Way of the cross cornellius growth. Frank Bessac and his journey to Tibet

Michael Mendl
Irina Pantaeva K: Films of 2001

Plot

After three years of wandering, Trout reaches Central Asia. At one of the markets he meets a certain Jew who is ready to get him a Soviet passport to escape to Iran. On the bridge separating the two countries, Forel comes face to face with Kamenev. But instead of arresting Forel, he simply steps aside, and when Forel moves on, he says to his back: “ I still beat you!».

Other facts

The film contains profanity
In one of the episodes, Forel's daughter examines a map that shows Europe within its current borders and modern names of Russian cities (St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod), although the action takes place in 1949
Kamenev, approaching Chita, looks at a map showing the city of Rudensk and the village of Druzhny (Minsk region), which were built in the 80s
The actions of the Central Asian part of the film take place in the city of Mary (Turkmenistan)

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Notes

Links

"Escape from the Gulag" (English) on the Internet Movie Database I also really loved music and drawing lessons at that time. I drew almost all the time and everywhere: in other lessons, during breaks, at home, on the street. On sand, on paper, on glass... In general - wherever it was possible. And for some reason I only drew human eyes. It seemed to me then that this would help me find some very important answer. I've always loved to watch human faces and especially the eyes. After all, very often people don’t like to say what they really think, but their eyes say everything... Apparently it’s not for nothing that they are called the mirror of our soul. And so I painted hundreds and hundreds of these eyes - sad and happy, mourning and joyful, good and evil. For me, this was, again, a time of learning something, another attempt to get to the bottom of some kind of truth... although I had no idea what it was. It just happened next time“search”, which even after (with various “branches”) continued for almost my entire adult life.
Days followed days, months passed, and I continued to surprise (and sometimes terrify!) my family and friends, and very often myself, with my many new “incredible” and not always entirely safe adventures. So, for example, when I turned nine years old, I suddenly, for some reason unknown to me, stopped eating, which greatly frightened my mother and upset my grandmother. My grandmother was a truly top-notch cook! When she was going to bake her cabbage pies, our whole family came to them, including my mother’s brother, who at that time lived 150 kilometers from us and, despite this, came specifically because of grandma’s pies.
I still remember very well and with great warmth those “great and mysterious” preparations: the smelling fresh yeast dough that rose all night clay pot at the stove, and in the morning it turned into dozens of white circles, laid out on the kitchen table and waiting for the hour of its miraculous transformation into lush, fragrant pies to come... And a grandmother with hands white from flour, working intently at the stove. And I also remember that impatient, but very pleasant, wait until our “thirsty” nostrils caught the first, amazingly “tasty”, subtle smells of baking pies...
It was always a holiday because everyone loved her pies. And no matter who came in at that moment, there was always a place for him at the large and hospitable grandmother’s table. We always stayed up late, prolonging the pleasure at the “tea” table. And even when our “tea party” ended, no one wanted to leave, as if grandmother “baked” a piece of her good soul there along with the pies, and everyone also wanted to sit and “warm up” by her warm, cozy hearth.
Grandma truly loved to cook and whatever she made, it was always incredibly tasty. It could be Siberian dumplings, smelling so much that all our neighbors suddenly began to salivate “hungry”. Or my favorite cherry-curd cheesecakes, which literally melted in the mouth, leaving for a long time the amazing taste of warm fresh berries and milk... And even her simplest pickled mushrooms, which she fermented every year in an oak tub with currant leaves, dill and garlic, were the most delicious that I have ever eaten in my life, despite the fact that today I have traveled more than half the world and tried all sorts of delicacies that, it would seem, one could only dream of. But those unforgettable smells of grandma’s stupendously delicious “art” could never be overshadowed by any, even the most exquisitely refined foreign dish.
And so, having such a homemade “sorcerer”, to the general horror of my family, one fine day I suddenly really stopped eating. Now I no longer remember whether there was any reason for this or whether it just happened for some reason unknown to me, as it usually always happened. I simply completely lost the desire for any food offered to me, although I did not experience any weakness or dizziness, but on the contrary, I felt unusually light and absolutely wonderful. I tried to explain all this to my mother, but, as I understood, she was very frightened by my new trick and did not want to hear anything, but was only honestly trying to force me to “swallow” something.
I felt very bad and vomited with every new portion of food I took. Only just clean water was accepted by my tormented stomach with pleasure and ease. Mom was almost in a panic when our then family doctor, my cousin Dana. Delighted by her arrival, my mother, of course, immediately told her our whole “horrible” story about my fasting. And how happy I was when I heard that “there’s nothing so bad about it” and that I could be left alone for a while without food being forced into me! I saw that mine caring mother I didn’t believe it at all, but there was nowhere to go, and she decided to leave me alone at least for a while.
Life immediately became easy and pleasant, because I felt absolutely wonderful and there was no longer that constant nightmare of stomach cramps that usually accompanied every slightest attempt to take any food. This lasted for about two weeks. All my senses became sharper and my perceptions became much brighter and stronger, as if something most important was being snatched out, and the rest faded into the background.
My dreams changed, or rather, I began to see the same, repeating dream - as if I suddenly rose above the ground and walked freely without my heels touching the floor. It was such a real and incredibly wonderful feeling that every time I woke up, I immediately wanted to go back. This dream was repeated every night. I still don't know what it was or why. But this continued after, many, many years. And even now, before I wake up, I very often see the same dream.
Once, my father’s brother came to visit from the city in which he lived at that time and during a conversation he told his father that he had recently seen a very good movie and began to tell it. Imagine my surprise when I suddenly realized that I already knew in advance what he would talk about! And although I knew for sure that I had never seen this film, I could tell it from beginning to end with all the details... I didn’t tell anyone about it, but I decided to see if something similar would appear in something else. Well, naturally, my usual “new thing” didn’t take long to arrive.
At that time in school we studied old ancient legends. I was in a literature lesson and the teacher said that today we would study “The Song of Roland.” Suddenly, unexpectedly for myself, I raised my hand and said that I could tell this song. The teacher was very surprised and asked if I often read old legends. I said not often, but I know this one. Although, to be honest, I still had no idea where it came from?
And so, from that same day, I began to notice that more and more often some unfamiliar moments and facts were opening up in my memory, which I could not have known in any way, and every day more and more of them appeared. I was a little tired of all this “influx” of unfamiliar information, which, in all likelihood, was simply too much for my child’s psyche at that time. But since it came from somewhere, then, in all likelihood, it was needed for something. And I accepted it all quite calmly, just as I always accepted everything unfamiliar that my strange and unpredictable fate brought me.
True, sometimes all this information manifested itself in a very funny form - I suddenly began to see very vivid images places and people unfamiliar to me, as if taking part in it myself. “Normal” reality disappeared and I remained in some kind of “closed” world from everyone else, which only I could see. And that's how I could stay for a long time standing in a “pillar” somewhere in the middle of the street, not seeing anything and not reacting to anything, until some frightened, compassionate “uncle or aunt” started shaking me, trying to somehow bring me to my senses and find out if everything was wrong I'm fine...

