All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S15E01

[ominous music plays]

1944, somewhere
in German-occupied Poland,

or rather, deep beneath it.

For five bloody years,
the Nazis have consumed

much of Europe,
but now...

-[distant boom]
-...as you can hear,
the tide is turning.

Hitler fumes that one Beethoven
symphony contains more culture

than America has produced
in her whole history.

Well, perhaps.

But you know what we are
really good at producing?

Long-range bombers.

Since entering the war,
America has been unleashing

its airborne might with planes
like the B-17 Flying Fortress,

the B-24 Liberator,
and the B-29 Superfortress

with a range of
more than 5,000 miles.

Our bombers drop over
a million tons of explosives

on Nazi Germany.

[successive booms]

Hitler longs to strike back,
bringing the war

to the United States and
seeing New York go up in flames.

But his dreams are out of reach
because he doesn't have a plane

that can cross the Atlantic,
at least not yet.

Infuriated and desperate
as the Allies close in,

Hitler demands the production
of a so-called Amerikabomber.

Germany's best engineers race
to design and build prototypes

of a long-range bomber
to secure victory

for the Third Reich.

Ultimately, most will never
make it off the page.

Others will crash or be
destroyed in air raids.

In fact, not a trace of these
experimental aircraft are found

at the end of the war.

But is there a forgotten bunker
containing blueprints

of a secret plane?

Could explorers find
underground weapons factory

with lost aviation relics?

Learning how close the Nazis
came to reversing the outcome

of World War II would be
history-making.

So join me as I uncover
the truth behind Hitler's dream

killing machine,
the Amerikabomber.

[suspenseful music plays]

-[theme music plays]
-[Josh] The past is
all around us.

Oh, my god!

It goes on forever!

[Josh] A world of mystery...

Come on!
Look at that!

[Josh]
...danger...

Hang on!

-[theme music plays]
-[waves crashing]

[Josh]
...and adventure.

It's just straight down!

I gotta get a new job.

[theme music plays]

I travel to the far corners
of the Earth to uncover

where legends end...

We got it!
Yes!

...and history begins.
-Whoo-hoo! Here we go.

I'm Josh Gates, and this is
"Expedition Unknown."

[accordion music plays]

Welcome to Poland
and the city of Wroclaw,

formerly the German city
of Breslau,

formerly part of Prussia,

formerly part of the Hapsburg
Empire, Hungary, Bohemia,

and if you go back far enough,
the Kingdom of Poland.

What can I say?
Time's a flat circle.

Let's go.

Let's see, what else
can I tell you about Wroclaw?

It's a big college town
these days.

Nine Nobel laureates.

Oh, and they do have
a major thing for gnomes.

600 of them, to be exact,
scattered all over the city.

Why? Who cares?
It's adorable.

There are gnomes
bearing wedding rings.

There are gnomes eating
ice cream, gnomes at work,

gnomes that do your taxes,
and 596 more.

Let's just skip to
the last one, perched here

on a smokestack high above town.

It has the best possible view
of a city that has had

plenty of tragedy
to go with their whimsy.

Strolling these charming,
tranquil streets, it's hard to

imagine that 80 years ago,
most of this historic city was

reduced to rubble.

On September 1st, 1939,
Hitler invades Poland

in a sweeping offensive
known as the Blitzkrieg.

Over the next five years,
his forces slaughter

six million people of ethnic
Polish and Jewish descent.

When the Soviet Red Army comes
through on their way to Berlin,

the Nazis don't give up Wroclaw
easily, and the city is left

in ruins, a fate avoided by
American cities during the war.

But what if that terror
had come to our shores?

What if Hitler leveled
New York?

Well, it turns out,
but the United States may have

been more at risk
of losing the war

than we've ever realized.

Now, new evidence
is shedding light

on Hitler's terrifying plan
to reach America.

To learn more, I'm heading
90 miles away to the Polish town

of Lesna.

The historian I'm meeting with
is going to reveal

a recently discovered artifact
from World War II.

It was found in
the oldest house in town.

I'm told you can't miss it.

Oh, boy.

[Josh]
And I do not.

This place is insane.

[dramatic orchestral
music plays]

I cross the castle's bridge
to meet a leading authority

on Nazi technology,
Dr. Charlie Hall.

-What an entrance!
-It's an incredible place,
isn't it?

-Hey, I'm Josh.
-Welcome to Czocha Castle.

[Josh] Yeah, it is,
this is your summer home?

