François-Poncet described the Germans’ attitude toward the Itter prisoners as “a mixture of brute force, politeness, and occasional attempts at friendship.” Daily life for the captives was certainly better than it would have been at virtually any other German-run prison. The French “inmates” slept in converted guest rooms, had free access to the castle’s substantial library, and took their daily exercise in a courtyard built around a thirteenth-century fountain. Daladier even had a clandestine radio in his room on which he listened to BBC broadcasts, courtesy of a Yugoslav political prisoner, Zoonimir Cuckovic. Known among the prisoners as “André,” Cuckovic had been transferred by the Germans from Dachau to Itter to work as an electrician, and would later play a key role in his fellow captives’ survival.

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The essentially benign routine at Castle Itter began to change as Germany’s fortunes declined throughout 1944 and into 1945. Food became increasingly scarce for both the prisoners and their guards, and a growing shortage of fuel for the castle’s generators meant that candles and lanterns ultimately replaced the electric lights.

While the prisoners could rationalize the deprivations as a sign of Germany’s impending defeat, they also knew their lives might not be worth much to Nazi leaders intent on covering up their own crimes. During the last days of April, Clemenceau—who spoke fluent German—summoned Wimmer to a meeting with Reynaud and Gamelin. He reminded the castle’s commandant that the lives of all the French prisoners were in the SS officer’s hands. Wimmer replied that the deaths of any of the prisoners there would not be compatible with Germany’s postwar interests and said he would aid in their escape if necessary.

Nonetheless, the arrival of a constant stream of senior SS officers at the castle kept the French on edge. Often accompanied by their wives and always loaded down with weapons, baggage, and booty, the SS men used Itter as a way station as they attempted to escape the advancing Allies. Most stayed only long enough to requisition what food and water they could, but on the night of April 30, 1945, Eduard Weiter, the last commander of Dachau, settled in with a retinue of his subordinates and their wives and children.

Weiter, whom Daladier later described as “obese and apoplectic, with the face of a brute,” had ordered the execution of some two thousand prisoners before leaving Dachau. The French captives at Itter were aware of the executions and were concerned that Weiter’s arrival foreshadowed their own deaths. As it turned out, however, the only death Weiter had on his mind was his own. Early on the morning of May 2 he shot himself in the heart. Incredibly, he lived—but went on to finish the job with a bullet to his brain. A group of Weiter’s SS minions tried to bury him in the village cemetery but the local priest rebuffed them, so they hurriedly interred the “butcher of Dachau” in an unmarked grave in a field outside the castle walls.

Weiter’s suicide galvanized Wimmer, who abruptly fled the castle with his wife early on May 4 after assuring Reynaud and Daladier that he would find a way to protect the French prisoners against the Waffen-SS troops active in the surrounding hills. He was only marginally true to his word; all he did to ensure the promised protection was to enlist the aid of a war-wounded Waffen-SS officer recuperating nearby. At Wimmer’s urging, the young officer, whose name is lost to history, agreed to put on his uniform and go up to the castle to look after the French VIPs.

The commandant’s sudden departure from Castle Itter convinced the guards that it was also time for them to leave, and by daybreak on May 4, the French notables had the former prison all to themselves. At the urging of Weygand and Gamelin, the former prisoners broke into the weapons room and armed themselves with pistols, rifles, and submachine guns. Putting their differences aside for the moment, Reynaud, Daladier, and the two generals agreed that the presence of SS units in the area meant the former prisoners could not just wait to be liberated by the Allies. They had to act.

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