Cornelius, Heinrich Heinrich Cornelius (known as Agrippa of Nettesheim; 1486, Cologne 1536, Grenoble) gifted and rich in knowledge, but prone to mysticism, writer, physician, philosopher, astrologer and lawyer. Agrippa took the name in honor of his founder... ... Wikipedia

Carl August Peter Cornelius (German: Carl August Peter Cornelius; December 24, 1824, Mainz October 26, 1874, ibid.) German composer and music critic. Nephew of the artist Peter Cornelius. He began to study music and write romances early... ... Wikipedia

Karl Adolf Cornelius (German: Karl Adolf Cornelius; March 12, 1819, Würzburg February 10, 1903, Munich) German historian. Cornelius' area of expertise is the era of the Reformation. His essay: “Geschichte des Münsterischen Aufruhrs” (1855 1860) is based on ... ... Wikipedia

Cornelius- Peter von (Cornelius, Peter von) 1783, Düsseldorf 1867, Berlin. German artist, draftsman. From 1795 to 1800 he studied at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts, where his father taught. From 1809 to 1811 he lived in Frankfurt am Main. From 1811 he settled in... ... European art: Painting. Sculpture. Graphics: Encyclopedia

- (Cornelius) Peter (24 XII 1824, Mainz 26 X 1874, ibid.) German. composer and musician critic. Genus. in a family of actors. In his youth he was an actor, then a cellist in the Mainz Theater. In 1844 48 he took composition lessons from Z. Dehn in Berlin. Wrote music. critical... Music Encyclopedia

Karl Sebastian Cornelius (German: Karl Sebastian Cornelius; 1819 1896) German physicist. From 1851 he lectured in Halle on physics, mechanics, physical geography and meteorology. Typed: “Die Lehre von der Elektricität und dem Magnetismus. Versuch... ... Wikipedia

