Original subtitles

In New Jersey, an illustrious complex

infiltrated by an infamous gang...

It spiralled into a nationwide FBI investigation.

..become the city's most notorious gangster.

..a tranquil Japanese island

with a poisonous legacy...

Doctors would perform surgery on the victims to examine

the biological effects in real time.

..a facility in Detroit that became central to a national struggle

and witnessed an iconic speech...

It was a call for revolution,

and it was called "The Ballot or the Bullet."

..and a top-secret bunker in Lithuania

raided in the name of freedom.

If the Soviets had caught them doing this, they would have put them up

against the wall and shot them.

Near the famous Jersey Shore is a derelict facility

tied to an extraordinary tale of corruption.

What is this place doing gathering weeds,

just 15 minutes away from a glamorous destination

like Atlantic City?

It's got a tall brick tower,

a large grandstand, and then, this enormous overhanging roof.

There are dozens of rows of stadium seats

overlooking an overgrown mess.

From the stands, you can barely see its full scale.

It all looks over this oval track

that is not really wide enough to be

a racetrack for car racing,

but clearly something went around here at a high rate of speed.

It was a spectacle that attracted the rich and famous.

This became known as Hollywood By The Sea.

It also had a dark side, it attracted criminal elements.

And what unfolded was something straight out of a Scorsese film.

And soon, the FBI were closing its nets on one of

the most notorious criminal gang leaders in the country.

The investigation into the crimes that were committed here

would ultimately lead to one of the biggest scandals

in US law enforcement history.

Maureen Bugden worked here up until 2015.

Oh, my God.

When I see the structure now,

and how quickly it declined...

You remove the team, the staff, right?

It's as if you remove the heart.

Maureen began as a model and assistant,

and, over 20 years, worked herself up to become president of

this exclusive club.

It was a facility designed in the 1940s

to scream glitz and glamour.

Atlantic City was one of the top

vacation destinations in America,

it had the famous boardwalk, hotels,

restaurants, entertainment.

John B Kelly Senior, an Olympic rower,

and successful Philadelphia businessman was trying to capitalise

on Atlantic City's popularity.

Construction got under way in 1945.

A state-of-the-art clubhouse was erected,

surrounded by restaurants, bars, and a barber shop.

At its heart was the main draw, a unique horse-racing track.

It was a mile-and-an-eighth long,

a distance that the horse racing press soon started calling

"a smile and an eighth".

It cost around £875,000 -

the equivalent to over £30 million in today's money.

But high-profile help was on hand.

In the post-war era,

horse racing was a very glamorous sport.

It attracted famous movie stars and celebrities,

it was written up in every newspaper.

Everyone followed the names of the top jockeys, and the top horses,

and discussed horse racing with their friends,

the way people also discuss baseball and football today.

The 22nd of July, 1946.

The Atlantic City Race Course was ready for action.

It opened to a crowd of 25,000.

Among them were shareholders Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope.

Also in attendance that day was Kelly's young daughter,

she would soon become a name the whole world knew -

Grace Kelly.

Nobody could've predicted the smash hit

this place was going to be.

The opening-day betting came in at nearly £350,000,

recouping more than a third of the overall construction cost.

Over the coming months and years,

this track would become a real magnet for all kinds

of celebrities and artists.

There was Jerry Lewis, Willie Mays, and Sinatra's Rat Pack.

Even President Eisenhower stopped by for a visit in 1965.

The nation's millions of racing fans

are an interesting breed.

The vigorous enthusiasm far surpassing that of

the followers of any other spectator sport.

That's the jocks building,

where the jockeys would get ready for the race.

That's the paddock walk ring,

where the horses are paraded before the race, and,

just underneath is saddling stalls,

and a tunnel that runs right through the building,

on to the racetrack surface itself.

As the jockeys emerged from the tunnel,

the tension would build upstairs.

On a busy day, with 100 tellers, you would have had lines

about ten deep, and the closer you got to post time

for each particular race, the more excited and anxious

those who are waiting in line are going to be.

They're hoping they'll get their bets in before they get shut out

and can't place.

Because the bell rings, bets are locked, and the horses are off.

So, it would be a flurry of activity.