[Dr. Hall]
I wish, yeah.

It's so impressive, isn't it,
as you come up the bridge

towards it.
-Oh, it's a jaw-dropper.

It's like something
out of "Dracula."

I know, and you haven't seen
the half of it.

-Inside is even more impressive.
-Please.

[Josh]
We enter the castle
and begin our exploration

in the immense knight's hall.

Oh, come on.

Look at this place.

[Dr. Hall] It's an impressive
space, isn't it?

[Josh] This is a hall.

This is, like, I feel like
I'm in Camelot or something.

Yeah, so this is a proper
medieval castle built

in the 13th century
by a Bohemian king.

And so, what's going on here
in World War II?

It gets a little cloudy then.

So this is
in German territory

during the war.
-[Josh] Right.

German military intelligence
have a school

of cryptography here.
-Of course they do.

-In a castle.
-Yeah, naturally.
Why wouldn't you?

-Exactly.
-We also think that

the top Nazi scientist,
Wernher von Braun,

stayed here
for a period of time.

Von Braun is like a huge
character in the story

of World War II.
-[Dr. Hall] Mm-hmm.

He is the top rocket scientist
of the Third Reich.

Wernher von Braun designs
the Nazi V-2 rocket,

the world's first long-range,
guided ballistic missile.

The V stands for vengeance,
which it inflicts faster than

the speed of sound.

Incidentally, his membership in
the Nazi Party won't disqualify

von Braun from later working in
the United States Space Program

after the war, where he'll help
get us to the moon.

So, what's the father
of Nazi rocketry working on?

During some recent renovations
in the attic of this castle

in a sort of secret
hiding place, something
really interesting

was found that might shed
some light on what he was

doing here.
-OK.

I can take you through
and show it to you.

[Josh]
I'd love to see it.

[suspenseful orchestral
music plays]

-Welcome to the castle library.
-Wow.

And this is what they found
hiding in the attic.

[Josh] This was tucked away
in the attic?

-Yep.
-And this is what, an engine?

Yes, this is
part of the engine of
the Messerschmidt Me 163 Komet.

[Josh] This is
that rocket plane?

Yeah, it's the world's first
and only operational

rocket-powered aircraft.
-[Josh] Right.

It's the first aircraft
to go faster

than 1,000 kilometers an hour.

[Josh]
The Komet isn't just state
of the art, it's a trailblazer.

But it's also an extremely
short-ranged fighter, only able

to stay aloft
for eight minutes.

Even the vaunted V-2 rocket
can only travel

a couple of hundred miles.

As the war drags on,
Hitler becomes desperate

to extend his reach
further than London, especially

as the US Air Force and British
Royal Air Force use their own

long-range planes
to relentlessly bomb the Reich.

US planes alone dropped tens of
thousands of tons of bombs

every single month.

And yet, maddeningly,
Hitler and his forces haven't

been able to drop a single bomb
on the United States.

-But not for lack of trying.
-Exactly.

And let me show you
what they were working on.

-Just through here.
-Through where?

-Through the bookcase.
-Is it?

No.

-[Josh] This one?
-[Dr. Hall] That's the one.

[thrilling orchestral
music plays]

It's a secret passage.
Oh, my word.

-[Josh] Up or down?
-[Dr. Hall] We're going down.

[Josh] Here we go.

Sorry, I'm a sucker
for a secret passage,

and this castle has
over 20 of them.

Wow.
Another stunning space.

[Dr. Hall] Yes, this is known
as the marble room.

Wow.
Incredible.

OK, so what have we got here?

-Josh, I've pulled a few things
for us to have a look at.
-OK.

What you've got to understand
is Hitler has an obsession

by the end of the war

with bombing
the mainland United States.

And he's talking about this
to his closest confidants,

one of whom, Albert Speer,
who's the Minister of Armaments.

He writes about it
in his journal.

Take a look.

[Josh] This is from
Albert Speer's secret diaries.

And he's writing about Hitler,
and he says, "I never saw him

"so worked up as toward the end
of the war, when in a kind of

"delirium, he pictured
for himself and for us

"the destruction of New York
in a hurricane of fire.

"He described the skyscrapers
being turned into

"gigantic burning torches,
collapsing upon one another,

"the glow of the exploding city
illuminating the dark sky.

"He talks about a long-range
bomber, and with such range,

"we could repay America
1,000-fold for the destruction

of our cities."
-Yeah, it's a pretty
dark vision,

but it isn't
just a fantasy.

