Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle

Product Information

A remarkable cast of characters from many countries, hitherto hidden from history, will be brought to life in this tale of the indomitable human spirit. Bader was later presented as one of the war’s great heroes, with Kenneth More playing him in the 1956 film Reach for the Sky.

A Belgian’s deliberate failure to salute a German officer spiraled into a court-martial and a death sentence that was later commuted. Reinhold Eggers, the Supreme Security Chief at Colditz who tried to be fair to the prisoners and was often overruled. The prisoners were fed, well treated and - especially compared to other POW camps - had a better chance of survival. Post-war stories of Colditz painted a picture of a classless prison society where everyone was equal. Christopher Layton Hutton designed and developed numerous escape kits and other inventions for prisoners.It held many officers, who could not be forced to work for the Reich, and whom often imposed their own class rules and public school ways onto those inhabitants of the camp.

At Colditz Castle, the Germans respected the Geneva Convention and treated imprisoned officers in a manner commensurate with their rank.

With renovations largely completed, the castle now includes both a museum and guided tours showing some of the escape tunnels built by prisoners of the Oflag during the war. Colditz was meant to be totally secure and the Nazis were sure that no one would ever break those bonds. In fact, the author describes them in his book as very patient with the constant taunting of the British prisoners and the escapes, some of which were truly ridiculous. Although this has incredible accounts of those who tried to escape, often successfully, it is also the story of a very unique prisoner of war camp.

He wanted him to remain in the prison to carry him up and down the stairs, cook his meals, and wash his stump socks every day. For some time after the war the glider was regarded as either a myth or tall story, as there was no solid proof that the glider had existed and Colditz was then in the Soviet Occupation Zone.But the near whimsy of Colditz took more than one grim turn, and in narrating those darker developments, “Prisoners of the Castle” works to undo some conventions of World War II escape stories.

This was a very interesting and entertaining book, and the author did a very good job narrating the audiobook. From 1939, it became a maximum-security prison for unruly Allied officers deemed deutschfeindlich, or “German-unfriendly”—POWs considered likely to try and escape. One in particular was most important – if a prisoner wanted to try to escape he needed the approval of an Escape Committee headed by the highest ranking officers. Some got on with them well, but there were also moments of deep antagonism and direct confrontation.The outer courtyard and former German Kommandantur (guard quarters) have been converted into a youth hostel / hotel and the Gesellschaft Schloss Colditz e. Games of volleyball were one way that Allied PoWs passed the long days at Colditz, along with music, drama and social clubs. The PoWs put on dozens of different productions: plays, revues, pantomimes, skits, and a lot of musical stuff as well. In the later war years, the prisoners were actually better fed than the guards, thanks to the Red Cross packages being sent to them.