Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle

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Colditz was the last stop for Allied prisoners who had been caught escaping from other, less secure camps around Germany. During 1999, a full-sized replica of the glider was commissioned by Channel 4 Television in the UK and was built by Southdown Aviation Ltd. Many of these have hitherto been excluded from history, because they did not fit the traditional mould of the while, male Allied officer, dedicated to escaping,” he states. Despite my extensive earlier reading, I had never previously known of the existence of that camp, but it is well nigh impossible to accept that the likes of Rheinhold Eggers did not know of Jewish slaves there, stating that it “was an SS matter”. During 1504, the servant Clemens the baker accidentally set Colditz afire, and the town hall, church, castle and a large part of the town was burned.

In Colditz: Prisoners of the Castle, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes us inside the walls of the most infamous prison in history to meet the real men behind the legends.The international make-up of the prisoners at Colditz is well illustrated by the make-up of the successful escapers: of the 32 estimated to have made ‘home runs’ 12 were French, 11 were British, 7 were Dutch, one was a Pole and one a Belgian. It was also the only way the prisoners could feel they were still making some kind of contribution to the war effort. As I started writing this review there was a minor storm in a teacup over the book and the news that the BBC were planning a new series on Colditz based on it. For nearly 100 years, from 1829 to 1924, Colditz was a sanatorium, generally reserved for the wealthy and the nobility of Germany. His honourable behaviour fully deserves the recognition that Macintyre gives him, all the more so given the way he was treated by his fellow prisoners.

Many would escape but would be captured only to be march across the bridge and through the gates and back into Colditz, but the stories of those who escaped and made it back home are the stuff of legend. Macintyre sets out to provide a correction to the impression that Colditz was some form of British Public School, an Eton (Germany) if you like. I approached this latest ‘definitive’ account of life in Colditz Castle during World War II with mixed emotions. The astonishing inside story, revealed for the first time by bestselling historian Ben Macintyre, is a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of class conflict, homosexuality, espionage, insanity and farce.During the Middle Ages, the castle was used as a lookout post for the German Emperors and was the hub of the Reich territories of the Pleissenland (anti- Meißen Pleiße-lands).

In 1046, Henry III of the Holy Roman Empire gave the burghers of Colditz permission to build the first documented settlement at the site. A much more sobering passage, in the Besieged section recounting the liberation of the castle by the advancing Allied forces, tells of systematic murder of Jews held in a slave labour camp on the outskirts of Colditz. From bestselling historian Ben McIntyre comes an incredible true story of WW2's most famous Nazi prison, Colditz - the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II.He is a columnist and Associate Editor at 'The Times', and has worked as the newspaper’s correspondent in New York, Paris and Washington. I have not yet fully read the book, but one other key factor that stands out is the general behaviour by the German guards towards their captives. There is nothing more to be seen of the original castle, where the present rear of the castle is located, but it is still possible to discern where the original divisions were (the Old or Lower House, the Upper House and the Great House).