In 1944, planners working
for the German Air Force,

the Luftwaffe, designed this
bombing map of New York City.

Wow, look at this --
this is a bombing target plan

centered on Lower Manhattan.
-[Dr. Hall] Absolutely.

Just imagine a world
in which this happened.

It really gives you chills,
because it might have

changed history.
-Absolutely.

This was certainly
Hitler's goal.

[Josh] Hitler believes that
decimating US cities

will cause Americans
to withdraw from the conflict,

freeing the Nazis to secure
victory in Europe.

But they can't do it
without the right plane.

What they need is
a long-range bomber that can do

a 7,200-mile
round trip across the Atlantic,

carrying thousands of gallons
of fuel and a five-ton payload.

Right, they need a plane
that's big and heavy,
but also long-range.

Yes, and that's
the Amerikabomber,
which, in the 11th hour

of the Second World War,
the Nazis tried to build.

[Josh] The Amerikabomber becomes
Hitler's last hope of taking

the United States
off the board.

So the Nazis commission
all their defense contractors,

including companies like
Messerschmitt and Daimler-Benz,

to build a working model.

Most of these so-called
Wonder Weapons are prototypes,

but the concepts aim high.

One, the Silbervogel,
or silver bird, was supposed to

use an onboard rocket engine
to fly to suborbital space.

The most intriguing design
comes from Daimler-Benz.

They propose a large,
multi-engine flying wing

designed to carry smaller
bombers, which would detach,

say, over Manhattan,
and nosedive into the city

on a lethal one-way trip.

So how close did Daimler-Benz
come to building

this Amerikabomber?
-[Dr. Hall] Well,
we don't know exactly.

At the end of the war,
Germany is in ruins.

Many of the prototypes
are lost and destroyed,

and the documents have either
been stolen or lost or buried.

[Josh] The Nazis hid
many wartime factories

underground, and there have
long been rumors that

the Daimler-Benz Amerikabomber
was being developed

in a subterranean facility.

However, we do have some
real breaking news with this.

A research team here in Poland
who are working on some of

those underground tunnel
complexes that may be connected

to the Daimler-Benz design have
just made a major breakthrough.

So just as this castle coughed
up that rocket engine part,

they may have found something
relating to the Amerikabomber,

which hasn't been seen
for 80 years.
-Wow.

Any chance you can point me
in their direction?

I'd be happy to.

[Josh]
If there's new information
about Wonder Weapons,

it's something
I have to see for myself.

I thank Dr. Hall and drive
120 miles north

from Lesna toward a sprawling
underground Nazi complex

known as the MRUs.

The MRU network was staggering.

It was made up of 80 miles,
that's eight-zero miles,

of subterranean tunnels
connecting 100 bunkers.

In its day, it was nothing
short of an underground city.

Construction of the MRUs
began as early as 1934,

when this area was actually
part of Germany.

In 1943, as Allied bombing
became a daily concern

around here, Hitler moved
vital operations underground

into the MRUs,
where they remained
until the end of the war,

when the tunnels were either
imploded or sealed.

And if the Nazis did
have a solid plan for

the Daimler-Benz Amerikabomber,
what safer place to construct it

than in these tunnels?

The end of the road is just
the beginning, as I hike

into the forest toward a set
of coordinates I've been given.

In a secluded clearing,
I find a huge, imploded
concrete structure.

Pawel?

-[Pawel] Yeah?
-[Oliver] Josh, here!

-[Oliver] Down here.
-[Josh] Where?

-[Oliver] We're down here.
-[Josh] You're in here?

-[Pawel] Yeah.
-[Oliver] Come
down here, yes.

-[Josh] Hey!
-[Oliver] Come down here.

How are you?
Oh, my word.

I climbed down to reunite with
researcher Pawel Pietkiewicz

and his translator
from Germany,

my old friend,
Oliver Kruger.

Pawel is one of
the world's foremost experts

on the MRU tunnels.

We first met when
we investigated a different

and extremely flooded section
of the MRUs,

where we discovered remains
of artwork stolen by the Nazis.

Look at this.

Aha!

Dramatic place to meet.

OK, so let's talk about
this location.

What are you looking for here?

[speaking foreign language]

So we know that
in 1943, 1944,

Daimler-Benz relocated
an engine aircraft

factory into the undergrounds
of the MRU.

They did -- they moved
the factory underground?

