Oflag Iv-C, the German Struggle for Control
Oflag IV-C, The German Struggle for Control David Finn-Orde
Acknowledgements
Professor Geoffrey Roberts Doctor Michael Cosgrove Mr. Mike Kimble Mr. Tony Cutcliffe
Oflag IV-C, The German Struggle for Control
“We kept them in with rifles and machineguns. We searched them day and night, and yet they got out!” Reinhold Eggers, Security Officer, Oflag IV-C 1943-45 Oflag IV-C more commonly known as Colditz Castle was a Prisoner of War (POW) camp for the duration of World War Two (WWII) strictly for the officer ranks, however there were a few non-commissioned officers (NCOs) present. These NCOs were orderlies of batmen of the commissioned offiers (COs). The castle is situated in the town of Colditz, this was in the heartland of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The Swiss border was over 400 miles away to the south, an extremely long and dangerous route for any escaping POW from Colditz. The geographical position of Colditz was not its only reason for being a POW camp during WWII. The castle itself was heavily fortified. The castle was surrounded on three sides by some 250 foot cliffs with the River Mulde below (see picture 1 in Appendix). The only access points to the castle are via a moat bridge and by the lower grounds where there is a Park and orchard that the POWs used for recreational purposes (Picture 2). The structure of the castle itself was also an important factor. As the castle had evolved from c. 1046 the walls of the castle in some points are in the region of seven feet thick. With the natural fortifications of the cliffs and the manmade structure the castle offered itself to be an excellent choice as a POW camp for the duration for WWII. However, what were overlooked by the German army were the POWs themselves. Herman Goering declared that Colditz Castle was “escape proof”, these words proved to be a fallacy. Colditz Castle saw the highest amount of escape attempts for any POW camp, this in turn lead to it having the highest number of POWs returning to their
Acknowledgements
Professor Geoffrey Roberts Doctor Michael Cosgrove Mr. Mike Kimble Mr. Tony Cutcliffe
Oflag IV-C, The German Struggle for Control
“We kept them in with rifles and machineguns. We searched them day and night, and yet they got out!” Reinhold Eggers, Security Officer, Oflag IV-C 1943-45 Oflag IV-C more commonly known as Colditz Castle was a Prisoner of War (POW) camp for the duration of World War Two (WWII) strictly for the officer ranks, however there were a few non-commissioned officers (NCOs) present. These NCOs were orderlies of batmen of the commissioned offiers (COs). The castle is situated in the town of Colditz, this was in the heartland of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. The Swiss border was over 400 miles away to the south, an extremely long and dangerous route for any escaping POW from Colditz. The geographical position of Colditz was not its only reason for being a POW camp during WWII. The castle itself was heavily fortified. The castle was surrounded on three sides by some 250 foot cliffs with the River Mulde below (see picture 1 in Appendix). The only access points to the castle are via a moat bridge and by the lower grounds where there is a Park and orchard that the POWs used for recreational purposes (Picture 2). The structure of the castle itself was also an important factor. As the castle had evolved from c. 1046 the walls of the castle in some points are in the region of seven feet thick. With the natural fortifications of the cliffs and the manmade structure the castle offered itself to be an excellent choice as a POW camp for the duration for WWII. However, what were overlooked by the German army were the POWs themselves. Herman Goering declared that Colditz Castle was “escape proof”, these words proved to be a fallacy. Colditz Castle saw the highest amount of escape attempts for any POW camp, this in turn lead to it having the highest number of POWs returning to their
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