Throughout history, gambling has always had a dark underbelly,

and this place was no exception.

And they're off, a good start!

By the early '70s, there was a guy named Anthony Ciulla,

he was known as Big Tony in classic mobster parlance,

and he claims that he was able to

fix races in almost every state in the country.

At the Atlantic City Race Course,

he could rely on support from the notorious Winter Hill Gang

and one of its leaders, Whitey Bulger.

This is a famous name to anyone who understands

the history of organised crime.

Whitey Bulger was this brutal crime lord in Boston.

He had rivals executed,

he was involved in all kinds of criminal enterprises.

Big Tony went about bribing jockeys and drugging horses

so that less-favoured horses would win,

and that would give him and his cronies a huge pay-out.

Big Tony could offer these jockeys as much as $10,000 to throw a race,

and, if the jockey resisted,

he also had the muscle of the mob behind him.

On a grand July 4th race in 1975,

jockey Peter Fantini was a little too obvious

in holding back his horse.

When Fantini threw that race, the Feds got interested.

They pulled him in for questioning.

Pretty soon, he rolled over on Big Tony.

Fantini admitted that Big Tony bribed him to throw the race,

he even agreed to go to Big Tony's hotel

wearing a wire to implicate him.

So, Big Tony was given a choice -

he could either snitch on his cohorts,

or he could face a very long sentence.

His cooperation led to the conviction of over 40 people,

and implicated over half of the jockeys now in the Hall of Fame.

His testimony included Whitey Bulger

and 20 other members of the Winter Hill Gang.

In 1979, they were nearly all

sent to prison for race fixing.

But, mysteriously, Bulger was soon back on the streets -

and now, he was the top boss.

Of all the people investigated in this horse racing investigation,

Whitey Bulger was never indicted or prosecuted.

Why was he untouched?

It turned out that Bulger was an FBI informant,

and he was being protected by

a corrupt agent named John Connolly.

Bulger would tip Connolly off about what various Boston mobsters

were up to, so he got rid of some of his competitors that way.

Meanwhile, John Connolly was tipping Whitey Bulger off about

what the FBI was up to, and who the other informants were.

A lot of those informants wound up

getting knocked off themselves.

Connolly was later convicted for his role in one of these murders.

He also tipped Bulger off

when the FBI was finally about to arrest him in 1994.

Whitey Bulger escaped, went underground,

and he lived undercover for years.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic City Race Course began to see

legal and cultural changes eat away at its allure and popularity.

As casino gambling was legalised in New Jersey in the 1970s,

and they started building the big casinos in Atlantic City,

traffic to the racetrack began to drop off.

It continued to operate for decades,

but was eventually abandoned in 2015.

The future of this legendary racecourse remains uncertain,

but the scandal that was sparked here in 1975

has left a damaging legacy.

Whitey Bulger went on to become

the FBI's public enemy number one,

and was only captured in 2011.

In 2018, he was brutally beaten to death in prison.

But the relationship between FBI agent John Connolly

and Whitey Bulger was a scandal

that the FBI took years to really own up to.

To this day, it's a stain on the reputation of the agency.

In Lithuania,

15 miles from the capital, Vilnius,

is a facility shrouded in secrecy.

We're in these dense, misty forests that really feel like

they're in the middle of nowhere.

If you were hoping to hide away from prying eyes,

this would be the perfect place.

And then, in this clearing,

there's what appears to be an office building.

But what's kind of strange is that there's this inner complex

with this big fence around it.

There's clearly more here than first meets the eye.

There's an entrance to something buried in the hillside.

Chosen for its isolation,

this site was built with one purpose in mind -

to control a nation.

There's this really kind of strange mix here.

There's racks of electronics, but then there's kitchens

and a dining area.

And it has all kinds of space for storage and for personnel,

but also one room after another

clearly fitted as a recording studio.

This was the site of a daring raid,

right under the noses of Soviet special forces.

If they were caught inside here,

they'd be put up against a wall and shot.

It was part of a larger struggle that culminated in

a dramatic face-off that would shock the world.

They levelled their rifles at unarmed protestors

and ploughed into the crowds in their tanks.

Since 2008,

Mindaugas Vanagas has been researching this site,

trying to piece together the rumours that swirl around it.

