All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S05E05.A.Nation.Torn.Apart.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

Tom ward (narrates):
Coastal forts that are part

of a dramatic
world war ii story.

This site, on the end
of the breakwater here,

it feels like the key to
unlocking what all of this is about.

That's why I wanna get inside.

A vast complex that
helped to tear a nation apart.

In so many ways that are
so important to underscore,

it really leads to the expansion,
the entrenchment, of slavery.

And an island fortress surrounded
by scandals and cover-ups.

They destroyed the
buildings, burnt the files.

They didn't want people
to know what happened.

Decaying relics and
ruins of lost worlds,

they were forged
through years of toil

and are now haunted by the past.

Their secrets are
waiting to be revealed.

(Theme music)

Near the isle of Portland,
which lies off the southern coast

of england, is a place
that has a dramatic past life.

It's a monster of a structure,
solidly built, clad in metal,

with all sorts of additions

attached to the top
and the sides of it.

This is a genuinely
unusual structure.

This was not one simple
purpose-built structure.

This has evolved,
perhaps, over a century.

How is it linked to a
prison on the island?

At first glance, there don't
appear to be many clues.

You immediately wonder
what was kept out there?

Why was it separated
from the rest of the land?

This is an incredibly
claustrophobic structure.

It's hard to get in and it feels
like it's impossible to escape from.

The land nearby
the building is littered

with curious
reminders of its past.

As you pan out and
view the whole area,

you see an entire
series of structures.

This is something that is the result
of a serious engineering project

over a long period of time.

There is clearly so much
going on in this place

in different periods of history,

but just how it's all
related remains elusive.

So, what lies within
that circular structure,

and for what was it built?

During the second world war,
thousands of us troops arrived here

to prepare for what
would be the decisive battle

in the war against Nazi Germany.

But strangely, the constructions
here don't all appear

to be connected
to that epic story.

Rob bell has come to the
island of Portland to investigate

why this place became so important
during the fight against the Nazis.

I've come across a good few old
ruins and abandoned structures

dotted around the island now.

It's almost like you're gonna
bump into something hidden

around every corner,
and some of them look like

they're as solid as ever, but
others on the brink of collapse,

just falling to pieces.

Having obtained special
permission to look around,

Rob's now able to get a
glimpse of everything up close.

Looking over in these buildings
up here and these rooms

through the windows is
some old light fittings in there,

so there was electricity
supplied at some point.

Old furnace in here,
look, left rusting away.

Clearly providing heat
or power for some use,

but there doesn't seem
like there's any one structure

or any one single
piece of engineering

that tells you what
all of this was for.

But there's one feature
that really stands out.

Oh, this feels very,
very different here now.

I thought it was just another
old abandoned ruin here,

but this has a very
different form to it.

Look at this.

Ok. Right.

All of this circular structure
and this little raised platform here

in the middle, this tells me

this is some kind
of gun placement.

But not just any gun, look
at the scale of all of this.

The gun on there would've
been absolutely phenomenal.

During the second world war, this
place became packed with troops

and the eyes of all would've
been firmly fixed upon the horizon.

The Nazis, they were sending
the e-boats right near the shore.

U-boats were patrolling the
area and the whole region

was right on the
brink of the action.

The threat of attack was very real
because the German kriegsmarine

was targeting key naval positions
along the south coast of england.

The harbours here
were filled with ships,

all preparing for
the battle that would,

at last, turn the
tide of the war.

What you would see
are hundreds of ships,

all packed into
every available space.

All of this, all of the men
and the ships, are building up

to the decisive moment in
the war in Western Europe.

The remains scattered across
the area show very few signs

of that momentous event,
or the part they played in it.

But Rob is fascinated
by something else.

Some of the structures
here seem to belong

to a completely different era.

What's curious for me is that,
even from here, you can see,

looking up on the Ridge
of the cliffs up there,

there are big stone walls
that look like they date to way

before the second world war.

