All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.Alaskas.Fort.Apocalypse.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup

Narrator: A vast, snow-covered
behemoth in alaska...

Auerbach: A lot of this damage
that you see around here --

It's obvious it came
from the weather.

But something else happened.

It feels like something
more powerful hit this place.

Narrator:
...An industrial wasteland

Filled with rusting relics...

Bell:
The strangest thing about it all

Is that it somehow feels
scarred,

Like the building
and the decaying trains

Have suffered
through the history.

It's like a dark secret that's
been locked away for decades.

Narrator: ...And a long,
stretching formation

That leads straight
to the horrors of war.

♪

Engineering marvels
now abandoned,

Ruins shrouded in mystery.

Within these decaying structures
are the echoes of history.

They speak of death
and destruction,

But also human ingenuity
and endeavor.

Each haunted shell ready
to be unmasked

And tell its own unique story.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

In the icy wilderness
of southern alaska,

In the small town of whittier

Stands a colossal
concrete construction.

Bell:
It's this epic scene.

You reach it by crossing
these freezing-cold waters.

And then, suddenly,
there's this small town

At the base of a mountain.

Narrator:
In this barren landscape,

One ruined super-structure
overshadows everything.

The first thing that strikes you
about this place

Is the sheer scale
of the building.

You're talking about a space
that has the same interior area

As five football fields.

Behind shattered windows
and icy staircases,

The building hides
hundreds of derelict rooms.

From the outside, it's not
obvious what this place is,

And when you get inside,
the mystery remains.

There's so much in there.

This is essentially
a tiny fishing village,

And it's dominated
by one gigantic building.

Why would a town this small need
a building this enormous?

Narrator:
It may still be standing,

But this vast construction has
been ravaged by the elements.

It snows 22 feet a year here.

That's 1,000 times
the national average.

Nature's spent years
hammering away at this place --

Cold, harsh winds
beating every inch of it.

But this isn't a weak building,

And it feels like something
far more powerful

Than just weather
has struck this place.

This building would find itself
at the center

Of one of the 20th century's
greatest conflicts,

Playing a part
in averting nuclear war

As well as coming face-to-face

With one of nature's
gravest dangers.

This mammoth construction
may look like

It's in the middle of nowhere.

But at a certain point
in the 20th century,

Alaska became a hotbed
of military activity.

Prior to 1940,

There is a very small population
in whittier.

And then world war ii comes.

Alaska is vulnerable.

It is seen as a possible place
that might be attacked

By the likely enemy,
which is the japanese.

Narrator: The american military
began building up

Their presence in alaska.

And as the second world war
came to an end,

This remote northern territory

Gained a new
strategic importance.

At this point, alaska had been
part of the u.S.

For less than a century.

In fact, alaska used to be
russian territory.

It wasn't bought by the u.S.
Until 1867.

Narrator: It's this historic
link that offers a clue

To the purpose
of this monolithic building.

At the northernmost edge
of the pacific,

Alaska occupies the area between
north america and russia.

We tend to think of these two
countries as being miles apart,

On different sides of the globe
from each other.

But from a different
perspective,

You can see they're
practically neighbors.

Narrator: And as tensions rose
between the superpowers,

The threat, however small,
of a russian attack on alaska

Focused american attention
on this remote region.

But what if it became
a soviet territory?

Suddenly, it would look
very different

And would be a very dangerous
prospect for the u.S.

Auerbach:
In a worst-case scenario,

The u.S.S.R. Gains control
of alaska.

They've got a foothold
for launching troops,

Launching missiles,
launching planes.

You don't want the soviet union

With territory
just off your northern border.

Narrator:
In 1950, the americans sprung
into action and built this --

The buckner building,

A cold war
u.S. Military facility.

It would play a crucial role
in america's battle

For survival
against the soviets.

Brenda tolman,
a longtime whittier resident,

Has lived in its shadow
for nearly 40 years.

Tolman: Built in the early '50s
and surplussed out in '58,

The building has had
no maintenance

In about almost 70 years

And still stands as strong,
probably, as when it was built.

Narrator: The site in whittier
was constructed at the same time

As a massive expansion
of the u.S. Army.

This one structure was designed
to accommodate

Up to 1,000 soldiers,
or an entire battalion.

