Oflag IV-C
Encyclopedia
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
s for officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
s in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; Oflag is a shortening of Offizierslager, meaning "officers camp". It was located in Colditz Castle
Colditz Castle
Colditz Castle is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden, and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. Used as a workhouse for the indigent and a mental institution for over 100 years, it gained international fame as a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II for...
situated on a cliff overlooking the town of Colditz
Colditz
Colditz is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, near Leipzig, located on the banks of the river Mulde. The town has a population of 5,188 ....
in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
.
Colditz Castle as a POW camp
This thousand year old fortress was in the heart of Hitler's Reich, some four hundred miles (650 km) from any frontier not under Nazi control. Its outer walls were seven feet (two meters) thick and the cliff on which it was built had a sheer drop of some two hundred and fifty feet (75 meters) to the River Mulde below.Time line
- 1939: The first prisoners arrived in November 1939; they were 140 PolishPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
officers from the September Campaign who were regarded as escape risks. However, later most of them were transferred to other Oflags. - 1940: In October, Donald Middleton, Keith Milne, and Howard Wardle (a CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
who joined the RAFRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
just before the war) became the first British prisoners at Colditz. - On 7 November, six British officers, the "Laufen Six", named after the camp (Oflag VII) from which they made their first escape, arrived: Harry Elliott, Rupert Barry (later Sir Rupert Barry), Pat Reid, Dick Howe, Anthony "Peter" Allan, and Kenneth LockwoodKenneth LockwoodCaptain Kenneth Lockwood MBE was a stockbroker and an officer in the British Army. He was one of the first six British prisoners of war to arrive at Oflag IV-C, Colditz, in 1940...
. They were soon joined by a handful of British ArmyBritish ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officers and later by BelgianBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
officers. By ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
1940 there were 60 Polish officers, 12 Belgians, 50 French, and 30 British, a total of no more than 200 with their orderlies. - 1941: February, 200 French officers arrived. A number of the French demanded that French Jewish officers be segregated from them and the camp commander obliged; they were moved to the attics. By the end of July 1941, there were more than 500 officers: over 250 French, 150 Polish, 50 British and Commonwealth, 2 YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n. In April 1941, a French officer, Alain Le Ray, become the first prisoner ever to escape from the Colditz Castle. - On 24 July, 68 Dutch officers arrived, mostly members of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army, who had refused to sign a declaration that they would take no part in the war against Germany. According to the German Security Officer, Captain Reinhold EggersReinhold EggersReinhold Eggers was the security officer at Oflag IV-C from November 1940 until April 1945, promoted to chief of security in 1944. The Nova television program "Nazi Prison Escape" was based on his books about Colditz...
, the Dutch officers appeared to be model prisoners at first. Importantly for other internees in the camp, among the 68 Dutch was Hans LariveHans LariveEtienne Henri "Hans" Larive, MWO, DSC and bar, was a Dutch naval officer during World War II. He escaped from the prisoner of war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle in 1941, and spent the rest of the war in England serving aboard Motor Torpedo Boats...
with his knowledge of the SingenSingenSingen is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border.-Location:...
route. This route into Switzerland was discovered by Larive in 1940 on his first escape attempt from an Oflag in Soest. Larive was caught at the Swiss border near Singen. The interrogating Gestapo officer was so confident the war would soon be won by Germany that he told Larive the safe way across the border near Singen. Larive did not forget and many prisoners later escaped using this route. - 13 August: Within days after their arrival, the Dutch escape officer, Captain Machiel van den HeuvelMachiel van den heuvelMachiel van den Heuvel was the Dutch escape officer in Oflag IV-C Colditz for Dutch POW's held in Germany during World War II. A similar role to that held by Captain Pat Reid, the author of The Colditz Story, for the British POW's...
, planned and executed his first of many escape plans. On 13 August the first two Dutchmen escaped successfully from the castle followed by many more of which six officers made it to England. Afterwards a number of would-be escapees would borrow Dutch greatcoatTrench coatA trench coat or trenchcoat is a raincoat made of waterproof heavy-duty cotton drill or poplin, wool gabardine, or leather. It generally has a removable insulated lining; and it is usually knee-length.-History:...
s as their disguise. When the Wehrmacht invaded the Netherlands they were short on material for uniforms, so they confiscated anything available. The coats in Dutch field greyGreyGrey or gray is an achromatic or neutral color.Complementary colors are defined to mix to grey, either additively or subtractively, and many color models place complements opposite each other in a color wheel. To produce grey in RGB displays, the R, G, and B primary light sources are combined in...
in particular remained unchanged in colour, since it was similar to the tone already in use by the Germans, thus these greatcoats would be nearly identical with very minor alterations.
