The repeated escape attempts and day to days lives of prisoners inside one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious prisoner of war camps have been revealed with a collection of photographs.
German photographer Johnannes Lange was tasked with documenting every failed Allied escape from Colditz Camp in Leipzig during the Second World War.
Among the shots is a solider sheepishly poking his head out of a toilet sewer, having been caught trying to make a dash for home. Another shows an ingenious dummy used to fool guards during headcounts.
There are also pictures of inmates, which were deemed to be some of the highest risk prisoners in Germany.
Among them were Flight Lieutenant Dominic Bruce, who was ‘the most ingenious escaper’ of the war. He made 17 attempts at escaping from POW camps. He was joined by Capt Douglas Bader, a fighter pilot who, despite losing his legs in 1931, had 22 aerial victories.
Converted from a Renaissance Castle for the sole purpose of keeping Allied prisoners, Colditz had a reputation up there with the Great Escape’s Stalag Luft III for security, but it didn’t stop one of the most audacious escape attempts of the war from almost taking place.
Lange’s pictures show an image of Flight Lieutenant Jack Best and Flight Lieutenant Bill Goldfinch, who built a glider in a hidden workshop in the castle’s attic during the winter of 1944.
The contraption, built from wooden bed slats, floorboards, cotton sheets and porridge, was named the Colditz Cock, but the castle was liberated before it could take flight.
Lange’s archive also shows a glimpse into the prison’s day life. Prisoners are shown dressed up for extravagant concerts that were used to distract inmates from plotting to escape.
Poignant pictures of seven British commandos involved in Operation Musketoon, days before they were executed, are also among the archive, which will go on sale for around £1,750 next April.
Caught in the act, this Allied prisoner can be seen poking climbing out of a sewer after guards at Colditz Camp in Leipzig, Germany had caught him trying to escape. Only the most high risk Second World War prisoners were sent to Colditz – a converted castle built on rocky terrain in eastern Germany
Spot the dummy?Allied soldiers had a handmade dummy they would use during parade head counts to fool guards at Colditz. While the figure had no legs, prisoners could hold it up and hope it would, at a cursory glance, appear as one of their fellow inmates
Captured soldiers were no strangers to using tunnels for their great escapes, but it was highly unlikely they would make it all the way out to freedom. During the Second World War 32 PoWs escaped from Colditz, of which only 15 made it across Europe to safety
Flying ace Group Captain Douglas Bader (centre) was among the famous Colditz inmates. Cpt Bader lost his legs in a flying accident in 1931 but still served as a Second World War pilot. He is credited with 22 aerial victories before he baled out over German-occupied France in August 1941. Bottom right is Flight Lieutenant Dominic Bruce, who was ‘the most ingenious escaper’ of the war. Flight Lieutenant Jack Best (back left) and Flight Lieutenant Bill Goldfinch (back right), who built the ‘Colditz Cock’ out of floorboards and porridge can be seen glider in a hidden workshop in the castle’s attic during the winter of 1944
Colditz Castle was converted into a high security prisoner of war camp after the outbreak of the Second World War. Its location on a rocky outcrop next to the River Mulde made it the perfect place to send prisoners deemed to be a high risk of escaping. The difficult terrain didn’t stop some prisoners from trying to get out though
While the 11th century castle in may have seemed like a fortress, soldiers at Colditz Camp in Leipzig fashioned all manner of ways of escaping. Here, a German guard inspects a rope made out of bed sheets that has been dangled out of a loft window and thrown over the castle’s walls
Second World War Allied inmates fashioned an elaborate shaft to try and dig their way under Colditz camp and escape to freedom. But success was pretty unlikely, 32 PoWs escaped from Colditz, of which 15 achieved ‘home runs’ and made it across Europe to safety. Long after the end of the Second World War, tunnels were still being discovered by repairmen
Prisoners desperate to get out weren’t afraid to use tunnels for their great escape. Colditz was liberated by the US army on April 15 1945. The castle quickly fell under the rule of the Soviet Union after the neighbouring town came under Russian occupation in May
Belgian and French prisoners are picturing being marched across Adolf Hitler Bridge, away from Colditz Castle, in 1943. After the castle came under Soviet occupation in 1945, it was used to house local burglars and non communists, it was later used as a nursing home, and a hospital
Private Reginald Makeham (left) and rifleman Cyril Abram (right) were part of Operation Musketoon. The pair were part of a team of commandos who successfully destroyed a Nazi hydro-electric power station behind enemy lines in Norway in 1942. The group were held at Colditz briefly before they were taken to Berlin and executed under Adolf Hitler’s orders
Prisoners, including some dressed in women’s clothes and make up, can be seen here performing in a show. Guards at Colditz organised concerts and shows as a way of keeping prisoners occupied so they could not plan any escapes
Colditz Castle in Leipzig has a reputation on a par with the Great Escape’s Stalag Luft III for security, but pictures from the archive of German photographer Johannes Lange show there was a lighter side to camp life. When they weren’t donning elaborate stage costumes, some prisoners would fashion German uniforms and try to impersonate guards or officers as a means of escape
Johannes Lange, above, would take photographs of Allied attempts to escape Colditz Camp. He would then share those photographs with other PoW camps around Germany to warn them of potential escape routes. Decades on those pictures are now set to fetch around £1,750 at auction in April
Johannes Lange also pictured every day life inside Colditz Camp, here German guards can be seen at an officer’s funeral. His coffin is draped in the flag of the Third Reich as it’s lowered into the ground in the Renaissance castle’s cemetery
It may have had a fearsome reputation, but prisoners at Colditz Camp were largely able to pass the time in their own ways. German guards would organise concerts and performances, but inmates could also spend their time playing football, volleyball and boxing, as they did at a camp Olympics in 1941
The 1000-year-old castle in eastern Germany was a far cry from the beach in the background. The Leipzig fortress was built hundreds of miles from land not under Nazi control
Colditz Camp: The Renaissance castle Nazi Germany turned into a prisoner of war fortress
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Colditz Castle was hundreds of miles from any land not under Nazi control, making it the ideal location to send high risk prisoners of war.
Colditz Camp is built next to the River Mulde in the next to the town of Colditz, east Germany. The town was taken by US forces following a two day battle in April 1945 and became part of East Germany after the Second World War
The first prisoners, 140 Polish officers, arrived in 1939 and the castle was officially renamed as Oflag IV-C.
In October 1940 the first three British prisoners were sent into the camp, they were joined by six more in November.
By Christmas there were 60 Polish officers, 12 Belgians, 50 French, and 30 British.
Due to its size and the difficulty of its high risk PoWs, Colditz had a larger garrison than most camps, during the war more than 70 officers were stationed the camp on the River Mulde.
For the most part prisoners entertained themselves. In August 1941 Polish inmates organised a camp Olympics, with events including football, volleyball, boxing and chess.
Despite its location and size, there were multiple attempts to escape, however only 35 ever got free of the castle’s walls.
Out of those escapees, 11 were British and 12 were French, there were seven Dutch prisoners who escaped along with a Belgian and a Polish inmate.
In the winter of 1944/1945 two inmates created the Colditz Cock. Working right under the nose of their German captors in a hidden workshop they created a glider out of bedsteads, floorboards, cotton sheets and porridge.
The glider would never take flight as the US Army took the castle in April 1945.