taking control of the state.

- Hitler comes along and is
very good at blame mongering,

scapegoating, playing
the "Us versus Them" card,

and "The enemy of
my enemy is my friend."

And really he rode that all
the way to power in 1933.

- [Narrator] The Dachau
Camp, just north of Munich,

is set up in March of that year

to incarcerate
political opponents.

But as the Nazis ramp up
their heinous racial agenda

and Jewish people
are arrested en masse,

Dachau morphs into a detention
site to commit mass murder.

- These are not people known

for their moral
qualms about killing.

There was no paperwork
generally associated

with this process.

These processes took place

under the cover of
darkness, as it were.

And they were sort of
designed for maximum efficiency

more than anything else.

- [Narrator] In 1938,
Austria's the first country

to be annexed to Germany.

105,000 troops of the
German Eighth Army arrive

on March 12th, 1938.

- Austria is Hitler's home.

And when the Reich
came together in the 1870s,

they had this idea that Austria

was a part of the German Reich.

So, it was always seen by
old school, traditional Germans

as part of the German nation.

So, when Hitler
does come to power

and they begin to progress
forward as a nation,

he decides we are
going to take part,

and all later of Austria.

- [Narrator] The Reichfuhrer
himself, Heinrich Himmler,

Hitler's right hand
man, leads the troops

to the pacification of Austria.

Himmler is particularly taken

with the mountainous
Tyrolean region,

which he views as a
potential Alpine fortress.

- I think it's the sort of fairy
tale version that we know

the likes of Hitler
and Himmler buy into,

these kind of remote fortresses

that exemplify German prowess.

- [Narrator] A remote
medieval castle captures

his attention, Castle Itter.

He leases the castle

from the first deputy
governor of Tyrol,

though its initial
purpose is unknown.

- If you're Himmler,
this is a spot,

where you could potentially
envision yourself controlling

this region,
pulling the strings.

It's possible that the
rumors of a Nazi fortification

are a result of the secretive
nature of the Nazi Party,

and how protective
they were of information.

It could also be just
part of the sensationalism

that existed surrounding
the Nazis in the late 1930s.

- [Narrator] As the
Nazis gained more power,

they continue to expand
the Reich's borders.

The Sudetenland
in Czechoslovakia,

with a large ethnic
German population,

is annexed to Germany in 1938,

as part of the Munich agreement
signed by European leaders,

including French Prime
Minister EÉdouard Daladier,

an agreement to prevent
another war in Europe.

But Hitler is not done
with Germany's expansion.

To house the growing
number of political opponents

and those that were deemed
"racially inferior civilians,"

the Nazis built more
concentration camps

to take the burden
off of Dachau.

Sachsenhausen opens in 1936.

Buchenwald opens in 1937.

Ravensbruck, originally
an all female camp,

opens in May, 1939.

As with Dachau, they
all have isolated areas

where VIP prisoners
are segregated

from the horrors of
the rest of the camps.

- There were some camps,
Ravensbruck and Sachsenhausen,

were for the French,
some for Scandinavians.

There were camps just for women.

There were camps
for homosexuals,

camps for Jews.

So, they were segregated.

But in the Dachau Complex,

there was a camp for
high-ranking political prisoners,

and I mean high-ranking
political prisoners.

ambassadors,
former heads of state.

- [Narrator] With the invasion
of Poland by German forces

in September of 1939,
World War II breaks out.

Two days later, England and
France declare war on Germany.

- The Germans will
invade first from the west,

the Russians, a few
weeks later from the east,

and between the two of
them, they will conquer Poland,

and both sides are responsible
for unspeakable atrocities.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, in
France, now on a war footing,

French Prime Minister Daladier

along with his top military
official, Maurice Gamelin,

start to build up their forces,

but decide to minimize
potential French losses

by going on the defensive
rather than offensive.

He faces major criticism
for his passive behavior

towards Germany
by the French public,

and his most virulent
political rival, Paul Reynaud,

who had opposed
the Munich agreement.

The decision made by
Daladier and Gamelin

would ultimately lead
to France's occupation.

Germany begins their
campaign against France

on March 10th, 1940.

The French are taken by surprise

as the Germans attack
from central Belgium,

which Gamelin believes
is an impossible feat.

The French front is
breached in only five days.

- They take France,
and by June of 1940,

they have secured most
of Western Europe, right?

They have to taken
the Netherlands,

the Benelux countries,
Belgium, Luxembourg.

They've taken Denmark.

They'll take Norway as well.

So, in effect, by the fall of
1940, the war has been won.

- [Narrator] Facing massive
public scrutiny and disapproval,

Daladier resigns
on March 21st, 1940,

and is replaced by his arch
political opponent, Reynaud.

Gamelin is unable to redeem
himself in Reynaud's eyes

and is replaced
on May 18th, 1940,

by General Maxime Weygand,

a seasoned military
commander from World War I.

But it's too late, and France
falls into German control.

- The important
footnote to that,

the fly in the ointment,
is the United Kingdom,

which of course still has
punch and still has fight.

And what the
Germans realize is that,

if they don't take it out,

not only is their
victory incomplete,

but they leave potentially
a staging ground

should the United States
get involved in the war.

And that's a big if,

because the United
States is a neutral country,

but Germany is not clueless.

- [Narrator] With
France's defeat,

General Weygand advises the
French government to capitulate,

but Prime Minister
Reynaud refuses.

