Visit and spend the night in Colditz Castle (Germany)

Colditz Castle, a former mental hospital, was used under the control of the Wehrmacht during World War II as a POW camp for Allied officers of high rank. Its official designation was Oflag IVc .

It became a high security prison because some prisoners were known for their attempts to escape. It was said that there were more guards than prisoners. Still, there were several flights but mostly failed. The punishment for attempted escape was the isolation cell.

One of the more ambitious scape plans was conducted by the pilots Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best. With the help of several prisoners they built a glider from wood scraps and stolen sleeping bags. They wanted to launch from the roof of the chapel, which was hidden from the view of the Germans. The war ended before they could carry out the plan. There is a replica of the glider at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Many of these flights are reflected in the books of the British Captain Pat Reid, who after achieving escape and reach Switzerland, wrote his memoirs spread over several volumes.

GETTING TO COLDITZ?


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The castle is located in the town of Colditz in Saxony, eastern Germany, 50 km away from Leipzig, 75 km away fron Dresden and 230 km away from Berlin. You can fly easily to any of these cities and rent a car to get Colditz. To go by train you have to get to the station Großbothen (direct trains from Leipzig) and from there take a taxi or a bus to Colditz or get to the station Grimma and there take the bus #619 in the direction of Rochlitz (check here the schedule).

For trains and times: http://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml

From Leipzig, there is also a shuttle bus that runs every hour. This bus is the #690 and you can take it in the Leipzig train station but it only runs Monday to Friday . On weekends you will have to combine train and bus.

ACCOMMODATION  IN THE CASTLE

If you want to spend a night in the castle beacuse of today it houses a youth hostel: the Colditz Youth Hostel (DHJ Jugendherberge Schloss Colditz). You can stay there from 22 euros. You will have to book in advance through the official website: http://www.colditz.jugendherberge.de clicking on " Inquiries & Buchen "on the right side of the screen. It will take you to a form where you have to indicate if you're going in a group, family, or individual, if you're more or less than 26 year old and the dates. If you want a single or a double room you should make a reservation well in advance.

Click here for a pdf with all the information about the hostel (in English).

VISIT COLDITZ

Official Website: http://www.schloss-colditz.com

Opening hours:

From April to October: 10:00-17:00 (guided tours at 10:30 / 13:00 / 15:00, and at this time there on extended tours POW camp at 10:30)

From November to March: 10:00-16:00 (guided tours at 11:00 / 14:30)

Closed from 24 to 26 December, 31 December and 1 January.

Admission to the escape museum: 4 euros

Guided tour: 8 euros

Extended Tour: 15 euros

Plano.

The last years, the castle has undergone numerous restorations aimed at tourism purposes. This issue has brought controversial because many people believe it should be preserved as it was then, even if it means deterioration. It also houses a museum and a hostel. The museum collects personal belongings of prisoners, documents, recreations of rooms ... You can visit the cells of prisoners, the different rooms and the escape tunnel to get an idea of ​​the life at the camp.

Tunnel ( photo: Wikimedia Commons )

If you want to see a video gallery of the rooms of the castle you can click here .

Sources:
http://www.virtualcolditz.com/aims.html

http://www.colditz-4c.com

http://www.colditzcastle.net 

 

Iwo Jima today

The island of Iwo Jima, now called IOTO (sulfur island) was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. The U.S. Marines landed in February 1945 and fought against the Japanese Imperial forces until March, when they finally managed to conquer the island. The Japanese resistance was extreme, which led them to lose almost all his men.

On this island, at the top of Mount Suribachi, it was made the famous photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

VISITING IWO JIMA

Nowadays visiting Iwo Jima is almost impossible. It belongs to the army and there is only a naval base of the forces of Japan. No civilians live there. You can only go to Iwo Jima with an organized tour that visit the island once a year. The company http://www.miltours.com organizes tours for military veterans, family members or people interested. They meet every year in Guam to commemorate the anniversary of the battle. From there, an airplane takes them to Iwo Jima. This tour departs from Los Angeles and the places are very limited because they have a single aircraft to fly to the island. The tour price  is about $3500.                                        

REMAINS OF THE BATTLE AND MEMORIALS OF IWO JIMA 

Here I show you some of the things that you can find on the island today. There are many more relics of the battle. The land is full of caves, bunkers, artillery and grenade shrapnel damage.

American Memorial Iwo Jima :

Location: here .
The memorial is situated where the American flag was raised on February 12, 1945. It commemorates the valor and sacrifice of the Marines.

 Photo: Kawetijoru

The beach landing:

Location: here .

The beach where American troops entered the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Division on February 19, 1945.

Photo: Seigo

Visiting Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941 the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. They wanted to weaken the Pacific Fleet to prevent a possible military intervention in their actions. Since this day, the United States joined the World War II. On December 8, the United States declared war on the Empire of Japan.

 Photograph taken from a Japanese aircraft at the beginning of the attack.

In the attack, deployed in two parts involving fighter jets, bombers and torpedo boats, eight American battleships were damaged, four of them came to sink. 2,402 Americans died and 1,282 were injured.

The USS Arizona burning.

GETTING TO PEARL HARBOR?

