Colditz Castle (Oflag IV-C)

The Nazis turned the hilltop castle of Colditz into Oflag IV-C, a high-security camp for Allied officers who had repeatedly escaped from other prisons — supposedly escape-proof, with guards outnumbering prisoners. Instead it became the most ingenious escape factory of the war. Inmates tunnelled, forged papers, made German uniforms from blankets and hid in mattresses; over 30 men got 'home runs' to freedom. Most audacious of all, in 1944–45 British officers secretly built a two-man glider, the 'Colditz Cock', from bed slats and stolen cloth in a hidden attic workshop, planning to launch it off the roof toward the river; the war ended before they flew. A full-size replica later proved it would have worked.