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When US and German Soldiers Fought Together and Lesser-Known World War II Events

Khalid Elhassan August 25, 2020 35 min

Itter Castle - Battle of Castle Itter — The French Army's former commander in chief, Maxime Weygand, leaving Itter Castle. Agence France Presse

38. Fears of Liquidation

Charles de Gaulle’s sister, Mari-Agnes Cailliau, was among the French VIPs imprisoned in Itter Castle. Agence France Presse

For Nazi prisoners, the VIPs at Itter Castle were relatively well-treated. Their cells were converted into hotel guest rooms, they had adequate food, were free to walk within the compound, and were attended by a staff of prisoners from Dachau. However, things started to get hairy towards the end of the war in 1945, and Itter Castle’s inmates came to fear for their lives.

When Dachau concentration camp was liberated by advancing American troops, its commandant fled to Itter Castle. There, he committed suicide on May 2^nd, 1945. Two days later, Itter’s commandant and the remaining guards abandoned the prison, leaving the inmates to their own devices. However, the prisoners were unable to leave, because of hostile Germans nearby. Particularly the SS, whom the prisoners were informed had been ordered to liquidate Itter Castle’s inmates.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.