- 1943: In May, the Wehrmacht High Command decided that Colditz should house only Americans and British, so in June the Dutch were moved out, followed shortly thereafter by the Poles, the Belgians, and the French; with the final French group leaving 12 July, 1943. By the end of July there were a few Free FrenchFree French ForcesThe Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
officers, and 228 British officers, with a contingent consisting of CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
s, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
ns, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
ers, South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
ns, IrishIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and one IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n. - 1944: On 23 August Colditz received its first Americans: 49-year-old Colonel Florimund Duke — the oldest American paratrooperParatrooperParatroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
of the war, Captain Guy Nunn, and Alfred Suarez. They were all counter-intelligenceCounter-intelligenceCounterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...
operatives parachuted into HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
to prevent it joining forces with Germany. Population was approximately 254 at the start of the early winter that year. - 1945: On 19 January six French Generals — Lieutenant-General Jean Adolphe Louis Robert Flavigny, Major-General Louis Léon Marie André Buisson, Major-General Arsène Marie Paul Vauthier, Brigadier-General Albert Joseph Daine, and Brigadier-General René Jacques Mortemart de Boisse — were brought from the camp at KönigsteinKönigsteinThe term Königstein can refer to several places in Germany and Namibia:Germany:* Königstein im Taunus, town in Hesse* Königstein, Saxony** Festung Königstein, castle near Königstein in Saxony* Königstein, Bavaria...
to Colditz Castle. Major-General Gustave Marie Maurice Mesny was killed on the way from Königstein to Colditz Castle. - On 5 February, Polish General Tadeusz Bór-KomorowskiTadeusz Bór-KomorowskiGeneral Count Tadeusz Komorowski , better known by the name Bór-Komorowski was a Polish military leader....
, deputy commander of the Armia KrajowaArmia KrajowaThe Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
(Home Army) and responsible for the Warsaw UprisingWarsaw UprisingThe Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
, arrived with his entourage. - In March, 1200 French prisoners were brought to Colditz Castle, with 600 more being imprisoned in the town below.
- 16 April, Oflag IV C was captured by American soldiers from 1st US Army.
The "Prominente" and notable inmates
Among the more famous inmates were British fighter ace Douglas BaderDouglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, FRAeS, DL was a Royal Air Force fighter ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 20 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.Bader joined the...
; Patrick Reid
Patrick Reid
Patrick Robert "Pat" Reid, MBE, MC was a British Army officer and historical author of non-fiction. As a British Prisoner of War during World War II, he was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C. Reid was one of the few to escape from Colditz, crossing the border into...
, the man who made Colditz famous with his post war books; Airey Neave
Airey Neave
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave DSO, OBE, MC was a British soldier, barrister and politician.During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle...
, the first British officer to escape from Colditz and later a British Member of Parliament; New Zealand Army Captain Charles Upham
Charles Upham
Captain Charles Hazlitt Upham VC and Bar was a New Zealand soldier who earned the Victoria Cross twice during the Second World War: in Crete in May 1941, and at Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in July 1942...
, the only combat soldier ever to receive the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
twice; and Sir David Stirling
David Stirling
Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, DSO, DFC, OBE was a Scottish laird, mountaineer, World War II British Army officer, and the founder of the Special Air Service.-Life before the war:...
, founder of the wartime Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
.
There were also prisoners called Prominente (German for 'celebrities'), relatives of Allied VIPs. The first one was Giles Romilly
Giles Romilly
Giles Samuel Bertram Romilly, , was a journalist, Nazi POW, brother of Esmond Romilly and nephew of Winston Churchill. He was educated at Wellington College and Oxford, and then served as a war correspondent in both the Spanish Civil War and in World War II...
, a civilian journalist who was captured in Narvik
Narvik
is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
who also happened to be a nephew of Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's wife. Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
himself specified that Romilly was to be treated with the utmost care and that:
- The Kommandant and Security Officer answer for Romilly's security with their heads.
- His security is to be assured by any and every exceptional measure you care to take.
George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood
George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, KBE AM , styled The Hon. George Lascelles before 1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was the elder son of the 6th Earl of Harewood , and Princess Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and...