-Yes.
-And we know that Daimler-Benz
is one of the companies that

could possibly have produced
an Amerikabomber.

That's correct,
and the documents
show that there has been

1,500 machines producing
aircraft parts underground.

-In the MRU system?
-[Oliver] Yes.

-OK.
-Also, a new drawing has
surfaced recently,

and maybe a sketch
of this bunker system.

It may show this actual bunker?
OK.

In their research of
the tunnels, Pawel and Oliver

uncovered a recently
declassified plan,

which depicts a section of
the MRUs that hasn't been seen

since the war.

Tunnels that may have
contained a secret

aircraft manufacturing facility.
-Nobody's been inside.

there since 75 years.

OK, so how are you going
to get into this space?

We may have found a place
where we can get in.

Do you think it's easy
to get in?

No, it's not easy, and if it
would be easy, we'd have been

there already.
-Well, a guy can dream.

What does it mean?

[laughter]

It means I'm hopeful that
it's not some horrible thing

I have to --
it doesn't matter.

-Very useless activity.
-[Josh] Oh, man.

All right, come on,
show me where this is.

Let's go.
Please.

-[Pawel] OK.
-Germans.

[Josh] Despite Oliver's
typically German optimism,

I'm still anxious
to get into the tunnels.

So we hurry to where we hope
we'll be able to break in

to this possible secret
weapons plant.

[suspenseful orchestral
music plays]

What is this?

This is a very deep shaft

used as a staircase
to go underground.

Stairs are gone, obviously.

You think you may be able
to get in down there?

50-50.

[Josh]
Deep in the forests of Poland,
researcher Pawel Pietkiewicz

has discovered the remains of
a concrete silo that we hope is

an entrance to a Nazi tunnel
system that hasn't been seen

since World War II.

This may have been
a factory dedicated to building

Hitler's dream weapon, a bomber
capable of reaching America.

Well, how the hell
do we get down there?

-We need help.
-Yeah, you need serious help.

Do you understand?
I mean, a psychiatrist.

Maybe, but also
someone with a rope.

Yeah, I know.

To get us down safely,
Pawel has brought in

rappelling expert Legion Beyer
and his research partner,

Jaroslaw Strozniak.

Lee has permission to drill
a few discreet anchors into

the crumbling concrete slabs.

We hope they're strong enough
to support us on a drop

80 years into the past.

Pawel will be
the first to descend.

-[Josh] OK, you ready?
-Ready.

[Josh] OK.

[suspenseful orchestral
music plays]

OK, slow, slow, slow.

-How does it look?
-[Pawel speaking
foreign language]

-It's going straight down.
-Straight down, OK.

Do you see anything?

[Pawel speaking
foreign language]

There's like sand and rubble.

OK, is there any place
where it goes deeper?

-[Pawel speaking
foreign language]
-[Josh] What's he say?

-He's saying that there's
a potential entrance.
-There's an opening?

[Pawel speaking
foreign language]

-Yeah, we have to go down there.
-He sees an opening?

-[Oliver] Yes.
-OK, we're coming down.

OK.

OK, on belay.
Here we go.

It is just straight down.

It's just sheer huge,
huge pieces of concrete

with busted rebar in them.

[suspenseful music plays]

-[Josh] Almost there.
-Are you down, Josh?

Almost down.
OK, I'm down.

-[Josh] What'd you find?
-Yes, Josh.

Oh my gosh, it's inside.
Does it go all the way in?

-Yeah, yeah [speaking
foreign language].
-Oh, it does go in.

-[speaking foreign language]
-Oliver, come on down.
Bring the gear.

[Josh] Oliver and Jaroslaw
follow us down.

Once the team is together
on solid ground,

we ditch our rappel gear.

OK, here we go.

And prepare to enter
a pitch-black

and dangerously collapsed world.

[suspenseful music plays]

Oh, these look like
the old stairs.

-[Oliver] Josh it goes back?
[indistinct]
-[Josh] Oh, there's a tunnel.

Oh.
It's part of the tunnel system.

Oh, my word.
Look at this.

This is part of the old tunnel.

Partially choked with sand,
but it looks like you can get

through, yes?
-Tak [yes].

OK, let's go.

Please, go ahead.
Be very careful, everybody.

-[Pawel speaking
foreign language]
-[Josh] Uh-huh.

-Keeps going?
-[Pawel speaking
foreign language]

[Josh]
What's that?