Translator from fr. 1810 1820 (Vengerov) ... Big biographical encyclopedia

- (Cornelius) Peter von (23.9.1783, Düsseldorf, 6.3.1867, Berlin), German painter. He studied at the Academy of Arts in Düsseldorf (from 1795), in 1811 19 he was a member of the Nazarene group (See Nazarenes) in Rome, from 1821 the director of Düsseldorf, from 1825... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (Cornelius), Hans (Sept. 27, 1863 – Aug. 23, 1947) – German. philosopher, representative of Machism, who sought to supplement it with the immanent philosophy and pragmatism of James. Prof. philosophy in Munich (since 1903), in Frankfurt am Main (since 1910). The basis... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia

Books

Philosophy of Natural Magic, Cornelius Agrippa Henry. In the second half of 1509 and the first months of 1510, Cornelius Agrippa, famous in his time as a magician, collected all mystical knowledge, obtained by the energy and zeal of their youth, and...
The Drifting Society, Cornelius Castoriadis. If it were necessary to summarize in the form of a conclusion the guiding line of Castoriadis’s political thought - developed in extremely numerous works and presented in its dynamics ...

17 Oct 2010

Our brave ones fled, but where should the Hans run from Vorkuta?

although look, one damn fucked up and what a lucky asshole

The escape of Clemens Forell is still fictional.

From time to time various German television channels show feature film“So weit die Fe tragen” (in Russian translation the film is called “Escape from the Gulag”, another name is “I’ll walk as long as my legs carry me”), directed by German director Hardy Martins in 2001 based on the novel of the same name by a German writer Joseph Martin Bauer (1901 - 1970), which was published back in 1955.

The annotations for the film and reviews of it emphasize that the plot of the novel, and therefore the film, is almost a mirror image of the events in the life of Wehrmacht senior lieutenant Clemens Forell, who was captured on the Eastern Front at the end of 1944.

In October 1949, Forell fled Soviet camp, located right on Cape Dezhnev, that is, on the northeastern tip Chukotka Peninsula, passed through Siberia and Central Asia, crossed the Soviet-Iranian border. By Christmas 1952 he found himself in his native village in Bavaria, near loving wife and children.

In the public consciousness, not only in Germany, but also far beyond its borders (including Russia), Clemens Forell is now considered the most famous German escapee from captivity during the war and after it.

And this is how things stood. In 1953, the Munich publisher Franz Ehrenwirth asked Bauer, already a well-known journalist and prose writer at that time, to literary process the records of a certain Cornelius Rost who came into his hands, who claimed that he had fled from Siberia, from a Soviet camp.

Bauer took up the matter. In his office he hung on the wall detailed map Siberia and wrote a book, also based on his personal impressions gleaned during his stay in Russia during the war (Bauer served in mountain ranger units and was, by the way, among the climbers who raised the flag of Nazi Germany on Elbrus on August 21, 1942) .

Bauer named the main character of his novel Clemens Forell.

The novel, published by Ehrenvirt's publishing house in September 1955, immediately became a bestseller, went through dozens of reprints in 16 languages, and is still a success; the total circulation of the book has exceeded several million copies. Cornelius Rost, according to people who knew him, was “a physical and moral wreck with a sickly pale face,” he suffered from a mania of fear of the NKVD, and constantly felt in danger, fearing that he would be kidnapped from Germany. There is absolutely no mention of him in historical studies devoted to the topic of German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union. It is very likely that his notes are a figment of the imagination of a mentally ill person.

A number of historical studies about German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union are accompanied by a map of the location of prisoner of war camps. None of these maps show the camp at Cape Dezhnev, where, as Bauer claimed, the Germans were involved in lead ore mining.

All of the above gives rise to seditious thoughts that the plot, which unfolds so colorfully and with such literary skill in Bauer’s novel and then in the film based on it, which is captivated by millions of readers and viewers, is nothing more than a beautiful invention.

And indeed, what kind of fantasies would not come to the mind of a divinely talented writer, looking at the map of vast Siberia from morning to evening!..

17 Oct 2010

Here's about Hartmann, though after the war.

In December 1949, a trial took place and Hartmann was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 1950 he was transferred to Shakhty ( Rostov region), where Hartmann subsequently led a prisoner riot. After the mutiny in Shakhty, Hartmann was given another 25 years to his sentence.

17 Oct 2010

Here they planted some information about Otto Kretschmer’s escape attempt from a Canadian camp.

