Reinhold Eggers was the security officer at Oflag IV-C from November 1940 to April 1945, promoted to chief of security in 1944.
17 Facts About Reinhold Eggers
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Reinhold Eggers spent 10 years in Soviet-ordered imprisonment following the war and was released in 1955.
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In March 1913, Eggers was called up for military service and was, on his request, posted to the 2nd Battalion of Marine Infantry at Wilhelmshaven.
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Reinhold Eggers completed his training on 31 March 1914 and was promoted to the rank of Unteroffizier.
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Reinhold Eggers was posted on the western front where he won the Iron Cross Second Class on 8 May 1915, the Iron Cross First Class and the Hesse Medal for bravery on the Somme in December 1915.
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Reinhold Eggers failed to anticipate the untrustworthiness of his fellow teachers and in 1933 he was denounced by six of his colleagues to the Nazis who accused him of being a left-winger and an internationalist.
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Reinhold Eggers was consequently only allowed to teach at elementary school.
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Reinhold Eggers felt his experiences at this camp were poor preparation for his time at Colditz.
9.
On 22 November 1940, Reinhold Eggers received his orders to report to Oflag IV-C, Colditz Castle.
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Reinhold Eggers started as LO3 and was faced with rebellious, anti-German POWs from Poland, France and the UK, who took every opportunity to harass their captors.
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Reinhold Eggers tended to treat his opponents as difficult schoolboys and always tried to retain his calm and dignity even when provoked to the utmost.
12.
Reinhold Eggers calmly waited for a guard to get a new one before he left the building.
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British and Dutch officers agreed that Reinhold Eggers always treated them correctly.
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Reinhold Eggers wrote many articles for the prison system's internal magazine, created a museum displaying escape tools and photographs, and investigated French general Henri Giraud's escape from Oflag IV-B Konigstein.
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Reinhold Eggers became a headmaster and then a lecturer at Halle University.
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Reinhold Eggers was in later years active in meeting with former Colditz inmates and writing his memoirs.
17.
Reinhold Eggers retired to live by Lake Constance, where he died in 1974, aged 84.