Oh, my god!
It goes on forever!

So it leads into
the main tunnel complex.

OK.
Let's see where it goes.

[suspenseful
orchestral music plays]

[Pawel]
Wow!

Look at the size of this.
It is unbelievable.

What is this system
in the floor, this inset?

-[Josh] What is this?
-[speaking foreign language]

[Oliver] This is a channel
for electric cables.

For electric cables.
Oh, you can see cabling
here, yeah.

So, this whole thing
would have been electrified.

Yes, it was sort of
an underground city.

Yeah, unbelievable.
OK.

We continue down the tunnel,
navigating past several

collapses as we venture
deeper into the heart

of darkness, until...

Oh, boy.

It's collapsed.

So, very, very tight here.

There's big pieces
of rebar

bent throughout here.

There's an incredibly tight
section ahead,

two collapsed
pieces of wall.

I don't know if
I can fit through this.

-[shuffling]
-[grunting]

[Oliver] How are
you doing, Josh?

Um, even with exhaling, I'm not
sure my rib cage can pass it.

I gotta exhale.

[exhales heavily]

-[grunts]
-OK, I'm through.

OK, we're through.

-More tunnel.
-[Pawel] Yeah.

Whoa.

It's wetter in here,
muddier, so water's coming in

from somewhere --
let's see where it goes, yeah?

-[Pawel] Yeah.
-Let's go.

-[suspenseful music plays]
-[splashing]

[Josh]
Tunnel splits, it looks like.
So this is a dead end behind me.

This is a no-go for sure
because not only is it flooded,

but the tunnel seems to slope
down, so there's no way

we're getting in there.
-[Oliver] Yes, anything
that's there is underwater.

Totally.
This looks like it
was a passage.

-[Josh] You see how they've
covered it with bricks?
-[Oliver] Yes.

[Josh] And you can see
where it's cracked.

This was not the original
ending of this passage,

I don't think.
-[speaking foreign language]

-Dig under it?
-[Oliver] Yes.

[Josh] Pawel isn't going to
let a dead end stop us.

He decides we should try to
burrow beneath the obstruction.

I, of course, need to carefully
consider such a crazy idea.

OK, sure, let's dig it.

-[rocks scraping]
-[suspenseful music plays]

[Josh, whispering]
Oh, that's tough.

[Josh] Oh, it's hollow.

-[Oliver] Oh, no.
-[Josh] Oh, my god, it's broken.

-[Josh] You can get through.
-[Pawel] Yes?

-[Oliver] It's a hole
-[Josh] It's a hole.

-[Oliver] There's space.
-[Josh] Holy [bleep].

[Josh]
It goes through.

Just when I think it's over...

[speaking foreign language]

...there's more.

We have to dig this out
as much as we can.

-[suspenseful music plays]
-[scraping]

OK, looks big enough.

God knows where it leads,
but, Pawel, you're up.

Pawel advances into
the opening, and I follow.

Oh, no.

-That is tight.
-[grunts]

Squeezing into a passage
that's been carved

out of the solid clay.

Josh --
right, and two lefts.

-[Josh] Goes to the right.
-Yeah.

[Josh] This is
extraordinarily dangerous.

This tunnel isn't reinforced
with concrete, which means

there's nothing
preventing collapse.

We struggle to navigate
the tight corners of this

hand-dug passage.

I think this opens up
into a room.

-[Pawel] Really?
-[Josh] Yes.

[suspenseful music plays]

[pained grunts]

OK, I'm on the ground.
I'm in a room.

We're in a room!

Oh, my word!
Look!

Two levels!

[Pawel speaking
foreign language]

[laughter]

Unbelievable!
Oliver!

We coming!

[Josh] No longer in corridors
and tunnels, we have emerged

into an actual facility.
It's a major discovery,

If the Nazis were building
an Amerikabomber here,

the evidence may be
close at hand.

-[Josh] Look.
-Oh, my god.

-[Oliver] What is that?
-[Josh] Look at the size
of this place.

-They have blown it up.
-Yeah, they did blow it
up, right?

Because the ceiling's intact,
but all of this is destroyed.

They must have blown it up
from the first floor.

We begin to explore the massive
chamber, looking for any signs

of so-called Wonder Weapons,
and aware that at any moment,

more of the room
could collapse.

[suspenseful music plays]

[Josh] Oh, there's writing.

Oxygen reading.

-[Josh] Where does this go?
-[Oliver] Oh, my god,
there's a room here.

