quick make a break for it
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
real life prison escapes before we begin
we publish new videos every day so be
sure to subscribe for more great content
for this list we’re ranking the most
dangerous strange or death-defying
escapes from incarceration all we have
to do is use Gaston head screwdriver
number 10 this Sobibor escape light had
no place on cubby for the extermination
camp at Sobibor was a deadly part of
germany secret conspiracy to eliminate
Jewish citizens within the occupied
territory of Poland the fall of 1943 saw
an uprising within the camp however as
an armed resistance of over three
hundred inmates succeeded in killing
eleven of their German captors during a
riotous escape attempt unfortunately
only between 50 and 70 people managed to
escape recapture with most of the rest
returned to the camp and killed
[Music]
still the Sobibor escape remains one of
the most successful instances of
organized resistance by Jewish prisoners
during World War two number nine Billy
Hayes and The Midnight Express doesn’t
change the prison was serving hard time
is bad enough but being sent to prison
in a foreign country is even scarier
that’s what happened to American student
Billy Hayes in 1970 when he was stopped
at a Turkish airport while attempting to
smuggle four pounds of hashish out of
the country I learned about strengths
and weaknesses in jail
Hayes was initially handed a life
sentence before Turkey’s Constitutional
Court shortened it to 30 years in 1975
Hayes made his escape that year by
rowboat laying low in the small Turkish
town of Van Dorma before crossing the
border to Greece Hayes wrote the book
midnight express about his experiences
which was developed into the 1978 film
of the same name
number eight
Alfred Hines a prison Houdini Houdini
Hines as he was known was a British
criminal who staged three successful
prison breaks during the 1950’s Hines
was a juvenile delinquent and a career
criminal who started early after first
escaping a youth detention center he
scaled a 20-foot wall to freedom while
serving a prison stint for jewelry theft
his next escape was even more dramatic
on a routine trip to the bathroom while
at court Hines shoved his guards into
the stall and locked them in with a
padlock he somehow got his hands on he
was caught within hours at the airport
but after his third escape Hines was
free for two years before being caught
on an unrelated matter
number 7 pascal calle takes a helicopter
pascal Paille was many things father
husband thief
murderer this French criminal was also
daring as he made a number of brazenly
successful prison breaks using one of
the most dramatic means possible
hijacked helicopter I ain’t escaped this
way not once not twice but three times
between 2001 and 2007 it’s important for
them to fly at low altitude so if they
don’t show up on anybody’s radar perhaps
what’s most interesting about these
helicopter hijackings is their rate of
success despite Paille status as one of
France’s most transferred guarded and
closely watched felons Paille lamented
is constant prison movement in the 2005
blog post going so far as to launch a
hunger strike in protest his current
location is kept a secret to circumvent
any future escape attempt number six
Frank Abagnale the smooth talker jump in
puddles for the next few months trying
might keep running leap frogs in a week
and weary the real-life inspiration
behind the film catch me if you can
Frank Abagnale was a con man who could
talk his way out of any situation even
prison Abagnale was awaiting trial on
fraud and forgery charges when he
reportedly escaped in Atlanta Detention
Center by impersonating a prison
inspector the smooth-talking Abagnale
was no stranger to impersonation having
passed as an airline pilot doctor and
attorney during his life of crime
he knew that prisons were under intense
civil rights scrutiny at the time and
used an outside contact to forge
business cards and make convincing phone
calls on his behalf amazingly Frank
Abagnale now operates a legitimate fraud
consulting firm Abagnale and associates
by federal law your liability is zero
number 5 El Chapo tunnel to freedom
better known by the nickname El Chapo
Joaquin Guzman is one of the world’s
most dangerous drug lords the leader of
Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel who was first
arrested on murder and drug trafficking
charges back in 1993 he made his first
prison escape in 2001 by successfully
bribing his guards but was finally
recaptured by Mexican officials in 2014
a year later however the country was
shocked to discover that Guzman had
escaped once again this time thanks to
an elaborately constructed tunnel that
started underneath his cell shower and
ran for almost a mile out of the prison
maybe about 20 feet 25 feet maybe
el chapo managed to stay on the run
until January 2016 number 4
John Gerrard and the Tower of London to
be Catholic in Elizabethan England meant
that you might suffer torture and
persecution from political authorities
John Gerrard was a Jesuit priest during
this era and following his arrest he was
assisted by fellow Jesuit Nicolas Owen
in staging a daring escape from the
Tower of London in October of 1597
Gerrard made his way across a rope that
had been stretched across the tower moat
which was no mean feat considering the
priests hands had been severely damaged
by his captors it’s also been said that
this escape plan included a way out for
Gerard’s jailor whom the priest had
befriended while imprisoned in the tower
number 3
Alfred Betts lares Holocaust escape
alfred better story is notable not only
for his incredible escape from the
Oxford’s deaf camp during world war ii
but also for the detailed report he
co-wrote about the camp’s numbers and
layout the Slovakian native collaborated
with fellow prisoner rudolf verba in a
brave and dangerous plan to hide out in
a stack of wooden planks set aside on an
Auschwitz construction site the pair
waited three days without food and water
before finally making a break for it
hiding from German patrols as they
eventually made their way to Slovakian
soil and to freedom
number two Escape from Alcatraz many
tried but only one group succeeded
located off the san francisco coast
Alcatraz Island is home to one of the
United States most famous prison
complexes the national landmark that
bears its name it was June of 1962 when
three inmates devised an Alcatraz
jailbreak which involved papier-mache
dummy heads in their beds an inflatable
raft and a lot of luck debates raged to
this day about whether or not Frank
Morris and the Anglin brothers Clarence
and John successfully made it to shore
as a discarded paddle and remnants of
their raft were eventually found by
authorities there’s a big round one that
was important enough to take
they wouldn’t a lot everything loss of
her look like big crowd
however if Morris and the Anglin did
make it to freedom they’ve been fairly
quiet about it ever since this baby’s
got nothing on them before we name our
number-one Prison Break here are some
honorable mentions the next job is to
hit that fence cook through as fast as
we could and get that ladder up against
the wall
[Music]
number one The Great Escape it was the
subject to one of the most famous World
War two films ever the real-life
breakout from the shellac look Threepio
w camp located in present-day Agana
Poland the Great Escape detailed a max
exodus of prisoners from the camp thanks
to a series of three hidden tunnels dug
incrementally by the prisoners over a
period of time the tunnels were given
the names Tom Dick and Harry
and we’re designed to transport as many
prisoners as possible out of the camp
and towards freedom if tunnel as long as
much as anybody I dug it I build it that
was buried many times I go oh I want 76
detainees managed to escape despite
freezing weather conditions and other
problems but only three avoided
recapture with 50 of the original 76
ultimately executed by German soldiers
as I expected either long stay that a
short trip do you agree with our kicks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and subscribe for new videos
every day
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
real life prison escapes before we begin
we publish new videos every day so be
sure to subscribe for more great content
for this list we’re ranking the most
dangerous strange or death-defying
escapes from incarceration all we have
to do is use Gaston head screwdriver
number 10 this Sobibor escape light had
no place on cubby for the extermination
camp at Sobibor was a deadly part of
germany secret conspiracy to eliminate
Jewish citizens within the occupied
territory of Poland the fall of 1943 saw
an uprising within the camp however as
an armed resistance of over three
hundred inmates succeeded in killing
eleven of their German captors during a
riotous escape attempt unfortunately
only between 50 and 70 people managed to
escape recapture with most of the rest
returned to the camp and killed
[Music]
still the Sobibor escape remains one of
the most successful instances of
organized resistance by Jewish prisoners
during World War two number nine Billy
Hayes and The Midnight Express doesn’t
change the prison was serving hard time
is bad enough but being sent to prison
in a foreign country is even scarier
that’s what happened to American student
Billy Hayes in 1970 when he was stopped
at a Turkish airport while attempting to
smuggle four pounds of hashish out of
the country I learned about strengths
and weaknesses in jail
Hayes was initially handed a life
sentence before Turkey’s Constitutional
Court shortened it to 30 years in 1975
Hayes made his escape that year by
rowboat laying low in the small Turkish
town of Van Dorma before crossing the
border to Greece Hayes wrote the book
midnight express about his experiences
which was developed into the 1978 film
of the same name
number eight
Alfred Hines a prison Houdini Houdini
Hines as he was known was a British
criminal who staged three successful
prison breaks during the 1950’s Hines
was a juvenile delinquent and a career
criminal who started early after first
escaping a youth detention center he
scaled a 20-foot wall to freedom while
serving a prison stint for jewelry theft
his next escape was even more dramatic
on a routine trip to the bathroom while
at court Hines shoved his guards into
the stall and locked them in with a
padlock he somehow got his hands on he
was caught within hours at the airport
but after his third escape Hines was
free for two years before being caught
on an unrelated matter
number 7 pascal calle takes a helicopter
pascal Paille was many things father
husband thief
murderer this French criminal was also
daring as he made a number of brazenly
successful prison breaks using one of
the most dramatic means possible
hijacked helicopter I ain’t escaped this
