If Allied POWs were lucky, an enclosed deck of cards would offer more than just a way to keep busy. In addition to clothing, food, medical supplies, and tobacco, parcels could contain games, such as playing cards. Under the rules of the Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross and other charitable organizations could send parcels and mail to prisoners of war. They tasked the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC) to create decks of Bicycle brand playing cards that could conceal maps of Germany.

To facilitate escape attempts, the American Office of Strategic Services (precursor to the CIA) and British Special Operations Executive hatched a plan. In April 1945, the US Army captured Colditz Castle and liberated the remaining Allied POWs. Although the exact number varies, there were at least 130 escape attempts from Colditz Castle. Some dug tunnels into the floors or through the castle’s thick stone walls, while others plotted different ways to break out.

The camp’s escape-proof reputation did not deter Allied prisoners. Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History. American Red Cross parcel for prisoners of war.

Play cards war io