Poland commemorates the 80th anniversary of the ‘Great Escape’ from a Nazi prisoner of war camp.
In Poland, ceremonies were conducted on Sunday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the “Great Escape.” This event was a clever act of rebellion during World War II, where 76 imprisoned soldiers dug a tunnel and escaped from a German prisoner-of-war camp into a wintry forest.
At a ceremony attended by the British ambassador to Poland, British soldiers held pictures of pilots who were killed on Hitler’s command. The event concluded a series of weekend-long commemorations.
During World War II, the Nazi POW camp held captured Allied air force personnel, including British, American and Polish soldiers among others, and British airmen led the escape effort. At the time the area was part of Germany but now lies in western Poland.
According to reports from Polish media, the ceremony on Sunday featured a flyover by a Hercules C-130 transport aircraft and four F-16 fighters from the Polish air force over the town of Żagań and the ceremony location.
On March 24, 2024, British military personnel commemorate the 80th anniversary of the daring event known as the ‘Great Escape’. This event involved Allied prisoners of war successfully tunneling out of Stalag Luft III in Zagan, Poland. Despite their efforts, only three POWs were able to reach safety.
The majority of the military personnel who fled from Stalag Luft III on the evening of March 24, 1944, met a dreadful fate. Just three managed to reach safety, while the remaining were caught again and 50 of them were killed.
Despite its ultimate failure, the event is famously referred to as the “Great Escape,” and was immortalized in a highly fictionalized 1963 movie featuring Steve McQueen.
The American war drama miniseries “Masters of the Air” on Apple TV+ recently showcased the escape in one of its episodes.
The latest display at the National Archives in London honors the individuals who successfully escaped.
The inmates spent 12 months covertly constructing three underground passages with the codenames Tom, Dick, and Harry. The first tunnel was found by the Germans, but the other two remained undiscovered.
On March 24, 2024, British troops honored the Allied prisoners of war who used their ingenuity to escape from a German camp during World War II, in an event famously known as the ‘Great Escape’ in Zagan, Poland.
The original plan was to successfully evacuate 200 individuals using tunnel Harry. However, on the night of the planned escape, the first person to exit the tunnel discovered that the tunnel did not reach as far beyond the wired perimeter as they had expected. Only 76 individuals were able to make it out before a guard discovered footprints in the snow.
Three men — two Norwegian pilots and a Dutch one— were the only ones who successfully escaped.
Adolf Hitler was incredibly angry about the escape and gave the order for 73 men who were recaptured to be killed. The Nazis ultimately decided to execute 50 of them, which goes against the standards set by the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.
During the Nuremberg trials following the war, those responsible for the deaths of allied airmen were brought to justice. Multiple Gestapo officers were given the death penalty as punishment.
Source: voanews.com