But with the backing
of the cabinet,

Reynaud's deputy, Marshall
Petain, sides with Weygand,

and on June 15th, the French
government approached Germany

about the cessation
of active hostilities.

Reynaud resigns the next day,

and Pertain succeeds him
to form the Vichy regime,

a puppet government in
German-controlled France.

- It would be safe to call
it a puppet government.

It is doing what the people
in Berlin want it to do.

It is not going to resist
or put up much of a fight

to anything that is
coming out of Berlin.

- [Narrator] The Germans
also allow the French

to keep a small limited force
called the Armistice Army

under the control of
the Vichy government

Oppositions to the
regime are imprisoned

and handed over to the Germans,

including former Prime
Ministers Leon Blum,

who was leader of
France for a year in 1936,

his successor Edouard Daladier,
as well as General Gamelin.

- They were taken
to various camps,

various detention facilities,
and these were the people

who were the VIPs
in these facilities,

the people who the
Germans were rightly aware

of how important they
were as political tools

and ways to engage
with the allies potentially,

and gain leverage in the
diplomatic side of the war.

- [Narrator] But these may
not be secure enough facilities

for such high-profile captives.

- They have a value
as long as they're alive.

It's like, why don't
you kill your hostage?

'Cause he might
be useful to you.

He's no good dead.

That's the thinking in Germany.

There's an affection for
some of these political leaders,

and also they're
reviled in a landscape

where there's gonna
be a desperate scrabble

to try and reinvent Europe.

Hitler knows that.

- [Narrator] But
opposition is far

from stamped out in France.

To stop open
opposition to the Reich,

Hitler signs the Nacht
und Nebel Act in 1941.

- It's basically a
tactic of night and fog.

And the tactic is to get
rid of perceived enemies

of national socialism.

- [Narrator] About
200,000 French residents

are secretly deported to Germany

for being political activists
against the Nazi regime.

- The Nazis loved to
pose as legal actors,

in the sense that they would
always cover their misdeeds

by passing a law first.

- [Narrator] Many wind
up in concentration camps,

but the French resistance
movement is growing.

- Initially those resistance
movements take all shapes.

Perhaps they're
resisting arrests.

Perhaps they're resisting
by handing out flyers.

Perhaps they're resisting
by trying to kill someone.

There are different forms
of resistance at that time.

However, it pops up organically.

- [Narrator] In January of 1942,

now exiled in the
United Kingdom,

French army officer and
statesman, Charles de Gaulle,

tries to unite the
different groups

by positioning himself
as a leader of them all.

- De Gaulle is trying to
lead their effort from afar,

from Britain, and
that's not working out

as well as planned
in the early days.

- [Narrator] De
Gaulle goal meets up

with French resistance
fighter, Jean Pierre Moulin,

a former civil servant who
has made his way to Britain.

De Gaulle gave
Moulin an assignment

of coordinating and unifying
the various resistance groups,

and accept de
Gaulle as their leader

of his "Free France" movement.

Moulin secretly
returns to France.

- They also have to worry about

the issue of who's
with who in France.

- [Narrator] France is in chaos,

as the Nazis have
complete control

of Pertain's puppet
Vichy regime.

Major French political figures
are about to be put on trial.

On February 19th, 1942,
the Riom Trials begin

as an attempt by the
Vichy regime to prove

that the former leaders
of France are responsible

for the country's defeat
by Germany in 1940.

- This was done
in a French court.

This was done by a
French government.

Therefore it is legitimate.

If it's done either in Berlin
or explicitly by Germans,

it doesn't have any sense
of legitimacy with the people.

- [Narrator] The secondary
aim is to force France

to accept responsibility
for the war.

Leon Blum, Edouard Daladier,

and Maurice
Gamelin all stand trial.

- So you want to present to them

that this is all within
a French culture,

within the French legal system,

and that it's all taking place,
and it's all above board.

- [Narrator] The
Germans plan backfired.

Although Gamelin refused
to engage in the trial,

the defense put forward
by Blum and Daladier

were largely successful
in rebutting the charges

and won sympathetic coverage
in the international press.

Hitler orders the
trial suspension

to stop further embarrassment,

although Blum,
Daladier, and Gamelin

were returned to prison.

And so France falls
into a lengthy period

of effective German
occupation with no end in sight.

With much of mainland
Europe now under Nazi control,

they go about fortifying

the Atlantic Wall's
extensive system

of defenses and fortifications

along the coast of continental
Europe and Scandinavia.

[bombs exploding]

After three years
of Nazi expansion,

finally, the allies hit back
and seize the offensive.

On November 8th, 1942,

the Americans and the British
launched Operation Torch

to take Morocco and
Algeria, who at this time

were French colonies aligned
with Germany via Vichy France.

- Operation Torch is the
invasion of North Africa.

It is done by all
the allied armies

in the western hemisphere.

And their goal
is to disintegrate

the power block in North Africa.

- [Narrator] The French
army of Africa switched

their allegiance from the
Vichy regime to "Free France"

led by Charles de Gaulle.

This is the first major
operation carried out

as a joint effort by the allies,

and a notable
setback for the Nazis.

Back in France, the
Germans retaliate

and occupy the
whole of the country,

disbanding the
Armistice Army of Vichy

and move French
political prisoners.

- The VIPs of Dachau are
to be sent to a new place,

an Alpine retreat
called Castle Itter.

- [Narrator] On
November 23rd, 1942,

just days after the allied
invasion of North Africa,

Hitler signs in order
to acquire Schloss Itter,

Castle Itter, outright to be
used for special SS prisoners.

- There's something in that

that makes them feel
both powerful and safe,

and I don't think
it's a coincidence

that this particular
Schloss was selected.

- [Narrator] Himmler seizes
it from the current owner

to transform it into the
most high-profile subcamp

of the concentration camp
system under Dachau's control.

- It's a chaotic
scene in all the places

where Nazis have taken over.

A lot of political prisoners
are being rounded up.

People who are suspected of
being not Nazi sympathizers,

they're being picked up
off the streets regularly.

- [Narrator] As more German
troops are now in France,

on December 1st, 1942,

a new French resistance
group is founded,

recognizing General Henri
Giraud as France's leader,

which is backed
by the United States

and operates out
of North Africa.

However, Winston Churchill
supports Charles de Gaulle

as the leader of "Free France",

as he's been running
operations in England,

since the invasion of France.

- The situation, it intensifies,

with more German troops there,

with more Nazi officials there,

to take greater
control of the country.

I think part of it
certainly is a response

to what happens in Africa,

but then the other part
of it, too, is a recognition

that Allied forces
are building up

and that an invasion
is going to come.

- [Narrator] As the
resistance movement

is finding its footing,

high-profile French citizens
are seized by the Nazis,

including relatives of
both Giraud and de Gaulle.

They will be
moved to Castle Itter

after its conversion
into an upscale prison.

On February 8th, 1943,

a small group of
concentration camp prisoners

from Dachau and
Flossenburg arrive

to convert Castle Itter
into a VIP detention facility.

- What's gonna happen
is this Schloss Itter

will become the most
high-profile subcamp

under the
administration of Dachau.

By May, 1943,

so in the wake of what's
unfolded in North Africa

and the full
occupation of France,

you now have these
big political scallops

being moved into one place

and sort of revamp
top notch prison.

As prisons go, this ain't
such a bad place to be.

They've got a courtyard,
they've got reasonable food,

but the SS and this
Himmler makes sure

that this is sort of
a special SS camp

and it's properly
guarded, pretty sinister.

- [Narrator] They make a
dormitory for 35 SS troops,

an arms room filled with weapons

behind heavily-locked
doors, offices,

and private suites for
the SS commanders

and administration workers,

and even a modest
medical facility.

- It becomes this location
where the French elite

is eventually pulled together

from various
locations and put there.

- [Narrator] On May 2nd, 1943,

the first VIP prisoners arrive

at Castle Itter from Buchenwald,

former French Premier
Edouard Daladier,

his former General
Maurice Gamelin,

and labor union
leader Leon Jouhaux.

Eight days later,
more prisoners arrive.

Jean Borotra, a
tennis star who served

as the sports
commissioner for Vichy

before denouncing the regime,

and former PM Paul Reynaud.

Though they've been in
separate prisons for years,

Daladier and Reynaud
remain as hostile as ever

towards each other.

- You talk about
politicians not being able

to compromise or break bread,

well, they're not even
in a Nazi prison camp.

- [Narrator] On June 19th, 1943,

Augusta Bruchlen arrives,
Leon Jouhaux's long-term partner.

Her French resistance
activities lead

to her arrest and imprisonment.

On July 2nd, two
more prisoners arrive.

Christian Mabire is the former
secretary of Paul Reynaud,

and his future wife.

The other, Marcel Granger,

is the son-in-law of
General Henri Giraud,

leader of the Free French
fighting forces in Africa.

As the number of French
VIP prisoners increases

in Castle Itter, they French
foes segregate themselves

based on political views

and avoid each other
as much as possible.

- Politics sure as
heck didn't stop

during the war or
even imprisonment.

This castle is a hotbed
of political animosities

and political maneuvering
and political debate.

It's as if a lot of these
high-ranking former leaders,

it's as if they thought

they were still in
office or something,

'cause they continued to
fight politically over everything.

- [Narrator] With the
tides of war turning heavily

against the Nazis as Allied
bombing increases in Europe,

hitting deep into the
heart of Germany,

Berlin and the Germans
defeat in Stalingrad,

Himmler begins plotting a
secret peace deal with the allies.

- The very heart of
the SS starts to believe

that maybe he can sway things

a different direction
for Nazi Germany.

Maybe he can have a unique way

to get what Nazi Germany wants.

- [Narrator] But
despite his attempts,

American President
Franklin D. Roosevelt

and British Prime
Minister Winston Churchill

will not engage.

- And Heinrich
Himmler is doing all this

behind the back of Adolf Hitler.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile
at Castle Itter,

to ensure the wellbeing
of the VIP prisoners,

various labor
prisoners are also there

to perform maintenance duties.

One in particular,
electrician Zvonimir Cuckovic,

becomes friendly
with the French VIPs

and manages to sneak
in a contraband radio,

so they can have access
to BBC war updates.

This proves to be
extremely useful,

especially as
allied victories begin

to dominate the airwaves.

[upbeat music]

- [Reporter] In England,
General Dwight D. Eisenhower

and his deputy commanders
chart the liberation

of a lost continent.

[bombs exploding]

- [Narrator] The day finally
arrives, June 6th, 1944, D-Day.

