The Great Escape

General information

Destination	Category
Wroclaw, Poland	Sightseeing Tours

Program details

Relive one of the most heroic events of World War II with a visit to the notorious Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp near Zagan, to the northwest of Wroclaw. The efforts of the brave Allied airmen to break out of the camp were immortalised in the Hollywood movie, The Great Escape. Of the 76 men who made it out of the camp, just three managed to escape to safety while 50 were summarily executed.

Learn all about this dramatic event at the Museum of Allied POW Camps in Zagan, visiting the grounds of Stalag Luft III and the memorial to the 50 who paid the highest price for an escape they considered a soldier's duty.

On the night of March 24-25, 1944, some 200 Allied POWs began a mass escape from Stalag Luft III. They had been planning the event for months and had dug three tunnels, Tom, Dick and Harry, about 100 metres each under the camp to a surrounding forest. The account of this dramatic day was first told in a book and then in the film, 19 years later.

Of the 1,800 POWs in Stalag Luft III, about 600 were involved in the procurement of material – bed boards, electrical wiring, fabrics etc – that was needed for building the tunnels. They prepared German uniforms, drew maps, created compasses and even built a makeshift photography studio for making forged documents. Of the 76 who escaped, 73 were soon captured. An enraged Hitler ordered 50 of them to be shot and a memorial commemorates these men from 12 Allied countries.

Meeting/pick-up point: Collection from hotel.
Duration: Eight hours.
Start/opening time: From 8am to 9am.
Languages: English.