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Great Escape
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Program Overview
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NOVA
tells the story of a group of Allied POWs who attempt to escape a Nazi prison
camp.
The program:
shows archeologists excavating Stalag Luft 3, where in 1944 hundreds of
prisoners attempted one of history's most daring escapes, inspiring the 1963
film The Great Escape. describes German attempts to escape-proof the camp by building prisoners'
huts on stilts to deter them from tunneling through the floor, and placing the
fence so far from the huts that a tunnel would have to be 90 meters long to
reach it. details the prisoners' plan to build three tunnels—as a safeguard,
in case one or two were discovered—through the building supports of the
huts. explains how men dug with hand-made tools, used whatever wood was
available to support the tunnels, then passed the dug-up sand to others who
disposed of it by discreetly sprinkling it out around the camp. describes two innovations—an air pump that delivered fresh air to
diggers as the tunnels grew longer and oxygen more scarce, and a hand-powered
"underground railroad" that allowed diggers to move tons of sand more
quickly. reveals how prisoners tapped into the camp's electrical system to install
tunnel lighting, and reports archeologists' discovery of wiring in the tunnel
the Germans never found. relives the night of March 24, 1944, when 76 of the 600 prisoners
involved escaped before German guards spotted them. reveals that only three escaped POWs made it to freedom—the
remaining 73 were recaptured and 50 of them executed, on Hitler's orders, by
the Gestapo.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program is taped off the air.
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