So, the question for me is,

what were all those
older buildings doing here?

And did they play a
role in making this area

so crucial in the
second world war?

To find the answers, Rob
is heading out to a structure

that stands apart from the rest,

at the end of the
harbour's breakwater.

I've been around a number
of the old abandoned sites

in this area now

but there's one that I've
only ever seen from afar.

It's that one over there.

I've got a sneaking suspicion
that's the one that's gonna help

expose the real story of what
this whole place was about.

There is what looks
like an old prison here,

although it has obviously
taken a battering

and is quite badly damaged.

It's hard to tell at first glance
whether those windows have been

sealed up to keep people
out or to keep people in.

Was it a quarantine site?

Or was it perhaps a prison?

Why were they trying to keep
it separate from the mainland?

Come and have a
look at this down here.

This feels like a massive clue

as to what this whole
place was about.

Those are huge guns.

I've been told
there's a definite link

between this site and the
prison over on the island.

When you see artillery of
this kind of scale out here,

that tells me that this
was some kind of fort.

So, what was the
link to the prison then?

I'm hoping if I get
inside, we'll find out.

Helping Rob is Gordon le pard,
a local marine archaeologist.

Like Rob, Gordon has never
before set foot inside the fort...

So this is his very first chance
to get a good look at the interior.

Wow.

This is certainly
very impressive.

Something I would like, if
you can, help me clear up here.

I know there was a link
to the prison with this fort,

but what exactly is that?

What it was, was that the prison
was built to supply the labour

to quarry the stone

and they built the
breakwater from there,

using the stone the
prisoners quarried.

The fort has natural defences
to the north, south, and west,

but it was still vulnerable
to an attack from the east,

a problem that the authorities in
the mid-19th century recognised

and were determined to address.

They decided to
build a breakwater,

which, when it was completed,
stretched for 1.5 miles.

This was a huge job, and
they used the prisoners

who were kept on the
island to man the quarry,

to create these huge blocks
to assemble these straight lines

that cut out into the sea.

This once formed the largest
manmade harbour in the world,

and it provided superb protection,
not only from enemy attack,

but also from powerful storms.

I mean, we've got a little bit of
daylight coming in through there.

Is that what I see from the
outside, those bricked up openings?

Yes.

They would've been open,

or at least with
metal covers on them

when they weren't in use.

Yeah.

But that was where the
guns pointed out and fired.

And we're talking about guns.

Are they the guns that I
saw down in the water there?

Almost looked like they'd
been dumped in a pile

next to the breakwater.

Yes, those... Those
are the breaches,

just part of the
guns that were here.

They're the first
guns that were placed

inside the fort in the 1870s.

To defend the sea leading towards
the harbour, 14 of these guns

were placed evenly
around the circular fort,

but who exactly was the enemy?

What was the threat?

What was the idea behind
building this fort then?

When it started,

there was a perceived
threat from the French.

They were fortifying
their own coast,

they were massively
mechanising their Navy,

and it was perceived
that they could be

a threat to the
southern English coast.

Britain and France had been
at each other's throats for years

and although there was
peace of sorts at the time,

there was this fear that a
new battle might be emerging.

So, the British decided
to construct forts

in English coastal waters.

You can see that one point it
was a well-engineered, thriving,

purpose-built location with
all of these passageways

and tunnels having
a specific use.

Oh, we're really descending
down here now, Gordon.

Look around you, though, still.

All these... these
handrails just rusted away.

But this was
just the first stage

of the isle of Portland's
modern fortifications.

Warfare was evolving and
Portland needed to grow

and expand.

As we'll see, every inch of
the site had a part to play.

This is one of the rooms

where the explosive
charges were kept.

Beside us, we've
got one of the hoists.

Some of these
round the edges here,

in would go the
shell and the charge...

Yeah.

..And the fuse, and
they would be hoisted up.

