Escape from Nazi Alcatraz

Originally broadcast on PBS's NOVA series, Tom Cook and Ian Duncan's documentary offers an intriguing look at a little-known episode from WWII. Colditz Castle, lying in the Saxony region of Germany, was home to Oflag IV-C, a high-security prisoner-of-war camp that Field Marshal Hermann Göring declared “escape-proof,” owing to its challenging location atop a treacherous cliff. One of the most audacious attempts to escape involved a scheme to construct a two-man glider out of bed sheets and floorboards that would be launched from the castle's roof. But the war ended before the plan could be put into motion, so the original contraption never got off the ground. Cook and Duncan here capture the efforts of a team of engineers and carpenters who rebuild the aircraft, using the same source materials, and create the catapult (made from a bathtub filled with concrete) that was meant to send it into the air. While construction is taking place, the documentary also looks at a number of surprisingly successful and woefully unsuccessful attempts made by various prisoners to escape from their Nazi captors. Despite its pulpy title, Escape from Nazi Alcatraz offers an intelligent and often entertaining celebration of determined human spirit and ingenuity. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)