Customer Reviews

Colditz: The German Story

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Colditz was the Germans' most heavily guarded prison camp in WWII. Escape artists from all the other POW camps were funneled to this one, where they pooled their talents to break out of it. Many of the former prisoners have written books about Colditz, but this is the only one I know of from the German viewpoint. Eggers was a security officer at Colditz, one of the men most responsible for keeping the prisoners in while they used all their ingenuity to get out. His story is interesting and quite funny in places; he doesn't hesitate to admit that the prisoners often made a fool of him. If you have any interest in World War II or in escape stories, this is a good book for you-- written from a point of view that English-speaking readers don't often see.

"Colditz", by Reinhold Eggers, sub-titled "The German Side of the Story", W.W. NORTON & COMPANY, New York, 1961.

After having read "Colditz" by Henry Chancellor, I had to search out Reinhold Eggers' book in the Hingham Public Library. Reinhold Eggers was a German officer who had his native German, plus English and French as languages; thus his assignment to deal with Allied POWs. He was in his fifties during the time period of this book, so he did not see much combat in the Second World War. Eggers gives an even-handed, fair recounting of the events at the prison camp, Colditz Castle, where recalcitrant Allied prisoners were kept. The idea was that the worst offenders, those POWs who had attempted too many escapes, would be kept safe and sound in escape-proof Colditz Castle in eastern Germany. Of course, there were many escapes, and some POWs actually made it to neutral territory or back to Allied control. In each case, the author attempts to explain what happened or what went wrong. He also references later works of others, which explain what actually had happened.

At Colditz, Reinhold Eggers was one of the German officers who worked for exact correctness in dealing with Allied POWs, and, sometimes in the book, you can sense his regret that the various nationalities rarely reciprocated this correctness. Page 75, "The indiscipline in the camp never ceased to have its effect in the cold war between staff and prisoners." Page 124: "The Poles seethed with hatred of us, but in Colditz their behaviour was exemplary". You can also sense the dislike or at least the distaste that Eggers has for the Nazi "Partei". At Colditz, there were very few Americans, so they are mentioned only briefly towards the back of the book.

The book is a well-translated volume, in almost scholarly tone, which might reflect the way the book was originally written in German. The translation was very good, with the only exception being on page 39: "Sentries were unsighted at one or two spots". I believe the translator meant, "Sentries were out of sight, at one or two spots". If you have read other books on Colditz Castle, it is worth your effort to search out and read "The German Side of the Story".

I had learned of Colditz many years ago and of Eggers somewhat humorous treatment of a serious subject. After reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" ( a great book ) my interest in WW2 was reignited and I read a number of books on the Channel islands occupation and eventually decided to read up on Colditz. I read Eggers' book first and then P R Reid's "The Full Story." both are excellent and I am glad I read them in that order. Highly Recommended!

I really enjoyed Colditz, the German Story. It is a book I will read again and again.

For those of you who do not know about Colditz, it was an ancient castle in Germany which the Germans turned into a supposedly secure Prisoner of War facility. The worst escapers were sent here. Although the Germans sought to make it escape-proof, the allied prisoners succeeded many times in actually getting away.

This book was written by one of the German officers at Colditz. His main job was to detect thwart escapes before they occurred.

The author has a good sense of humor, even if he the prisoners out witted him (which often was the case).

I also own The Colditz Story by P.R. Reid (an inmate at Colditz) and highly reccommend it also. Reading both books answered many questions I had after reading The Colditiz Story.

I can't think of any cons for this book.

All in all it is a great book, well worth 5 stars.

The other reviews give a good synopsis of this book. I was astonished at the number of attempted escapes by the prisoners. It made for amusing reading. I'm sure the Germans were fit to be tied trying to keep that cantankerous bunch of prisoners in line. The book is definitely a companion piece to the Colditz escape book written by P. Ried. Eggers certainly does make it clear to me that some German soldiers weren't near as bad as they were made out to be; and that the OKW did support prisoners rights.

My only criticism of this book is that some of the translation to German was not too good. There are many sentences which are quite long without punctuation; there are some sentences which end abruptly (need commas rather than periods). Some British terms were used which were confusing. For example, "gaol" was used quite often. This is a British term for jail or jailers. This book could use a re-write into American english. Aside from that criticism, the book is worth its purchase price.