The allies launch a
combination of naval, air,

and land assaults in
Nazi-occupied France.

The massive force consists
of over 150,000 soldiers.

- It is the D-Day.

There are many D-Days around
the world at different places

and different islands,
especially in the Pacific,

but it is to us the D-Day.

- [Narrator] The Allied
army now has a firm foothold

in Europe, and the
American 12th Army group

is officially established
to attack Germany.

- We see the Hitler
Wall, his Atlantic Wall,

being cracked
for the first time,

this supposedly
impenetrable place,

by this tide of Allied soldiers.

- [Narrator] The French
resistance movements play

a supporting
role in this victory.

- French resistance is
critical, absolutely critical,

to the success of D-Day.

- We managed to smuggle in
something like 10,000 tons worth

of munitions, courtesy
of the resistance,

who are blowing bridges for us,

who are blowing train lines,
who are blowing factories,

who are doing what
we needed them to do.

- [Narrator] By 1944,
Charles de Gaulle is accepted

as the "Free
France" leader by all.

- On August of
1944, Paris falls.

And it pretty much decapitates
the entire Vichy government.

- [Narrator] As the
allies gain ground,

Himmler ramps up his
plans for the last stronghold

in the Tyrolean mountains
surrounding Castle Itter.

- An obvious advantage
about going to Austria,

the mountainous terrain,
it's easier to defend,

but also these high-ranking
French prisoners,

they could all be used
as a bargaining chip.

- [Narrator] To stop the
allies from entering Germany

in December of 1944, Hitler
launches a surprise offensive

along the Western front in
the Ardennes region of Belgium.

- Hitler's offensive into what
becomes Battle of the Bulge

is really his last attempt

to break the Allied
lines in the West.

- [Narrator] 30 German
divisions attack battle-fatigued,

American troupes across 85
miles of the Ardennes Forest

during the freezing
weather conditions.

- This was a distant
battle in a distant land,

and the Americans were
dying for the cause of freedom.

- [Narrator] And
on December 25th,

230,000 American soldiers arrive

to restore the Western front.

The American Third Army
breaks through the German lines,

forcing them to retreat
back into Germany

on January 24th, 1945.

- That Battle of the
Bulge certainly numerically

in terms of the deaths

and the way in which
the Americans fought,

I think, that singled
them out as worthy allies,

and not just 'cause
they had the kit

and the fresh feet
and the big rations,

but because they
put their back into it.

- It's just a matter of time
now, and you start to see

a lot more Nazis thinking
about their own neck

instead of worrying about
what Adolf Hitler wants.

- [Narrator] In January of
1945, in a desperate attempt

to prolong the war against
the advancing Allies,

Hitler launches a propaganda
disinformation campaign

about a highly
fortified Nazi stronghold

that is being constructed
in Tyrol, the Alpine Fortress.

The campaign is so
successful that the Allies fall for it

and change their strategic
military plans as a result.

Allied nations print
stories and speculate

that highly valued
political prisoners

will be held captive
in the fortress.

- This is a last stand.

It's a place where their safety,

if anything can be
guaranteed in war,

their safety can be in this

or their captivity
can be assured,

and one's control over
them can be assured

in this remote, uncompromising,
and very Germanic.

I mean, I say that, it's
in Austria, of course,

but very Germanic landscape.

I think it's entirely
fitting really

that that is where
they ended up.

- [Narrator] With Germany's
defeat becoming clearer,

the VIP prisoners in
Castle Itter begin to lose

some of the comforts
they have been enjoying.

- If you are a
prisoner in any camp,

it's gonna get worse
before it gets better.

- [Narrator] They must rely
on candles for evening light

to minimize electricity use.

Food is also rationed to
support the Nazis war effort.

More and more SS and
Wehrmacht forces are retreating south

and the provisions
in Castle Itter

are given out to provide
them with sustenance.

- If you are the French
elite in your castle,

what was comfortable is
gonna become less comfortable.

Resources are scarce.

Are you gonna feed
your political prisoner,

no matter how esteemed, if
you don't have food for yourself?

It's a desperate play.

The Germans aren't
just on the back foot.

They've been bent
over backwards.

- [Narrator] On
March 22nd, 1945,

British and American troops
crossed the Rhine into Germany.

German SS troops and Wehrmacht
soldiers retreat into Austria

to defend the Alpine
Fortress and ensure

that the VIP prisoners do
not fall into Allied hands.

But their faithfulness to
the Fuhrer is wavering.

German troops begin to
separate into two categories,

die-hard Nazi fanatics,

and those who wanna
surrender and end the war.

- They're on the
retreat at this point,

and there's no turning back.

- [Narrator] Led by
Commander von Hengl,

a veteran of World War I,

a highly decorated
general in Wehrmacht army,

and a recipient of the Knight's
Cross of the Iron Cross,

the Nazi battle groups
are a last ditch effort

to stop the Allies
from entering Tyrol.

Their primary mission, to
defend the mountain passes

from the incoming Americans
by supervising roadblock,

construction, and wiring
demolition charges to bridges.

[bombs exploding]

With the Allies nearly
on their doorstep,

the Germans transfer
some more political prisoners

to Castle Itter.

On April 13th, 1945,
Charles de Gaulle's sister,

Mary Agnes, and her
husband, Alfred Cailliau,

would be the last VIP captives.

- It's all about leverage.

It's all about a last
gasp for the Nazi regime.