Well, what's the idea
of separating the shells

and ammunitions down
here from the artillery,

from the guns, up above?

If you had an
explosion up on top,

you did not want the
explosion to come down here.

It would be a disaster
if the explosion

was to get through to
one of the shell stores.

While the breakwater fort was
central to the defence of the area,

it was far from the
only piece of the puzzle.

Other fortified
defences were also built,

making it one vast
engineering project.

But when it was all completed,

there was a harsh
reality to be faced.

Military technology was
advancing at such a rate

around the turn of the century
that, by the time you built something,

it was already out of date.

These forts, they
were built as a reaction

to the threat from the French.

They took decades to build.

And, in fact, when
they were finished,

they were an embarrassment
because the threat had moved on.

Why would this
place, an apparent relic

from a previous century,
soon end up being chosen

to play a vital role in
the second world war?

The first clues can be
found on the roof of the fort.

What we've got, feels
like it's a gun turret and it...

It looks like it's almost
replicated over there.

But what strikes me is that
this seems way more modern

than the fort down below.

Oh, it is.

The fort itself was
built in the 1870s,

but it's been
constantly updated.

You can see the lots of
different periods culminating

in the second world war when
one of these two emplacements

had the last really active gun,

the bofors gun,
here in world war ii.

In 1940, Hitler's armies,
using the terrifying new tactic

of blitzkrieg, smashed their
way through Western Europe.

Suddenly, the south coast of
britain was very near the frontline.

In the harbour, you had large
targets for bombing attacks.

You would've had
guns here, bolted down,

where you can see
the fittings today.

The barrel pointing
up into the sky,

essentially as an anti-aircraft
gun, protecting the harbour.

But how would the area's
old defences withstand

what seemed to be an
inevitable German attack?

Now, back on dry land, Rob bell
has come to blacknor fort to see

how everything was made ready.

So, I'm up on the cliffs of the
West Side of Portland here,

with another enormous
gun emplacement.

Installations like this,
as well as a whole range

of other defensive structures,

were found right
along the south coast,

forming a strong defensive line.

From the end of the 19th century,
and through the years leading up

to the second world war,
improvements and modifications

were made to the harbour
and the areas beyond.

The breakwater was extended,
artillery positions were added,

and supporting forts and batteries
were built further along the coast.

These sometimes victorian,

sometimes first
world war structures,

received upgrades
so they're now capable

of dealing with the threat
that the Germans posed.

It was fear that that
Nazi attack was imminent.

In the summer of 1940,
battle of britain, Portland was,

in fact, an important
target for the luftwaffe.

Ships were sunk within the harbour,
Portland was also under repeated

bombing attacks during
day and night raids

from German medium bombers.

It was the mix of structures
and the solid additions

to the breakwater fort that
made Portland so effective

when it was finally
called into action.

What you see is a
evolution in this one location,

from the mid-19th century
into the mid-20th century.

And rather than you get
rid of these massive stone

armoured structures,
you adapt them.

In June 1944, the battle
that the isle of Portland

had been anticipating
finally arrived.

But the role it was going to
play was an offensive one.

And it wasn't Germans that
were landing here, but Americans.

It was chosen to play a key part

in the largest invasion
in history, d-day.

(Bomb explodes)

This place had everything it
needed, right from the start.

Its location gave it this barrier
of the beach down one side

and then the quarry for the
rock to build the breakwater

on the other.

They had incredible
foundations of defence all around.

So, add to that, the
upgrades it received,

you've got yourself a
place with the infrastructure

it needed to handle the
incredible responsibility

for what was to come.

From here, many of the 1,000
ships that made up task force o made

their way across the
channel to take the fight

to the Germans at Omaha
beach in northern France.

Thousands of troops lined up
to board those ships, all of them,

no doubt, anxiously
waiting that command

to go to filter down
from the powers above.

It's just impossible to
imagine the emotions

they must have
been going through.

