All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S09E14.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[und]

[narrator] A confounding
facility caught up in a race
to save countless lives.

It's this weird mix
of 19th century
bridge building

and 21st century Buck Rogers
kind of thing.

[narrator] The search
for the location
of a highly classified

spy mission.

There have been rumors
that a secret cave

had been deliberately
covered up and hidden away.

[narrator] And a site
where life was forever
on the edge.

[narrator] And a site
where life was forever
on the edge.

There has always been
an air of danger
around this town.

[narrator] Decaying relics,

ruins of lost worlds,

sites haunted by the past.

Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

[narrator] At the gateway
to the Mediterranean,

on the southern tip of Europe,

is a much coveted rock.

It's a piece of land
sticking out of Spain.

But it's not owned by Spain.

[narrator]
All around are signs
that this site

has long been fought over.

If you make it to the top
of the rock,

If you make it to the top
of the rock,

you'll find two enormous guns,

pointing out
to the Mediterranean.

[Rob] This place
was important enough

to defend with some
serious firepower.

But below ground,
the real secret of this
rocky outcrop

lay abandoned and hidden
for more than half a century.

[Onyeka] Gibraltar had been
a place of strange rumors,

that there were these
many secret tunnels.

It is grim.
The air is thick with bugs.

It is grim.
The air is thick with bugs.

[Neremiah]
If you are fortunate enough
to have a torch with you,

you just might be able to see

glimpses of rusting machinery
inside.

This is a dark,
nasty place to be.

[narrator] The top secret
operation planned for this
grisly dungeon

would require sacrifice
and service way beyond
the call of duty.

[narrator] Gibraltar,
aka the rock,

is a British
overseas territory.

Maintaining control
of this strategic peninsula

has been a centuries long
struggle.

Well, to say
Gibraltar was well-armed
is a bit of an understatement.

Gibraltar was extremely
well-armed.

[narrator] Local historian
Pete Jackson,

[narrator] Local historian
Pete Jackson,

was once a gunner
in Britain's royal artillery.

He was stationed on Gibraltar.

What we are gonna walk
to now, is 9.2 inch gun.

Uh, this is capable
of firing a shell

three miles into Africa.

[narrator] The rock overlooks
the eight mile wide,
Straits of Gibraltar

and sits opposite Morocco.

[Neremiah] Gibraltar
is a very key place
of real estate.

And essentially whoever
controls Gibraltar

controls the Mediterranean.

[narrator] It's been
a vital British military base

since 1704.

They turned the place
into a fortress.

With thousands of soldiers,
guns, canon, cavalry,
and navy back up.

[Pete] When you see
the size of the shell
this thing fires,

you won't want to be
on the receiving end
of it.

[narrator] But with
the constant threat
of siege and attack,

the British needed
more than brute force

to maintain their grip
on Gibraltar.

And the secret
to their success lies hidden
in the rock itself.

The towering limestone
monolith,

hides a labyrinth
of spectacular caves,
and natural tunnels.

hides a labyrinth
of spectacular caves,
and natural tunnels.

But there is also evidence
of human activity
below ground.

[Pete] You see the original
drill marks,

as the tunnel being made
in the 1700s.

The tunnels that we're in now
date from 1782.

This is when we started
to dig in to defend
against attack.

[narrator] Back then,
British defenders

needed the tunnels to survive
Spanish assault

during the great siege
of Gibraltar.

during the great siege
of Gibraltar.

And centuries later,
when Hitler came to power
in 1933,

the value of Gibraltar
was not lost on him.

Hitler had hoped to convince
Spain to join the war
on his side.

And of course,
if he could offer Franco
Gibraltar,

that would be
a massive incentive.

The British knew of Hitler's
ambitions,

and that the age-old
tunnel system,

and that the age-old
tunnel system,

would be crucial
in defending the rock.

[Onyeka] British commanders
in Gibraltar,

began to develop
an extensive set
of underground tunnels.

utilizing those that
existed before,

and developing
a whole extensive network.