What we're looking at here
is what was once

The largest building in alaska.

Bell:
It is a vast complex.

It's got six visible floors,

And then another basement level
hidden away underneath.

Corum:
It will have your troops.

It'll have your medical support,

People for security,
your military police.

Auerbach:
It had accommodation.

It had a canteen.
It had a movie theater.

It had a rifle range.

It even had a bowling alley.

Corum:
Normally in a u.S. Army post,

These things are scattered
over a large area.

Here, you have them
all concentrated in one place.

Narrator:
Covering 275,000 square feet,

This enormous concrete bunker
was a city under a single roof

So that if it came to it,

None of the 1,000 troops
would ever have to leave.

But why would such an extreme
arrangement be necessary?

And what devastating force

Would finally shake
this building to its core?

♪

Narrator: In alaska stands the
snow-topped buckner building,

A cold war military facility

Designed to provide everything
an army battalion could need,

All within
one mammoth construction.

Because in this place you get
such a massive snowfall

During the year,

It made perfect sense

To put everything
into one building.

Narrator:
It was crucial to the u.S.

That the buckner building
could withstand

The worst
of the alaskan weather.

The reason whittier was built

Was because it's an ice-free,
deep-water port.

It was built to bring supplies
to interior alaska by rail.

95% of everything consumed
in alaska is brought in.

47% of that still comes
through the port of whittier.

This was the u.S. Military's
primary route into alaska.

Troops, weapons, equipment,
all had to come through here.

It needed to be up and running
365 days a year.

Otherwise, the whole operation
would be at risk.

Narrator: The buckner building
allowed the u.S.

To maintain control of
and access to alaska.

As the threat of an aerial
attack by the soviets increased,

This territory became even more
crucial to america's survival.

Corum: In the cold war equation,
alaska is very important

Because one of the best routes
to attack the united states

With nuclear weapons
is over the north.

Narrator: A series of
radar stations were built

To warn the u.S.
If soviet planes,

Potentially
carrying nuclear weapons,

Were hurtling
towards their shores,

And many of them were in alaska.

Bell: Without alaska, any attack
coming from that direction

Wouldn't be picked up
until it was too late,

Leaving very little time
to react

And, possibly,
a deadly scenario to follow.

Narrator: But these defenses
could only be maintained

If american forces and supplies
could reach them,

Via whittier
and the buckner building.

The was incredibly well-built --

Thick concrete walls,
solid structural foundations.

It was designed to survive

Whatever the soviets or nature
could throw at it.

Narrator:
Would an attack by the russians

Leave the buckner building
in the line of fire?

By the end of the 1950s,

Weapon technology
had advanced dramatically.

The invention
of intercontinental

Ballistic missiles

Meant the soviets could launch
a nuclear attack on the u.S.

From thousands of miles away.

So why go through
the extraordinary expense

And trouble of maintaining
this massive military facility

On the edge of nowhere?

Narrator: In 1960, the military
moved out of whittier,

And the city under one roof
was left empty.

In the end,
it wasn't the cold war

Which put buckner's engineering
to the test.

In 1964, a natural disaster
devastated alaska.

Whittier is hit by the largest
earthquake in u.S. History --

9.2 on the richter scale.

Tsunami over 40 feet
kills 139 people,

13 of them in whittier.

But despite this devastation,
the building survives.

The ground moved
for three minutes,

And the building stayed up.

They built this thing right.

♪

Narrator: Today, the buckner
building is derelict,

But this massive feat of
engineering is still standing --

A monument to america's
determination to defend itself,

Even in the harshest
of conditions.

♪

In the southwest of Spain,
in the city of seville,

Is a landscape of confusing
and surprising structures.

Meigs:
There are a number of odd,
kind of whimsical elements.

There's a large rocket,

Something that looks like
a giant satellite dish.

You have a platform for a train.

You have a globe.

You have a bridge
that doesn't go anywhere.

It's almost as if some child
was imagining

The super-fantastic city
of the future,

Starting building it,
and then got bored

And went out to play
and left his toys on the floor.

Narrator: But this is no
ordinary abandoned site.

In fact, much of it
is filled with activity.

Barratt: On one side, we've got
these crazy pockets

Of abandoned space.

