history · 15 April 1945 · 79 years ago
Oberstleutnant Gerhard Prawitt, the commandant of the Oflag IV-C prisoner of war camp at Colditz Castle in Germany, received the order to transfer the prisoners in his charge toward the east. As he moved to carry out the order, the prisoners refused to cooperate as they knew the European War was coming to an end. By the evening, as US 9th Armored Division neared Colditz, SS guards began to flee without orders.
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