[Pete] And what we are in is
called the Great North Road.

And what is is,

more or less the...
our main supply route
within the tunnels.

more or less the...
our main supply route
within the tunnels.

[narrator] The royal engineers
carved out around 20 miles
of additional tunnels

to provide bomb-proof
accommodation for Britain's
Gibraltar Defense Force,

which had doubled in size.

[Neremiah] So,
they tripled the length
of these tunnels.

This new space had room
for weapons,

ammunition, housing
about 16,000 soldiers.

They had hospitals,
communications,
all within this mountain.

They had hospitals,
communications,
all within this mountain.

[narrator] Even so,
at the start of
the second World War,

Hitler looked set
to take Gibraltar.

So the British devised
an extraordinary
intelligence operation,

that would spring into action
when the Germans invaded
the rock.

It was so secret,

that little is known about it
even today.

that little is known about it
even today.

[Neremiah] For decades
there has been rumors that

the rock of Gibraltar
had these secret caves
and rooms

that were deliberately
covered up and hidden away.

[narrator] But more than
half a century after
the end of the war,

evidence of
the long lost bunker
had still not been found.

And the hunt continued.

Historian Phil Smith
has been exploring Gibraltar's
tunnels for decades.

Historian Phil Smith
has been exploring Gibraltar's
tunnels for decades.

In 1997, a group
from the local caving club,

sat down just outside here

and felt wind coming through
from beyond the corrugated
iron sheet.

When they removed it,
they found cast concrete.

And as they moved further up,

they found this small entrance
that leads to this room here.

[narrator]
Until the discovery
of these rooms,

the covert British
intelligence operation

the covert British
intelligence operation

had been little more
than conjecture.

[Phil] I was absolutely amazed

hidden away inside the rock
there would be a room
like this.

There's a door on that side.
There's a door on this side.

It's a very strange place.

[narrator]
This clandestine complex

was the base
of Operation Tracer,

an audacious British mission
to be activated when Hitler
conquered Gibraltar.

Operation Tracer
was the brainchild

of head of Naval Intelligence,
Admiral Sir John Godfrey.

If Gibraltar fell, the British
would need information
on what the enemy were doing.

So, the plan was to seal
six naval personnel

in this chamber
with enough supplies
to last them

so they could observe
and report back on enemy
movements in the area.

[narrator] The discovery
of the underground
spy base

[narrator] The discovery
of the underground
spy base

finally proved
that Operation Tracer
did exist.

So were British soldiers
ever entombed within
Gibraltar's rock?

[narrator] In the early days
of the second World War,

the British were convinced
that Hitler would take control
of Gibraltar.

So as part
of the highly classified
spy mission

Operation Tracer,

they dug out a hidden complex
within the rock.

Under the leadership
of General Richard Gale,

Under the leadership
of General Richard Gale,

six volunteers
would be entombed
in these rooms

for the duration of the war

with this six inch crack
as their only window.

There was a 10,000 gallon
water tank,

food supplies
for up to seven years,

and the all-important,
communications room.

From here, they would spy
on German military operations,

From here, they would spy
on German military operations,

and radio their findings
to London every night.

The floors are covered
in court tiles put in place
to dampen sound.

And a hand cranked generator
would be used to power
the radios.

In the 90s, the cavers
found this strange
contraption here,

you can see the blades
on it, like a propellor.

But there's also
a handle here.

So it looks like
it was hand-operated,

So it looks like
it was hand-operated,

There's two toilets here.

If you just had one toilet
and it broke,

that would be a very serious
problem for the men.

[narrator] In a remarkable
act of bravery,

these men would be walled

into this underground complex
for the duration of the war.

We're not talking about
a couple of days or weeks,
or even months.

Years of hiding out
in utter darkness.

Years of hiding out
in utter darkness.