Here, they were
in the relative safety

of the confines of this
well-defended harbour.

This place was
all about defence,

but that also made
it the perfect site

for the launch pad on d-day.

In the west, this is the
moment of world war ii.

If the allies can directly
attack the main force,

the wehrmacht on the
continent of Europe and defeat it,

the Nazi regime
will be brought down.

When that order finally came
on 6 June, 1944, all of those ships

sailed out past
the forts over there.

As eisenhower's order
stated, the tide has turned.

The freemen of the world are
marching together to victory.

After the war, with
the Nazi's beaten,

the breakwater fort was
gradually stripped of its weapons

and it was eventually
locked up for good.

Today, the harbour is
primarily used for commerce

and leisure, but the grand old
structures remain still standing

and proud of the
vital part they played

in bringing peace to the world.

In the heart of
america's deep south,

on the banks of Ortega creek,

are ageing remains
with an enduring legacy.

This is a site near
Montgomery, Alabama

that looks completely
out of place.

It's dominated by
this industrial complex,

which makes it resemble more
like a mill town in northern england.

As much as you see
these industrial buildings,

it's very hard to ascertain exactly
what these buildings were used for.

The sheer scale of the
operation suggests that,

whatever was made
here, was of great value.

A tunnel leads you
down to the water's edge

and there you encounter the
immense power of the river.

Clearly there was a
connection between the river

and what was going
on in this complex.

Inside, few signs of
this site's former glories

seemed to have survived.

It's amazing to
imagine that this quiet,

vast area would've
been bustling with noise

and chaos of
machinery in action.

Huge voids fill the
warehouse buildings.

This was clearly part of a major
industrial effort at some point.

Now, it's empty offices,
abandoned desks, typewriters,

paper strewn everywhere.

It seems like the place
was suddenly evacuated.

Up on the hill behind the complex,
there are more hints about its past.

An eery cemetery overlooks
the vast property below.

Two confederate flags stick
out of one of the gravestones.

The fact that there
are confederate flags

make you think that
there's a connection

to the civil war, to
sort of a bloody conflict

that ripped the country apart.

So, what was produced
here and what role did it play

in the terrible war that
scarred the soul of a nation?

Ann boutwell is an
Alabama historian

fighting to preserve the
extraordinary structures

that provide a window
into a lost world.

I tell people when you lose a
building you lose the opportunity

to tell the story of the people

who lived and worked
in those buildings.

The man behind this particular
site had a profound impact

on the southern United States.

What he made here would
help make america's economy

the most powerful in the world,

but also divide the
nation like never before.

Daniel Pratt arrived in
Alabama from New Hampshire

in the 1830s and he is literally

one of the south's
first industrialists.

At that time, Alabama
was pretty much still

wilderness areas and he
felt that he could provide jobs

and a better lifestyle
for the local people,

but he also, he was a visionary.

So, he's building a
complex of a scale and size

that people in Alabama
would not have seen before

and he is building it
so that he can produce

one of the most important
machines of the early 19th century.

Surely not even Daniel Pratt
could've imagined the wealth

his machine would generate

or the destructive
impact it would have.

Initially, Pratt came to Alabama
just with the sole purpose

of building and
selling cotton gins.

The cotton gin
revolutionised cotton farming

because of the speed
at which it could comb

the fibres out of the seeds.

This machine could actually
process 50 pounds of cotton,

as opposed to one pound
doing the whole process by hand.

Originally invented by Eli
Whitney four decades earlier,

the machines true potential
was only fully realised

when Pratt spotted an
opportunity in a growing market.

Whitney first
patented it in 1794.

He wouldn't see much profit from it,
oddly enough, though by the middle

of the 19th century,
cotton would become

the single largest export
of the United States.

Before long, Pratt's empire
was rapidly expanding.

The gin company that he built

became the largest
gin factory in the world.

He was shipping cotton
gin's to France and Russia.

