I've come so late to this discussion that everyone will probably have forgotten about it by now but I saw the episode in question - "The Spirit of Freedom" - on Yesterday yesterday [sic] and it did raise a number of points with me.
We never saw the bad feeling between Carter (and several others) and Carrington cleared up but we must assume, once it was known what Carrington was really up to, that it was. But the series was a bit like that, eg when Colonel Preston arrived he was derided by many of the British inmates as a toy soldier and was even suspected of sucking up to the Germans. Later on, though, he seemed to be accepted as a good leader but we never knew what caused the change of heart.
Speaking of Preston, why was he in no way invoved in the above-mentioned episode? Surely with the general suspicion abroad that there was a stoolie in the quarters, he should have been informed at once and given the chance to investigate. He would probably have brought the voice of reason to the whole affair and stopped the others, particularly Carter, from jumping to conclusions and behaving like spoilt children.
Finally......Bergman, played by Jonathan Lynn. As a Jew would he have been in Colditz in the first place rather than in one of the death camps? And if he had, would he not have kept quiet about it rather than mentioning it to a man he suspected of being a Nazi sympathiser? Incidentally was he the co-writer of Yes, Minister/Prime Minister?
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Hotrodder
11 years ago
Was Bergman a Jewish British PoW? If so they was at least one Jewish British PoW in Colditz in real life, Pat Reid mentions him in his books. It seems that if Jews were in British uniform they were treated as PoWs. AFAIK they were banned from partcipating in any escapes though as that would most likely end with them being sent to a concentration camp if recaptured.
The SBO Preston goes into solitary at the end of his introductory episode rather than name an officer who had hid a Polish PoW who had been trying to escape. That showed that he could be trusted and would take punishment to support his fellow officers.
"Oh dear. How sad. Never mind!"
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andeven
11 years ago
Many thanks for the info, Hotrodder. Actually I'm not sure exactly what Bergman was as, if memory serves, he appeared only in that episode. If he was indeed a PoW and spared the concentration camps on that basis it shows a welcome if inconsistent attitude from the Germans.
You may well be right about Preston though I would have thought it needed a little more than that to bring the others round, eg a more enthusiastic attitude towards escape. It's interesting that in both this series and the earlier film the SBO was disliked and mistrusted on arrival. It's so long since I read the book that I don't remember if this was the case in reality.
Thanks again.
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Hotrodder
11 years ago
Well, there would have been plenty of Jews in both the British and US forces and it does seem that if captured they were treated the same as any other members of those forces. Remember that army PoWs came under the control of the German Army, air force PoWs under the Luftwaffe, etc and this was probably why they were spared. The German armed forces seemed to follow the Geneva Convention regarding British and American prisoners even when it included Jewish Britons or Americans serving in the respectve country's forces. However if Germany had won the war I suspect they would have been living on borrowed time.
"Oh dear. How sad. Never mind!"
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TorontoJediMaster
11 years ago
In his books, Pat Reid does mention that there were some POW's at Colditz who were Jewish. There's no record of them being mistreated in any way either there or at other camps.
Naturally though, they never gave a thought to escaping. They well knew that once outside the camp they'd be at the mercy of the SS and/or Gestapo.
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