You really had to be a person
that was truly committed
to the cause

and one who had high levels
of mental toughness.

Operation Tracer
was brilliantly conceived.

If the people involved
were carefully selected
and trained,

I think it would
guarantee success.

[narrator] In the end,
Hitler did not attack
Gibraltar.

And Operation Tracer
was never activated.

And at the end of the war,
the top secret base,

was surreptitiously sealed up.

Today, the British
still control Gibraltar.

But for how much longer?

Gibraltar is one of
those places left behind

as not quite ruins of empire,
but something like that.

But now that Britain
is retracted,

But now that Britain
is retracted,

and no longer thinks
of itself as an empire,

what place does
Gibraltar hold?

[narrator] The bad lands
of New Mexico,

are as remote as it gets.

[narrator] Yet,
someone has built here.

[Amma] Inside this
open desert,

[Amma] Inside this
open desert,

is a construction
that looks like

it's from the 19th century
wild wild west.

There's this sort of
bridge to nowhere

that runs off
of the ground level

onto this platform.

When you get closer,
this place gets actually
more complicated.

It's constructed almost
entirely out of wood.

[Katherine]
But at the same time,
you've got all this

clearly modern
technology around it.

[narrator] A bird insignia
could be a clue

[narrator] A bird insignia
could be a clue

to what went on here.

And despite appearances,

this creaking structure
is part of a wider landscape

that has had global impact.

[Nehemiah] The deserts
of New Mexico

has a very high pedigree
for world-changing science.

It was here that the first
nuclear bomb was tested.

[narrator] So, what was
this ramshackle

wooden construction built for?

The origins of this site

relate to
an unprecedented event

back in 1962.

The launch of the first
communications satellite,

Telstar 1.

[Amma] Telstar was
a real watershed moment

of the 20th century.

[Nehemiah] It was
a satellite that was able to

broadcast television signal

from space,
for the first time, ever.

[Amma] But, seven months
after Telstar launched,

it shut down.

And it wasn't
immediately obvious

as to what went wrong.

[narrator] Today,
scientists like

Lieutenant Colonel
Jeffry Heggemeier

of the U.S. Air
National Guard

only know what happened

thanks to this
crumbing structure

thanks to this
crumbing structure

out in the New Mexico desert,

once a highly restricted
military facility.

So Telstar 1 went offline
because we were doing

nuclear testing
in the Pacific.

[explosion]

Once that bomb went off,

it created the first ever
electromagnetic pulse.

[narrator]
An electromagnetic pulse
or EMP

is a burst of
electromagnetic radiation.

[Jeffry] A nuclear explosion
causes an EMP

because it excites electrons
in the ionosphere

which then cause
an electromagnetic pulse.

[narrator] Nuclear
electromagnetic pulses

cause damaging current
and voltage surges

which interfere
with electronics

in susceptible devices.

From mobile phones

to aircraft

to satellites like Telstar 1.

Today,
an electromagnetic pulse

would decimate the technology
we now depend on.

[Nehemiah] EMP was a real
national security threat,

back in the 1960s.

But today, an EMP spike
would still be devastating.

[narrator] So more than
40 years ago,

how did this dusty site

ensure Americans would be
safe from such an attack?

[narrator] By the 1970s,

U.S. Air Force scientists

had discovered
that nuclear testing
in the Pacific

had fried the electronics
on a communications satellite.

It was a chilling discovery.

The electromagnetic pulse
the blast created,

The electromagnetic pulse
the blast created,

had interfered with
the satellite's electronics

and it would do the same
to their aircraft.

EMP was such a threat
to the American Air Force

because our aircraft relied
on these electronic systems.

[Katherine] It just
wipes out the technology,

it wipes out the ability

to respond to an attack.

[explosion]

So America needed a way
to make its aircraft
EMP-proof.

So America needed a way
to make its aircraft
EMP-proof.

And therein was
the engineering challenge.