At the Canadian prisoner of war camp at Bowmanville.
Kretschmer decided it was time to organize his own escape. His senior lieutenant Knebel-Döberitz had long insisted on sending an appeal to Dönitz, containing a request to send the German submarine to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, with a view to taking on board maximum quantity captured commanders.
Kretschmer agreed and began to implement the plan. The following submarine commanders were in Bowmanville: Kretschmer himself, Knebel-Deberitz, Lieutenant Elf, who had previously been a junior lieutenant on U-99. He took command of the boat "U-93", which was sunk in the South Atlantic by the destroyer " Evening star" In addition, Lieutenant Commander Hey, commander of U-433, which was sent to the bottom by the corvette Marigold, was also here. It was decided that all four would leave. The officers planned to dig a tunnel at least 100 yards long, starting in one of the huts and ending in the woods behind barbed wire. To divert attention, it was decided to dig two more tunnels in different directions in case the guards discover the tunnel before it is completed. More than 150 prisoners took part in the work. At the same time, constant attempts were made to contact Dönitz by radio.
In the chosen hut, an additional closet was built that reached from floor to ceiling and was spacious enough for two people to work in it with the doors closed. A hole was made in the ceiling through which the earth rose into the attic. The shaft of the shaft went vertically down 10 feet and ended in a “cave”, the dimensions of which allowed two prisoners to be in it at the same time, albeit bent over. And in the attic, German engineers built a system of wooden rails leading to each corner. The spacious boxes that previously contained canned fruit were now equipped with wooden wheels. When the earth in bags was lifted up, it was poured into boxes, pulled with ropes to the corners and carefully scattered and compacted along the walls.
It took more than a month to construct the vertical shaft. Then construction of a horizontal tunnel towards the fence began. Work was carried out around the clock in shifts. Each shift consisted of 8 people: two in the tunnel, one in the cave putting earth into bags, one in the closet lifting these bags, four in the attic receiving the bags, pouring out the earth and returning the empty containers back. Even more prisoners worked on the construction of “fake” tunnels. Towards the end fourth month it was decided to abandon the latter and concentrate all efforts on the construction of the main tunnel.
Meanwhile, the prisoners still managed to establish contact with Dönitz, although not by radio, but through encrypted correspondence. As a result, an agreement was reached that when everything was ready to escape, an ocean-going submarine would be waiting for the fugitives at a specified location near east coast Canada. Now everything depended on the speedy completion of construction. Six months later, that is, by the end of 1943, the tunnel looked like a modern coal mine. It was spacious enough for the diggers to work comfortably; the earth was pulled out not by hand, but along wooden rails in peculiar trolleys; the engineers even provided the workers with electric lighting. About 500 cans were connected to each other by welding; air flowed into the tunnel through this pipe. The work was carried out for many months, but the camp administration showed no visible interest and did not show in any way that they knew about the impending escape. Kretschmer was very concerned about the condition of the attic. So much earth had already accumulated there that the ceiling began to sag under its weight. The work was coming to an end. Four dummies had already been made, which were supposed to replace the fugitives on the night of the escape. But, despite all the efforts of the craftsmen, they could not make the mannequins walk. Their limbs remained motionless.
Finally, Kretschmer set a date for the escape. This was communicated to Dönitz in advance. The answer came in a letter from Knebel-Deberitz's mother. It said that the 740-ton submarine U-577, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Sheinberg, would surface for two hours every night for two weeks in a small bay of the flooded mouth of the St. Lawrence River. This meant that Kretschmer and his comrades had fourteen days to reach the meeting place after escaping from the camp.
When the ninth month came to an end, the tunnel was already 106 yards long and had reached the required point. There were 2 feet to the surface. The four officers had civilian suits, boots, shirts, hats, and documents certifying that all four were merchant seamen. They even took into account the fact that the meeting point with U-577 may be in an area where the movement of civilians is prohibited. Considering that one of the local newspapers published a photograph depicting an order from the commander of the Canadian East Coast Navy with his personal signature, the craftsmen prepared permits for free movement in coastal zone, where they copied the signature from the newspaper. A week before the escape, Kretschmer sent a message to Germany.
One night, the ceiling could not bear the load and the prisoners sleeping in the house were covered with earth. They immediately took the most active measures to eliminate traces of destruction, but the noise made was too great, and the house was filled with guards. The fact that a tunnel was being dug somewhere became completely obvious. All that remained was to discover exactly where. Over the next day, the prisoners used every means available to them to distract the guards' attention from the treasured cabinet. They even made it possible to detect one of the “false” tunnels. However, after examining it, it became obvious that it had been abandoned for quite some time, since it had already filled with water. The second tunnel was also found, but the new commandant, Major Taylor, realized that it was too small for the amount of earth that was hidden in the attic. The search continued for another day. Tired prisoners were doomedly waiting for the result of their many months of effort to be discovered. However, to everyone's relief, the guards left empty-handed.
Kretschmer realized that he could wait no longer. The escape was scheduled for the next night. The day dragged on longer than ever. In the evening, one of the prisoners, known as a great floriculture enthusiast, went around the camp in search of some special soil for his flower beds. This one was found not far from the fence. The guards on the towers looked at him, occasionally exchanging jokes, and the prisoner, as if nothing had happened, continued to pour soil into the bag with a shovel. Suddenly, he dug a little deeper, and the shovel fell into the ground, and the florist, who was not expecting this, fell face down into the dirt. The roof of the tunnel collapsed under his weight, and the flower lover disappeared into the hole.
The secret became clear. Using small charges of dynamite, the guards eliminated the tunnel, quickly discovered the fake cabinet, and filled up the shaft. Kretschmer held an emergency meeting with the officers, at which it was decided to try to contact U-577 by radio and report that all plans had collapsed. He feared that if the boat waited too long, it might be discovered and sunk. Since communication could not be established, Lieutenant Commander Heida proposed his own plan. (Heyda was the commander of U-434, which was sunk by the destroyer Stanley.) He wanted to escape alone, reach the rendezvous point with U-577 and inform her commander about what had happened. His plan was bold and very risky. The power line that supplied the camp with electricity was located mostly on the other side of the fence. It was only in the far corner that one of the wooden posts fell inside the barbed wire fence. Heida was going to use a seat attached to two wooden carts that would be hung on wires. Using this very peculiar cable car, he hoped to get to the next pillar, located outside the camp. After a long and heated discussion, the plan was adopted.
The prisoners pulled nails out of the floorboards and drove them into the soles of the shoes of the future fugitive. The result was spikes that were supposed to help him climb the pole. The seat and trolleys were also made quite quickly. The next day in the evening, Heida, dressed in a civilian suit, hid near the sports ground, and one of the mannequins took his place. At night, he climbed onto the pole, carefully sat down on the wooden seat and, whispering a prayer, slid along the wires. To distract the guards, the prisoners started a brawl in one of the huts, as a result of which almost all the guards rushed there to pacify the “riot”...