It underscores why
Pratt is one of the first

major industrialists
in the south.

Pratt was so successful he
built an entire town in the image

of his New Hampshire home to
house the ever-increasing workforce.

He even named it after himself.

His fingerprints can be
found all over prattville.

Absolutely it was Pratt's town
and most of the people worked

in his industries and went
to the churches that he built

and the schools
that he provided.

The town of prattville
was held up as an example

for other southern
towns to follow.

So, there's a uniformity, there's
a sense of something, again,

sort of evoking new england
that was sort of purposefully built

and created by Pratt in terms

of the vision that
he had for prattville.

Yet, while Pratt's machine
was creating jobs and prosperity

in prattville, it was having
a very different impact

on other people's lives.

Ironically enough, it was
this very modern invention,

the cotton gin, that
created a demand

for a older and more
traditional form of labour.

Slave labour.

Up until then, cotton seeds had

to be separated from
the fibres by hand.

Now, machines sped
up the whole process.

Increased productivity
meant that the demand

for southern cotton
labourers skyrocketed.

Labour that was provided
by slaves in the field.

Cotton is a crop that doesn't
exhaust the soil so much,

and by creating a machine
that cleans it more rapidly,

the cotton gin literally,
literally enables the expansion

of slavery into the deep south.

Pratt manufactured a machine
that not only revolutionised slavery

in america, but entrenched it.

A devout Christian from the
north, Daniel Pratt wrestled

with the clear conflict between
his deep religious beliefs

and his personal
ownership of slaves.

The dark shadow of a looming
war meant that it was a dilemma

he'd soon have to resolve.

The family graveyard that
overlooks the old factory reveals

which side Pratt
eventually chose.

He's a northerner in
the south, so he argues

against a session, perhaps
out of a commitment to union,

but ultimately, when
the south succeeds,

he throws his hat in
with the confederates.

There was even a military
company named after him,

the prattville dragoons,
which he supplied with artillery.

The factory also
supplied textiles,

which would be used
in confederate uniforms.

The fighting during that
terrible conflict took place

mainly on southern soil
and inevitably it eventually

found its way to prattville.

It threatened the very survival

of Daniel Pratt's
cotton gin factory.

We do know that there
were troops in this area,

but we have been
puzzled, to this day,

as to why Pratt's industries
were not destroyed.

We don't know if that was
because he had some influence,

because he was a yankee,
or what caused the union

to leave his industries alone.

Whatever the reasons,
Pratt's complex

was undamaged by the fighting.

Unfortunately, the same
couldn't be said of his finances.

The people that had
worked in his factories,

especially those that had sold
his products across the south,

were called to
serve in the military.

And because of the war,
blockades were put in place

and Pratt wasn't
able to export his gins,

and that had a massive
impact on his business.

And, worst of all, he
was paid in war bonds,

in confederate money, that
would eventually be worthless.

The war is very
costly to Daniel Pratt.

Some scholars argue that he
lost about half a million dollars

and that the war comes
close to ruining him financially.

When the civil war ended,
the prospects for Pratt's

cotton gin business
looked bleak.

Faced with the harsh realities
of post-war reconstruction,

how would the factories
and town they built survive?

It took him quite some time
to get his industries restarted

and get the
production levels up.

He was determined to do
that, and he was eventually

able to recover that well.

In fact, Pratt somehow not
only revived his own business,

but he also helped to speed up
Alabama's economic recovery.

That meant there was a future
for people like Ernie Edwards,

who worked here well
into the 20th century.

When we were very busy and
cotton was at a peak price-wise

and machinery
was selling very well,

uh, we might have three
shifts running in here.

But sadly, it didn't last.

In 2009, the vast halls fell silent
for the first time in more than

150 years as the
business struggled

to compete in a fast-changing
economic market.

I miss the people.

Miss the people more
than anything else.

And it's sad to see, as
you go through that plant,

and see the
condition that it's in.