[narrator] The wooden relic
at this site

is what they used to subject
U.S. military aircraft

to the electromagnetic pulse

created during
a nuclear attack.

It's all that remains of
a classified testing facility

codenamed ATLAS-1.

[Jeffry] So simulating a EMP
for a airplane in flight

is not practical,
nor is it really safe

because if you
affected the electronics,

you can potentially
cause the airplane

to have issues
while in flight.

The structure was
made out of wood

because if it was metal,
it would affect

the electromagnetic pulse
we were trying to simulate.

And so, the solution was

to build the world's
largest wooden structure

in the middle of the desert.

The design they came up with
was inspired by those
old railroad trestles.

Hence, the name of
the structure was Trestle.

[narrator] But the structure
couldn't be too high,

otherwise they
wouldn't be able to get

the 100 ton, $300 million
planes onto it.

The hole in the ground idea
was to take a natural hole

and dig it out
a little bit more

such that we could put
the Trestle inside of it.

such that we could put
the Trestle inside of it.

[Nehemiah] The idea was to
roll the plane

off of a cliff,
on to a platform.

So finding
the hole in the ground
was the easy part.

The difficult part was being
able to design this platform

with all of the specific
specifications.

[narrator] That was
the job of scientists

like Bill Prather.

[Bill] My role with ATLAS-1

was as a member of
the engineering design team.

was as a member of
the engineering design team.

[narrator] Bill knows
that the damaging

electromagnetic pulses
created by a nuclear blast

could wipe out the electronics
in American military aircraft.

But how could they
simulate such an explosion

on this
rickety-looking structure?

It's hard to tell
from a distance,
but if you look closely,

you'll see these cables
that look like power lines,

you'll see these cables
that look like power lines,

that are running on
either side of the platform.

Those are incredibly important

to how ATLAS-1
actually worked.

[Bill] The wedge building
on this side,

was used for
the instrumentation

that recorded the currents
measured off of the aircraft.

And, on either side
are high voltage generators

that generate the EMP.

Eight million volts
on each side.

Eight million volts
on each side.

And it drives the pulses
on to these wire plates,

one on this side

and one on
the far side over here

generating the EMP

across this way
where the aircraft is parked.

We had to do that
because we couldn't use
nuclear weapons.

So we simulated it with
high voltage equipment.

Basically, this plane
was just inundated

Basically, this plane
was just inundated

and just bombarded with EMP.

And then after that,
they would turn off
the machine,

get in, put the key
in the ignition

and see if the plane
still turned on.

This was
cutting-edge technology
at the time as well

and they couldn't really tell
if it was going to work

until they ran
their first test.

[narrator] But it was
a chance they had to take.

An enemy EMP attack would put
millions of lives in danger.

An enemy EMP attack would put
millions of lives in danger.

[narrator]
During the Cold War,
in the New Mexico desert,

scientists like Bill Prather

were part of a top-secret
mission known as ATLAS-1.

The aim was to keep
U.S. Air Force planes

safe from the damaging
voltage surges

safe from the damaging
voltage surges

of the electromagnetic pulse
caused by a nuclear bomb.

We knew the structure was good

and we knew the concept
would generate the EMP.

When they were ready
for their first test,

they rolled their aircraft
onto the platform

and then they
turned on generators

which then fired
16 million volts.

[narrator] As the structure
was blasted

with the massive current,

with the massive current,

to Bill's relief, it worked.

It was the first of many
ATLAS-1 experiments

which showed
the U.S. Air Force

how to shield
electronics from EMPs.

[Bill] We then added
protection to the plane

to stop that electrical energy

from getting through
into the plane.

ATLAS-1 really helped
the military make
leaps forward

ATLAS-1 really helped
the military make
leaps forward

in terms of EMP
resistant circuitry.

By making certain
that aircraft could still fly,

even after being hit
with EMPs,

we were able to make sure that

mutually assured destruction
stayed in place.

And that's an important piece
in keeping the Cold War cold.

