Here’s the badass who didn’t just sit back and accept his fate…. his name was Horace Greasley, a British soldier who was taken prisoner by the Germans during World War II. In this photo, he’s on the left, defiantly staring down Heinrich Himmler in August 1941. (It has been argued that this photo was someone else, but it doesn’t change the rest of this story.)
Greasley spent more than five years in a Polish POW camp. During that time, he escaped more than 200 times to visit his girlfriend, a local Jewish girl. He would return after his visit with food, medicine, news, and other contraband. Early on, Greasley was punished for his escapes, and once he was nearly beaten to death. But he started bribing the guards with things he brought from his visits, and he was able to make life better for everyone in the POW camp. His story became a legend with troops all around the world, and later would be the spark that created Stalag 17 and Hogan’s Heroes.