Colditz prisoners of the castle

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Jump to ratings and reviews. Want to read. Rate this book. Ben Macintyre. Goodreads Choice Award. For four years, these prisoners of the castle tested its walls and its guards with ingenious escape attempts that would become legend. But as Macintyre shows, the story of Colditz was about much more than escape.

Colditz prisoners of the castle

The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the river Zwickauer Mulde , a tributary of the River Elbe. It had the first wildlife park in Germany when, during , the castle park was converted into one of the largest menageries in Europe. The castle gained international infamy as the site of Oflag IV-C , a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II for "incorrigible" Allied officers who had repeatedly attempted to escape from other camps. By , the town around the market was established. Around that time the larger villages Hohnbach, Thierbaum , Ebersbach and Tautenhain also developed. As a result of family dynastic politics, the town of Colditz was incorporated into the Margraviate of Meissen. During , the Hussites attacked Colditz and set town and castle on fire. Around , renovation and new building work on the castle were done by order of Prince Ernest , who died in Castle Colditz in During , the servant Clemens the baker accidentally set Colditz afire, and the town hall, church, castle and a large part of the town was burned. During , reconstruction began and new buildings were erected around the rear castle courtyard. During , the castle park was converted into one of the largest zoos in Europe.

Prisoners of the Castle. Goodreads Choice Award. I highly recommend it.

In a forbidding Gothic castle on a hilltop in the heart of Nazi Germany, an unlikely band of British officers spent the Second World War plotting daring escapes from their German captors. Or so the story of Colditz has gone, unchallenged for 70 years. But that tale contains only part of the truth. The astonishing inside story, revealed for the first time in this new book by bestselling historian Ben Macintyre, is a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of snobbery, class conflict, homosexuality, bullying, espionage, boredom, insanity and farce. With access to an astonishing range of material, Macintyre reveals a remarkable cast of characters of multiple nationalities hitherto hidden from history, with captors and prisoners living for years cheek-by-jowl in a thrilling game of cat and mouse. From the elitist members of the Colditz Bullingdon Club to America's oldest paratrooper and least successful secret agent, the soldier-prisoners of Colditz were courageous and resilient as well as vulnerable and fearful -- and astonishingly imaginative in their desperate escape attempts.

Jump to ratings and reviews. Want to read. Rate this book. Ben Macintyre. Goodreads Choice Award. For four years, these prisoners of the castle tested its walls and its guards with ingenious escape attempts that would become legend. But as Macintyre shows, the story of Colditz was about much more than escape. Its population represented a society in miniature, full of heroes and traitors, class conflicts and secret alliances, and the full range of human joy and despair. Bringing together the wartime intrigue of his acclaimed Operation Mincemeat and keen psychological portraits of his bestselling true-life spy stories, Macintyre has breathed new life into one of the greatest war stories ever told.

Colditz prisoners of the castle

Colditz Castle, located in the Saxony town of the same name, has a long history. Dating back to the Holy Roman Empire, it has been used for a number of different purposes, including as a prisoner of war camp by the Germans during the Second World War. The history of Colditz Castle dates back to around , when Holy Roman Emperor Henry III gave the Burghers, part of the medieval bourgeoisie, permission to create the first documented settlement at the location. During the early part of the Middle Ages , the castle served as a lookout post. The first attack was launched on Colditz Castle in , when the Hussites attacked the town, setting the majority of it aflame. Colditz Castle was once again the victim of a fire in , when a baker accidentally set the building aflame. The blaze spread to the town hall, church and a large portion of the settlement, meaning reconstruction efforts had to, again, be undertaken. This began in and continued through to , when the upper floors were rebuilt. Around this time, the castle became home to the first wildlife park in Germany and one of the largest in Europe at the time.

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I listened to the audiobook with Simon. 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. Colditz was meant to be totally secure and the Nazis were sure that no one would ever break those bonds. A half star off because even though it sometimes read like a thriller and was mostly interesting, at times it read slowly and was close to boring with all the minutiae. It is a strange paradox that the Germans decided to lock up the prisoners in a medieval castle, full of unknown passages, drains, cellars and abandoned sections, where medieval doors could be easily picked. Right before he lost consciousness, he ripped the parachute, and the force disconnected his leg. One of them was a batch flavored with aftershave. Video Online events on demand Catch up on any of the events you might have missed from our regular series of online talks, conversations and debates. It shined a beacon of light on what is possible and how one can help with the war effort, even if they have a disability. Such an eccentric bunch. This was a camp for captured officers, but it also consisted of a fluctuating population of orderlies, and prisoners of other ranks who performed menial tasks for the Germans, but also served as personal servants for officers. There were constant, and very creative, escape attempts utilizing tunnels, disguises, forged papers and even hiding in a mattress.

During the Second World War, German officials thought they had come up with a genius idea to control unruly prisoners of war: throw them into Oflag IV-C, a prominent and intimidating camp in Colditz Castle. Instead, they unintentionally created their own "university of escapology," according to historian Ben Macintyre.

Right before he lost consciousness, he ripped the parachute, and the force disconnected his leg. I knew about this prisoner of war camp from having read and reread and loved Reach for the Sky , a book about Douglas Bader. Toggle navigation. Sadly, there were prisoners who shared many of the same fascist and racist attitudes as the Nazis. It may be counterintuitive to think of a "fun" nonfiction book about WWII, but I did feel that way about this book, largely because of Ben Macintyre's skill in presenting his mammoth amount of research in a highly readable and suspenseful way. He wrote a book after the war, Colditz: The German Story , which I think would make an appropriate follow-up to this book. I've been reading more narrative nonfiction lately as you may have noticed! Author 31 books followers. And so was I. World War II prisoner-of-war escapes are a staple of adventure fiction. The astonishing inside story, revealed for the first time in this new book by bestselling historian Ben Macintyre, is a tale of the indomitable human spirit, but also one of snobbery, class conflict, homosexuality, bullying, espionage, boredom, insanity and farce. The differences between the German and British minds and of course American, Dutch, Polish, the list goes on is shown in stark contrast - but it's not all-absorbing. The best and worst of mankind is here, from snobbery and racism, to incredible bravery and kindness. This respectful attitude permeated everyone's life at the camp including prisoner-guard interactions. Little, Brown.