All language subtitles for M.P.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-BAWD_track3_[eng]

(mysterious theme music)

NARRATOR:
At a height of 1,917 metres,

Mount Washington
is a prohibited area.

Whoever wants to enter
has to hold a special permit,

like associate professor
Andreas Pfitsch

and his research team from
the University of Bochum, Germany.

NARRATOR: It's minus 20 degrees
Celsius at the base station.

Further up it's even colder.

A 13 kilometre ride on a snow cat
are awaiting the students.

An ascent with the heavy gear
would be too dangerous.

They haven't reached
their destination yet,

but even here,
the wind howls across the plain

at 120 km/h, hurricane force.

The research station
is right at the top.

The team wants to look the hurricane
in the eye for a whole week.

Mount Washington's
special geographical location

makes it the windiest
place on Earth.

It lies at the centre
of three storm tracks.

That's why it's always windy.

The bare white mountain ridge

pushes the layers of air together
causing a bottleneck.

The wind masses
have to flow through it.

The so called Venturi effect.

120 days of storm per year!

At top speeds of up to 240 km/h.

To demonstrate the effects
the extreme winds have,

the researchers carry out
an experiment.

Wrapped in warm clothes,

five students meet a rather unusual
challenge.

They intend to have breakfast
at the windiest place in the world.

Today's wind speed: just 50 km/h!

As soon as the milk touches the
students' clothes, it freezes over.

It's colder than
minus 20 degrees Celsius.

The windchill factor
turns it into minus 40.

On April 12 1934,

researchers measured the fastest
wind of all times here:

231 miles per hour,

which equates a speed of 372 km/h!

Our journey continues
on to a mysterious

and deserted place in Germany.

Another mystery lies in Peenemunde,

on a German island
in the Baltic Sea, called Usedom.

This ruin was top secret
73 years ago.

This is where the Nazis prepared
a new dimension of warfare,

a magic weapon
in the war against the Allies.

Today, this area
is strictly off limits.

Nevertheless photos of the
inside circulate on the internet.

Fascinating pictures, which these
two women have taken a shine to.

Anett and Theresa had to wait
for three months for their permit.

Today they are finally allowed
to do a photo shoot on the premises.

But the adventure
is not without danger.

That's why this guide
will accompany them.

Plus, they have to wear helmets.

NARRATOR: In spite of the dangers,

the women are looking forward
to seeing this forgotten place.

NARRATOR: First of all,
Philipp Aumann shows his guests

the way into the building.

Impressed, Anett and Theresa
examine the huge ruin.

How old might the building be?

Why is it so large?

When was it deserted?

NARRATOR: Only a few details
remind us of what took place here

75 years ago.

There are relics of train tracks
on the floor.

Does that mean an actual train

passed through
this industrial cathedral?

What kind of machines were attached
to these concrete bases?

One thing is for sure,
the war has left its mark here.

Anett and Theresa start preparing
for their photo shoot.

Soon, a model,
who they want to shoot

in front of this unique setting,
will be arriving.

Model Paola is already wearing
her costume for the shoot.

She is here
for the first time as well

and marvels at how
spooky this place looks.

It is in fact the location
of the infamous

Army Research Centre
of the Nazis.

This is the largest building
still intact.

In front of it, a rocket case.

This is where the first large rocket
of the world was developed,

the much trumpeted
"silver bullet,"

which was supposed to help achieve
the Endsieg, ultimate victory,

at a time when Germany
and its regime were lying in ruins.

NARRATOR:
The effort was in fact gigantic.

The Nazis invested
half a billion Reichsmark

in the build-up of the
Army Research Centre

and the developing of the rocket.

The famous engineer,
Wernher von Braun, and his team

needed many,
many launching attempts

to finally turn the first
large-scale rocket of the world

into a nightmare
for thousands of innocent civilians.

In 1942, the engineers celebrated
their breakthrough.

The V2 reached almost
five times the speed of sound

and flew as far as 84 kilometres.

The rocket was fuelled
by an explosive mixture:

alcohol and liquid oxygen.

NARRATOR:
For these gigantic amounts,

they needed
appropriately huge factories.

The construction of the factory
building took more than 2 years.

The facility was finally put
into operation in August 1942.

More than 70 years later,

at this once so threatening place,
the photoshoot is about to begin.

At the exact same spot where
Anett is now staging her model,

once stood five huge power units.

We show the present
and the past in one picture.

An air separation plant
produced the fuel for the rocket.

The air was compressed
under extreme pressure

and at the same time
cooled down until it liquified

and the oxygen could be
separated from the nitrogen.

The entire building was filled with
machines, pressure pipes and tanks.

15 tons of oxygen
were produced every day.

(steam engine whistles)

NARRATOR:
In fact, the plant was so huge

it had room for a whole steam train

pulling several
pressure tank wagons.

The liquid oxygen was loaded
onto the trains and then transported

to the place where the rockets
were being fuelled.

(dramatic music)

NARRATOR: Five tons of liquid oxygen
filled the tank of such a rocket.

The V2 was 14 metres high.

With a filled up tank,
it weighed almost 13 tons.

Its power plant burned
the incredible amount

of 125 litres of fuel per second.

As a comparison, a jumbo jet burns
less than three litres of kerosene.

NARRATOR: During the last
two years of the war,

the Nazis fired more than
3,000 V2 rockets

at England, France and Belgium.

(sinister music)

Around 8,000 people were killed.

Even more people died during
the production process of the V2.

Historians estimate that up to
20,000 forced labourers died.

NARRATOR:
Today, the Historic Technical Museum

is just a few hundred metres away
from the oxygen plant.

The large building
is the former power plant

in which the enormous
amounts of current

for the production
of oxygen were produced.

The story of what happened
after World War 2 is also told here.

In the looming cold war,
the Americans had no qualms

about employing
the German scientists.

In the USA, the Nazi engineers

were allowed
to continue working unmolested.

And the Soviet Union also built
their own rocket arsenal

on the basis of the
captured V2 technology.

(upbeat music)

NARRATOR: Back to the
photo shoot in the oxygen plant.

Anett is happy with the results,

even though the whole thing
feels awkward

considering the history
of this place.

NARRATOR:
What will happen in the future?

Historians would like to preserve
this place in its present state,

as a shattered monument
which visitors may not enter,

but take a look at.

So far, there is not enough
money to preserve the ruin.

But the oxygen plant could soon turn
into a valuable memorial

of the Nazi's megalomania.

Our next mysterious place is
situated right here, in Bangladesh.

A meadow strewn
with thousands of vehicles,

so-called bicycle rickshaws.

What's peculiar is that
this place is right in the middle

of a residential area.

Our investigations have revealed

that the bicycle rickshaw graveyard
is in Bangladesh.

Normally, rickshaws are the number
one means of transportation here.

Has this suddenly changed?
And if so, why?

In Bangladesh there are 1,000
inhabitants per square kilometre.

The capital, Dhaka,
has 14 million inhabitants.

Traffic is correspondingly chaotic.

Gigantic columns of cars,

but also a great many
bicycle rickshaws.

The closer we get to the city
centre, the more we encounter.

We get out of the car
at a popular crossing.

Do the inhabitants recognise
the meaning of this picture?

We ask our way around.

NARRATOR: Maybe a traffic
policeman is able to help?

They are all over the place.

And they also regularly stop
rickshaw riders.

Some vehicles
are even immobilised.

Were they driving too fast?

Maybe here we can
find out more about it.

- Hello. Can you show me something.
Can you tell me what this is?

NARRATOR:
We are kindly invited to the office

and we suspect
working conditions for policemen

are very different here.

The government is chronically broke.

Ahmed Ripan has been
a traffic policeman for 10 years.

He can be of assistance.

NARRATOR: With the company vehicle.

And this is what a police motorcycle
looks like in Bangladesh.

The state pays Ahmed
the equivalent of 100 Euros a month,

an average income which is
just about enough to survive.

Arrival at
the neighbouring district.

An entrance road
to a housing area.

And in fact,
here they are lying around!

NARRATOR: Most of the rickshaws look
like they were fully functional.

There must be
tens of thousands of them.

Piles of rickshaws,
simply ditched in the courtyard.

It's impossible to tell if anyone
is still going to make use of them.

Right in the middle,
children playing.

This used to be
their backyard playground

until it was turned
into a rickshaw graveyard.

Why do the police immobilise
such a vast amount of rickshaws?

We are invited to accompany Ahmed
on his next police operation.

A year ago,
the rickshaws were banned

from the much frequented main roads.

Some have to pay a fine
and just continue on afterwards.

But some are turned upside down.
Why?

NARRATOR:
Which is in fact very tricky.

More and more accidents
are occurring

between motorised vehicles
and rickshaws.

Every day, 2,000 new cars
are registered in Dhaka.

In order for them
to be able to move freely,

the rickshaws are banned
to the side streets.

There they jam the roads.

At present, there are about 400,000
rickshaws on the move in Dhaka.

But only 90,000 of them
hold a license.

But it's the easiest way
to find work in the city.

We accompany Shiraj Miah.

He's been holding a license
for many years.

NARRATOR: And since thousands
of illegal rickshaws

are competing as well,
prices have even gone down.

Shiraj's most important tool:
his bell.

The locals don't use the bell
to express their anger,

but to draw the other
road users' attention to themselves.

But hardly anyone looks
in their rear mirror here.

NARRATOR: Shiraj has to cope with
the dangers of his job, every day.

NARRATOR:
A high risk for a minimal wage.

On top of that continuous trouble
with the police,

if he sometimes does use
a banned road.

The first customer of today:
50 cents.

Then, two ladies: 70 cents.

Shiraj transports people
around town for 10 hours a day.

His daily wage, not even 3 Euros.

Life in the capital is too expensive
for a rickshaw rider.

That's why Shiraj and his wife
live on the other side of the river.

Ten years ago,
this was all fields and villages.

Now, you find lots of illegal slums.

But the government
can't simply pull them down.

There are simply too many people
seeking their fortune here.

(rickshaw bell rings)

NARRATOR:
This is Shiraj's home,

a typical backyard slum.

10 rickshaw families live here .
50 people in total.

They cook outside.
Life in the tightest of spaces.

Buli Miah, his wife,
has prepared dinner for him.

NARRATOR: The 6-square-metre hut
is only for rent.

NARRATOR: Shiraj sweetens his tough
everyday life by chewing betel nut.

Minced betel nut is the everyday
drug number one in Bangladesh.

It cheers you up.
Too bad it's bad for your teeth

and is highly addictive.

NARRATOR: Shiraj also has to pay
for his rickshaw.

It's not his,
but he hires it from a lessor,

to whom he has to give about a
third of his earnings on an average.

For this, Shiraj receives a vehicle
with a bicycle drive,

fossil technical equipment and
a colourfully ornated guest area.

The bicycle rickshaw
was invented by a British priest.

It hasn't changed appearance
since then.

Bishu Sarwar
is Shiraj's elder cousin.

He is over 70 and has been riding
rickshaws in Dhaka for 50 years.

He experienced how the work
became harder and harder.

NARRATOR:
The rickshaw riders of Dhaka.

They are facing dire straits,

and it looks like there is
little hope for improvement.

The poor rural population migrate
to the city in growing numbers.

The amount of illegal rickshaws
increases faster and faster.

And the police is losing more
and more control of the situation.

There isn't much space left
on theformerplayground

for additional rickshaws.

NARRATOR: That's the end
of this rather sad story

about this mysterious place.

Our destination
is the city of Nowa Sol.

On our journey, suddenly
this appears over the tree tops...

A gigantic statue
of the Polish pope, John Paul.

It was built
in the city of Nowa Sol.

Originally we didn't intend
to come here, to this gigantic pope.

It is standing in a pilgrimage city
called Czestochowa

It's quite a long detour,
but since we're here anyway,

we may as well stop to look at it.

Who in Nowa Sol
built this spectacular statue?

The statue of the pope
is situated in an amusement park.

A staff member tells us
it's the tallest in the world,

just short of 14 metres
and completely hollow.

90 % of the Polish people
are Catholic and deeply religious.

They adore their late pope and are
happy about his canonization.

The statue was even officially
blessed after it's erection in 2013.

And the employee is able to tell us
who in Nowa Sol made it.

Back on the road,
we can hardly believe our eyes.

Another giant statue!

This time, it's the highest Jesus
in the world.

With 36 metres, it's even higher

than the famous one
in Rio de Janeiro.

On site, we are told
that the priest who had it built,

lies buried at the foot of the hill.