What can they ring out of their
most precious French asset?

- [Narrator] The French
VIPs hope their liberation

will come soon
before it's too late.

And there could be
hope on the horizon,

as Austrian resistance
fighters have enlisted the help

of a highly decorated Wehrmacht
officer, Major Sepp Gangl.

Gangl had become
opposed to the Nazis

and was collaborating
with the Austrian resistance.

- Gangl realizes
that may factor in well

to his own postwar fate.

So, Gangl and his SS are willing

to join the French
and the Allies.

- Well, it's all very convenient,
isn't it, the last minute,

when the Allies are
rocking over the Danube

to suddenly decide,
"Oh, I've seen the light

and I would like to help
the captives in Schloss Itter.

And hey, I'm gonna turn
these nasty SS boys in,"

while you were fighting
alongside them for years?

- [Narrator] Noting the
locations of obstacles

and the numbers of Waffen-SS

and Wehrmacht
troops to the area,

the resistance is able to
perform many acts of sabotage,

[bombs exploding]

and feed intel to
the incoming Allies,

who are heading
south from Germany.

On April 24th, 1945,

the American 103rd Infantry
Division unit begins pursuing

the fleeing Nazis through
Stuttgart to take Muünsingen.

The men crossed the
Danube River on April 26th

near the German city of
Ulm, and make it into Austria,

which they officially
occupy on April 27th.

Reynaud know shares
the information coming in

from his radio,
giving the VIPs hope

that they'll be rescued
by a relief force.

But fanatical, SS
troops are all over Tyrol,

questioning and
killing indiscriminately.

Those at the
castle could be next.

- As things change, and the
fact that they have the radio

and can hear more and more about

actually what's
going on around them,

it does get to the
point where it looks like

they are no longer going to
be useful as bargaining chips,

'cause they're not
needed anymore.

- [Narrator] And they weren't
the only ones thinking this.

In Berlin on April 28th,

Hitler finds out that his second
in command has been trying

to negotiate peace deals
with the Allies behind his back.

Furious by this betrayal,

Hitler orders the execution
of Himmler's chief staff

and strips Himmler
of all of his authority

to ensure he will
never lead Germany.

The days of the
Reich are numbered.

- That is really the end,

obviously, of the relationship
between Hitler and Himmler.

It is also a very
symbolic moment

of the end of the Nazi Party.

- [Narrator] The Allies are
steadily flowing of Germany,

liberating the cities and
concentration camps.

It's here where they
realize the extent

of the Nazis
abominable activities.

On April 30th, the commander
of Dachau flees to Castle Itter

with his entire family.

But before he leaves his post,

he orders the execution
of 2000 prisoners,

witnesses to the horrific
conditions he put them through.

[guns firing]

With the Allied forces
gaining ground in Germany,

Hitler seeing the
inevitable demise

of the Nazi regime
orders the execution

of all VIP prisoners before
they end up in Allied hands.

- The SS know who
these people are.

They know where
they are specifically.

And for all the information
that the VIPs have,

they don't know exactly
how close the Americans are.

- [Narrator] And on April 30th,

hold up in his underground
bunker, Hitler commits suicide

by swallowing a cyanide
capsule and shooting himself,

bringing an end to his
dreams of 1000-year Reich.

- The writing on the
wall is for the regime,

but my God it's ugly.

No wonder so many of
them committed suicide.

Better to die than
to be convicted

of war crimes ignominiously
by the Allied forces.

- Without him, there is
no Nazi Party anymore.

- [Narrator] May 1st, 1945,

Gangl is assigned
a slew of new duties

by his superiors in the
German battle group,

which he must complete if he
doesn't wanna raise suspicion.

Meanwhile in Castle Itter,

the former Dachau commander
commits suicide on May 2nd,

believing that resisting the
incoming allies is pointless.

His death creates disorder

as the Castle Itter guards
ramp up their brutality

on the non-French
lesser prisoners.

- Or to be Lee in that
particular moment.

I don't think you cut
the head off a regime,

which is all funneled
towards one dictator, Hitler,

you snuff him out or
he snuffs himself out,

well, you gonna leave
chaos in your way.

Himmler's already
gone, don't forget.

He's the leader of the SS.

It's chaos.

- [Narrator] The
Alpine Fortress,

the Reich's final frontier, is
now completely unraveling.

On May 3rd, the
23rd Tank Battalion

from the 12th Armored division

is on the move
south from Munich.

Leading the troops is
27-year-old Lieutenant Jack Lee.

He's been the driving force
of Company B for five months

in an advance across
France and to Germany

bound for the Alpine
Fortress of Tyrol.

They reach the Inn River
and Austrian border at Kufstein.

They are met by elements
of the battle group Giehl,

who attempt to defend a bridge,

but the Americans
easily overpower them

and the majority of the
battle group is destroyed.

Following the
defeat at Inn River,

von Hengl deploys his
remaining 1,400 SS troops

to new positions, just
east of Castle Itter.

They are aware that the
castle is housing hostages,

and despite Hitler's orders
to execute the prisoners,

his death has triggered
chaos in the German ranks.

Some deciding to
turn on the Reich

and others seeing the
prisoners as bargaining chips.

- The consequences
for the SS was gonna be,

especially for the Waffen-SS,
was gonna be much worse

than for your average
Wehrmacht soldier.

