The Secret History of Monopoly

Did you know that the game Monopoly was used to help thousands of POWs escape from German prison camps during the Second World War? Nope, neither did I until today. MI9, the branch of British intelligence responsible for helping resistance fighters in Europe and for assisting in the escape and retrieval of Allied POWs. To this end, they were on the look-out for methods of getting equipment to POWs that could aid in their escape. This from The Atlantic;

During the war, large numbers of British airmen were felled over enemy airspace and then held as prisoners behind enemy lines. Germany, however -- in part as a nod to the Geneva Convention -- allowed humanitarian groups like the Red Cross to distribute care packages to those prisoners. And one of the categories of items that could be included in those packages was "games and pastimes." So the Allies took military advantage of this human kindness: Posing as "charities" (one of the better fake names: the Licensed Victuallers Prisoners Relief Fund), they sent packages to their POWs that featured clandestine escape kits -- kits that included tools like compasses, metal files, money, and, most importantly, maps. And: They disguised those kits as Monopoly games. The compasses and files? Both disguised as playing pieces. The money, in the form of French, German, and Italian bank notes? Hidden below the Monopoly money. The maps? Concealed within the board itself. "The game was too innocent to raise suspicion," ABC News's Ki Mae Heussner put it -- but "it was the ideal size for a top-secret escape kit." [...] ...Before departing for missions, Royal Air Force airmen were told that, if they happened to be captured, they should look for Monopoly games in the "care packages" sent to them -- and for the escape maps and kits that were hidden within them. The "special edition" Monopoly sets would be designated with a red dot on the Free Parking space -- something that would look to anyone who didn't know about the trick like a standard-issue printing error ... but which might, to a captured soldier, look something a little more like freedom.

So, the next time you're playing and pull a "Get Out of Jail Free" card, remember that for a lot of Allied soldiers, this game was just that.