Well, haven't heard this one before? "Nazi leaders knew about The Great Escape in advance and let it go ahead because they wanted to make an example of the ringleaders, it is claimed. Secret files on the mass breakout from the 'escape proof' POW camp Stalag Luft III in Poland suggest it was rigged to allow a reign of terror by Heinrich Himmler. In mid-1943, Heinrich Himmler assumed overall control of POW security and introduced draconian punishments for escapees including the 'Bullet Order' permitting executions in March 1944. The Great Escape took place the same month, giving Himmler the perfect excuse to lambast 'lax security' by the Luftwaffe, who ran the camps without the regime of fear he advocated. The triumph of the digging of the three tunnels, Tom, Dick and Harry, ended tragically in the murder of 50 Allied airmen and the biggest British war crimes investigation of the war. But long-lost documents found in the National Archives suggest the Nazis wanted the break-out to go ahead, so Himmler could cold-bloodedly hunt down the brave airmen and punish them. As Germans casualties mounted, escapes by servicemen had soared because there were fewer guards - and there were fears they would team up with partisans to cause havoc. At Stalag Luft III, escape had been treated as a game by the prisoners with the Germans discovering at least 80 tunnels. This led to a vast array of microphones being buried around the camp perimeter from late 1943, which detected large-scale digging. A National Archives research project has revealed during the countdown to the Great Escape some very strange events took place at the camp." www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9823283/Nazis-knew-Great-Escape-Files-Germans-let-plan-ahead-punish-escapees.html