There's another room.

[Josh] Oh, my god.
Careful in here, guys.

What does this say?

-[Pawel speaking
foreign language]
-[Oliver] It's a relaxing room.

Relaxing room, like
a common room?

[Oliver] No, no, more like
a sleeping room.

-Oh, it's a barrack.
-[Oliver] Yes, exactly.

This huge, double-floor room
we just came in must have been

a soldier's barracks.
-Yeah, yes.

Wow.

This space could be
where soldiers working
on the Amerikabomber

were living,
spending months

at a time underground.

Let's look around, though,
see if we can find anything
in here.

We have these stories about
Daimler-Benz operating machines

in these MRU tunnels, so we're
looking for aircraft parts,

aluminum, riveted material.

Guys, we're looking for
anything that may tell us

what this room was for.

Plans, blueprints,
anything like that.

-[suspenseful music plays]
-[rustling]

[Oliver] Whoa,
look at this.

[Josh] What'd you find?
Is that a gas mask?

That is a gas mask container.

A gas mask would be standard
equipment for a soldier living

underground in a time of
daily aerial assault.

There is just...

a million pounds
of rubble in here.

[Josh]
This, on the other hand...

Oh, what is this?

What is this?

Oh, paper.

[Oliver]
These are documents.

[Josh] Oh, wait a minute.
That looks like a diagram.

-[Oliver speaking]
-[Josh] Oh!

[Josh] Wait,
are these for weapons?

[suspenseful chord strike]

[Oliver] These are
some build instructions.

This is a plan how to build
or construct a grenade thrower.

[Josh]
I'm in a Nazi bunker that has
been buried for eight decades

beneath the Polish countryside,
searching for traces of

a prototype plane called
the Amerikabomber,

technology that would have
allowed the Germans to bomb

the East Coast
of the United States

and possibly win World War II.

Now, we're finding mysterious
documents in the ruins,

which aren't the kinds of
things you read every day.

I cannot believe this is
all just sitting in here.

Nobody's been here
since the war, so it's just

lying here.
-Yeah.

The last person in here
were the soldiers living here.

-[Oliver] Yes.
-[Josh] Oh, lots of writing.

-[Oliver] Yeah.
-Look.

[Oliver] This is, like,
how to construct land mines.

-[Josh] Land mines?
-[Oliver] Yes.

[Josh] So this is what, like
this is like a manual for...

setting up mines and traps --
look at that.

[Oliver]
That's amazing. Wow.

[speaking foreign language]

This is a booby trap in a tree.

[Josh]
Oh my word, look at that.

So this is what, like,
a trip wire down here?

Yes, that's a trip wire.

[Josh] And an explosive attached
to the tree, which just blows up

when you go over the wire.
-[Oliver] Yes, exactly.

It's pretty mean.

[Josh]
The whole book is traps.

Yes, that was the literature
of the Nazis.

That's right.

[Josh] These documents
are a one-stop shop for
a Nazi soldier

to learn how to wreak havoc
on the world.

But there's also another piece
of paper here, a reminder of

the man who inspired
all of this destruction.

-[Josh] And what is this stamp?
-[Oliver] This is --

-[Josh] This cross?
-[Oliver] "Im namen
des fuhrers,"

it means
"in name of the fuhrer,

Adolf Hitler,"

[speaking German] --
that's a part of an order.

Part of an order
in the name of Hitler?

[Oliver]
In the name of the fuhrer,
yes, in the name of Hitler.

-And the writing here?
-[Oliver] This is a delivery.

[Josh] A delivery?
This is an order for something.

Who knows what
this order contains?

[Josh] Could be weapons,
could be aviation parts, right?

Could be anything.

And it's dated to
February the 4th of 1945.

Sorry, wait,
February of '45?

[Oliver] Yes, only two weeks
before the Russians came here.

So this bunker was here
right up until the very end.

This is right before
the Soviets arrived,

and we're only months here away
from the end of World War II.

-Exactly.
-[Josh] We are, at this date,

in the turning
of history here.

-[Oliver] I agree.
-Right?

The world is about to
be saved right here.

[Oliver] Yeah.

Amazing.

It's just unbelievable.
This is a time capsule in here.

Let's keep looking around,
see what else there is.

[Josh]
The chamber is literally
piled high with historic relics.

We continue sifting through
the debris for materials

related to aviation.

OK, what's the word up here?
Does it continue?