- [Narrator]
Meanwhile, on May 3rd,

Castle Itter's radio
shares the news

that the American 103rd
Infantry Division is in Innsbruck,

only 70 kilometers away.

- They're right there.

They're essentially
on your doorstep.

This creates a need for action.

- [Narrator] This sparks
some rare collaboration

between Daladier and Reynaud,

who decides someone
must leave the castle

and bring the Allied
unit to liberate them.

They turned to
Zvonimir Cuckovic,

the Yugoslavian that had
smuggled in the radio for them.

- So, what unfolds
is this movie-like plot

of sending a
Yugoslavian communist,

who's serving as the
gardener of the operation,

the caretaker of the castle,

and sending him on
an epic bike journey

to try to reach American lines.

- [Narrator] The SS
troops, flooding the streets,

stop and question him.

But after telling them
he was on an errand

for the commander at
the castle, they let him go.

Three hours later,
reaching Innsbruck at last,

he runs into lead
elements of the 103rd,

but the commander will
not arrive until midnight.

And as he is the only one
that can put a plan into motion,

the threat on the lives of
VIPs from SS troops remain.

- They're really
getting desperate,

and they wanna know
how to get out of here

or how to survive.

- [Narrator] But then there's
a surprising chain of events

at the castle.

The German commander
suddenly abandons his post,

and is quickly followed
by the rest of the guards.

The French VIPs are alone.

Suddenly, they
have their freedom.

- They were free in the castle,

but they certainly weren't safe,

because the entire
region around them

has the Wehrmacht or the SS,

German soldiers,
German military units.

You can occasionally
hear the firing of guns

and the fighting.

So, should they
leave the castle,

they could be shot,
they could be captured.

But if they stay in the castle,

is the castle gonna be overrun?

That's their quandary.

- You have these two
opposing sides politically

from the pre-war era
and the early war era,

who are now stuck in
this situation together.

They're arming themselves
because they realize

they don't know
what's going to happen,

or who's going to come
through the door next.

And they're working as a
unit together to try to figure out

how they're going to survive.

- [Narrator] The
French VIPs assume

that the Yugoslavian
handyman, Cuckovic,

has been captured or killed,

and they must make a new
plan to ensure their survival.

- Who's going to go out
to find out what's going on?

What kind of message
can you get out there?

Who's gonna defect next?

What's going to happen?

No one knows.

- [Narrator] The
VIPs accept the offer

of the castle's check cook,
Andreas Krobot, to seek help.

- These are unsung heroes
in the war, a check cook,

who also has to try to
make it to the Americans.

And the whole objective
there is to tell them,

we are here, we are
here, come and save us.

- [Narrator] Weaving
through SS troops undetected,

Krobot arrives in Worgl,

and has a chance
encounter with Major Gangl,

to whom he reveals the
situation in Castle Itter.

Gangl by now has defied
orders to rejoin the SS,

and is now with the Austrian
resistance as their leader.

Upon hearing that the guards
have abandoned Castle Itter,

Gangl knows that now is the
time to rescue the French VIPs

and officially surrender to
the American forces in Kufstein

only 14 kilometers away.

Arriving in Kufstein,
Gangl waves a white flag,

as he approaches
Lieutenant Jack Lee,

formerly surrendering himself
and his Wehrmacht men.

- It's an unlikely meeting
between a German major

and an honorary contrary
American tank commander,

but they agree that they
will all head to the castle

and liberate the castle.

- Gangl's an
interesting character,

because he's
Austrian, I believe.

There was an
Austrian resistance.

It grew stronger
towards the end.

He made the right
call at the very end.

He didn't fight with the SS.

He betrayed the SS.

- [Narrator] Lieutenant
Jack Lee recognizes

that rescuing these prisoners

maybe the last
battle of World War II

and his last chance for
a promotion to captain.

He volunteers to
lead a relief mission

and phones his supervisor,
Colonel George Lynch,

a highly decorated member
of the 82nd Airborne Division,

and request
permission and backup.

Lynch gives the go
ahead, and assures Lee

that reinforcements
will be right behind him.

While abandoning
one of his busted tanks,

Lee chooses eight soldiers

to man the two Sherman
tanks at their disposal.

He also acquires six
members of Company D

of the 17th Armored
Infantry Battalion

to ride a top the tanks.

And so begins the only known
American-German Alliance

in World War II.

- This ragtag convoy driving
through the streets of Austria

must have looked quite comical.

You have the
Honorary Lee in his tank.

He has the American soldiers
sitting on top of the tank,

and they're followed
by a German major

and a truck full of German
soldiers, all working together

to go liberate French
high-ranking politicians,

who are gonna join
this ragtag band.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, the
Yugoslavian handyman, Cuckovic,

has successfully enlisted
the help of Major John Kramers

of the 103rd Infantry Division

alongside French military
liaison, Lieutenant Eric Lutten.

He understands that the
French VIPs at Castle Itter

are well known politicians,

crucial to rebuilding
postwar France.

Kramers gets halfway to
Castle Itter with his relief force

and calls for backup,
which his superiors deny.

- No one contacts Lee.

And no one says,
"Don't go," for Lee.

So, at least that force
is going to get through,

but Kramers has the issue of
chain of command is saying,

"Don't go.

We don't know what's out there.

Don't advance any further."

- [Narrator] Incredulous,
Kramers sends back his men,

but defies his orders
and continues on.