The bay of Pearl Harbor is on the island of Oahu (Hawaii) , about 15 km west of the capital Honolulu. Honolulu Airport is accessible from almost anywhere in the world, but you will only get cheap flights from America. Most tourists travel first to the West Coast or Latin America and from there they take a flight to the islands.

Honolulu.

Once in Honolulu, you can easily find a rental car to explore the island or you can get Pearl Harbor by public transport. Many hotels have shuttle buses that take their hosts to the memorial complex, as it is one of the major tourist attractions of the island. It is advisable to ask for these services.

 If you go by car there are many signs to get the place. If you stay in Waikiki Beach (one of the most turistic areas because of its paradise coast) you can reach the entrance to the Visitor Centre by bus #20 or bus #42 or by car taking the H1 highway  leaving the airport behind and taking the 15A exit which indicates "Arizona Memorial / Stadium" (not the previous one that indicates "Pearl Harbor naval base"). You will only have to follow the signs for "Pearl Harbor Historic Sites". For a Honolulu bus routes check www.thebus.org.

Once in the Visitor Centre there are shuttles that take you to the different attractions.

PEARL HARBOR VISITOR CENTRE

Location here .

Official Website: http://www.pacifichistoricparks.org/phh_park_info.php

Opening hours: 7:00 to 17:00 (the program that include a 23-minute documentary video about the attack and a boat ride to the USS Arizona runs from 8:00 to 15:00).

Closed Thanksgiving, December 25 and January 1 .

The duration of the visit to Arizona with the documentary is estimated 1h15min.

Free entrance and parking.

It's not allowed to enter any part of the historic site with luggage, bags (even the camera's bag), backpack or purse. There are lockers at the entrance where you can leave them for $ 3.

 Photo: Christ Vlahos

Your visit will have to start at this point that is where you will obtain access and passes to all the memorials and museums. Your ticket  will give you access to the 23-minute documentary video about the attack and the ship that takes you to the USS Arizona. In high season, especially in the summer months, there are long queues and be aware that the tickets are limited. Therefore, it is better to get your ticket online from this page . Although the admission is free you will be charged $ 1.50 for the cost of the service but it's worth it.

Here you can find visit several exhibitions as "Path to War" and "Attack". Also we can visit the memorials to victims.

Stalag Luft III: The Great Scape

Stalag Luft III was a prisoner of war camp built in 1942 and it was directly controlled by the High Command of the Luftwaffe. It was part of the network of Zagan camps. It was the last one established in the adjacent area to Stalag VIIIC, in the East. At first, most of the prisoners were from the British Royal Air Force and American pilots but they were gradually arriving pilots of various nationalities. They became a total of 10,494 prisoners.

 Prisoners in a small plantation in front of the barracks.

Stalag Luft III was famous for the escape attempts. The biggest one was organized by a secret committee "X" established by the prisoners in the spring of 1943 and led by the Commander Roger Bushell. They built three tunnels, "Tom", "Dick" and "Harry". Tom was going to be the main escape tunnel, Harry and Dick the plan B in case the Germans were able to learn their plans. Tom was discovered 5 months later so they had to escape through Harry. The flight took place the night of March 24, 1944. Eighty prisoners managed to escape from the camp through the 111 meters tunnel. When it was discovered what was happening and the alarm was raised, four prisoners were caught inside the tunnel. They began an exhaustive search throughout the country and managed to hunt down another 73. Only three of the prisoners managed to escape and return to their countries. In retaliation, under direct orders of Hitler, 50 of the escapees were shot.

In 1963, this story was filmed by John Sturges with Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough, among others. If this movie fascinates you as much as me and you want to visit what remains of the Stalag here are some tips for your trip.

GETTING TO STALAG LUFT III

The Stalag Luft III is in Zagan , a small town in southwestern Poland, where there are no tourists and no one speaks a word of English. It's convenient that you bring a map printed, the accommodation booked if you want to stay overnight and the transport cheked before you go. If we go through the day it is best to hire a car from any major city. It is very close to Germany, from cities such as Dresden or Berlin it can be reached in less than two hours. It also has a train station and a bus that communicates with some cities both Poland and Germany, but in general will have to make more than one transfer to reach. Websites of the public transports:

• Polish railway network: http://rozklad-pkp.pl/bin/query.exe/en?
• Trains from Germany: http://www.bahn.com
• Bus company (in Polish): http://www.busportal.pl

From Wroclaw, 165km away, is easy to get Zagan by public transport. We can return the same day by train or bus:

• By train   we can catch a train from the main station in Wroclaw ( Wroclaw Glówny ) to Zagan station . There are direct trains that reach Zagan in 2h 20min. If you want to return the same day you will have to check here for the trains schedule.
• By bus: there are buses from the company PKS (Żary direction) from the main bus station in Wroclaw to Zagan station (some of them has a first stop in Piłsudskiego Street). They depart at 07:40 and arrive at the Zagan station at 11:05. The ticket price is of 36.50 zlotys (about 9 euros) round. If you want to return the same day by bus, in the same station there is one bus at 17:20 that leaves you back in Wroclaw at 20:15. You can check here the route and schedule. These services may not travel every day of the week. You'll have to check in advance. Bus schedule: