Steve Mc Queen Would Not recognize the place

It used to be one of the biggest towns in Germany but now it is an overgrown field that is used by the locals as a driving school. After leaving Cracow Steph, Don and I stopped on our way to Berlin at Sagen, the site of the infamous Great Escape. As it was Easter Sunday, the museum was closed, which did not seem to be to big a deal since it seems like the last time it was updated was when the DDR still called the shots. Undaunted, the three musketeers set out to find the original camp site of Stalag VIII, the largest POW camp for Allied air officers during WWII and the site of the "Great Escape," when 76 Allied POWs made a desperate bid for freedom. At first glance, very little remains of the original camp, but with the aid of some maps, after some poking around in the fields and forrests outside of town, we foung the remnants of the camp, including the site of the barracks that housed the POWS, administrative buildings and numerous remnants of the Soviet presence, as well as subsequent occupation by the NVA (National Volks Armee). Best of all, however, was finding where "Harry" the tunnel the POWs escaped from and "Dick" one of the other tunnells was located. Time was short and we did not find "Tom," but with a little bit more time I know we would have. It was an amazing site and definately well-worth the visit. One thing I did notice, however, was that we were nowhere near any mountains-it was all flat, sandy and full of pine trees. Can't remember how Steve McQueen found himself in the alps when he was captured in the movie, but that is another story.