But ahead of him, on
the evening of May 4th,

Lieutenant Lee and Major
Gangl arrive at the castle,

but they aren't what
the VIPs were expecting.

- So these former heads of
state are expecting a grand army

under a General to come in, and
save them, and welcome them,

probably with bottles of bubbly.

Instead, you've got
this cantankerous,

disagreeable 27-year-old,

a few men from an
all American unit,

and Germans to liberate them.

So they were less
than impressed.

- [Narrator] But no
sooner had they arrived,

mayhem is unleashed.

The inevitable attack
the French VIPs

have been anticipating
comes to fruition.

- Lee is put in charge,
kind of just haphazardly,

of this ragtag bunch of people.

- [Narrator] Waffen-SS
troops emerged from the Hills

and opened fire on the castle
with rifles and machine guns.

- You have the French
VIPs, who are now armed.

You have Lieutenant Lee's
men, who are in the armor

and deployed along the
ridge and around the castle.

And then you have
the Wehrmacht soldiers.

And they are all firing
the same direction

to beat back this SS horde

that is coming out of
the woodlock below them.

- [Narrator] Lee
orders the French VIPs

to hide in the castle's keep.

Lee's men and the
Wehrmacht troops move

to their positions in the
castle and begin to return fire.

- The defenders of Castle Itter

are truly, truly outnumbered,

and there are thousands of
SS that are willing and able

to come up the side of that
hill and kill everyone there.

- [Narrator] Both sides
shoot haphazardly

throughout the night,
but come daybreak,

things are going to get worse

for the defenders
of Itter Castle.

- The one thing
they have to hope

is that they don't run
out of ammunition.

- [Narrator] That
morning of May 5th,

the 142nd Infantry men
that Lee was promised

would be right behind
him finally depart Kufstein,

but don't head
towards the castle.

- The infantry that Lee
was supposed to be getting

is pulled back.

Intelligence is lacking. They
don't know what's going on.

They don't know who's out there

as far as the Americans
are concerned.

They are pulling
back from this action.

And Lee is basically
left by himself

to command this
small garrison of people

without infantry support.

- [Narrator] At 8:00 a.m,

a string of military vehicles
unload over 100 SS troops,

immediately sprinting to the
woods surrounding the castle.

- So now you have fresh
troops, fresh weapons.

They have ammunition, they
have everything they need,

and they are deploying
against Castle Itter

from different directions.

- The SS soldiers begin pounding

the exterior walls of the
castle with machine guns,

unloading rounds
of 88 millimeter shells

at the defending
soldiers and VIPs.

One rams into Lee's tank
near the castle entrance,

detonating its gas tanks,
turning it into a raging inferno.

- They're running low on ammo

and the numbers just
don't work in their favor.

Lee plans a very
medieval defense,

which is appropriate
for a medieval castle,

and that was castles
have various walls.

If your outer wall is breached,
you move to the inner wall.

If that's breached, you
go to the keep, the inside,

and that's your last stand.

If they run out of ammunition,
they're gonna use knives,

bayonets, and hand to
hand and go down fighting.

- [Narrator] With
the loss of Lee's tank,

the SS seemed to
have the upper hand.

SS troops come flooding
in from the treeline

to the east and swarm
the castle exterior.

The American and German soldiers

inside the castle returned fire

from the castle's upper walls,

causing some damage
to the SS troops below.

The French VIPs joined
their ragtag offensive,

Reynaud, Clemenceau,
La Rocque, and Borotra

all unload their weapons
on their Nazi attackers.

- In all of World War II,

there was not a
more mismatched unit

that was standing
side by side fighting,

German soldiers, American
soldiers, French politicians,

but they fought together.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile,
Kramers, who had defied orders,

makes it to Worgl

and spots the busted
tank that Lee left behind.

Kramers can't raise
Lee on the radio,

but then has a bizarre idea.

He goes to the town hall
and makes a call to the castle

on a landline telephone.

As the phone
rings in the castle,

Lee is surprised to hear at
the other end a fellow American.

Lee manages to explain
that they are low on ammo

when the line goes dead.

Meanwhile, there could
be good news for Kramers,

as six tanks from Company E

of the a 142nd Inventory
come rolling into Worgl.

However, they never got
the order from General Lynch

to head towards Castle Itter

and provide backup and
support for Jack Lee and his men.

But Lynch is contacted
and orders three tanks,

including the Bosch Buster,

that will carry on to
Itter as a relief force.

It's nearly 1:00 p.m by
the time they leave Worgl.

Although the mishmash defenders

are fighting with
all their might,

they have significantly
less manpower

than the Nazis
firing at Castle Itter.

- It's a game of survival,
isn't it, at the end?

The SS, what's interesting
is that they don't run off

to preserve themselves,

and they keep shooting kind
of myopically at the castle,

tryna steam down and
end it for the captives.

It's almost the case of, well,

if I'm gonna go
down, you can too.

- [Narrator] Bullets and
weapons being used

by the SS troops
begin to take their toll

on the castle's walls.

Lee takes some of the troops
to the courtyard to reposition,

and some of the VIPs follow.

Reynaud inadvertently
puts himself in the line of fire.

- Gangl meets his demise.

And so Lee is left all by
himself with Wehrmacht soldiers,

who now have no commander,

because Gangl could speak
English along with German.

Lee cannot speak German.

And so now he has to
command German troops

and he can't
communicate with them.