http://lib.ololo.cc/b/172829/read#t17
Post edited by Slavyan: 17 October 2010 - 01:19

17 Oct 2010

Before 1945, when the supply of prisoner-of-war camps on the territory of the Union was very scarce and there was a high mortality rate, riots and escapes were out of the question - people were too exhausted. Moreover, with knowledge German language You can't run far from the camp. Those who spoke Russian were mostly appointed to good camp positions, which sometimes gave them many privileges...there was no point in running away...After 1945, supplies and treatment of prisoners improved significantly, some had the opportunity even free exit from the camp. All sorts of minor discontent, strikes and hunger strikes took place and were mainly associated with protracted announced shipments home and other camp everyday crap (for example, once, Hungarian officers went on hunger strike against the decision of the authorities to cut everyone’s hair short... And the camp authorities made concessions) . Among other things, in 1947, it was announced that the next a year will pass under the slogan: “1948 is the year of repatriation” (this did not concern the SS and the police). Therefore, people sat and waited in the wings. Despite the slogan, they began to let people go home even before 1948: elderly people, seriously ill people and those unable to work. Therefore, some of those who skillfully “squinted” also had the opportunity to go home through official means... Something like this, in general...

17 Oct 2010

To the above... There was another way to get home early (besides self-mutilation) - to become a member of Antifa: these guys went home in the first rows. Those who tried to escape from camps located outside the Arctic Circle only got as far as the Polish border, where they were caught and sent back.

17 Oct 2010

"Russia is great... but there is nowhere to run..."
Before 1945, when the supply of prisoner-of-war camps on the territory of the Union was very scarce and there was a high mortality rate, riots and escapes were out of the question - people were too exhausted. Besides, with knowledge of the German language you won’t be able to run far from the camp. Those who spoke Russian were mostly appointed to good camp positions, which sometimes gave them many privileges...there was no point in running away...After 1945, supplies and treatment of prisoners improved significantly, some had the opportunity even free exit from the camp. All sorts of minor discontent, strikes and hunger strikes took place and were mainly associated with protracted announced shipments home and other camp everyday crap (for example, once, Hungarian officers went on hunger strike against the decision of the authorities to cut everyone’s hair short... And the camp authorities made concessions) . Among other things, in 1947, it was announced that the next year would be held under the slogan: “1948 is the year of repatriation” (this did not concern the SS and the police). Therefore, people sat and waited in the wings. Despite the slogan, they began to let people go home even before 1948: elderly people, seriously ill people and those unable to work. Therefore, some of those who skillfully screwed up also had the opportunity to go home in an official way... Something like this, in general...

