Executions Germany

The executions of 50 Allied airmen who fled a German prison camp--immortalized in the film "The Great Escape"--were ordered by Adolf Hitler over the objections of his officers, according to British records released in London. The statement on Hitler's direct role was made by Gen. Maj. Adolf Westhoff, the German officer responsible for the prisoners' welfare, to British interrogators after World War II, according to the files.

The executions of 50 Allied airmen who fled a German prison camp--immortalized in the film "The Great Escape"--were ordered by Adolf Hitler over the objections of his officers, according to British records released in London. The statement on Hitler's direct role was made by Gen. Maj. Adolf Westhoff, the German officer responsible for the prisoners' welfare, to British interrogators after World War II, according to the files.