Macintyre stressed that, in relation to the castle, we must forget – with a few exceptions – the stereotype of brutal Nazi German guards. 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. One involved French Lieutenant Émile Boulé, who tried to walk out the door disguised as a woman. Macintyre produces a great and thoughtful ending to a fine book that is about heroism and cowardice, kindness and cruelty, collaboration and inventiveness. Highly recommended. Colditz: prisoners of the castle Ben Macintyre Another important contrast is the treatment of Jews vs POWs. The Jews and other "undesirables" sent to concentration camps like Auschwitz had it much, much worse than the prisoners of Colditz. But the POWs still faced hunger & food shortages, near-constant supervision, and of course the danger of being powerless in enemy hands. Yet prisoners of Colditz were among the better-treated POWs - the main men in charge of the camp actually (mostly) adhered to the Geneva Convention of 1929. Which naturally didn't stop the prisoners from attempting to escape. Some of the most comedic bits of this book are during escapes. Their creativity and courage was indomitable. The story of] the Colditz prisoners is actually the story of a society divided by class, by race, by sexuality. It is also the story of a great suffering, of cruel attitudes, demoralization, boredom (there were those who read a copy of Vanity Fair 12 times), hunger, and psychological and moral collapse,” the author explained. Because ultimately, this is the story of captivity. I had to read it in small doses because reading about POWs’ imprisonment does not make for a happy subject. Sure, I was rooting for the guys who, few and far between, actually succeeded in escaping. But every prisoner is a bored, angry, sexually frustrated captive and additionally there was plenty of elitism and racism.

He specialises in excavating the stories that have been overlooked or bringing new perspectives to old stories. Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle is one of the latter. There can hardly be a story from the second World War that has been told as many times as that of Colditz. The feature film, The Colditz Story, was released in 1955, followed by Colditz, the 1972 TV series broadcast on the BBC that attracted a television audience of seven million viewers. Most recently there was Colditz, the TV series, broadcast on Channel 4 in 2005. There has been a proliferation of books and documentaries about this infamous German POW camp.Much of the material comes from recordings made in the late 1980s and early 1990s by every surviving Colditz prisoner, which are held in the Imperial War Museum but hadn’t been listened to by researchers or historians. It’s through these archives that Macintyre learnt of Ross’s anguish and other prisoners’ private fears, including a chaplain’s anxiety over the men acting on homosexual urges. The book reveals a culture of homosexuality among the prisoners, including one who was openly bisexual. “No one has really written about that before,” says Macintyre. Within the POW camp, there were social clubs that wouldn’t let you in if you hadn’t studied at Eton. There was also racism towards Indian officers, as well as antisemitism targeting a group of Jewish French officers, who were segregated by their compatriots in a kind of ghetto. Colditz, recalled Macintyre, was not a prison only for the British. At first, many nationalities lived together. Dutch officers in Colditz Castle, with one of the dolls they used to confuse German guards during counts. SBG gGmbH (SBG gGmbH) Bader was shot down in August of 1941, captured and interned in various camps (from which he inevitably tried to escape), until he was sent to Colditz. “Bader was one of my childhood heroes, as he was for many British children. But although he set an example of tenacity and willpower and courage, he was also a bastard,” Macintyre noted. You can see the [White House] rhetoric begin to ratchet down [after reading Gordievsky’s reports]. Now, he’s not the only player in this scenario, and I wouldn’t give him singular credit, but the Cold War began to get warmer from that point onwards.” Mrs. Markowska, also known as Jane Walker, was an agent of British intelligence and a lead associate in the Polish underground. She would shelter escaped British POWs and help smuggle them to safety. She was extremely intelligent and a supreme asset because she spoke German, French, and Polish. Her intolerant and sympathetic behavior was endearing to the escapees, and she treated each one like her own children. She was known for giving the POW’s pep talks, medical treatments, and formal dinners. The POW’s adored her and often times said they loved her.