I'd like to see the...
The industry come back.

Locals are fighting to save

what remains of this
important historic site.

It still faces an
uncertain future.

It looks like it's gonna be
converted into apartments

and office spaces rather
than being torn down entirely,

so at least the
distinct architecture

and some element of the history
of this site will be preserved,

one hopes.

In the heart of the
mediterranean sea

sits the lovely island of crete.

Tucked away in one
of its bays is a tiny

but very dramatic islet.

It's such a beautiful island.

This is paradise.

But as you approach,

these foreboding
walls loom over you.

And now it starts to take
shape that this is a fortress,

and a strongly built one.

So, it looks like they
were defending themselves

from an outside force,

or perhaps they were trying
to keep those on the island in.

Inside the outer walls,
cavernous walkways and tunnels

lead to a mixture of
ruined stone buildings.

So, who lived here,
and did they interact

with the people on the mainland?

Back then, it was forbidden
for anyone to visit the island.

The truth is, by the afternoon, I
couldn't wait to get out of here.

This island has
become famous now,

yet little of the truth
is actually out there.

And when you learn about it,
you see that the government have

tried to cover it all up.

What was the secret of this place
and why did the Greek government

try so hard to convince
people that it didn't exist?

These imposing walls were
built by the venetians back

in the 16th century and
they were part of a fort.

But, as time went on,
these walls became used

for a slightly
different purpose.

This island, up until the 1900s,
was inhabited by the Turks.

They wanted to drive the Turks
from the island, so that's why

they decided it would be a
good idea to bring the lepers here,

so the Turks would go away.

After that, a Danish doctor
decided to use the island

as kind of an
experiment, a clinical trial.

That Danish doctor
was the seemingly

all-powerful edvard ehlers.

He believed, like everyone
at the time, that leprosy

was contagious and
that, after ten, 20 years,

when all the lepers had
been sent here and died off,

the mainland would
be free of leprosy.

This is spinalonga.

It would eventually become a part
of an infamous government cover-up.

Greek lepers were once
rounded up and deported here.

Even the most beautiful place,
if you are imprisoned within it,

can turn into a horror.

So, how did this island paradise
become a place of nightmares?

And why did the authorities
want to hide its secrets?

These lepers had bells
strung round their necks to warn

the healthy they were near.

And when they arrived,

they were faced with
an imposing entrance.

This one, designated for lepers,
was nicknamed Dante's gate,

in reference to hell.

One story goes that a wife
couldn't bear to be separated

from her husband,
couldn't bear to leave him,

to have him deported
there by himself,

that she actually injected
herself with his blood,

so that she become
infected with leprosy as well.

Leprosy sufferers
here lived in harsh,

almost inhumane, conditions.

It was around 1910, when
a girl, a young woman,

that was about to get married,
was diagnosed with leprosy.

They brought her
here, but at that time,

life here was extremely harsh.

Shortly after arriving,
she was raped.

So, what she did was she
took herself up to the tower

and committed suicide.

She would rather be dead
than live on that island.

That's how horrible it was.

But doctor ehlers did little
to alleviate the suffering.

He offered no
treatment or medicine.

He even prevented news
reports of potential medical cures

from reaching the
leper community.

From then onwards, everyone
was out for themselves.

Everyone would only
see to their own needs,

and if they had to step on
someone else, they would.

So, what became
of the lepers here?

When writer and
anthropologist, Maurice born,

first visited
spinalonga in 1968,

it was no longer a leper colony

and the island was
closed to outsiders.

He made it his mission to
reveal the island's dark past.

When I was here in crete,
whenever I would go through

the archive records,
remoundakis' name

would keep coming up.

Born decided to seek out that
man, epaminondas remoundakis.

He tracked him down to
a leprosarium in Athens

from where remoundakis began
to reveal the secrets of spinalonga.

He started with his
own remarkable story.

