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Product Description
Reinhold Eggers one of the German staff who was Security Officer during the last years at Colditz. It is a compilation of the most spectacular escape attempts written by the escapers themselves. Eggers supports the stories with extracts from his "Colditz" diary which ran to 26 copybooks, with stories about the German staff and their characters, and a short account of the end of his war when he became a prisoner himself. It has some memorably funny moments (especially the tale of Max and Moritz, who "filled in" on parades), some very sad moments, and some descriptions of escapes that are truly astonishing - the Franz Josef attempt alone is worth a novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Colditz, the German Story' provides a rare chance to discover the other side of the PoW story. Eggers worked at Colditz for much of its time as a PoW camp and in the latter days, became the head of security. As one of the few English speakers on the staff, he was involved in many of the discussions with the Senior British Officers and so has a lot of stories to tell (although he openly admits that many of the escape attempts were a mystery to him until he read Reid and other's books after the war).
The book, translated by Howard Gee, one of Colditz's "Prominente" (who adds a couple of useful footnotes but avoids editing Egger's text otherwise) is very easy to read with an effective narrative flow and a good mix of the facts and Egger's own opinions. The story is generally chronological with a good index (in the Pen and Sword edition at least) making it useful as a reference work too. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the Colditz story and of general interest to anyone interested in the Second World War.
It is only a pity that Eggers did not add a chapter on his experiences after the war; although not relevant to Colditz, it would be interesting to know how the German PoWs were treated in comparison and of his experiences in Soviet detention for several years.
Pen and Sword's edition includes 16 pages of well printed photographs in the middle and a very useful and clear two-page plan of the castle showing the PoW and the German quarters.
The book, translated by Howard Gee, one of Colditz's "Prominente" (who adds a couple of useful footnotes but avoids editing Egger's text otherwise) is very easy to read with an effective narrative flow and a good mix of the facts and Egger's own opinions. The story is generally chronological with a good index (in the Pen and Sword edition at least) making it useful as a reference work too. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the Colditz story and of general interest to anyone interested in the Second World War.
It is only a pity that Eggers did not add a chapter on his experiences after the war; although not relevant to Colditz, it would be interesting to know how the German PoWs were treated in comparison and of his experiences in Soviet detention for several years.
Pen and Sword's edition includes 16 pages of well printed photographs in the middle and a very useful and clear two-page plan of the castle showing the PoW and the German quarters.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an amazing slant on the Colditz story and portrays a decent and humble man doing a difficult job in time of war. It was easy to emphasise with Hauptman Eggerts and appreciate the job he was doing, the British prisoners must have been a nightmare to look after and they were lucky to have a man like Eggerts working at the castle. A thoroughly good read about a thoroughly nice man and a brilliant look at the Colditz story having read everything else written by "our side".
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was the first book about Colditz I ever read, and in many ways is still my favourite. It covers pretty much the whole story of Colditz PoW Camp, and shows how run ragged the German Guards really were. It has some memorably funny moments (especially the tale of Max and Moritz, who "filled in" on parades), some very sad moments, and some descriptions of escapes that are truly Gobsmacking - the Franz Josef attempt alone would be worth a novel. However, it needs to be read as a companion to other books such as "The Colditz Story" to really have full impact.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A must read
Having read lots of books on Colditz, including numerous Reid ones, I thought I knew the place and story inside out, but this book is a real eye opener. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Hilts
A solid read
It's interesting to get the other perspective. The touches of wry humour help to give an insight into the author. Read more
Published 6 months ago by graylilly
Colditz
Came quickly and in good condition. Actually felt l;ike it has been in the back of a second hand bookshop for 30 years, nice yellowed pages and old format, however all this adds to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Andy Langton
Excellent Perspective
Reinhold Eggers suffered when the Nazis came to power. Denounced by teaching colleagues as a "pacifist, leftist and internationalist" - he was certainly guilty on the last count,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Stockholm
Fantastic!
Colditz is perhaps the most famous of all the German prisoner of war camps but information about it has been truly scarce. Read more
Published 12 months ago by John
German recollection
This is an excellent book and goes into great detail that was omitted from the books written by P R Ried. No disrespect to P R Ried
Published 14 months ago by peterson
Eggers Viewpoint
I have always been interested in the Colditz story and it was a pleasure to see how things were viewed from the other side - a good read
Published 21 months ago by Chris Bolam
The School Teacher discusses his pupils
Eggers' pre war occupation as a school teacher was an ideal apprentiship for what WW2 had in store for him. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2008 by Gavin Worrell
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