, nephew to George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
; John Alexander Elphinstone, 17th Lord Elphinstone, nephew of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
; Captain George Haig
George Haig, 2nd Earl Haig
George Alexander Eugene Douglas Haig, 2nd Earl Haig OBE KStJ RSA DL succeeded to the Earldom of Haig on 29 January 1928, at the age of nine, upon the death of his father, Field Marshal the 1st Earl Haig. Until then he was styled Viscount Dawick...
, son of WWI field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
Douglas Haig
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC, was a British senior officer during World War I. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 to the end of the War...
; Charles Hope, son of Victor Hope
Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow
Victor Alexander John Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow KG, KT, GCSI, GCIE, OBE, PC was a British statesman who served as Governor-General and Viceroy of India from 1936 to 1943.-Early life and family:...
, the Viceroy of India
Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India was the head of the British administration in India, and later, after Indian independence, the representative of the monarch and de facto head of state. The office was created in 1773, with the title of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William...
; Lieutenant John Winant Jr., son of John Gilbert Winant
John Gilbert Winant
John Gilbert Winant OM was an American politician with the Republican party after a brief career as a teacher in Concord, New Hampshire. Born in New York City, Winant held positions in New Hampshire, national, and international politics...
, US ambassador to Britain
Ambassadors from the United States
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to individual nations of the world, to international organizations, to past nations, and ambassadors-at-large.Ambassadors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate...
; Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski
Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski
General Count Tadeusz Komorowski , better known by the name Bór-Komorowski was a Polish military leader....
, commander of Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
and the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
; and five other Polish generals. British Commando
British Commandos
The British Commandos were formed during the Second World War in June 1940, following a request from the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe...
Michael Alexander claimed to be a nephew of field marshal Harold Alexander in order to escape execution, but was merely a distant cousin.
Micky Burn
Micky Burn
Michael Clive "Micky" Burn, MC was an English journalist, commando, writer and poet.-Early life:By his own admission, in earlier life he "had been drawn to three autocracies: German National Socialism, Communism, and the Roman Catholic Church." Burn's father was secretary and solicitor to the...
, another famous inmate of Colditz, was a British commando captured at Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
. Burn had been a journalist like Romilly before the war, working for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. Burn had briefly been an admirer of the Nazi Party
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
and in 1936 had met Adolf Hitler, who signed his copy of Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf
Mein Kampf is a book written by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology. Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and Volume 2 in 1926...
. After the war broke out Burn politically shifted to Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and gave lectures to prisoners at Colditz, but due to his pre-war interest in Nazi philosophy he was widely regarded with distrust and scorn.
John Arundell, 16th Baron Arundell of Wardour
John Arundell, 16th Baron Arundell of Wardour
John Francis Arundell, 16th Baron Arundell of Wardour JP TD was a British soldier.He was the only son of Gerald Arthur Arundell, 15th Baron Arundell of Wardour and his wife Ivy Florence Mary Segrave, daughter of Capt. W.F. Segrave. He was educated at Stonyhurst College and New College, Oxford,...
(1907–1944) was an aristocrat held at Colditz who, despite his pedigree, was not awarded Prominente status. Arundell made a habit of exercising in the winter snow; he contracted tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and died in Chester Military Hospital.
At 1:30 a.m. on 13 April 1945, while the battles approached the area, the Prominente were moved under guard and the cover of darkness. The Allies and prisoners became especially concerned that the Prominente might be used as hostages, bargaining chips, human shield
Human shield
Human shield is a military and political term describing the deliberate placement of civilians in or around combat targets to deter an enemy from attacking those targets. It may also refer to the use of civilians to literally shield combatants during attacks, by forcing the civilians to march in...
s, or that the SS might try to kill them out of spite; they prepared for resistance and, if possible, to take over the castle. The Germans moved all the Prominente out of the castle, over the protestations of the other prisoners. When U.S. troops reached the area, the prisoners convinced the leader of their guards, Obergruppenführer Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger
Gottlob Berger was a German Nazi who held the rank of Obergruppenführer during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes.In 1939, he was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's main recruiting officer...
, to surrender in secret in order to save him from the revenge of the SS. With his aid they reached American lines a couple of weeks later. He would later receive a lessened sentence after his hearing in 1949 because of his actions regarding the Prominente.
The German staff and visitors
There was also a large contingent of civilians and local townspeople who worked on the castle grounds. Some were in maintenance, some in medical roles, some were there in a supervisory role (Nazi Party leaders, Swiss Red Cross observers, etc.). Some family members of the German military officers lived at the camp.