[narrator] Once
the Cold War ended,

the ATLAS simulator
was finally abandoned

in 1991.

[narrator] The efforts
of Bill Prather

and the ATLAS-1 engineers,

did not go to waste.

[Katherine] The thing
about EMPs is they haven't
gone away.

Our cell phones,
our electrical grids,

all these things
would just be
completely wiped out.

[narrator] In the Aspromonte
mountains of Southern Italy,

the shell of a town

looms above
an inaccessible land.

[Amma] The town follows
the contours of the hillside

winding down all the way
to the river at the very end.

[Dominic] There are
multiple levels of houses,

stacked on top of each other

in places as many
as five stories.

All overlooking
this deathly drop.

All overlooking
this deathly drop.

[narrator]
Its desolate streets

are paved with the husks
of homes and businesses.

[Jaega] There are stacks
of gas cannisters,

the remains of an empty bakery

and even
a solitary woman's shoe.

[Dominic] Floors
have given away
and fallen through

this place is teetering on
the edge of total collapse.

[narrator] A riverbed full
of curiously large boulders

and scars on
the surrounding hillsides

and scars on
the surrounding hillsides

could give an insight

into what left
this place deserted.

You wonder
if whatever happened here

was completely natural

or if there's something else
that could have happened

to make everyone leave.

[narrator] When
this village died,

a unique and ancient culture
died with it.

[narrator] The ghost town
of Roghudi Vecchio
sits in a precarious position.

The name Roghudi
derives from words
meaning full of crevasses

or just harsh.

And looking around here,
you can really
understand that.

But that's not the most
interesting thing about
its name.

Its name is actually Greek,
but we're in Italy.

[narrator] Roghudi
is so cut off
from the world,

that many don't use
Italian here,

that many don't use
Italian here,

but a dialect of
ancient Greek.

Former resident
Bruno Stelitano

is one of the few
who can still speak
this rare language.

[speaking foreign language]

This language is pure,

because it has been
passed down exclusively

through oral tradition

without any written documents.

So only those who spoke it

or heard it spoken
by their elders
know it.

or heard it spoken
by their elders
know it.

There are no
written records at all.

[narrator] The people
of Roghudi

claim origins that trace back
thousands of years

to the ancient Greeks.

In the 8th century BC,

the Greeks set up colonies
along the nearby coastlines
of the Black

and Mediterranean Seas.

Many ancient Greeks
moved to the coast of Italy

where they founded
trading ports.

where they founded
trading ports.

[narrator]
But over the centuries,

invasions from coastal raiders
forced these Greek
speaking people

to retreat into the mountains.

To fortress villages

like Roghudi.

Not only did this keep
them safe,

but it preserved their culture
from outside influences

for many years to come.

[narrator] Isolated
in this harsh landscape,

they clung to the traditions
of their Greek ancestors
for centuries.

they clung to the traditions
of their Greek ancestors
for centuries.

But in the end,

it was the rugged terrain
that had once kept them safe

that eventually did them in.

[Amma] This region
was prone to earthquakes.

And there are two earthquakes
that occurred, one in 1905,
another one in 1908.

[narrator] The earthquakes
rocked the whole
of southern Italy.

[speaking foreign language]

In 1908 after the bigger
earthquake struck,

Roghudi was designated unsafe.

Roghudi was designated unsafe.

Even so,
people refused to leave.

[speaking foreign language]

[narrator]
But the river valleys
that cut through this region

contained evidence
of an altogether
different threat.

[Amma] The reason why
the river beds that surround
the town are so wide

is because
when the winter rains

and the spring thaw comes,

it creates these
raging torrents.

[narrator] As the water
courses down,

it causes mudslides
that send boulders

powering down the riverbeds.

Seriously compromising
the stability

of the mountaintop villages.

In the 1950s,
a series of flash floods

threatened to wash
Roghudi away.

The villagers clung on.

