Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Overview... an American P.O.W. in a Luftwaffe prison camp, Stalag 17, along the Danube River. They plucked Sefton out of the skies and now they must see to it that the prisoners do not fly away. They do not like men escaping from Stalag 17 – especially not the enemy airmen from Compound D. But Sefton might be able to trade with the Nazis for a better stay. The other prisoners probably won’t like that.
Personality... traitorous wheeler-and-dealer, at least on the surface. Sefton understands why the others dislike him. They think he’s a rat for squealing on another American, but who can trust anyone in a place like this? Anyone could be a German that the Nazis planted in his barracks. They do that type of thing. Sefton is definitely out for himself first, but whether that means he is a traitor or spy remains to be seen.
Get to Know him in...
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It's a dreary Christmas 1944 for the American POWs in Stalag 17. For the men in Barracks 4, all sergeants, have to deal with a grave problem - there seems to be a security leak. The Germans always seem to be forewarned about escapes and in the most recent attempt the two men, Manfredi and Johnson, walked straight into a trap and were killed. For some in Barracks 4, especially the loud-mouthed Duke, the leaker is obvious: J.J. Sefton, a wheeler-dealer who doesn't hesitate to trade with the guards and who has acquired goods and privileges that no other prisoner seems to have. Sefton denies giving the Germans any information and makes it quite clear that he has no intention of ever trying to escape. He plans to ride out the war in what little comfort he can arrange, but it doesn't extend to spying for the Germans.