Security Officers
- Captain Paul PriemPaul PriemPaul Priem was a German Officer in the Wehrmacht during World War II and a noted member of the German staff at Colditz Castle....
was the first Security Officer. Pat Reid described him as, "the only German with a sense of humour".
- Captain Reinhold EggersReinhold EggersReinhold Eggers was the security officer at Oflag IV-C from November 1940 until April 1945, promoted to chief of security in 1944. The Nova television program "Nazi Prison Escape" was based on his books about Colditz...
was Security Officer from November 1940 until April 1945, promoted to chief of security in 1944. He was also the only English-speaker among the Germans at Colditz, thus was involved in every interaction with the prisoners or between the Senior Officers and the Kommandant serving as translator.Dutchman Lieutenant Damiaen J. van Doorninck said of him, "This man was our opponent, but nevertheless he earned our respect by his correct attitude, self-control and total lack of rancour despite all the harassment we gave him."
Kommandants
- Oberst Schmidt 1939 – August 1941
- Oberst Glaesche 1 August 1942 – 13 February 1943
- Oberst Prawitt 14 February 1943 – 15 April 1945
Life in the camp
In Colditz, the Wehrmacht followed the Geneva Convention.. Would-be escapees were punished with solitary confinementSolitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
, instead of being summarily executed. In principle, the security officers recognized that it was the duty of the POWs to try to escape and that their own job was to stop them. Prisoners could even form gentlemen's agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
s with the guards, such as not using borrowed tools for escape attempts.
Most of the guard company was composed of WWI veterans and young soldiers not fit for the front. Because Colditz was a high security camp, the Germans organized three and then later four Appell
Appellplatz
Appellplatz is a compound German word meaning "roll call" and "area" or "place" . In English, the word is generally used to describe the location for the daily roll calls in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.- Concentration camp usage :Roll calls were a daily part of the regimen in...
s (roll call
Roll call
Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a list to determine the presence or absence of the listed people . The term applies to the calling itself, to the time moment of this procedure, and to a military signal that announces it Roll call is the calling of the names of people from a...
s) a day to count the prisoners. If they discovered someone had escaped, they alerted every police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and train station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...
within a 40 km (24.9 mi) radius, and many local members of the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
would help to recapture any escapees.
Because of the number of Red Cross food parcels, prisoners sometimes ate better than their guards, who had to rely on Wehrmacht rations. Prisoners could use their relative luxuries for trade and, for example, exchange their cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s for Reichsmark
German reichsmark
The Reichsmark was the currency in Germany from 1924 until June 20, 1948. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig.-History:...
that they hoped could later use in their escape attempts. Occasionally this turned to be a mistake as several of the bills they received were of the earlier Papiermark
German papiermark
The name Papiermark is applied to the German currency from the 4th August 1914 when the link between the Mark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I...
varieties that were no longer considered valid. There were also other currencies in circulation, including the Registermark, utilized for travelling and investments in Germany; the Reisemark, for tourists; the Kreditsperrmark, for sales of property belonging to foreigners; the Effektensperrmark, arising from the sale of securities in Germany; the Reichskreditkassenschein in occupied territories; and the Behelfszahlungsmittel (Auxiliary Payment Certificates) for the German Armed Forces. The Kreditsperrmark and Effektensperrmark were consolidated into the Handelsperrmark in 1939. Because of the massive variety of currency types and uses, in several escape attempts, escapees with one of these various currencies printed before 1939 were told their money was no good — leaving them moneyless and easier to recapture.
Prisoners had to make their own entertainment. In August 1941 the first camp Olympics
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
were organized by the Polish prisoners. Events were held in football (soccer), volleyball, boxing, and chess, but the closing ceremony was interrupted by a German fire drill. "The British came in last place in every event cheerfully, to the dismay of the other participants who took the competition deadly seriously," according to the British inmate John Wilkens in a 1986 interview. Prisoners also formed a Polish choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, a Dutch Hawaiian guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
band, and a French orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
.
The British put on homemade revues, classical plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
and farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
s including: Gaslight
Gaslight
Gaslight may refer to:* Gas lighting, the use of flammable gas such as natural gas as a light source* Gaslighting, a form of psychological abuse* Gas Light a Patrick Hamilton stage play...
, Rope
Rope (play)
Rope is a 1929 British play by Patrick Hamilton. In formal terms, it is a well-made play with a three-act dramatic structure that adheres to the classical unities. Its action is continuous, punctuated only by the curtain fall at the end of each act. It may also be considered a thriller whose...
, The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner
The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
, Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
, and The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
. Several prisoners intentionally grew their hair long so as better to portray female roles. Prisoner Jock Hamilton-Baillie
Jock Hamilton-Baillie
Jock Hamilton-Baillie MC , was a British Royal Engineers officer famed for numerous escapes from German prisoner of war camps during World War II...
used to shave his legs, rub them in brown shoe polish, and draw a line down the back of his legs in pencil to simulate the appearance of silk stockings. This allowed him special "bath privileges" in the German guards washroom, since the prisoners' showers were unable to get the polish off his legs. Staging these plays even gained the prisoners access to "parole tools", tools which were used to build the sets and promised not to be used to escape. During the summer months, the theatre's peak periods, there were new productions every two weeks. The biggest success of the theatre however would be the Christmas themed Ballet Nonsense which premiered on November 16, 1941 and ran until the November 18, 1941 show which Hauptmann Priem
Paul Priem
Paul Priem was a German Officer in the Wehrmacht during World War II and a noted member of the German staff at Colditz Castle....
(the first prison warden of Colditz) attended.
Another pastime which occupied much of the prisoners' time was the production of moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
. Initially started by the Polish contingent using a recipe of yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
, water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, German jam and sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
from their Red Cross parcel
Red Cross parcel
Red Cross parcel usually refers to packages containing mostly food, tobacco and personal hygiene items sent by the International Association of the Red Cross to prisoners of war during the First and Second World Wars, as well as at other times. It can also refer to medical parcels and so-called...
s, and then taken up by other prisoners, it did not take long for still
Still
A still is a permanent apparatus used to distill miscible or immiscible liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor...
s to be secreted all across Colditz (one of which remained undiscovered until a tourist trip in 1984). Prisoner Michael Farr, whose family ran Hawker's Gin (the sole purveyors of Sloe gin
Sloe gin
Sloe gin is a red liqueur flavoured with sloe berries, which are a small fruit relative of the plum. Sloe gin has an alcohol content between 15 and 30 percent by volume. The traditional way of making sloe gin is to infuse gin with the berries. Sugar is required to ensure the sloe juices are...
with a Royal Warrant), managed to make a sparkling wine dubbed "Château Colditz". Some prisoners would get black teeth or even temporary blindness from consuming this beverage — a condition known as "jam-happy" — as it contained many impurities. Although the German guards despised the drunken prisoners, they generally turned a blind eye to the distilling.
Officers also studied languages, learning from each other, and told stories. Most popular of these stories were the embellished retelling of BBC broadcasts by Jim Rogers. Since mail was regularly screened by censors, and the German newspapers received by prisoners contained much Nazi propaganda, the only reliable information prisoners could obtain on the progress of the war in Europe was through BBC broadcasts received via one of two radios which were secreted in the castle. These radios were smuggled in by French prisoner Frédérick Guigues and named "Arthur 1" and "Arthur 2". The first radio was quickly discovered because of a mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
, but the second would remain secreted until Guigues returned and removed it during a tour of the castle in 1965. The prisoners' "Radio Laboratory" would not be permanently exposed until 1992 during repairs to the roof.
Later the most popular way to pass the time was stoolball, a particularly rough version of rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, where there were two stools at either end of the prisoners' courtyard and goals were scored by touching the opponent's stool with the ball. This game served as an outlet for pent-up aggression, and also provided noise to cover the sounds of tunnel-digging.
In addition to escape attempts, prisoners also tried to make the life of their guards more miserable by resorting to "goon-baiting", making nuisances of themselves by harassing the guards. For example, they would drop water bombs on the guards. Douglas Bader
Douglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, FRAeS, DL was a Royal Air Force fighter ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 20 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.Bader joined the...
encouraged his junior officers to do the same. British Flight Lieutenant Pete Tunstall
Pete Tunstall
Peter Tunstall is a former flight Lieutenant for the Royal Air Force. During World War II he was a POW.As a POW, Tunstall escaped four times. His escape from Spangenberg Castle has been recognised as one of the best ever...
especially tried to cause havoc by disturbing the roll call even if nobody was trying to escape, so that the guards would not become suspicious when somebody was. He went through a total of five courts martial and suffered a total of 415 days in solitary confinement.
Oflag IV-C in popular culture
Oflag IV-C has been the inspiration for both television and film because of the widely popular retellings by Pat Reid and Airey Neave. This started as early as 1955 with the release of The Colditz StoryThe Colditz Story
The Colditz Story is a 1955 prisoner of war film starring John Mills and Eric Portman and directed by Guy Hamilton.It is based on the book written by P.R...