I read here the memoirs of an SS tankman, was a commander of the Tiger, defended Berlin. He was captured during an attempt to escape to the Americans beyond the Elbe with part of his crew. He sat in a camp near Stalino, worked either as a clerk or something similar, his driver (by the way, an SS Scharführer) generally worked as a truck driver with a semi-free regime. The third radio operator actually ended up in the mine. Everyone returned home at 48. So much for harsh repressions against the SS men....

17 Oct 2010

"Russia is great... but there is nowhere to run..."

Before 1945, when the supply of prisoner-of-war camps on the territory of the Union was very scarce and there was a high mortality rate, riots and escapes were out of the question - people were too exhausted. Besides, with knowledge of the German language you won’t be able to run far from the camp. Those who spoke Russian were mostly appointed to good camp positions, which sometimes gave them many privileges...there was no point in running away...After 1945, supplies and treatment of prisoners improved significantly, some had the opportunity even free exit from the camp. All sorts of minor discontent, strikes and hunger strikes took place and were mainly associated with protracted announced shipments home and other camp everyday crap (for example, once, Hungarian officers went on hunger strike against the decision of the authorities to cut everyone’s hair short... And the camp authorities made concessions) . Among other things, in 1947, it was announced that the next year would be held under the slogan: “1948 is the year of repatriation” (this did not concern the SS and the police). Therefore, people sat and waited in the wings. Despite the slogan, they began to let people go home even before 1948: elderly people, seriously ill people and those unable to work. Therefore, some of those who skillfully screwed up also had the opportunity to go home in an official way... Something like this, in general...
I read here the memoirs of an SS tankman, was a commander of the Tiger, defended Berlin. He was captured during an attempt to escape to the Americans beyond the Elbe with part of his crew. He sat in a camp near Stalino, worked either as a clerk or something similar, his driver (by the way, an SS Scharführer) generally worked as a truck driver with a semi-free regime. The third radio operator actually ended up in the mine. Everyone returned home at 48. So much for harsh repressions against the SS men....

It also happened that the SS-man documents confirmed that their unit did not participate in punitive operations: they released the drivers, signalmen, etc. And some of those SS who ended up in the American zone ended up at home already in June 1945 . The SS-Vikings suffered the least. But in the same American zone They were seriously cleaned and inspected. On our territory, the checks were even stricter and longer. Even those groups of prisoners of war who were sent home passed through filtration camps on the way to Germany and not all of the original composition crossed the border. First of all, they identified the LAH, the Death's Head, the 4th Panzer-Motorized Infantry Division of the SS police, Florian Geier and Hohenstaufen. Most of the SS and police remained in our lands. During filtration, even those who, after suffering a sweat gland ulcer, had post-painful scars under the armpit were left behind.

(1919-03-27 )

Biography

Rost was born on March 27, 1919 in Kufstein in Austria. When did the second one begin? World War Rost lived in Munich. During the war, Cornelius was captured and kept on the territory of the USSR.

After the war, Rost got a job in the printing house of Franz Ehrenwirth. On new job Growth has ruined many covers. Ehrenwirth decided to find out the reason for the errors, and Rost told him the story of how color blindness developed in a prisoner of war camp. Ehrenwirth asked Roths to write down the story, but Cornelius's original text was sparsely written, so Ehrenwirth, interested in the story, hired professional writer Joseph Martin Bauer to polish Rost's text. Cornelius Rost died on October 18, 1983 and was buried in the Central Cemetery of Munich. His true identity was only revealed 20 years after his death, due to fears of persecution by the KGB, when Ehrenwirth's son Martin revealed everything to radio journalist Arthur Dietelmann when he was preparing a story on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Bauer's birth.

Book

Dietelmann in 2010 cited various studies regarding Rost's story, from which it turned out that there were inconsistencies in Bauer's novel. In particular, according to the Munich registration office, the USSR officially released Rost on October 28, 1947, which does not coincide with Bauer's novel, in which Clemens Forel (Rosta's pseudonym) escapes in 1949 and wanders until 1952. Clemens Forel himself in the novel bears the title of “Wehrmacht officer”, while Cornelius Rost, according to his documents from 1942, was a simple private. At the beginning of the text it is reported that Forel participated in

The Trud newspaper decided to talk about the most daring and ingenious, in our opinion, escapes in history

Blue Escape

Our marathon opens with the escape genius, American swindler and impostor (and, interestingly, homosexual Stephen Jay Russell. Journalist Stephen McVicker wrote the book “I Love You, Philip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love and Prison Escapes” about his ingenious escapes; later A film of the same name was made based on this book.

It is difficult to say whether Stephen Russell really performed such masterly tricks with escapes, fake documents and scams. But if this really happened, then he can rightfully be called the “King of Crooks,” and the entire American prison system is simply ridiculous.

There are 14 known false names that Stephen used to carry out his scams. These names have helped him more than once. In one of the scams, Stephen managed, using a fake resume and name, to get a job in insurance company for the post of financial director. Thus, he was able to gain about 800 thousand dollars from this company through money fraud. But that’s not all, he earned his fame through his escapes.

In 1992, Steven Jay Russell was jailed for his account fraud. According to the book, it was during this imprisonment that he met his lover Philip Morris. He managed to escape 4 times, resorting to all possible tricks. He pretended to be a judge and lowered his bail from $900,000 to $45,000. He even pretended to be an FBI agent and a doctor. And one day Stephen was able to leave the prison walls, pretending to be a worker. But these are all flowers. Most ingeniously, he escaped from the Harris County Jail, where he was sent for stealing $800,000 from a Houston company that manages doctors' finances. For this he was sentenced to 45 years, and another 20 years for previous escapes. The escape from this establishment is simply amazing. Stephen read all about AIDS in the library and was able to fake the symptoms. Later, he falsified his tests and obtained a transfer to a private clinic. There he called the prison on behalf of the doctor and said that Stephen Russell had died of AIDS.

On at the moment Stephen Russell is serving his 144-year sentence at the Michael Unit. Where he spends 23 hours a day in a cell and spends one hour showering, exercising and communicating with his family.

Brilliant and simple

Directed by Michael Mann, Johnny D., based on Brian Barrow's novel Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-1934, is truly astonishing, especially once you realize who Johnny Dillinger really was. , which kept all of America in fear in the 30s. One of his ingenious escapes was from Crown Point prison, which at that time was guarded not only a large number police officers, but even military personnel from the National Guard. Interestingly, Johnny D. escaped from there with the help of a fake pistol made of wood and painted black with shoe polish. Using this gun, he forced the guards to open the door to his cell, locked them all, took two hostages and calmly drove out of the prison in a sheriff's car with the two hostages. Film and true story practically coincide. True, in the film Johnny ran away with an accomplice, although this may have actually been the case. After all, if you think about it, it is very doubtful that Dillinger locked up all the guards, managed to take two hostages and escape from prison. So we should give credit to Michael Mann for the realism of the picture. Be that as it may, no one will be able to repeat this escape of Johnny D. And he takes an honorable place in our prison marathon.

Alcatraz

Over the 29 years of Alcatraz's existence, they tried to escape many times, but no one succeeded. In addition to three prisoners: two Anglin brothers - John and Clarence - and Frank Morris. These three demonstrated amazing ingenuity. Only 17 years later the FBI threw up its hands and closed the case. This escape inspired Don Siegel to make the film Escape from Alcatraz. main role starring Clint Eastwood. According to the plot, the whole plan was invented by the hero, who is played by Eastwood, Frank Morris. But in reality, the brain center was Allen West, a car thief. This confirms the guess that four people planned to escape, but three managed to escape.

The prisoners spent many months sawing the bars and chiseling a 20-centimeter cushion of reinforced concrete in order to widen the hole, because otherwise it was impossible to crawl through. They hammered with everything that came to hand: a sharpened spoon, pieces of metal, etc. They carried out their work at certain hours - in the interval between two rounds, which took place at 17.30 and 21.30. While one was working, the other was “standing on the edge” in his cell. By the way, the cells in the 4-star Alcatraz hotel were single. But punching a hole in the wall does not mean escaping. Since Alcatraz is surrounded by water, a raft and life jackets had to be constructed. They were made from waterproof raincoats that fellow prisoners got for them. But that’s not all: in order to gain time, the prisoners made mannequins from toilet paper, concrete, soap and hair they got from the prison hairdresser. During the escape, instead of four, only three were able to get out: Allen West was unable to get through the hole due to the fact that the last time they almost got burned and had to patch up the hole a little. As a result, when Alain was able to squeeze through and climbed onto the roof, his accomplices were already sailing away, and he had to return to his cell. It is still unclear whether the fugitives remained alive, because there is a strong current in the bay and there was fog that evening, so they could have been carried anywhere. But what is certain is that the bodies of the prisoners were never found.

