NOVA: Escape From Nazi Alcatraz

Credit: Courtesy of WGBH

Examine an ingenious plan to escape from Colditz Castle, a prisoner of war camp in Nazi Germany.

Colditz Castle, a notorious prisoner of war camp in Nazi Germany, was supposed to be escape-proof. But in World War II, a group of British officers dreamt up an escape plan: in a secret attic workshop, they constructed a two-man glider out of bed sheets and floorboards. The plan was to fly to freedom from the roof of the castle, but the war ended before they could put it to the test. Now a team of aero engineers and carpenters rebuilds the glider in the same attic using the same materials, and they’ll use a bathtub full of concrete to catapult the glider off the roof. NOVA: Escape From Nazi Alcatraz airs Wednesday, June 17, 2015 at 9 p.m. on WXXI.