How Jean Borotra Saved Schloss Itter in the Final Days of WWII
- tennishistory.com
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 17
Jean Borotra is primarily remembered as one of the leading tennis players of the interwar period. He won Wimbledon twice, in 1924 and 1926, and was part of the French “Musketeers” who dominated international men’s tennis in the 1920s. Less known is his presence at Schloss Itter in early May 1945, during a unique military engagement that took place in the final days of the Second World War. Schloss Itter, located in the Tyrol region of Austria, had been converted by the SS into a special detention facility in 1943. It was administratively attached to the Dachau concentration camp system and used to hold high‑profile French prisoners considered valuable by the Nazi regime. Among the inmates were former French prime ministers Édouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud, senior military figures such as Maxime Weygand and Maurice Gamelin, trade union leader Léon Jouhaux, and Jean Borotra.
Borotra’s imprisonment followed his political marginalisation during the Vichy period. After serving briefly as Commissioner for Sports, he came into conflict with German authorities and was arrested while attempting to leave occupied France. He was subsequently transferred between detention sites before arriving at Schloss Itter. By early May 1945, the collapse of Nazi authority in Austria had created a volatile situation around the castle. SS guards abandoned their posts, leaving the prisoners effectively unprotected. At the same time, Waffen‑SS units remained active in the region and posed a direct threat to the prisoners, who were aware that execution of prominent detainees had occurred elsewhere in the final phase of the war. Efforts were made to contact Allied forces. One of the detainees’ messengers reached American units operating in the area, while Austrian resistance contacts alerted Major Josef Gangl of the Wehrmacht, who had already begun cooperating with local resistance groups. Gangl, together with a small number of German soldiers, joined an American tank detachment commanded by Captain John C. Lee of the 12th Armored Division. They moved to Schloss Itter to secure the prisoners.
On 5 May 1945, Schloss Itter came under attack by forces of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. The defenders consisted of American soldiers, Wehrmacht troops loyal to Gangl, Austrian resistance fighters, and several of the French prisoners themselves, who took up arms inside the castle. Jean Borotra was among those who participated in the defence by assisting within the fortified structure, although he did not act in a commanding role. The engagement lasted several hours and ended with the arrival of reinforcements from the U.S. 142nd Infantry Regiment. Major Gangl was killed by an SS sniper while shielding one of the prisoners. His death was later recognised by the Austrian government. The battle resulted in an Allied victory and secured the survival of all prisoners held at the castle.
The Battle of Schloss Itter is widely regarded as unique. It is the only documented instance during the Second World War in which regular Wehrmacht soldiers fought alongside U.S. Army units in a joint defensive action against Waffen‑SS forces. It also stands as one of the final armed encounters in the European theatre of the war, occurring three days before Germany’s unconditional surrender. For Jean Borotra, Schloss Itter represents a rarely discussed episode that places a leading tennis figure within a broader historical context far removed from sport. His presence at the castle does not redefine his athletic career, but it provides insight into how international sports figures could become directly entangled in the political and military structures of the twentieth century.
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