Greatest Escapes of World War II

Revisit Colditz Castle, a Nazi fortress where breakouts featured human catapults and clever disguises. Meet the pilots who staged the famed Great Escape from a Polish stalag, then see how 32 POWs pulled off the Warburg Wire Job in just one minute.

Relive the Flight of the Crow, an adrenalin-soaked trek across Nazi-occupied Europe. Find out how two Austrian mountaineers hiked their way out of the Himalayas, then learn why 378 Japanese POWs risked it all in Australia’s bloody Cowra Breakout.

Examine how German soldiers used an erotic painting and other decoys to distract their captors as they tunnelled out of Island Farm POW camp in Wales. See how American bombardiers were smuggled out of Russia, and study a wartime Trojan Horse plot.

Look at the bloody mass uprising that showed the world the truth about the Nazis’ secret Sobibor death camp. Learn how the Davao Dozen broke out of a harsh Japanese penal colony and explore how two plucky German pilots plotted to get out of Britain.

Dig into a thrilling escape orchestrated by two German submariners who went underground in the American desert. Meet a charming German fighter pilot who became a celebrity in enemy territory and explore a tale of two lovers who escaped Auschwitz.

Track German tank commander Georg Gaertner, who vanished from a US POW camp and eluded the FBI for 40 years. Learn how two escaped Auschwitz prisoners helped save countless lives and how Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann was finally brought to justice.