The Battle of the Bulge: Brothers Behind Enemy Lines

In 1944, George Zak, a 19-year-old U.S. Army private first class, was captured on the front line during the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and one of the deadliest battles of World War II in Europe. Forced to work as a slave laborer, George subsequently escaped from two prisoner-of-war camps.

Meanwhile, inside American-held territory, George's brother, Robert, a U.S. Army radioman, was determined to find where George might be held prisoner. Robert took his jeep and led his own personal rescue mission into enemy territory.

From the streets of a Bohemian enclave of Chicago to the forests of central Europe, these two brothers ventured to find each other. This is their story--and the story of a fast-fading generation of brave Americans who became accidental heroes in terror and under fire.