The Great Escape: The Untold Story [5 Of 5]

[hutchie112]

RIP the 50

[8Ho03EdONl1liL]

God bless the Nazis.

[kwanfan]

I wonder how many of the heros interred at Poznan today would sayt that it wasn't worth it.

[MrRock1331]

Don't think it right to have shot the men ordered to carry out Hitlers killings if they would have refused they to would have been looking down the barrel of a rifle.I do beleive they had no other choice,but I do also see where justice must be carried out for the killings.

[ludocrat]

@MrRock1331

You make some interesting points, but "just obeying orders" is no defence. I would have preferred life in prison for them rather than hanging because I don't believe in capital punishment, but they were guilty of murder. Besides, these Gestapo men were hand-picked for a reason: they liked their work. And if they really did disagree with their orders, which I very strongly doubt, their moral cowardice speaks volumes about how these vicious regimes flourish in the first place.

[MrRock1331]

@ludocrat You are right that they hand picked the officers the sick ones to make the lower ranked men do the dirty work of the killings, I hope that they did it out of fear of their officers killing them then just out of sport but then again look at what the world has becomed of now.Folks rather kill you then help you.You are right if the men that were to do the killing had said no and face their punishment the deaths of many a people would have never happened.

[ludocrat]

@MrRock1331

Again, I agree with all your points. Happy New Year, Mr Rock. Let's hope it's a peaceful one :)

[rrthomas2000]

Does anyone know the track playing at the end credits?

[jagdflieger100]

Rip 67 years on!

[gusswilliams]

The germans were correct in shooting these men.....think about it.

The americans, english, canadians and australians would have shot escaping germans without a thought. Why should the germans treat us any different?

[mangajo]

@gusswilliams that doesn't mean they were correct in shooting them, as with the allies. i thought it wrong for the british to shoot the officer merely carrying out his orders.

[keanoman1000]

@mangajo he wasnt shot' he was hanged for murder,

[ludocrat]

@mangajo

They knew what they were doing. If they had refused they might have been shot, but they wouldn't have been cowards - or guilty of murder. It's tough, but that's what happens if you acquiesce in a genocidal war, or, as in this case, play a criminal role in its prosecution. The victims and the liberators tend to want to reassert basic human morality and the rule of law. These Gestapo killers naturally wanted to avoid paying the price, but for them, justly, there was no escape.

[jagdflieger100]

@gusswilliams yes but they had already been captured.

[acalow1989]

@gusswilliams because they were recaptured and unarmed. I think the intricacies lay in the 'captured and unarmed' bit...

[cabeast]

@gusswilliams not quite rite there mate, they were all re captured (the 50) driven somewhere and shot in cold blood hence the investigation which uncovered evidence of the war crime including the original orders leading the the capture of these nazi criminals Several Gestapo officers responsible for the executions of the escapees were executed or imprisoned. =) you can shoot escaping men but not re captured ones thats called murder =)

[ludocrat]

@gusswilliams

Don't be so stupid.

[iluvcats141]

(grand father luft stalag 3 ) , my uncle was in the eight air force, 96th bomber group 338th bomber sq., snetterton england he flew a b-17, and had some friends in luft stalag 3. was your grand father in the 96th?

[Doctor699]

It was worth it. We all encounter death at some point in our lives. All things must end. Their sacrifice prevented further bloodshed at the front lines on D-Day.

[pittpens10562]

my grandpa was a prisoner at salag luft 3 he was shot down in a b-17 called hunhound he was shot down by a BF-109 and his waist gunner got beat to death god bless Lt. Robert L. Pioli the last survivor of the Hun hound and my grandpa

[mangajo]

@pittpens10562 my grandpa was shot down in a b-24 (american 701st bs) and sent to stalag luft 17 in krems, austria for 1.5 years. he survived the imprisonment but lost many friends. god bless our grandfathers and the sacrifice they endured

[Gigagannet]

Hmmm very interesting. Well that clears up that point anyway. thanks alot.

[MeiunoftheTakaitribe]

dude i loved this movie, @w@

[ryko26]

So moving. Thanks very much for posting.

[MrRonan32]

brave men dat deserved freedom!! at least show them the respect dat they deserve the nazis were evil and dont didnt deserve2 breathe the same air as us

[Doctor699]

@MrRonan32 those who shot them had a point though, they would have been killed on either road they took.

[james8789]

gusswilliams

My dear fellow, I can assure you to the greatest extent that these men were not shot whilst trying to escape, if they had the Britsh Armed Forces would of never conducted an inquiry regarding this incident, as this would not of been a war crime, but a justifsiable action. Instead, as pointed out by the documentry, these men were shot the back, in cold blood by the GESTAPO acting under Hitler's orders. Please refer to part on of five for further evidence.

[Gigagannet]

Words fail me, what a fantastic documentary!

Seen the film many times. This is a definite must see. A huge well done to the team at Granada.

I give it five big stars, plus a favorite, though it should be a grands worth of stars.

Thank you for posting.

One question. There was no mention of the motor bike escape and the cooler. Did this or similar take place?

[TheBelovedButterfly]

@Gigagannet That didn't happen. There were lots of composite characters in the film, and there were actually no Americans in the camp. All the escapers were European, or "Commonwealth" (British, Australian, Canadian and South African.)

[privatespam]

a diferant generation, god bless them and a thank you from mine

[brendandawna]

@gusswilliams it was explained perfectl in the movie... if by escaping they force the Germans to take soldiers away from fighting positions to find them all, then there forces on the fronts are weaker.  Watch the movie - it's very well done - a classic.

[LZDEN]

god bless the 50.

[pgilladdy]

thats really interesting

[JeremyAce17]

this mini series is great

good job mate

[Lapsanglover]

Thanks for posting.

[alonys]

thanks a lot. never knew this and the film is one of my all time favorites. I guess I wanted to believe that more than the 3 that are seen making it to freedom were succsessful.