He had leprosy
from the age of 12.

His family helped him escape
crete for Athens, joining his brother,

using the big city for
cover, trying to blend in.

He tried to get an education
so he would truant from school

or move schools so he
wouldn't be found out,

and he did manage to
graduate from high school

and even got a law degree,

but then one day his
secret was discovered.

His arrival in 1936 would have
a dramatic effect on the island.

One of the first and the only
lepers who could read and write,

he was asked by the others
to try and lead the community,

to organise them, and help
create better living conditions.

So, remoundakis formed a
society, the brotherhood of the sick.

First, they created a set
of laws and tried to get

the whole community working
for themselves and for each other.

They cleaned streets,
painted the houses,

organised games and music,

and once they had gotten
their own community in order,

remoundakis started
writing letters to the outside,

trying to change people's
image of what leprosy was

and trying to campaign
better treatment

for the people stuck
in this veritable prison.

Remoundakis and his brotherhood
were determined to escape

their island prison and
return to their families.

Doctor ehlers was, however,

far from pleased with
what was going on.

The director of the
leprosarium tried

to put an end to all this.

He tried to quash any hope amongst
the residents, and he forbade them

from intimacy, but that failed.

The resident's fell in
love, they had families,

and they even had children.

The Greek orthodox religion,
with its strong emphasis on family,

was something even doctor
ehlers could not overcome.

And anyway, times were changing.

In 1937, a team from Athens,
including nurses, came to take

the children away to a newly
formed orphanage in the capital.

Now, surprisingly, the
lepers accepted this because,

like any parent, they wanted
the best for their children

and they thought the
best lives for their children

would be away from this island,

in a city where there
was proper healthcare

and just the opportunities
that a big city brings.

In 1941, just a few years
after their children had left,

a cure for leprosy, at
last, became available.

It seemed that the
long years of suffering

were finally coming to an end.

(Speaks Greek)

So, the cure did not arrive
here on the island until 1948.

Then, after six or seven
months, everyone was cured.

But neither the state nor the locals
who were making an income out

of the island wanted
the lepers to leave

or for spinalonga's
leprosarium to be closed down.

Still shunned by
both state and society,

the lepers were
held here until 1957,

a full 16 years after the
cure was available to them.

It was the final leper
colony in Europe to close.

It was then made out
of bounds to the public.

For two years,
remoundakis worked

with born to bring the island's
dark story to the wider world.

But when Maurice returned
to the island in the 1980s,

he was surprised to find
someone had already been there.

Someone who had been
trying to destroy the evidence.

I can tell you that when
I was here on the island,

all of the archived
records were here.

They were all scattered
on the pharmacy's floor.

Unfortunately, I did
not steal any of them

because now everything is lost.

All of them.

No trace of the
records exists anymore.

Everything was
burned in the 1980s.

But the operation here went
way beyond simply burning files.

And so it happened.

Everything that was specially
built from the 1930s to the 1940s

was destroyed and the records
I'm telling you about were burnt,

so today there are
not many things left.

Born believes it was all
part of an official cover-up.

But the state would lie to
the world health organisation.

They were making up numbers,
concealing the truth, lying.

Ironically, the
mysteries of the island,

with its rumours of a
cover-up, simply served

to increase interest
among tourists,

helping it to become

one of the most visited
historical sites in crete.

Despite the destruction
of so much evidence,

spinalonga has
a powerful legacy,

which lives on in no small part

thanks to the work of
epaminondas remoundakis.

(Speaks Greek)

He died in agia
varvara leprosarium

in 1978 from a heart condition.

Until the end, he was still
fighting for leper's rights.

I lost not only a good friend,
but one of the most original

and sincere people I
have ever met in my life.

Now, they are
abandoned crumbling ruins.

Many remind us of dark times,

but some were once
beacons of hope

and progress,

lasting testimonies
to human imagination,

enterprise, and spirit.

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