Many knew it only as Object Number 523.

People who worked here told me that they were just told to

get to the bus, and they would drive to some kind of place.

They didn't know where they were going.

Nobody knows about the place, where exactly it is.

Built during the Soviet Union's occupation of Lithuania,

this complex was designed to be used in the fallout

from a nuclear strike.

This is a decontamination zone.

When somebody gets into the bunker from outside,

he is washed and cleaned,

just to keep the contaminated materials out of this bunker.

At the height of the Cold War,

the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union

really made nuclear conflict a real possibility.

Constructed between 1983 and 1985,

this is the Nemencine communications bunker...

..part of a network that would enable the Soviet government

to take over the Lithuanian media,

and control the information war.

This place was going to be one of

the critical nodes where there would be a communications studio

to transmit to the people of

the region what was going on,

or what the regime wanted them to think was going on.

So that's a radio studio.

If you see, there's sound-proofing walls all around.

The triple glass.

So, at one side was somebody sitting who's kind of speaking,

and the other side was guys who work with the sound.

Inside, there were television and radio studio facilities,

a full video and audio library,

as well as offices for the journalists and technicians.

Here you had everything getting produced and recorded,

it would then send it along to another bunker,

which was linked to the television tower in Vilnius,

the capital of Lithuania.

In the event of war,

the Lithuanian staff would be rapidly replaced by KGB personnel,

who would take control of the bunker.

But as the Soviet Empire began to crumble,

the threat of nuclear attack subsided,

and the people of Lithuania sensed an opportunity.

The Berlin Wall famously comes down at the end of 1989,

and this triggers ferment all over the old Warsaw Pact.

As all the old subject nations of Russia start clambering

for independence, declaring independence,

and this is what happens in Lithuania.

The country held multiparty elections

for the first time since 1940.

Radio and television footage of these events

was beamed around the country.

The footage also included uprisings taking place in other countries

across the Soviet Union.

The Soviets were desperate to severe these lines of communication

that were allowing the opposition to organise.

On January 11th, 1991,

the Soviets had finally had enough.

They launch a full-cale attack to retake control of the country.

But the Soviet special forces sent into Lithuania

didn't go straight to the capital.

They prioritise the Nemencine communications bunker

just outside Vilnius.

On the first night of the invasion,

heavily-armed units appeared out of the darkness,

and stormed the compound.

And these elite secret police units called Omon - O-M-O-N -

they go into the bunker, to secure it, to make sure

the Lithuanians can't use its facilities.

Two days after having secured this secret radio

and television facility, Soviet forces turn to

the capital's television building and tower.

This is where the events unfolding across

the country were being broadcast,

this is where people were getting their information

and understanding what was going on.

The TV tower was broadcasting footage of the invasion

and the Lithuanian independence movement.

Soviet forces arrived to take control of the narrative,

but found crowds of citizens had surrounded the buildings.

Ready to defend their freedoms at any cost,

it escalated into a deadly face-off.

The Soviets finally ran their tanks into these human shields.

They kill 14 people,

and they wound more than 600 at the TV tower,

and other buildings around the city.

You can actually see footage of the Soviet soldiers

breaking into the studio and cutting the broadcaster's feed.

With the bunker and tower now under Soviet control,

TVs and radios across the nation fell silent.

In the coming days, pro-independence journalists

and broadcasters scrambled to continue covering

the story by any means necessary.

Lithuanian people needed to know

that our government is still working,

and we are not going to give up

and give everything to Russian soldiers.

Across the city, makeshift offices and studios were set up,

but there was a real shortage of equipment needed

to continue broadcasting.

This closely-guarded bunker held that much-needed equipment.

It was one guy who kind of built this bunker.

He was looking after all the building site,

and he knew the bunker very well,

so he decided to help Lithuanian journalists.

One thing that the Soviet guards didn't know was that there was

a tunnel connecting the bunker to apartments nearby.

This man put his life on the line

and decided to sneak in past the guards.

So, he used this long corridor,

and he was taking all the equipment silently,

and bringing all that stuff to Lithuanian journalists.

And, obviously, if the Soviets had caught them doing this,

they would've put them up against the wall and shot them.

The man's bravery paid off.