- [Narrator] With
no time to fret

over the loss of Major Gangl,

Captain Jack Lee's
American soldiers

and Wehrmacht men
continue to defend the castle.

Lee wasn't able to provide
proper instructions to Kramers

and the incoming relief force
before the line went dead.

They need to send someone out

to guide the American
relief to the castle

as soon as possible.

Jean Borotra
volunteers for the task.

- He is a very good runner,

and runs right past the
German machine gun.

And literally the
Germans stop firing,

'cause they don't
know what is going on

when this person's
running past them.

It shocks them.

And he is just as shocked
as he's running past

and they're not firing at him.

- [Narrator] After
alluding the SS troops,

he breaks out into
a run towards Worgl,

five kilometers away.

Borotra finds troops from
the 142nd Second Battalion.

Since he knows
the exact position

of the Waffen-SS
outside the castle,

Borotra suggests that he
lead the American infantry men

towards the castle on the
most direct route to Itter

- At this time, it's almost
every man for themselves.

And if someone is capable of
pulling the trigger on someone,

give them a weapon.

- [Narrator] The
Waffen-SS forces prepare

to unload another weapon
onto Castle Itter, the panzerfaust.

As one of the SS men
settles into position

to fire at the castle's
front gate, he pauses.

An overwhelming sound of
automatic weapons and tank guns

behind the SS troops
grows louder and louder.

- All these reinforcement
are coming in.

Lee thinks he's cut off
and possibly surrounded.

And then all of a sudden,

these reinforcement
starts coming in

to the Castle Itter site
or around the woods,

sometimes behind the SS lines,

and they have to
try to get out of there

as quickly as possible.

- [Narrator] The Waffen-SS
make a mad dash to the woods,

but are rounded up
to become POWs.

- Everyone is starting to
funnel in towards Castle Itter,

because messages from
people, who are either on bicycle

or running through the
woods have finally gotten out.

And this chaotic
situation is now getting

a little bit more settled
into an all out engagement

and being able to
push away the enemy.

- [Narrator] Within 24 hours,

the American reinforcements
have overwhelmed the SS troops,

and the castle is
liberated with its occupants.

- The German soldiers
who helped defend the castle

and who surrendered, the
few that lived through this,

they were not freed,
but they were not killed,

nor did they stand trial,
they were imprisoned.

But they lived through the war,

which is seemingly
what they wanted.

- [Narrator] The
VIPs are safe at last.

And for his role in
protecting the French VIPs,

Lee is promoted to captain

and awarded the
distinguished service cross.

- Lee, who was known
for being contrary and gruff

and short with everything,
as the relief force arrives,

he greets them with
the simple words,

"What took you so long?"

- [Narrator] Major Kramers
transports the French VIPs

to Innsbruck with some
backup from the relief force.

The French VIPs are safely
transported back to France,

including the two
former prime ministers,

Daladier and Reynaud,

whose mini alliance in
battle was now at an end.

- So, it's really interesting

that these two political rivals,

who were political
rivals before the war,

political rivals when
France was invaded,

were political
rivals in Castle Itter,

were still political
rivals even afterwards

and still couldn't say a
nice thing about each other,

as far as Castle
Itter is concerned.

They still thought to
put that in their memoirs

about Castle Itter, that
they still didn't agree

and they still could
blame each other.

- [Narrator] Over
the next 24 hours,

Lynch helps to broker
a local cease fire

and the surrender of all
German soldiers in Tyrol,

the decisive end of the
Waffen-SS grip on the region.

On May 7th,

Germany surrenders
unconditionally to the Allies,

with many of their
Nazi leaders now gone.

- Hitler's dead.

Goebbels is dead.

Himmler and Göring were
captured and commit suicide.

All the top echelon.

- [Narrator] It's a long
road ahead to rebuild.

1.5 million German
refugees poured into Austria

before the war ends.

- Berlin is reduced to rabble.

Entire German units
all across the continent

have just surrendered
or run away,

and the long European
nightmare comes to an end.

- [Narrator] Foreign
aid programs are set up

to help restore the region

from utter chaos
inflicted by the Nazis.

- Now, we have
to rebuild Europe.

Don't forget that cities
had been bombed,

which meant that raw
sewage was exposed.

People are homeless
all across the continent.

There are hundreds of thousands

of concentration camp prisoners,

who are now living in
displaced persons camps,

many of them
without food, water,

still wearing the
uniforms from the camps.

Carcasses of cows
and humans and horses

are strewn across
the entire continent.

So, the war ends,

but the toll from the war is
gonna take quite some time.

- [Narrator] The
battle for Castle Itter

is the strangest battle
the world has forgotten.

- We tend to think about
what happens in Berlin

more than what
happens in Austria,

and I think that is
what makes Castle Itter

such a great story.

- [Narrator] American
troops, Wehrmacht soldiers,

and captive French notables
fighting alongside each other.

- Schloss Itter story,

whether you drill down
into the French narrative,

that compromised Vichy
regime, who do we blame?

Where do we throw
down the moral gauntlet?

I think it's more
complicated than that,

and that's what's interesting
about Schloss Itter.

- In an Alpine castle
that was used as a prison,

you literally have
one American tank,

a handful of soldiers
from an American unit,

a few French politicians,
a famous tennis player,

celebrities, fighting
against the Germans.

[Dr. Watson laughs]

That is a strange battle.

[upbeat music]