37. Searching for Rescuers
Rescue could not come fast enough for the prisoners at Itter Castle, so they sought to hurry it along. On May 3rd, 1945, Zinomir Cuckovic, an imprisoned Yugoslav communist partisan working as a handyman in the castle, left on the pretense of running an errand for the commandant. He carried a letter seeking help, that he was to present to the first Allied soldiers he came across.
The nearest town was Worgl, about 5 miles down the mountain, but it was still occupied by German forces. So Cuckovic headed to Innsbruck, about 40 miles away. He got there later that evening, found some soldiers from the US Army’s 103rd Division, and handed them the letter. The GIs were unable to do anything immediately, but told Cuckovic to wait while something was worked out. The following day, an armored task force was sent. However, it was stopped by heavy shelling halfway to Itter, and was then recalled by superiors for encroaching upon another American division’s zone.