Journalists took the smuggled equipment and got to work.

Images of the independence movement were shared around the world.

International pressure mounted and, after several more months,

the Soviets eventually backed down.

It would take until September 1991

for the Soviet Union to recognise Lithuanian independence.

With that, they withdrew their troops from the capital

and abandoned the bunker.

So, the bunker was left without radio equipment,

and the cameras were stolen and, after the Russian soldiers left,

this bunker was left without any purpose and use.

For a long time, the authorities weren't really sure

what to do with the bunker.

Today, it's been put to a rather surprising new use.

The bunker is host to a sort of simulator,

of what it was like to live under Soviet control.

For three hours, we are kind of taking people back

to Soviet times underground,

and we are kind of showing them all the baddest things of these times,

like interrogations and so on.

It's a reminder that many of the freedoms we hold dear

are often more on a knife-edge

than we would like to believe.

In mid-town Detroit,

two unusual structures straddle

an otherwise typical suburban street.

They seem to be a sort of conflation

of an industrial building with something else more ornate.

One is low and almost fortress-like,

and the other is a mix of styles.

It's almost as if you sandwiched

a historic building in between two factories.

It's an intriguing mix.

They may look different,

but they're very much connected.

Inside the older structure,

there's no mistaking what this once was.

As we enter, we see the stained-glass windows,

the pews, but no parishioners,

and we see a stage and an altar, but no priest.

This church and the surrounding complex

was more than a place of worship.

This building did not only provide a foundation for

the civil rights movement,

but many might argue that it was here that

the first speech around Black power was given.

It would also produce some of Motown's most iconic performers.

It was a famous centre of gospel music,

and it gave rise to one of the most successful vocal groups

of all time.

After the First World War,

there was an influx of white southerners

drawn to cities like Detroit,

because of the high wages in the auto industry.

In 1921, a Baptist church was formed in this building

to cater to some of those new southern residents.

It was called Temple Baptist Church,

and it had an all-white segregated congregation.

But a bigger migration was already under way.

And when the church was put up for sale,

a cultural shift would send it in a new direction.

Motivated by the desire to escape racial violence,

and pursue greater economic opportunity,

there was an exodus of Black Americans

from the Jim Crow South.

The need for industrial workers in Detroit and other northern cities

drew millions of African Americans from the South.

It's part of what became known as the great migration.

In 1952, an all-Black church

that was really trying to cater to these southern transplants

decided to make this place their home.

It was transformed into the King Solomon Baptist Church.

Current Reverend, Charles Williams II,

knows all too well the scale of the challenge they were taking on.

When King Solomon, one of the first Black churches

on a major street in the city of Detroit,

purchased Temple Baptist Church,

which was originally a white separatist church,

they purchased 150,000 square feet.

That meant two buildings - one auditorium building,

and one education building with recreation,

as well as a sanctuary.

This was more than a church,

it was really the heart of the community.

Youth Outreach Programmes were run here,

with facilities ranging from an indoor roller-skating rink

to a boxing ring.

Thomas the Hitman Hearns, the first boxer

to win world titles in five weight divisions,

began his career right here.

There was a poetry centre that attracted

the likes of Langston Hughes,

and it's where so many of the world's finest performers

graced the stage.

So, this facility served as an opportunity,

and a place for gospel concerts.

Everybody played King Solomon.

If you were Lou Rawls...

..Sam Cook, who we all know and love,

played King Solomon.

And then, of course, we're strategically placed

right around the corner from Motown Museum.

With its 5,000-seater auditorium,

it became a regular stop on what was known as the Chitlin' Circuit -

a collection of key venues that top performers would hit

on their tours across America.

This was one of the places on that Chitlin' Circuit that all of

the gospel artists wanted to play,

because it was the largest facility where you could have

a real knock-down concert.

Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records,

was actually sitting here in the audience,

when he heard three young talented women do an audition.

And their names were Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Diana Ross.

This audition ultimately landed them a deal with Motown Records,

but there was just one condition.

Gordy insisted the group change their name,

and The Supremes were born.

The size of the church ensured that it served not only

as a community centre,

but also a hub of political activism.

Because of our classrooms across the street,

and the auditorium right next door,

this became one of the convention centres for,

quite frankly, Black America.