But the giant Jesus
is not made of plastic.

It's made of cement
and wasn't made in Nowa Sol.

But one thing is for certain,

the Polish have a knack
for gigantic statues!

Finally, we're in Nowa Sol!

We have an appointment with the
production manager of the plant,

but we've lost our way once more

and end up on this
scary graveyard for figures.

(dog barks)

The watch dogs seem to be
quite alive, though.

Let's get out of here!

After a few phone calls,
it finally works out,

This is Michal, the production
manager of the company

who built the statue of the pope.

But before we look
at the production,

Michal wants to show us
Nowa Sol's landmark,

the largest garden gnome statue
in the world!

We can hardly believe it.

It's in the Guinness Book of Records
and a tourist magnet.

The giant gnomes are standing in
an amusement park full of figures.

The entrance is free.

But how has Nowa Sol
become the capital of statues?

NARRATOR: Made it!

We finally arrive at the company
which makes these figures!

Their portfolio covers a total
of a thousand different models.

In this room,
new figures are in the making,

a total of 25,000 a year.

This employee is grinding
giant Christmas tree balls

as decoration for department stores.

This tea pot is for a large
manufacturer of ceramics.

And this ice-cream cone
will soon be standing

in front of a German coffee shop.

The still hornless rhino is destined
for an English amusement park.

All of these cows go to France
as part of a worldwide art project.

NARRATOR: Everything started
with these: garden gnomes.

The company still has
some larger models on offer.

But meanwhile, the garden gnomes
are being produced

for far lesser money
in the Philippines.

The Polish are unable to compete
with their dumping prices.

NARRATOR: A very individual
hotdog figure is in the making here.

The first production step
is a drawing.

Because each customer wants to have
his figure a little bit different.

After that,
a first clay draft is modelled.

That sometimes takes
weeks of handcraft.

It is scanned in order
to create a 3D model.

That's necessary to later be able
to produce the figure

in every possible size

This machine costing 250,000 Euros

produces several models made of
Styrofoam or wood in varying sizes.

These prototypes also serve
as patterns for the casting moulds.

The actual figures are made
in old-fashioned handcraft.

These employees are in
the process of mixing resin.

With this,
they also fill in the moulds

and spread the pulp evenly.

This has to be done quickly
since the sticky resin

dries within minutes.

The glass fibre mats go on top,

saturated in a mix
of synthetic resin and lime powder,

which makes the surface
nice and smooth.

That, too, must be done quickly.

That's why several men
work on it simultaneously.

This production step
is called laminating.

This is how glass fibre
reinforced plastic,

colloquially called fibre glass,
is produced.

It is weather-proof and resistant.

After all, the figures
are made for being outside.

By the way, boats are made
in exactly the same way.

Next, the moldings are put together.

Now it becomes clear
that the figures will be hollow,

and for that reason,
relatively light.

But it still doesn't look
like a hotdog,

more like the egg of an alien.

After half an hour,
the men open the structure

and the figure gradually
becomes apparent.

The men wear gloves because the
fibre glass is still very hot,

a chemical reaction
of the plastic ingredients.

Our hotdog man is born!

The structures are not thrown away,
but safely kept for future figures.

Our freshly shaped hotdog man

still has protruding
resin remains at the joints.

After it has cooled off,

an employee removes those
and neatly grinds them down.

Now, colour comes into play!
The first step is the spraying.

Yet another employee is responsible
for the precision work.

Lips, eyes, tongue,
the 50 stars of the US flag,

and many small details.
Everything hand painted!

That takes several hours.

We didn't expect such an effort.
Our cameraman has to sit down.

At some point,
everything fits into place.

10 people have worked
for several weeks on this figure.

The owner of the German snack bar

will pay just about
400 Euros per piece.

Soon, our hotdog man
will stimulate people's appetite.

And now we know the secret
of our little Polish village.

Our next mysterious place
leads us to China.

This is how we normally see China:

huge housing blocks
with tiny apartments.

But we are looking for a village.

Allegedly, the richest village
in the world!

After a two-hour trip
we have arrived.

And even from far away,
the village looks quite unusual.

The entrance to the village
looks special, too.

The writing on
the golden arch reads:

"Huaxi, the first village
under the sky.

The richest and best
Chinese village."