But on the other side,
we're in a modern, bustling city

Full of people working
and going about their business.

Meigs: If there's a message
to all this architecture,

It's kind of hard
to figure out what it is.

And why were
some parts preserved

And other parts left to decay?

♪

Narrator: With its original
completion in 1992,

The remains of this site today

Are torn between the updated
and the neglected.

But at the start,
this was a chance

At something new
for the city of seville.

In the 1970s, Spain went through
an amazing transformation,

And they managed to convert from
a fascist dictatorship

To a free, democratic society
without violence,

Without a revolution.

This was a first.

Narrator:
Spain's success continued,

And this site was supposed to be
a bold statement

Of the country's intent
for the future.

Spain began to boom,

And all through the '80s,
this country that had been

An economic
and cultural backwater

For a few decades
was all of a sudden

Entering the elite nations
of europe and the world.

Narrator:
Peaking in the early 1990s,

With this site, Spain was
garnering the world's attention.

But the result today

Doesn't necessarily
speak clearly of success.

1992 for Spain is a new start.

Suddenly, we're into
the modern age.

We're moving forward,

And Spain is about to announce
its arrival on the world stage.

Narrator: This is the site
of the 1992 world expo,

Or world's fair.

To host an expo
is about dreaming big.

It's about looking forward
to the future

And showing the world
what your country can do.

They get remembered.

They are huge --
not a one-day event.

It's not a week event --
six months,

And with millions of visitors.

And the legacy they leave
lasts for years.

Meigs: Spain really had
a lot to be proud of,

And they wanted to show it off
to the world.

They wanted to tell
the other elite nations,

"we've joined your club.
We've arrived."

Narrator:
But during construction,

It would be hit by disaster.

So was the whole event
cancelled and abandoned

Before it even got started?

♪

Narrator: In seville,
the strange mix of structures

Of the former expo '92 site

Conceal the message of
what that event was all about,

As joe cooper,

The former british commercial
consul of seville, explains.

Cooper: These structures here
in front of us

Are really symbolic
of what the expo's all about.

The main theme of the expo
was about celebrating

The 500th anniversary
of the discovery

Of the new world by Spain.

But also, it was about
projecting, if you like,

An image of Spain as a modern
country looking forward,

Being involved in discovery
in the future, as well.

In that context, all these weird
and wonderful things

Start to make a bit more sense.

Narrator:
All around the site

Are grand gestures
towards this idea,

And over 100 nations got to work
building their own pavilions.

But keeping to schedule
on the largest expo ever

Was a monumental challenge,

And as time slipped away,
the pressure grew.

One could say that Spain was
overly ambitious with the expo.

Barratt:
Project-managing infrastructure
on this scale is a nightmare,

Especially with that deadline.

An opening ceremony
cannot be moved.

Gough:
They were trying to do too much

In a short period of time,

And it could lead to problems.

Narrator:
The hosts were building

A number of themed structures,

Like this --
the future pavilion.

But as they rushed to finish off
another, disaster struck.

The discovery pavilion,
unfortunately,

Caught fire
just before the expo started.

You know, doing lots of things
together, as it were --

Painting and welding
at the same time --

Pots of paint on the floor

And welders up above
on the ceiling,

A spark fell down,
and it all caught fire.

Narrator:
With thick clouds of black smoke

Pouring out of the pavilion

And abandoned ruins scattered
across the site today,

It seems this could have been
the end of the dream.

But it turned out to be
just a small stumble.

Despite the problems,
the expo was a huge success.

They had a record number
of visitors

From all over the world.

If Spain wanted to show off
to the world

That they'd arrived,
they really succeeded.

Barratt: Over 240,000 people
turned up every single day

To look at these buildings,

To wander through
these structures.

What an incredible success.

Narrator:
Over 41 million visitors
came to see the expo,

Many working their way
along this stretch here

Which used to be
a flowing canal.

You could either come here
by boat,

Or you could come
by the cable car,

Or you could just simply
walk across one of the bridges

That linked the city
to the site.

People would visit
the pavilions.

They had a good look around
and then came out

And went on to the next one,
and so on and so forth.

Narrator: But the site today
shows a strange mix

Of use and neglect.

So what happened
after the success?

At the end of an expo,
everyone disappears.

The site has done its job,
and what you're left with

Is this crazy aftermath
of an engineering party.

And how different countries
choose to move on is up to them.

Narrator: Often, what's left
behind after such events

Is an alien-looking wasteland.

But not here, as luis pérez,

Innovation manager of the site,
explains.

Over the years, many buildings
have been replaced,

While others have been
renovated and repurposed.

♪

Today, just a few solitary
structures remain

In fenced-off areas,

With the most recognizable
having been saved for last.

The rocket
and the satellite dish --

They've become quite iconic.

And gradually,
they're gonna get absorbed.

And once again,
this area will be redeveloped

And thronged and busy
with people with new purpose.

♪

Narrator:
Near germany's western border,

Cutting across
the quiet countryside

Is a strange line
of concrete spikes.

♪

Nusbacher: You start passing
the first bits of concrete,

And you think that maybe you're
gonna go three or four meters

And you'll be past it.

And there's more...

And there's more,
and there's more.

Meigs:
You could be walking through
a field or through the woods,

And here and there catch sight

Of remnants
from a different era.

It's not really clear
what it is.

Narrator:
These bizarre relics

Are a reminder
of this location's dark past.

The rows of concrete teeth
are not alone.

Across this rural landscape
are dozens of other structures,

And they all bear the marks
of a violent end.

Meigs: There are
these concrete structures

Hidden throughout the woods,

Just coming out
from under the moss

And under the tree branches.

You might see these structures
and really wonder what they are.

What purpose did they serve?

Nusbacher: We're used to seeing
concrete that's degraded,

That's crumbled.

But this concrete has been hit
with something very heavy

Over and over again.

They look like
they've been smashed.

Narrator: So, what connects
these forgotten ruins?

And what brutal events left them
in this shattered state?

♪

Construction of
these concrete spikes,

Known as dragon's teeth,

Began in the years
leading to the second world war,

When hitler hoped to shore up
germany's defenses

Along its western border,

As local expert
michel baert explains.

Hoping to stop an enemy
tank invasion in its tracks,

The construction was a simple
but effective fortification.

Running north to south

Across almost 400 miles
of german countryside,

This defensive network
was known as the west wall,

Or the siegfried line.

But with the nazis invading
other countries in the war,

Was this defensive line
ever called upon?

♪

Narrator:
Along germany's western border

Are the remains of
a vast defensive network

Built in the late 1930s

That stretches from the
netherlands down to switzerland.

Corum: The siegfried line is
actually not a continuous line

Or a continuous defense.

Certain areas are
fairly heavily defended

With clusters of bunkers
and anti-tank defenses.

Some areas are
much less defended

Due to the hilly terrain.

Narrator:
Running for hundreds of miles

And designed according
to the terrain

And likelihood of attack,

Dragon's teeth were installed
in vulnerable areas

With some locations having
multiple layers.

But to make it all function
as a unified defense,

It required
a deeper infrastructure.

Meigs:
Really, it's more like a zone,

In many cases going
miles deep into germany,

Of a combination
of different kinds of defenses.

Narrator:
In 1938, hitler showed off the
strength of the siegfried line

In a specially
commissioned film.

But not all was as it seemed.

Corum:
Hitler gave the impression
that the siegfried line

Was like the maginot line,
with massive underground forts.

In reality, this is a very
relatively thin defense line.

This is not
an impregnable defense line.

It had great propaganda value
at home.

As hitler was getting
his country for war,

It helped him reinforce the idea
that he was protecting

His people
from these hostile neighbors.

Narrator:
So was this a real defense?

With the nazis invading poland

And then quickly
overrunning France,

By 1940, the siegfried line
was left behind,

And the guns and equipment
were stripped out.

But the damage wrought
on these defenses shows

This wasn't
the end of the story.

The one thing I don't think
hitler did plan on

Was the situation in which
the line finally did become

Quite useful to the germans.

After the d-day invasion
of normandy,

The allies were slowly advancing
towards the german borders.

The siegfried line then became
an important part

Of their defenses.

Narrator: In 1944, the germans
quickly scrambled to defend

The ill-equipped line.

Meigs:
They began to deploy troops.

They began to dig new trenches.

And they really got the line
fully occupied and staffed up

Only a few days before
the allied forces reached it.

Narrator: Some parts of the line
were easily broken.

But early gains in areas like
the huertgen forest near aachen

Soon turned into slow
and costly battles.

The fighting in the huertgenwald
is immensely difficult.

The germans are defending area
that is densely wooded,

And that not only means that
it's hard to see other people --

It's hard to see the enemy --

It also means
it's hard to use artillery.

Corum: Because aachen was
symbolically very important,

The germans placed a priority
on its defense.

And, in fact,
a few first-rate troops managed,

In that very horrible terrain
in very, very bad weather,

To slow down,
inflict a great many casualties,

The american army.

Narrator: On September 19th,
the u.S. Army began

Fighting their way through
the suffocating woodland.

The siegfried line was finally
being put to the test.

Meigs: A defensive zone
like the siegfried line --

It doesn't have to be
impenetrable.

In fact, in some places,
they made it intentionally weak

So if the allied forces
were to penetrate through it

And move a few miles
into german territory,

Then they might get bogged down
in a deeper area

Where there are more
hidden bunkers, more tank traps.

Corum: The terrain in
the huertgen forest

And the approach to aachen
is very tough terrain.

It's very hilly.
There are many ravines.

It's easy to channelize
the attacker.

Narrator:
A first row of dragon's teeth

Was sometimes followed up
by a second row,

Offering up two points to stall
and attack the enemy.

Beyond this, often in woodland,
were pillboxes waiting

For an unsuspecting
advancing infantry.

The result could be devastating.

But to make it all work,
communication was key.

♪

Narrator: The u.S. Army was
about to engage

In one of the longest
and deadliest battles

In their history.

♪

Narrator:
In the fall of 1944,

The u.S. Army was fighting
through the defensive zone

Of the siegfried line
in the huertgen forest.

With little tank, artillery,
or air support,

Almost every inch of terrain
had to be taken the hard way.

Nusbacher:
The american army fights its way
through the huertgen forest

By clawing their way
through those woods

And dying in the process.

Narrator:
For three months,

Little progress was made
by either side,

But tens of thousands died
in the campaign.

Finally, the germans mounted
a counterattack to the south,

Now known as
the battle of the bulge.

But with their eventual defeat,

The allies soon crossed
the siegfried line

And headed for
the heart of the reich.

Meigs:
By the time they broke through

In February of 1945,
they had also decimated

The strongest elements
of the german military,

And that meant the path
to berlin was much easier

Than it otherwise
might have been.

Narrator: Today,
much of the siegfried line

Has since been demolished
or removed.

But the sacrifice made to break
through these fortifications

Should not be forgotten.

In central europe, in hungary's
capital city of budapest,

Is the stripped carcass
of an industrial relic.

♪

Bell: These buildings are
on the brink of collapse.

They look like
even the slightest knock,

Or maybe a strong wind,

Might bring the whole lot
crashing down.

Nusbacher: Pieces are
falling off the walls.

The skylights are
without their glass.

It is as though thousands
of years have passed.

Narrator:
Remaining upright for now,

These warehouses are like vaults
crammed full of memories.

What you're seeing here
is almost a century

Of transportation history.

You see hungary's economy
and government

All wrapped up
in this one building.

Bell: These buildings are filled
with locomotives, carriages,

And all kinds of equipment
from a past world.

It looks like someone locked it
all up and threw away the key.

But now, finally,
we can get a glimpse inside.

Narrator: Stranded on an old set
of overgrown tracks

Are rail carriages
that tell of a troubled period

In hungary's history.

Corum: In the later stages
of world world ii,

A more radical,
extreme regime comes to power.

And in 1943, '44,
the jewish community

Is quite brutally
rounded up in budapest

And placed on trains
and sent to concentration camps,

Where the vast majority of
hungary's jews will be killed.

Narrator: In total, over
half a million hungarian jews

Were massacred during the war,

And the use of the railways
was central to this slaughter.

Bell: Some of those carriages
left standing in the yards

Are the same type used to
transport the jewish population

To concentration camps,
carrying them to their death.

Perhaps even some of them
are the very same ones.

Narrator:
Following the war,

This place would feel the terror
of a new occupying force.

But in time, dreams
of revolution would be born.

♪

Narrator: In budapest, hungary,
the old ruins across this site

Tell of the country's struggles
throughout the 20th century.

But as sándor tibor, an engineer
who worked here, recalls,

This was once at the center
of the rail network.

[ speaking hungarian ]

Interpreter: Here we are,

In front of
the istvántelek metal works.

It was built in the 1920s,

And practically
all the steam engines

Of the hungarian state railways
were repaired here.

Corum: Eastern europe was
always an area

That was undeveloped in roads.

And in 19th century
when the railroad came,

This opened up eastern europe.

How does the economy work?
How do you transport goods?

How do you transport people?

You do it by rail.

Narrator:
At the heart of this country

Were the hungarian-designed
mav locomotives.

Interpreter: Since we are
a landlocked country,

Hungarian state railways
plays a vital role

In transporting goods.

This was a high-speed train.

It was a very fast locomotive.

It could transport passenger
carriages at great speeds.

Narrator: Once a crucial
maintenance facility

For the state railway network,

This place has more recently
become known

By a different moniker.

Bell: One train found here
reveals what happened to hungary

After the second world war,

And it gives this place
its name --

The red star graveyard.

Corum: The red star,
which was the ubiquitous symbol

Of the soviet empire,
was everywhere.

Narrator: This seal of the new
oppressive ruling regime,

However, meant more dark days
were on the horizon.

Nusbacher: At the end of
the second world war,

Russia is economically
very unhealthy,

And they rip out as much
industrial capability

In eastern europe as they can.

The hungarian locomotives and
rolling stock are stripped out

And shipped back to russia
to be reused.

Narrator: For a country
so reliant on their railways,

This was a devastating blow.

But often when a people
are oppressed,

The seeds of rebellion are sown.

Engineer jósef deák recalls

Hearing about
those tough post-war years.

Interpreter: There was
a dire need for the renewal

And restoration
of the railways,

Because the country would have
paralyzed without it.

The railway was the pulsing vein
of the country.

Narrator: Even without a fully
operational rail network,

The soviets enforced strict
quotas and demands on hungary.

This disregard for the people

Only amplified
any thoughts of rebellion.

One has to understand
that the eastern bloc

Under the soviet union

Was essentially
a colonial system.

Nusbacher: The soviets expect
their slave states

To rebuild their economies

And get functioning
very quickly.

If you were not achieving
your production norms,

You could be taken out back
and shot,

And your deputy would be
put in charge.

Narrator:
As a vital part of the effort

To keep up with
the ruthless demands,

Attention fell upon
this maintenance facility.

Deák:
[ speaking hungarian ]

Interpreter: There were
different regions.

The reason why budapest
is important

Was because at the time,

There wasn't a similar
repair plant in the region.

Others came later,

But this was the only place for
the restoration of steam engines

That had both the capacity
and the capability

To work on the larger models.

Narrator:
But in 1953, joseph stalin died,

And suddenly,
everything began to change.

Many hungarians saw this
as an opportunity to break free

From the shackles
of soviet oppression.

The stage was set
for revolution,

And as ever,
the railways would be crucial.

There is a feeling in hungary

That with the old dictator
gone in moscow,

Hungary might be able to
stand on its own feet again,

And hungary might start
to liberalize.

Corum: The eastern governments
are trying to repress this,

But there are hopes
in the population.

Now, the hopes reach a point
of outright rebellion in 1956.

Eventually, state security
police opened fire on a crowd,

And that triggered the start
of the violence that followed.

Narrator:
The ensuing conflicts saw danger

Filling the city streets,

But it had arrived there
by rail.

In 1956, the soviets' army
is not a fully motorized army.

It is very, very dependent
on the rail system.

Nusbacher:
It was the hungarian railways

That became the lifeblood
of the soviet occupation.

The soviet army crushed
the hungarian uprising,

Killing thousands,
imprisoning thousands,

And exiling thousands.

Narrator:
In the aftermath,

The railways, locomotives,
and carriages

Were put back into service,

And for more than 30 years,

Hungary remained
a communist state.

Finally, outpaced by
diesel engines,

The locomotives
and this old workshop

Have since been retired.

And now this place acts
as a keeper of memories,

Of both the good times
and the bad.

♪