NOVA Online (see text links below)
Nazi Prison Escape

Gate into prisoners' yard
The gate leading into the prisoners' yard.
Escaping Colditz
13: December 1941

One day two German officers appeared at the gate leading out of the prisoners' yard. The guard saluted them and let them through, then recalled that he was supposed to ask for passes from all military personnel. As the pair walked toward the arch leading into the German yard, the guard ran after them and asked for their passes. "That's all right, we're coming straight back," one said. Though his German was good, the guard grew suspicious and called security. The German officers? Belgian Lieut. Baron D.W. van Lynden and a Captain Steenhover in homemade uniforms.

Previous escape | Next escape | See the map



  1. First escape
    April 12, 1941


  2. Straw mattresses
    May 8, 1941


  3. Locked cells
    Mid-May 1941


  4. Canteen tunnel
    May 1941


  5. German woman
    June 1941


  6. Air-raid shelter
    June 1941


  7. Hacksaw
    June 1941


  8. Over the wall
    July 2, 1941


  9. Air shaft
    July 28, 1941


  1. Lavatory
    July 31, 1941


  2. Manhole
    Late summer, 1941


  3. Dummies
    December 1941


  4. German officers
    December 1941


  5. Main gate
    January 6, 1942


  6. Town dump
    March 1942


  7. Wooden crate
    September 7, 1942


  8. Mussolini's office
    September 9, 1942


  9. Headquarters building
    October 15, 1942


  1. Willi the electrician
    December 1942


  2. "Maddest attempt"
    May 11, 1943


  3. Franz Josef
    September 2, 1943


  4. Cellar house
    January 19, 1944


  5. Rubbish heap
    May 2, 1944


  6. Greatest escaper
    September 25, 1944


  7. Glider
    April 1945



Escaping Colditz | The Jailor's Story | Great Escapes | The Colditz Glider
Resources | Transcript | Site Map | Nazi Prison Escape Home

Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule
About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print
PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH

© | Updated January 2001
Feedback Shop NOVA NOVA Site Map Search NOVA NOVA Nazi Prison Escape Nazi Prison Escape Nazi Prison Escape Nazi Prison Escape Site Map