There was something thrilling about the tenacity and purpose of prisoner of war officers seeing their duty as trying to escape this formidable German prison during WW2. Not only were they using the power of their brains and working together but they were fighting the enemy by needing more and more resources to keep them incarcerated. There were many phenomenal escapes and even in event of failure a attitude of doubling down and never giving up the attempts. I don't know if non-fiction thriller is a legitimate genre but if it is, Ben MacIntyre would be the Stephen King of it. In this book MacIntyre takes on the iconic nazi-castle of Colditz, where high ranking Allied prisoners or prisoners that tried repeatedly to escape, were guarded by the Wehrmacht, which mostly abided by the rules of the Geneva Conventions. In one instance, after succesfully escaping to France, the Germans dutifully sent his suitcase after him. Oflag VII-C, замъкът Лауфен). Не разбираме почти нищо за неговото детство, началото на войната, нито за пленяването му във Франция. Основният фокус на цялата книга е върху плановете и стратегиите за бягство. Рийд не се задържа дълго в Лауфен. Успява да избяга през прокопан тунел, но е заловен на половината от пътя към неокупираната все още Югославия. Изпратен е в най-тежко охранявания офлаг в Райха - замъкът Колдиц в Саксония (Oflag IV-C). В Колдиц попадат само специални и високорискови за нацистите военнопленници - имащи вече опити за бягство от други лагери или със специални "провинения". Macintyre shows how the mood in the castle prison changed as the war progressed. In 1942, there was hope that victory might be around the corner. By 1943, this had turned to despair that it might instead go on for years to come.The day of freedom is not set by judge or jury, but by events in a distant theater of conflict." I had a tap on the shoulder from one of my tutors, who said, ‘There’s part of the Foreign Office that is slightly different from the other parts.’ He never actually said what it was, but it became pretty clear. I did the first couple of interviews and I enjoyed talking to them. But they took one look at me and realised that here’s a man who can’t keep a secret, as I’ve just demonstrated by telling you the story, which I’ve told others before.”

In author’s own words (he successfully escaped in 1942) he would not have survived at Colditz till the end of WW-II i.e 1945 without losing his mental balance or words to that effect. They get caught! Damn it. I do sometimes has trouble understanding the little things they are doing to escape, and they should be understood I think, but I try not to let it disturb me. There are two components that dominate Macintyre’s monograph; the replica of the British social class structure that dominated prison life, and the integration of an eclectic and diverse group of prisoners whether British, Dutch, French, Polish, or American. There are other themes that the author introduces that include the Nazi leadership that ran Colditz, the ebbs and flows of the war which prisoners were able to keep up with by building a surreptitious radio, the planning of escapes and what happened to the escapees, the plight of Prominente – a group of influential and famous prisoners whom the Nazis sought to maximize a return, and how Berlin reacted to what was occurring in the prison.The Great Escape is a fairly well-known movie with a star-studded cast. It is set in a POW camp in Poland and portrays the real-life audacious escape attempt of 76 Allied airmen during WWII. A different POW camp in Germany was Colditz Castle. It was supposed to be the most secure German POW camp so was specifically used as the prison of last resort for Allied officers who had previously attempted escape or were otherwise high risk. Despite the designation of "escape proof," Colditz turned out to be the ideal camp for escape-inclined Allied prisoners. With so many escape-prone prisoners housed together it was inevitable that they would plan escapes. They organized and created an "escape committee" which arranged the details of each escape, including who would produce or procure money, tools, maps, disguises or any other required materials. They also organized the dates of escapes so that one group did not interfere with another. Oleg has that thousand-yard stare, sometimes, of somebody who has lived within themselves forever.’ Deeply researched and full of incredible stories, this is a tale of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances - and will change how you think about Colditz forever. The Colditz Story is the tale of the British prisoners of war incarcerated in Oflag IV C, Colditz Castle, which was used to hold officers who had already attempted to escape from other camps by the Germans during the Second World War. Reid, as Escape Officer (co-ordinator of escape attempts) helped organise many escapes and was in an ideal position to document them. The book covers the period from Reid's arrival as Colditz was being set up, to his own successful escape to Switzerland a couple of years later. I listened to the audiobook with Simon. They say that truth is stranger than fiction.... This is an amazing book full of incredible true stories of escape, or many attempted escapes of prisoners of war from the notorious castle prison of Colditz. I'm not sure that Colditz is as well know in the U.S.A. In the U.K. it was entrenched in our culture and truly inspired fear.