But two decades later,
they would not be so lucky.

But two decades later,
they would not be so lucky.

[narrator] In the mountains
of Italy's Calabria region,

the Greek speaking
village of Roghudi

has been battered
by both earthquakes
and floods.

In 1971, there was
an unprecedented storm.

[narrator]
The saturated ground

caused the slopes beneath
the village to move.

caused the slopes beneath
the village to move.

[speaking foreign language]

The evening of the landslide
was utter chaos.

It happened in the night.

So everything was
pitched black.

[speaking foreign language]

We presumed that the houses
were collapsing.

But we couldn't see a thing.

[Amma] There was a real fear
that the entire town
could have come

crashing down hundreds
of feet at any moment.

crashing down hundreds
of feet at any moment.

[narrator]
On February 16, 1971,

the town's Mayor
ordered an evacuation.

The entire population of 1600
people were forced to pick up
everything they owned

and leave.

[narrator] It seemed
the freak rainfall

was not the only thing
to blame for the destruction.

In the 1940s and 1950s,

the inhabitants decided
that they wanted to install

running water
and a sewer in the town.

running water
and a sewer in the town.

[narrator] But some locals
believed that this may have
played a part.

[speaking foreign language]

The sewer served one area.

Those living down the road

whose drains
didn't reach the sewer

just discharged the effluent

straight onto the rocks.

[narrator] When the floods
hit in 1971,

it's possible

that the new drainage system
had weakened the ground
below the town.

There's a cruel irony
in their trying to bring

modern conveniences
to their town.

They may have signed
it's death warrant.

[narrator] Some residents
attempted to return
over the years.

But most stayed away.

And Roghudi

was left to rot.

Although the people here
lost homes and livelihoods,

Although the people here
lost homes and livelihoods,

there was another
casualty of the floods.

It was not only the town
that was decimated
by these disasters.

They also severely
diminished the ancient

Greco-Italian culture
of the region.

[narrator] Once widely used
across the region,

today Calabrian Greek
is spoken only

by a remaining few.

[speaking foreign language]

I hope it will endure,

but really it's on the brink
of extinction.

[narrator] Off the coast
of Estonia,

sits a small island
with a big secret.

If you look at the island
from above,

you can't see much
apart from a thick covering
of evergreen forest.

[Dr. Lynette] This forest
cover is hiding

[Dr. Lynette] This forest
cover is hiding

a narrow gauge railway.

[Katherine] If you follow
along this railroad track,

it will lead you to these
pretty imposing structures.

[narrator] The threatening
installations

are clearly military.

All along the shoreline
of this island

are concrete emplacements.

And they've got no windows.

When you come up
to these buildings,

When you come up
to these buildings,

you see all these things
scattered about.

[narrator]
These rusting remains
of military hardware

may explain the absence
of life here.

[Rob] Something dangerous
must've been going on here.

This place was once
heavily guarded.

So what was it hiding?

[narrator]
Estonia's Naissaar island

sits in the Gulf of Finland.

A strategically important
stretch of sea.

[speaking foreign language]

The Gulf of Finland
is probably one of the most

heavily-mined
waterways in the world.

Up to 60,000 Naval sea mines

have been dropped here
at different times.

These old mines
surface in the sea

These old mines
surface in the sea

over and over again.

[narrator] Olar's family
has a strong link
to this place.

[speaking foreign language]

Very few people knew
about this island

because access was prohibited
for 50 years.

I came here
for the first time in 1995

just after it was re-opened.

[narrator] He was
following in the footsteps
of his grandfather, Johannes,

who had come to Naissaar
when it was still
controlled by Russia.

[speaking foreign language]

My grandfather arrived
on the island in the 1920s

when this port
was being built.

That's one of the main reasons
he came here

as he was a builder
by profession.

[narrator] Back then,
the island had been inhabited
by fishermen

and seal hunters
for hundreds of years.

and seal hunters
for hundreds of years.