And this put it right at the centre of a rapidly-unfolding

civil rights movement that was really at a critical juncture.

1963 marked the centenary of

President Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation,

ending legal slavery in America.

To mark the occasion, the church hosted

the Progressive National Baptist Convention.

And the keynote speaker was Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.

His speech a week earlier, during the march on Washington,

meant the eyes of the world were now on the church,

where 10,000 people had gathered.

Coming so soon after his I Have A Dream speech,

you can imagine the atmosphere.

It must have been electric.

This was a pivotal speech,

made at a time when America was at the crossroads.

This place provided the foundation for

the next phase of that movement,

a movement towards direct action,

and away from just a theorising about equality.

Just a few weeks later, another speaker came here,

and he offered a stark alternative to MLK's vision.

On the 10th of November 1963,

Malcolm X delivered a seminal speech.

It would inspire many in the burgeoning Black Power movement.

He was heavily critical of the nonviolent civil rights movement,

that was put forward by the likes of MLK,

and he promoted revolution

with violence if necessary.

But his fiery rhetoric didn't go down well with everyone

connected to the church.

Some ministers felt it might harm the civil rights cause.

So, when he was scheduled to make another appearance

in April of the following year,

the church actually tried to prevent him from coming back.

Since Malcolm X had already paid for

and advertised the speech,

he took the matter to court and prevailed.

When he arrived in April 1964,

a presidential election was looming,

but many Black Americans were still being denied their right to vote.

We are in the balcony of

a place where individuals watched

Malcolm X give the speech "Ballot or the Bullet".

His message was clear.

If Black Americans were prevented from voting in

the upcoming election, they should take up arms.

He declared they were no longer willing to turn the other cheek.

So, 1964 was the year of the Ballot or the Bullet.

Malcolm's speech was intended to

light a fire under resistance.

He was saying that, if the peaceful civil rights movement doesn't work,

then armed resistance is going to be necessary.

And in this sense, his speech was extraordinarily dangerous

to the powers that be.

The following year, he was assassinated.

Speculation over who was behind his murder has been rife ever since,

and in 2024, his family sued the CIA, FBI, and NYPD

over their alleged involvement.

In death, Malcolm X's teachings and speeches continued to inspire

a growing Black Power movement,

which was further fuelled by

the assassination of Dr King in 1968.

Riots swept through cities like Detroit which, at this time,

was suffering economic decline,

driven by a collapsing motor industry.

The city's population shrank by 60% between 1950 and 2010,

and the church's congregation shrank with it.

Eventually, they could no longer afford the bills,

and so they moved into the auditorium,

leaving the church building to decay.

I'm honoured, and I've never gotten used to the fact that

I stand in the same place where Malcolm stood,

where Dr King stood.

The old church building remains closed,

but community work and services

continue to take place in the auditorium.

As we're getting back to our roots,

we're utilising the space for the community,

a place where, if you can't get childcare,

you can get childcare.

A place where if you need a meal, you can get a meal.

A place where you can get inspiration in song and prayer.

We want to continue on that legacy, continue on that tradition -

and that's why the doors of the church swing open today.

On the Japanese coast,

43 miles from Hiroshima,

is an island famed for its nature.

This island is one of 3,000 in this beautiful region,

and it really is tiny, less than half a square mile in size.

The first thing you notice is rabbits, they are everywhere!

Where did they all come from?

A closer examination reveals

a number of strange structures camouflaged in the rock.

At the top of the hill, we find this big stone expanse sunken into

the land, almost like an arena.

Underneath, we see arched brick structures

and domed rooms, perhaps for storage.

What was produced at this facility has left a toxic legacy.

So for decades, no trees could grow here,

because of what was buried in the soil.

What happened here was so secret,

the island was erased from the map.

Local historian Naoto Shinmoto first visited this site as a young boy.

Like many who grew up nearby,

Shinmoto was aware that the island had an unsettling past.

This island was once a key part of Japan's defence.

In the early 1900s,

a rapidly-modernising Japan began fortifying the region.

On this island,

three gun batteries were constructed as part of the Geiyo Fortress.