way not once not twice but three times
between 2001 and 2007 it’s important for
them to fly at low altitude so if they
don’t show up on anybody’s radar perhaps
what’s most interesting about these
helicopter hijackings is their rate of
success despite Paille status as one of
France’s most transferred guarded and
closely watched felons Paille lamented
is constant prison movement in the 2005
blog post going so far as to launch a
hunger strike in protest his current
location is kept a secret to circumvent
any future escape attempt number six
Frank Abagnale the smooth talker jump in
puddles for the next few months trying
might keep running leap frogs in a week
and weary the real-life inspiration
behind the film catch me if you can
Frank Abagnale was a con man who could
talk his way out of any situation even
prison Abagnale was awaiting trial on
fraud and forgery charges when he
reportedly escaped in Atlanta Detention
Center by impersonating a prison
inspector the smooth-talking Abagnale
was no stranger to impersonation having
passed as an airline pilot doctor and
attorney during his life of crime
he knew that prisons were under intense
civil rights scrutiny at the time and
used an outside contact to forge
business cards and make convincing phone
calls on his behalf amazingly Frank
Abagnale now operates a legitimate fraud
consulting firm Abagnale and associates
by federal law your liability is zero
number 5 El Chapo tunnel to freedom
better known by the nickname El Chapo
Joaquin Guzman is one of the world’s
most dangerous drug lords the leader of
Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel who was first
arrested on murder and drug trafficking
charges back in 1993 he made his first
prison escape in 2001 by successfully
bribing his guards but was finally
recaptured by Mexican officials in 2014
a year later however the country was
shocked to discover that Guzman had
escaped once again this time thanks to
an elaborately constructed tunnel that
started underneath his cell shower and
ran for almost a mile out of the prison
maybe about 20 feet 25 feet maybe
el chapo managed to stay on the run
until January 2016 number 4
John Gerrard and the Tower of London to
be Catholic in Elizabethan England meant
that you might suffer torture and
persecution from political authorities
John Gerrard was a Jesuit priest during
this era and following his arrest he was
assisted by fellow Jesuit Nicolas Owen
in staging a daring escape from the
Tower of London in October of 1597
Gerrard made his way across a rope that
had been stretched across the tower moat
which was no mean feat considering the
priests hands had been severely damaged
by his captors it’s also been said that
this escape plan included a way out for
Gerard’s jailor whom the priest had
befriended while imprisoned in the tower
number 3
Alfred Betts lares Holocaust escape
alfred better story is notable not only
for his incredible escape from the
Oxford’s deaf camp during world war ii
but also for the detailed report he
co-wrote about the camp’s numbers and
layout the Slovakian native collaborated
with fellow prisoner rudolf verba in a
brave and dangerous plan to hide out in
a stack of wooden planks set aside on an
Auschwitz construction site the pair
waited three days without food and water
before finally making a break for it
hiding from German patrols as they
eventually made their way to Slovakian
soil and to freedom
number two Escape from Alcatraz many
tried but only one group succeeded
located off the san francisco coast
Alcatraz Island is home to one of the
United States most famous prison
complexes the national landmark that
bears its name it was June of 1962 when
three inmates devised an Alcatraz
jailbreak which involved papier-mache
dummy heads in their beds an inflatable
raft and a lot of luck debates raged to
this day about whether or not Frank
Morris and the Anglin brothers Clarence
and John successfully made it to shore
as a discarded paddle and remnants of
their raft were eventually found by
authorities there’s a big round one that
was important enough to take
they wouldn’t a lot everything loss of
her look like big crowd
however if Morris and the Anglin did
make it to freedom they’ve been fairly
quiet about it ever since this baby’s
got nothing on them before we name our
number-one Prison Break here are some
honorable mentions the next job is to
hit that fence cook through as fast as
we could and get that ladder up against
the wall
[Music]
number one The Great Escape it was the
subject to one of the most famous World
War two films ever the real-life
breakout from the shellac look Threepio
w camp located in present-day Agana
Poland the Great Escape detailed a max
exodus of prisoners from the camp thanks
to a series of three hidden tunnels dug
incrementally by the prisoners over a
period of time the tunnels were given
the names Tom Dick and Harry
and we’re designed to transport as many
prisoners as possible out of the camp
and towards freedom if tunnel as long as
much as anybody I dug it I build it that
was buried many times I go oh I want 76
detainees managed to escape despite
freezing weather conditions and other
problems but only three avoided
recapture with 50 of the original 76
ultimately executed by German soldiers
as I expected either long stay that a
short trip do you agree with our kicks
check out these other great clips from
WatchMojo and subscribe for new videos
every day
Please follow and like us: