Monday marks the 81st anniversary of The Great Escape, the most famed of all wartime prison breaks—yet while the role of the British airmen that participated in the breakout has been immortalized, less is known about the contribution of Poles and those from the wider geographic region.
For many, knowledge of The Great Escape will come directly from the eponymously titled film, a 1963 Hollywood blockbuster loosely based on the true story of a group of Allied airmen imprisoned inside the maximum-security Stalag Luft 3.
Together, these men spent nearly a year digging three tunnels codenamed Tom, Dick and Harry, their aim being a mass breakout designed to sow confusion within the Third Reich and divert German forces from the front.
Together, these men spent nearly a year digging three tunnels codenamed Tom, Dick and Harry, their aim being a mass breakout designed to sow confusion within the Third Reich and divert German forces from the front.
The film, however, would take several artistic liberties—there were no plane heists, there were no motorbike chases. American involvement, too, was minimal, given that American POWs had been transferred elsewhere seven months before the actual escape.
Viewed by many as a light-hearted caper, the film’s tone also masks the underlying tragedy of The Great Escape. The exit of the only completed tunnel, Harry, had fallen short of the forest that lay outside the camp, and only 76 men were able to escape before guards sounded the alarm.
While only three Allied airmen—two Norwegians and a Dutchman—eventually made it to safety, news of the breakout infuriated Hitler, who demanded the execution of all those that had been recaptured. After much deliberation, the Gestapo settled for 50.
Twenty of those that were shot were British, with Poles and Canadians representing the second largest groups (six each).
Viewed by many as a light-hearted caper, the film’s tone also masks the underlying tragedy of The Great Escape. The exit of the only completed tunnel, Harry, had fallen short of the forest that lay outside the camp, and only 76 men were able to escape before guards sounded the alarm.
While only three Allied airmen—two Norwegians and a Dutchman—eventually made it to safety, news of the breakout infuriated Hitler, who demanded the execution of all those that had been recaptured. After much deliberation, the Gestapo settled for 50.
Twenty of those that were shot were British, with Poles and Canadians representing the second largest groups (six each).
Demonstrating the multinational dimension of the escape, others that were executed included Australians and New Zealanders, South Africans, Norwegians, a Frenchman, an Argentinean, a Belgian and a Greek. Joining them, too, were a Czechoslovak and a Lithuanian.
If the film only hints at this diversity, the museum at Stalag Luft 3—found just outside the western Polish town of Żagań—redresses the balance, with several displays presenting a more rounded narrative.
The escape had been masterminded by Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, and it is indisputable that the South African should be credited as the primary driving force behind it. However, for historical accuracy it has become impossible to ignore the Polish contribution.
If the film only hints at this diversity, the museum at Stalag Luft 3—found just outside the western Polish town of Żagań—redresses the balance, with several displays presenting a more rounded narrative.
The escape had been masterminded by Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, and it is indisputable that the South African should be credited as the primary driving force behind it. However, for historical accuracy it has become impossible to ignore the Polish contribution.
“Maybe they [the Polish inmates] did not play a key role, but they played a significant part in its preparation—and they did a very good job,” says the museum’s director, Marek Łazarz.
“More than 100 Polish officers were held in Stalag Luft 3, and many of these were fully involved the escape’s preparations, and the same can be said of the 42 Czechoslovak airmen held there,” he adds.
Primarily, that meant digging. In this regard, few were held in higher esteem than Stanisław ‘Danny’ Król, a champion fencer who made it to Britain following the fall of Poland and joined the Free Polish Air Force.
“More than 100 Polish officers were held in Stalag Luft 3, and many of these were fully involved the escape’s preparations, and the same can be said of the 42 Czechoslovak airmen held there,” he adds.
Primarily, that meant digging. In this regard, few were held in higher esteem than Stanisław ‘Danny’ Król, a champion fencer who made it to Britain following the fall of Poland and joined the Free Polish Air Force.
Shot down over France in 1941, he became one of the persistent escapees that the Nazis decided to later house in the supposedly escape-proof Stalag Luft 3. Here, his tunnelling prowess was such that he was awarded a coveted place in the initial group that escaped on the night of March 24, 1944.
Król found himself partnered with Flight Lieutenant Sydney Dowse, and the duo planned to reach the local train station before traveling to a safehouse in Berlin and then heading onwards to Danzig (now Gdańsk). There they would board a ship destined for Sweden.
This plan failed at the first hurdle. By the time Dowse made it out of the camp, the train station had been closed due to an air raid siren. Instead, the two ploughed eastwards. After 12 days on the lam, they were discovered hiding in a barn by a member of the Hitler Youth.
Dowse was spared execution but Król—who was portrayed by Charles Bronson in the film—was shot. Five other Poles would share this same fate.
Król found himself partnered with Flight Lieutenant Sydney Dowse, and the duo planned to reach the local train station before traveling to a safehouse in Berlin and then heading onwards to Danzig (now Gdańsk). There they would board a ship destined for Sweden.
This plan failed at the first hurdle. By the time Dowse made it out of the camp, the train station had been closed due to an air raid siren. Instead, the two ploughed eastwards. After 12 days on the lam, they were discovered hiding in a barn by a member of the Hitler Youth.
Dowse was spared execution but Król—who was portrayed by Charles Bronson in the film—was shot. Five other Poles would share this same fate.
After breaking out of the camp, Antoni Kiewnarski—who, having served as a pilot in WWI and also the Polish-Soviet War, was seen as an ‘elder statesman’ among the Polish contingent—found himself attached to a group containing fellow Pole Kazimierz Pawluk.
Together with a small band of largely Australian airmen, they posed as Danish lumber mill workers on leave before rendezvousing with another escapee, the Warsaw-born Jerzy Mondschein.
Mondschein, who was an adept tailor, had helped in the lead-up to the escape by fashioning old blankets and British military uniform into civilian clothing, and it was he who bought the now 12-strong group train tickets at Tschiebsdorf using a forged rail pass.
Together with a small band of largely Australian airmen, they posed as Danish lumber mill workers on leave before rendezvousing with another escapee, the Warsaw-born Jerzy Mondschein.
Mondschein, who was an adept tailor, had helped in the lead-up to the escape by fashioning old blankets and British military uniform into civilian clothing, and it was he who bought the now 12-strong group train tickets at Tschiebsdorf using a forged rail pass.
Although this group would later split up, all would find themselves apprehended. Most, including the Poles, would be shot.
So was Paweł Tobolski who had been dressed as a German soldier. Using this disguise, he pretended to be escorting Wing Commander Harry Day to Berlin for interrogation, only for the two to be double-crossed by some French collaborators.
Day would survive, having been reportedly handed a stay of execution due to his family’s prominent reputation in military circles; Tobolski would not be so lucky.
So was Paweł Tobolski who had been dressed as a German soldier. Using this disguise, he pretended to be escorting Wing Commander Harry Day to Berlin for interrogation, only for the two to be double-crossed by some French collaborators.
Day would survive, having been reportedly handed a stay of execution due to his family’s prominent reputation in military circles; Tobolski would not be so lucky.
Nor would Włodzimierz Kolanowski, a trained military cartographer who proved doubly useful to the ‘escape committee’ having grown up around 60 miles from Stalag Luft 3. Alongside Des Plunkett and Tony Hayter, Kolanowski would provide an invaluable service by producing a series of maps for the escapees to use.
Kolanowski, unfortunately, would not get far and was arrested less than a week after the escape and shot in a forest clearing.
“About 600 prisoners were involved in preparing the escape,” says Marek Łazarz, “and although only six Poles made it out, there were several others waiting in line before the alarm sounded.”
Many of these had worked as so-called ‘penguins,’ the nickname given to prisoners who would dispose of the soil and sand that had been excavated by the tunnellers. Others also made prominent contributions, among them Zbigniew Gutowski, Bronisław Mickiewicz and Zbigniew Kustrzyński who designed and built all three trapdoors used as tunnel entries.
Kolanowski, unfortunately, would not get far and was arrested less than a week after the escape and shot in a forest clearing.
“About 600 prisoners were involved in preparing the escape,” says Marek Łazarz, “and although only six Poles made it out, there were several others waiting in line before the alarm sounded.”
Many of these had worked as so-called ‘penguins,’ the nickname given to prisoners who would dispose of the soil and sand that had been excavated by the tunnellers. Others also made prominent contributions, among them Zbigniew Gutowski, Bronisław Mickiewicz and Zbigniew Kustrzyński who designed and built all three trapdoors used as tunnel entries.
The camp’s Czechoslovak inmates also played an often-overlooked role. Arnošt ‘Wally’ Valenta, who is believed to have been shot on March 31, 1944, served as the camp’s head of intelligence.
Formerly a radio operator for the RAF, Valenta used his fluent German skills to good effect. Using bribery, charm, theft and cunning, he was able to acquire items such as a camera, identity cards and travel documents.
However, on the other side of the camp fence, Valenta was captured alongside his escape partner Henry Marshall. While Valenta had fooled his captors with his convincing German accent, the pair’s cover was blown by Marshall’s impersonation of a Frenchman.
Valenta lost his life, but he was survived by two captured compatriots, Bedřich Dvořák and Ivo Tonder.
Formerly a radio operator for the RAF, Valenta used his fluent German skills to good effect. Using bribery, charm, theft and cunning, he was able to acquire items such as a camera, identity cards and travel documents.
However, on the other side of the camp fence, Valenta was captured alongside his escape partner Henry Marshall. While Valenta had fooled his captors with his convincing German accent, the pair’s cover was blown by Marshall’s impersonation of a Frenchman.
Valenta lost his life, but he was survived by two captured compatriots, Bedřich Dvořák and Ivo Tonder.
Yet perhaps the strangest story belongs to Romualdas Marcinkus, a Lithuanian capped 41 times in the interwar years by his country’s football team. As an uncompromising midfielder, Marcinkus won league titles with LFLS Kaunas and earned a name as a popular sports writer.
All of this was juggled with a military career that saw him serving as a pilot, paratrooper and expert in aerial reconnaissance. In fact, such were his aviation skills, in 1934 he was picked, along with a select group of others, to partake in a trans-European flight that saw the Lithuanian crew cover 10,000 kilometers and 12 European capitals.
Along the way, they were received by Mussolini and the British Royal Family.
When WWII broke out, Marcinkus joined the French Air Force before later joining the British RAF. Captured by the Germans after crashlanding into the North Sea, he was interned in Stalag Luft 3, where he became fondly nicknamed ‘the know-it-all.’
Boasting an impressive skillset and phenomenal memory, Marcinkus helped forge documents, analyze German news reports and compile complex train schedules.
Marcinkus was able to travel further than many of the escapees, reaching the northern town of Schneidemühl (now Piła) before finally being captured and executed. Airbrushed from history following the post-war Sovietization of Lithuania, only in the last decades of post-Communist freedom has he been awarded the recognition he deserves.
All of this was juggled with a military career that saw him serving as a pilot, paratrooper and expert in aerial reconnaissance. In fact, such were his aviation skills, in 1934 he was picked, along with a select group of others, to partake in a trans-European flight that saw the Lithuanian crew cover 10,000 kilometers and 12 European capitals.
Along the way, they were received by Mussolini and the British Royal Family.
When WWII broke out, Marcinkus joined the French Air Force before later joining the British RAF. Captured by the Germans after crashlanding into the North Sea, he was interned in Stalag Luft 3, where he became fondly nicknamed ‘the know-it-all.’
Boasting an impressive skillset and phenomenal memory, Marcinkus helped forge documents, analyze German news reports and compile complex train schedules.
Marcinkus was able to travel further than many of the escapees, reaching the northern town of Schneidemühl (now Piła) before finally being captured and executed. Airbrushed from history following the post-war Sovietization of Lithuania, only in the last decades of post-Communist freedom has he been awarded the recognition he deserves.
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