By the 1920s, the gun emplacements were outdated

and the fortress was retired,

but the Japanese Imperial Army

would find a chilling new use

for the island.

They were inspired by technological developments

on the European battlefields during World War I.

The 22nd of April, 1915.

The German Army releases clouds of poisonous chlorine against

British and Canadian soldiers at the Second Battle of Ypres,

forcing the Allied troops from their trench positions.

And this was a new weapon, no-one was prepared for it,

no-one had gas masks, so it caused quite a panic.

The physical effects of gas were excruciating

but it also proved to be

a devastating psychological weapon.

Because of the horrific injuries and indiscriminate nature of poison gas,

the Geneva Protocols of 1925 banned its deployment in warfare.

There are a lot of loopholes.

It didn't ban the development of the technology,

and it didn't ban the stockpiling of supplies either.

A new Japanese leader would soon

take advantage of these loopholes.

As Emperor Hirohito took the throne in 1926,

an increased focus on militarism took hold of the country.

The old Geiyo Fortress was converted

and expanded for industrial scale production of a product

that would give the island its name.

This place was once known as Poison Gas Island.

In choosing this island as the site of a toxic gas factory,

the Japanese military was finding a careful balance between

a site remote enough that they could conceal it,

but close enough that they could get workers to it.

Only a 15-minute commute from the mainland,

Okunoshima ticked all the boxes.

Construction began in 1927,

and the factory started operating in 1929.

It was soon producing a range of terrible poisons.

Mustard gas, chlorine,

vomiting and sneezing agents, and hydrogen cyanide.

When Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China in 1937,

they unleashed a reign of terror.

Chinese troops were pounded with poison gas shells,

had no gas-protective clothing,

and couldn't retaliate with gas of their own.

During the Battle of Shanghai,

the Japanese attacked the Chinese

with gas 13 separate times.

The Imperial Japanese Army quickly occupied huge swathes

of north-west China.

In Manchuria, the use of chemical weapons

would reach disturbing new levels,

under the highly-secretive programme, Unit 731.

It was masterminded by the army's Surgeon General, Shiro Ishii.

Shiro Ishii was trying to develop new techniques of chemical

and bacteriological warfare.

The gas developed on Okunoshima was used by

the infamous Unit 731,

which was a group that conducted human experiments.

Inside Unit 731, more than 3,000 Chinese prisoners of war

and civilians were subjected to disgusting experiments.

Gas chambers were set up to test subjects

with blister agents and nerve gas.

Doctors would perform surgery on the victims

to examine the biological effects in real time.

By 1944, the tide of war was turning against Japan,

and the poison gas factory was suffering due to a loss of labour

and necessary supplies.

They drafted in school girls to fill the gap.

Girls as young as 14 were made to produce poison gas.

But eventually, shortages forced authorities to convert the site

to a different use -

developing ever more outlandish weapons.

Balloon bombs were hydrogen-fuelled

and carried on jet streams at high altitude across the Pacific.

These were fitted with incendiary devices

that would be dropped randomly

across the United States.

Of the 9,300 balloons that were sent,

only 300 of them ever landed on US soil.

Although six people did die when they came across

an unexploded balloon at a camp ground in Oregon.

They were the only fatalities on mainland America

inflicted by Axis forces.

After the Japanese surrendered in 1945,

they tried to hide the evidence by dumping the gas.

Large quantities were quietly disposed of in China.

Most of the factory complex was demolished,

and its employees left to suffer alone,

as the government tried to cover up the programme.

And it's thought that nearly 7,000 factory workers were left

with lung disease, cancers, and other debilitating conditions.

The use of chemical weapons wasn't even mentioned in

the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunals,

nor were the doctors who were part of Unit 731.

In the 1990s, the Japanese Government was finally forced

to confront the terrible legacy of its chemical weapons programme.

Leaks from the gas dumps in China began causing injury

and even deaths among innocent civilians.

In the 2000s, Japan paid compensation to some of the victims,

and built a facility to dispose of abandoned mustard gas shells,

But many still live with long-term conditions today.

As for the rabbits,

their origin remains a mystery.

Today, Okunoshima is a place for people to come

and enjoy nature.

But the island does not shy away from this dark chapter.

A museum was opened on the island

to chart and educate about its dark past.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media