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Recommended Book:
The Colditz Story
by Patrick R. Reid

Colditz Castle overlooks the old town of Colditz, on the River Mulde, eastern Germany.
Castle in eastern Germany, near Leipzig, used as a high-security prisoner-of-war camp (Oflag IVC) in World War II. Among daring escapes was that of British Captain Patrick Reid (19101990) and others in October 1942, whose story contributed much to its fame. It became a museum in 1989. A highly successful British TV drama series called Colditz (1972) was based on prisoners' experiences. The castle was considered escape-proof and so was used to house prisoners with important connections and those who had a record of escape from less secure camps. Although there were 130 successful escapes, only 32 managed to evade recapture.

Side Note:
Miramax bought the remake rights to the 1957 British film THE COLDITZ STORY about Allied prisoners of war who try to escape a German castle. Rafael Yglesias (FROM HELL) will script.

WWII Statistics:

Information on US POWs Held in WWII
Military

There were 130,201 US Military captured and interned in WWII. As of January 1, 2001, 40,794 were still alive (31.3%). Of the total count of US POWs in WWII 36,260 were captured and interned by the Japanese. On January 1, 2001, 5,348 were still alive (14.7%). Here is the grim news; the comparison of those military held by Germany and Japan. Median age of WWII POWs on January 1, 2001 was 80.


U.S. Military Held         By GERMANY         BY JAPAN
Captured & Interned        93,941             36,260 
Died While POW              1,121 (1.1%)      13,851 (38.2%) 
Alive on January 1, 2001   35,446 (37.7%)      5,348 (14.7%)

Civilians

There were 18,745 US Civilians captured and interned in WWII. As of January 1, 2001, 3,018 were still alive (16.1%). Of the total civilian POWs in WWII 13,996 were captured and interned by the Japanese. On January 1, 2001, only 1,325 were still alive (9.4%). Again, here are the grim statistics; the comparison of U.S. civilians interned by Germany versus those held by Japan. Median age of WWII Civilian Internees on January 1, 2001 was 84.


U.S. civilian Held       By GERMANY       BY JAPAN 
Captured & Interned         4,749          13,996 
Died While POW                168 (3.5%)    1,536 (11%) 
Alive on January 1, 2001    1,424 (30%)     1,325 (9.4%)