Escape from the Gulag

It is no secret to anyone the fate of people who ended up in concentration camps during the Second World War. Countless prisoners died under torture. There were many losses on the part of Russia and on the part of Germany. However, some managed to escape; one of these lucky ones was Cornelius Rost. His escape, like other escapes in our marathon, was filmed. It all started, of course, with the book by journalist Josef Bauer “As My Feet Go,” written from the manuscripts of Rost himself. Interestingly, in the book and in the film based on it - “Escape from the Gulag” - the name of the main character is fictitious. Bauer came up with the name Clemens Trout because he was afraid possible problems with the KGB.

Cornelius was captured and sent to the mines in distant Chukotka. The prisoners worked and lived there underground. Every 6 weeks they were allowed outside for a walk for two hours - and then back. There was no need for barbed wire and security towers. The camp was so far from civilization that there was simply nowhere to run from there. During his first escape attempt, Rost was caught and beaten. But he didn’t miss his last chance. The hope of escape was revived by the doctor Hein Stauffer. He himself was going to run, but due to the fact that he was diagnosed with cancer, he gave up this idea. He gave everything that he managed to get for his escape, and the escape plan itself, to Cornelius. And in October 1941 main character escaped again, and this time successfully. On the way, he met two criminal gold miners, with whom he soon parted. During the spring and summer he moved south towards railway, covering almost 3000 kilometers. There he boarded a freight train and reached Ulan-Ude. Later he ended up in the Caucasus, where smugglers helped him secretly cross the border. He later surrendered to the authorities and was arrested as a "Russian spy", no one believed the story of his escape; hope was on his uncle, who was supposed to identify him. Fortunately, he did this, and Cornelius began free life. 3 years after his escape, he ended up in Munich, having covered 14,000 kilometers. There is nothing fictitious in the film, and it tells it authentically incredible story. Although there are small shortcomings, overall the film conveys the entire atmosphere of that time and what Cornelius experienced.

Great Escape

The largest escape in the history of escapes took place on March 24, 1944 from the Luft III camp. Paul Brickhill wrote a book about this escape, “The Great Escape,” on which a film of the same name was made. This escape is simple in concept, but very interesting in execution. The basic plan was to dig a tunnel and reach the nearest city. But here's the most interesting thing: there were three tunnels, and each had given name. And what’s even more amazing is that 600 people took part in the preparations for the escape, of whom 76 managed to escape. Later, 73 prisoners of war were caught and 50 were shot, and of the remaining 23, four tried to escape again, but were caught and chained in solitary confinement. In the end, only three managed to escape. In the film, the writers exaggerated the importance of American prisoners of war, since in reality the escape was organized by the British. Yes, the Americans helped dig the tunnel and were involved in the early development of the plan, but they were unable to complete the tunnel. Several fictional scenes were also filmed to add drama and action to the film, such as the motorcycle scene. In addition, 600 people took part in the escape, and not 250, as in the film. And the closest city to the camp was not the German Neustad, but the Polish Zagan. Also, at the request of the former prisoners of war themselves, details about the assistance that prisoners of war received from their home countries were excluded: documents, tools, maps. So as not to reveal all the cards of the most numerous escape in history.

Shawshank

Well, for dessert - Frank Darabont's film "The Shawshank Redemption", based on the book by Stephen King "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption", which has seven Oscar nominations, a Grammy nomination and many others. awards and nominations. It is not clear whether this is a true story or the product of the brilliant brain of Stephen King. In any case, this escape is the standard by which almost all prisoners are guided.

According to the film and book, the main character is banker Andy Dufresne, who ended up in Shawshank for the murder of his wife and her lover. But the plot immediately makes it clear that he is innocent. In the film, Andy helps many people with their taxes and other financial problems, which gives him some privileges. He also carried out financial fraud in the prison and laundered drug money through scams. And everything went like clockwork, until one morning Andy Dufresne did not leave his cell for the morning formation. After checking, it was revealed that he had simply disappeared. Later, the warden in Dufresne's cell discovered a tunnel behind the poster leading to a sewer pipe. It turns out that Andy spent 20 years according to the film, but 27 years according to the book, digging this tunnel with a small hammer on stone. But in order to get free, he still had to crawl through a sewer pipe for 500 yards, which is impossible, if you think about it, since there is simply nothing to breathe there. But he succeeded. The film and book have many inconsistencies with reality. This once again confirms the guess that this is just a brilliant fantasy of Stephen King and there was no real escape. Despite this, most of today's prisoners still draw their escape plan from this film, which once again speaks of the genius of Stephen King and his work.