, followed by The Birdmen in 1971, continuing until 2005 with the Colditz mini-series. The escape stories of Colditz Castle have inspired several board and video games, such as Escape from Colditz
Escape from Colditz
Escape from Colditz is a game devised by successful escaper Pat Reid, based on the former POW camp at Colditz Castle in Germany during World War II.The original game is a board game produced by Parker Brothers....
and Commandos. In contrast, the existence of Colditz is virtually unknown in Germany today. Eggers wrote a book based on his experiences of the German side of events.
Cinema
- The Colditz StoryThe Colditz StoryThe Colditz Story is a 1955 prisoner of war film starring John Mills and Eric Portman and directed by Guy Hamilton.It is based on the book written by P.R...
(1955) was a dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
tic film re-enactment of life in the camp during WWII, based entirely on the books of Pat ReidPatrick ReidPatrick Robert "Pat" Reid, MBE, MC was a British Army officer and historical author of non-fiction. As a British Prisoner of War during World War II, he was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C. Reid was one of the few to escape from Colditz, crossing the border into...
, directed by Guy HamiltonGuy HamiltonGuy Hamilton is an English film director.Hamilton was born in Paris, France where his English parents were living. Remaining in France during the Nazi occupation, he was active in the French Resistance...
for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts AwardBritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
in 1956. It has been called an "Outstanding factual World War Two drama about Allied POW's held in Germany's most secure wartime prison."
Television and TV movies
- Escape of the Birdmen (1971) was a television movie loosely based on Pat Reid's book. This movie is of note in that it is the first movie based on Pat Reid's books to reference the Colditz glider.
- ColditzColditz (TV series)Colditz is a British television series co-produced by the BBC and Universal Studios and screened between 1972 and 1974.The series deals with Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle when designated Oflag IV-C during World War II, and their many attempts to...
(1972–1974) was a dramatic television series aired on BBC1 television. It ran for a total of 28 episodes across two seasons, progressing in time from the opening of the camp until its liberation in 1945. The first three episodes of the series acted as an introduction to the plot of the show and introduced the viewers to the three central characters by following the events that led up to their arrival at the camp. The series was a joint production between the BBC and Universal TV (an American company), but for reasons unknown, it never aired in the United States. Episodes 24 "A Very Important Person" and 25 "Chameleon" did however air in the US as a two hour TV movie entitled Escape From Colditz, in 1974. A review of the film was printed in the newspaper The News Of The World, which praised it saying: "It has all the realism, dignity and courage of the men it commemorates." Its more notable actors include Jack HedleyJack HedleyJack Hedley is an English actor, best known for his performances on television....
as Lieutenant Colonel John Preston from 1972–74, Edward HardwickeEdward HardwickeEdward Hardwicke , sometimes credited as Edward Hardwick, was an English actor.-Early life and career:...
as Captain Pat Grant from 1972–73, Robert WagnerRobert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American actor of stage, screen, and television.A veteran of many films in the 1950s and 1960s, Wagner gained prominence in three American television series that spanned three decades: It Takes a Thief , Switch , and Hart to Hart...
as Major Phil Carrington from 1972–74, David McCallumDavid McCallumDavid Keith McCallum, Jr. is a Scottish actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Illya Kuryakin, a Russian-born secret agent, in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel, and Dr...
as Flight Lieutenant Simon Carter from 1972–74, and Dan O'HerlihyDan O'HerlihyDaniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
as Lieutenant Colonel Max Dodd in 1974. - Escape from Colditz (2001) is a British television movie.
- Colditz (2005)Colditz (miniseries)Colditz — sometimes mistakenly referred to by its working title Escape from Colditz — is a 2005 British two-part television film produced by Granada Television for ITV, written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stuart Orme. Part one initially screened on that network on 27 March 2005...
was a mini-series on ITV1ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
, based on Henry Chancellor's book Colditz: The Definitive History, directed by Stuart Orme. This tale is much more fictional than its predecessors, with fictional characters and situations that are merely based on real people and events. It features Jason PriestleyJason PriestleyJason Bradford Priestley is a Canadian-American actor and director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series Beverly Hills, 90210, a role which catapulted him to recognition in the early 1990s....
(Beverly Hills, 90210Beverly Hills, 90210Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
) as Rhett Barker, James FoxJames FoxJames Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
as Lt. Col. Jimmy Fordham, Damian LewisDamian LewisLewis was born in St John's Wood, London, the son of Charlotte Mary and J. Watcyn Lewis, a City broker. His paternal grandparents were Welsh. His maternal grandfather was Lord Mayor of London Ian Frank Bowater and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of...
(Band of Brothers) as Lt. Nicholas McGrade, Tom HardyTom HardyEdward Thomas "Tom" Hardy is an English actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the 2008 British film Bronson, the character of Eames in Inception, and the villain Praetor Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis...
(Black Hawk Down) as Lt. Jack Rose, Sophia MylesSophia Myles-Early life:Myles was born in London. She is the daughter of Jane, who works in educational publishing, and Peter Myles, a retired Anglican vicar in Isleworth, west London. Her maternal grandmother was Russian, and she refers to herself as "half-Welsh, half-Russian". She grew up in Notting Hill,...
(Thunderbirds) as Lizzie Carter, Guy Henry as Capt. Sawyer and Timothy WestTimothy WestTimothy Lancaster West, CBE is an English film, stage and television actor.-Career:West's craggy looks ensured a career as a character actor rather than a leading man. He began his career as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Wimbledon Theatre in 1956, and followed this with several seasons of...
as Warren.
Fiction
- The Colditz Legacy, Guy WaltersGuy WaltersGuy Walters is a British author and journalist.-Life and career:Guy Walters was born in Kensington, London. A descendant of Richard Harris Barham and Edward Augustus Bond, he was educated at Cheam School, Eton College, Westfield College, University of London , and is studying for a PhD in history...
, Headline, London, 2005, ISBN 0-7553-2717-9 - Yes, Farewell, Michael Burn, Jonathan Cape, London, 1946 ISBN 1-4191-7221-2
- The Narrow Door at Colditz, Robert L. Wise, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, 2004, ISBN 0-8054-3072-5
Games
- Escape from Castle Colditz — a board gameBoard gameA board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
from Invicta Games in 1972. - Escape from ColditzEscape from ColditzEscape from Colditz is a game devised by successful escaper Pat Reid, based on the former POW camp at Colditz Castle in Germany during World War II.The original game is a board game produced by Parker Brothers....
— a board game from Parker BrothersParker BrothersParker Brothers is a toy and game manufacturer and brand. Since 1883, the company has published more than 1,800 games; among their best known products are Monopoly, Cluedo , Sorry, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, and Probe...
in 1973. This game was designed by Pat Reid and later re-designed by Gibson Games in the 1980s and as Skedaddle! by Crowhurst Games in 1992 and re-released again in 2011.(www.crowhurstgames.com) - Escape from Colditz — a 1991 video game developed by Digital Magic for the Commodore Amiga, was based on the Parker Brothers board game.
- Prisoner of War (video game)Prisoner of War (video game)Prisoner of War is a 2002 third-person stealth game developed by Wide Games and published by Codemasters. It follows the story of Captain Lewis Stone, a downed American pilot who must escape numerous prisoner of war camps and return home.-Gameplay:...
has two levels set in Colditz. - Commandos 2: Men of CourageCommandos 2: Men of CourageCommandos 2: Men of Courage is the sequel to Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines and Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty. The games were developed by Pyro Studios, and published by Eidos Interactive...
— the mission, Castle Colditz, is based on the same castle and involves assisting the escape of all allied prisoners in the castle.
Music
- MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
band "Colditz Glider" is named after the construction of a glider to escape Oflag IV-CColditz Cock|-See also:-External links:*****...
. The group draw parallels between the prisoners drawn together to escape and the band creating music to escape.
Other media
- The Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
audio play ColditzColditz (Doctor Who audio)Colditz is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Plot:The Seventh Doctor and Ace are caught intruding in Colditz Castle in October 1944...
by Big FinishBig Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
is based in Colditz, with the Seventh DoctorSeventh DoctorThe Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
's companion AceAce (Doctor Who)Dorothy Gale McShane, better known by her nickname Ace, is a fictional character played by Sophie Aldred in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
mentioning several well known names and escape attempts.
External links
- VirtualColditz.com — Videos and photos of Colditz Castle as it is today.
- Virtual Tour of Colditz — Site is predominantly in GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, some sections have an English translation. - NOVA "Nazi Prison Escape" — Homepage to the NOVA TV episode "Nazi Prison Escape"
- Bibliographie par Frédéric Mortimore — Site is in FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
but has a good list of books available about Colditz and its POW's. - Colditz Castle — Oflag IVc — POW Information Sources — Links to resources about German POW's and has links to obituaries for some former prisoners.
- Escape to Colditz by Andrew Walker — BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
News Magazine 8 August 2003. - ColditzCastle.Net Oflag IVc & Colditz — A definitive history & guide to visiting: large photo gallery, then & now
- Colditz Castle Oflag IVC — English language tour and history of Colditz.
- Escape from Colditz — Channel 4 web game whose object is to escape from Colditz Castle.
- The Colditz Prison Escape Glider — How to make your own Colditz Glider with plans.
- Colditz Oflag IVc The ‘Bad Boys’ Camp — Site with additional information and many links
POW memoirs
- The Indian war hero who stood up to the Nazis — About Captain Birendra Nath Mazumdar M.D. the only Indian POW at Colditz.
- Mémoires de ma captivité Jacques Pallu (1940–1944) — Site is predominantly in French, some sections have an English translation.
- No.218 Squadrons Home Run — The Escape of Flight Lieutenant Wardle R.A.F From Colditz Castle.
- Une Vie De Camp (1943) — This is an exhibition of the watercolours of Pierre Lelong showing daily life at Oflag IVc. These watercolours seem "sanitized" and may have been censored by the German guards.
Audio interviews
- Joseph Tucki describes Colditz — (Running Time: 1:12) (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
) from the Imperial War MuseumImperial War MuseumImperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
Collection
- Tucki was a Polish officer served with 44th Infantry Regt in Poland, 1939; POW in Oflag VII A, Murnau, Germany, 1939-1941; escaped to Hungary, 1941 and returned to German captivity; POW in Oflag IV C, Colditz, Oflag 10 C Lubeck and Oflag 6 B, Dessel in Germany, 1942-1945
- Patrick Welch describes the Colditz Glider — Part 1 — (Running Time: 2:21) (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
) from the Imperial War MuseumImperial War MuseumImperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
Collection - Patrick Welch describes the Colditz Glider — Part 2 — (Running Time: 2:21) (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
) from the Imperial War MuseumImperial War MuseumImperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
Collection - Patrick Welch describes the Colditz Glider — Part 3 — (Running Time: 0:47) (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
) from the Imperial War MuseumImperial War MuseumImperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
Collection
- Patrick Welch describes the Colditz Glider — Part 1 — (Running Time: 2:21) (MP3
- Lorne WelchLorne WelchPatrick Palles Lorne Elphinstone Welch, , known as Lorne Welch, was a British engineer, pilot and Colditz prisoner of war....
was a British NCO flying instructor in GB, 1938-1942; officer with 25 Operation Training Unit, RAF in GB, 1942; POW at Stalag Luft III, Sagan and Oflag IV C, Colditz in Germany, 1943-1945
- Imperial War Museum Collections Online Contains more audio interviews regarding "Colditz" and "Oflag IV C".
Prisoner obituaries
- James de Deane Yule — September 17, 1916 – December 25, 2000
- John William Best — 1913 – April 22, 2000 John William BestJohn William BestFlight Lieutenant John William Best MBE, was a British Royal Air Force pilot. He was a notable Prisoner of War, who was held captive at Colditz Castle in eastern Germany during World War II...
- Dominic Bruce — June 7, 1915 – February 12, 2000
- Hugh Bruce — January 26, 1919 – January 9, 2003 Hugh BruceHugh BruceMajor Hugh Bruce, , was a prisoner-of-war in Colditz Castle and later commanding officer of the Special Boat Service.-Early life:...
- James Hugh Cecil Chesshire — December 28, 1916 – October, 2000
- Brigadier Hugo Ironside June 14, 1918 – October 3, 2008 Hugo IronsideHugo IronsideHugo Craster Wakeford Ironside OBE was an Army Officer who during World War II tunnelled out of a Prisoner of War camp and later helped construct a glider, known as the 'Colditz Cock'.-Background:...
- Rolf Magener — 1911 – June 3, 2000 :de:Rolf Magener
- Lieutenant-Colonel Douggie Moir August 24, 1918 – May 6, 2008
- Patrick Palles Lorne Elphinstone Welch — 12 August 1916 – 15 May 1998
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1511392/Kapitein-Luitenant-Francis-Steinmetz.html, Francis SteinmetzFrancis SteinmetzFrancis Steinmetz was an officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy who escaped from Oflag IV-C, Colditz Castle, a German POW camp, during World War II....