Acts of Daring
It's a daring thing to escape; escape attempts are by definition extremely dangerous, and this particular escape was as audacious and bold as it was courageous. To succeed in this attempt, men were required to put themselves in considerable personal danger, and to take chances without knowing what the result would be. For example, several of the prisoners were called upon to make friendships with some of the German guards who had expressed resentment towards the Nazi regime. Although this seemed genuine, and had to be taken at face value, the prisoners could never be completely certain that the men's outward expressions of dislike were real.
There was also daring in the men's escape methods. They knew at the outset that although they were making a bid for freedom, they were also basically sacrificing themselves for the greater good and the success of the war on the front line. Success was unlikely. Even if they managed to escape from the camp, they would need to negotiate countryside and a country resolutely in support of, and widely infiltrated by, the Nazis and their Gestapo agents.
Strategy
The escape, whilst entertaining and daring in the context of a movie, was also a triumph of strategy and the skill of the officers planning it. Several reconnaissance missions were undertaken, with "capture" intended so that the escapees could come back to the camp and report back on what they had found out. In order to succeed, a network of prisoners, and sympathizers, had to be built. Each man was used to maximize the benefits of his skillset, and escaping the camp was planned in exactly the same way that a military maneuver was planned. The escape was also used as another strategy for winning the war by making sure as many German troops and resources were used in the pursuit of the escapees.
German Violation of Treatment of Prisoners of War
A recurring theme in the movie is the way in which the Germans violated the agreements and conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war. Although there was no Geneva Convention to protect these rights (in fact, the Geneva Convention was created as a reaction to the way in which the Germans violated the principles of humane treatment of P.O.W.s) there was an agreement, or convention, between the Germans and the Allies that guaranteed captured soldiers, or prisoners of war, would be treated humanely, and not killed on their capture. During the movie, there are multiple references to the German's violation of these agreements.
The key one of these occurs after the capture of the escapees; releasing them into a field, the Germans then shoot them, and subsequently claim that they were trying to escape. The German urge to kill is scene constantly throughout the film, even when they are prisoners of war whom convention dictated were supposed to be kept in humane conditions, and kept alive.
