Captivity, Flight, and Survival in World War II

A collection of prisoner of war and concentration camp survivor stories from some of the toughest World War II camps in Europe and the Pacific, this volume details the daring escapes and highlights the fundamental aspects of human nature that made such heroic efforts possible. Many of these tales have, until now, been overlooked by historians who have studied captivity in a more compartmentalized fashion. Levine takes a comprehensive approach, including evasion efforts by those fleeing before the enemy who never reached formal prisoner of war camps, as well as escapes from ghettoes and labour camps. This study challenges ideas about national differences in extreme situations as well as some implicit assumptions about the conditions within the various camps. Levine pays particular attention to dramatic escapes by small boat. Many are not widely known, although some were made over vast distances or in fantastically difficult conditions from enemy-occupied areas. Accounts include attempts at freedom from both German and Japanese prisoner of war camps, stories that reveal much about the conditions prisoners endured. Some of these escapes are far more amazing than the famed Great Escape from Stalag Luft III. German and Austrian prisoners also recount their amazing flights from India to Tibet and Burma.