What does that mean?
We are curious.

Apparently we are not the only ones.

Near the entrance,
we spot a group of tourists.

We join them
to get a first impression.

Four Euros for a ticket
and we're on board.

The richest village in China
is a true tourist magnet.

Two and a half million visitors
come here every year

and marvel at Huaxi's prosperity.

NARRATOR: In fact, everything
looks the same from the outside.

But for now, we are not allowed to
step outside and take a closer look.

The Chinese tourists don't mind,
they are delighted.

NARRATOR: Until 40 years ago,
Huaxi was an ordinary village.

But then, industrialisation began,

people became incredibly rich
and built hundreds of mansions.

The Chinese government
considered this a fine example

and declared Huaxi
to be a role model for all,

a communist model village.

Communism means
everyone works for everyone else.

All are equal,
and that's why everyone feels fine.

After three hours,
the tour ends on the city tower.

From up here,
we enjoy a bizarre view,

more than 200 mansions,
all exactly alike.

But what do the houses
look like from the inside?

We encounter the first obstacle.

China's Communist Party keeps the
model village like a state treasure.

It takes endless discussions
to convince the keepers

to grant us permission
to travel to the village centre.

And they keep following us around.

Huaxi's residential area.

Every day between 8 AM and 5 PM,

the inhabitants have to listen
to propaganda

blaring from loudspeakers.

(tune plays on loudspeakers)

Huaxi, seemingly
a closely guarded secret

we want to discover
step by step.

How do people live here?

The Chinese government sends us to
visit an especially selected family.

They live at the edge of the village

in Huaxi's brand new
luxury housing area.

Built for the best and most
hard-working inhabitants of all.

Our host: the Dschings.

Like everyone else in Huaxi,
they own 4 TVs and luxury equipment.

The amount of money
each single family in Huaxi

has at their disposal:
around one million Yuan,

a bit more than 100,000 Euros.

By the way,
in the communist model village,

everything is owned
by the village community.

Which means, if you leave Huaxi,
you lose it all.

The cars. The house. The money.

The inhabitant's abundance
exists only on paper.

Hua Dsching shares the 600 square
metre mansion with her daughter

and her son-in-law, Long Dsching.

NARRATOR: Long Dsching works
as a chief engineer

in one of the 80 factories
at the edge of the village.

All the inhabitants of Huaxi

have top office jobs
in senior management.

Two bathrooms on each floor
are absolutely normal

for these luxury mansions.

Long Dsching tells us that everyone
in Huaxi works 7 days a week.

Mostly in the steel, tobacco,
and textile industry.

So, who works on the assembly line?

Long Dsching's response:

cheap contract workers
from all over China.

NARRATOR:
The flip side of the coin,

there are 50,000 workers
living on the edge of the village.

They slave away
at the assembly line

and get a nice view of the
abundance on the other side.

The communist party
allows us to visit the factories.

To be more precise, a textile
factory especially selected for us.

This is where carpets and
synthetic fibres are produced.

Every factory worker
works 365 days a year.

And earns about 200 Euros a month.

More than the average Chinese,

but considerably less
than the inhabitants of Huaxi.

NARRATOR:
Allegedly, every hard-working worker

is given permission to live in Huaxi
after many years of work.

NARRATOR: Everyone's working,
but only a chosen few are rich.

That doesn't seem to be
the perfect communism.

We want to know
who is responsible for all of this.

So, we apply for an audience
with village-chief Wu Xien.

NARRATOR: So, that's why
Huaxi builds more and more

tourist attractions,

Aa exact copy of the
Parisian triumphal arch,

and of Beijing's Forbidden City,

ten kilometres of the Chinese Wall,

and a replica
of Sydney's Opera House.

Huaxi's latest symbol:
A gigantic luxury hotel.

Here, we experience
a touch of Dubai.

The tower was completed
right on time

for the 50th anniversary
of Huaxi.

The hotel is 328 meters tall,

the same height as the
tallest skyscraper in Beijing.

(dramatic instrumental music)

All of this was built
thanks to fast industrialisation.

And with the help of the
contract workers from out of town.

The communist model village Huaxi,

chosen by the Chinese government to
be the first village under the sky.

To be the best village
in all of China.

Subtitles by Sky Access Services