But given
its strategic position,

it began to attract attention.

[Katherine] You've got
Finland to the north.

You've got Russia to the east.

Estonia to the south
and Sweden to the west.

[narrator]
In the early decades
of the 20th century,

Tsarist Russia needed
to defend itself.

The first modern
fortifications on the island
were put in place

in 1914.

[speaking foreign language]

These held the largest canons
ever placed on Naissaar.

Their shooting range
was more than 80 miles.

[narrator] There's more
Tsarist constructions
hidden in the woods.

[speaking foreign language]

This is where the officers
and their families lived.

This is where the officers
and their families lived.

We can see what was considered
beautiful at that time

by looking at how
they decorated the windows.

And here there was
a proper square

with a sizeable alley.

[narrator] Following
the revolution in 1917,

Naissaar continued
under Russian control.

This time under
the Communists.

And soon
Olar's grandfather Johannes

And soon
Olar's grandfather Johannes

was one of the only
residents left.

Eventually, he too
would disappear.

So what happened
to the thriving population
of Naissaar?

And why did Johannes Gofman
vanish without trace?

[narrator]
By the mid-20th century,

the Soviet-controlled
island of Naissaar
was almost deserted

and cloaked in secrecy.

Olar Gofman's
grandfather Johannes

was one of the few islanders
allowed to stay.

[speaking foreign language]

Because he was a builder

and had specific
knowledge of
the island's fortifications,

the Soviet army used him
to get information

and to help build up
the defenses.

[narrator] For the Soviets,
the islands dense forest

made it extremely appealing.

[Katherine] They spent
a lot of time and a lot
of energy building

a whole industrial complex
there on the island

under the cover of the forest.

[narrator] This is
the Naissaar
sea mines factory.

[speaking foreign language]

Here the mines were assembled
before being dropped
into the sea.

You can you
one of the pools
at the end

where they tested the mines
to check they were waterproof.

where they tested the mines
to check they were waterproof.

They used this tool
to move the mines
and carry them to the pool.

After a while,
if the water didn't get in,

they were deemed fit for use.

[Katherine]
These mines were
incredibly dangerous.

When one of them
exploded in the water

the shock from it
could be felt
over a mile away.

[narrator]
Moving such dangerous
weapons around the island

was no easy task.

[speaking foreign language]

During the Soviet era,

four miles of railway
were added

to serve these mines depots.

[Lynette]
They could be moved
safely, silently

without having to build up

stores of vehicles
and vehicle fuel.

stores of vehicles
and vehicle fuel.

All the sites on the island
were connected by rail.

After assembly,

these deadly weapons
would be transported
again to the harbor

and out into the far reaches
of the Soviet Union.

[narrator] Naissaar
was defended yet further

when the Cold War intensified
and secrecy heightened.

In the 1960s, the Soviets
moved beyond mines.

In the 1960s, the Soviets
moved beyond mines.

And they actually
built a missile base.

[speaking foreign language]

We're now in an area

that was highly classified
in Soviet times.

It's the so-called
anti-aircraft missile base.

These hangers held S-125
anti-aircraft missiles.

These missiles
were three times
the speed of sound

and were state-of-the-art
weapons back then.

And underneath this building,

they concealed
the command post
of the missile base.

This was one of the most
secretive places on Naissaar.

[narrator] At the end
of the Cold War,

thousands of sea mines
were abandoned here.

They dismantled and disarmed

something like 13000
of these mines.

When you walk across
the island today you see

hundreds, thousands
of empty shells of these
formerly active mines.

[narrator] Today, one mystery
remains unsolved.

[speaking foreign language]

The last thing I know
about my grandfather

The last thing I know
about my grandfather

is that a war tribunal
sentenced him
to five years in jail

for owning a gun.

After that, all the traces
of him disappear.

There's no information
about which prison camp
he was sent to.

So we have reason to believe

that he was actually
executed on this island.

And that he never left.