[Oliver] No, look at this.
This is completely collapsed.

[Josh]
You can see the ceiling broke
open here, and there's just

a billion pounds of sand --
so, end of the line.

-Like, 1945.
-[Josh] Yeah,
major end of the line.

Lots of materials down here,
but nothing aviation-related.

Nothing connected to
the Amerikabomber.

-[Oliver] No.
-But this is a big deal.

This is a part of the MRU
tunnel network

we discovered
for the very first time.
-Yes.

It's huge.
Amazing job.

-[Oliver] We did it.
-Amazing.

Nice work.
Awesome.

Before we head back
to the surface, as many

photographs as we can take,
and I want to do a 3D scan

of these chambers as well
so we can document them.

-[Oliver] Let's do that.
-Yeah.

This is history right here.
Awesome work.

-[Oliver] Yes. Yeah.
-Yeah.

-OK, let's do it.
-[Oliver] OK.

[Josh] We have found a bunker
that made be part of the secret

experimental facility that
Pawel has been searching for

here in the MRUs.

It's crucial that
we map every detail.

I image the entire chamber
with a cutting-edge
Leica laser scanner,

which uses bursts of
light to measure every surface

in the room to within
fractions of a millimeter.

The three-dimensional image
this produces is historic.

It's the first survey of this
previously lost section

of the MRU tunnels,

and the data will
allow Pawel to continue to

search for what's beyond
the collapsed section.

[suspenseful music plays]

However, before any of that
work can begin, I get word that

newly discovered clues point
to another site in Poland

as the incubator
for the Amerikabomber.

To hear this breaking news
firsthand, I get back

on the road and I drive
120 miles to the south.

Here in the eerie, fog-filled
Owl Mountains near the border

of the Czech Republic,
I arrive at a site that seems

appropriate to the task
of finding a lost

aircraft factory.

OK, here we are.

Look at this place.

In this sprawling industrial
complex, I'm reuniting with

a journalist who has spent
her career uncovering

Nazi secrets, Joanna Lamparska.
-It's been a long time, Josh.

-Great to see you, Joanna.
-Great to see you.

Last time I saw you,
we were exploring some

spooky, old monument.

Yeah, it was Totenburg
Mausoleum on a dark hill.

-Do you remember?
-Yes, very creepy.

[Josh] A few years ago, Joanna
showed me around a monument

used for occult rituals
by the Nazis.

We really need to stop
meeting like this.

Help me understand this place.
This is a car museum now?

Today, it's a car museum with
vehicles from many periods of

time, many from World War II.
-OK.

But during war, it was
a huge factory, known as

a Krupp steelworks factory.
-Krupp steelworks factory.

Yeah, it was known as a weapon
forge of German Reich.

[Josh]
Krupp steelworks manufactured
panzer tanks for Nazi Germany,

as well as U-boats,
battleships,

howitzers,
and other armaments.

Hitler awarded Gustav Krupp
the first War Service Cross

in 1940 for his contributions
to the Nazi cause,

saying he wanted
German soldiers to be as hard

as Krupp steel.

If any company would have had
a hand in secret Nazi weapons,

this was it.

Was this building
the whole factory?

No, it was a huge complex.

Some buildings still exist,
some are gone, but the whole

extent of the factory
is still a mystery.

But I found this 1944
floor plan of this specific

factory building.
-Wow, are these workstations?

Yeah, it specifies what was
produced on each table.

Look what I found.

This is Krupp factory

production card.
-[Josh] Production card.

OK, so this is things
being made here.

-Yeah.
-[Josh] Uh-huh.

-Take a look at this.
-[Josh] F-32...

Stahlholmgurte.

Yeah, it means
Messerschmitt wing spars.

Wing spars
for a Messerschmitt.

So, Messerschmitt was making,
like, jet airplanes, yes?

-Yeah.
-I saw an engine
from a Messerschmitt.

-[Joanna] In Czocha Castle.
-[Josh] Yes, back at
Czocha Castle, exactly.

So, they're building parts of
those planes here.

Yes, and we believe that
Germans could have been making

Messerschmitt 264
in this factory.

This plane was
the closest Hitler got to

a functional Amerikabomber.

[Josh] The ME 264 was powered
by four BMW 801G radial engines.

It was designed to carry
a 6,600-pound bomb load,

almost 9,000 miles, more than
enough for a round-trip

to America from Nazi Germany.

It even boasted first-class
features like bunk beds
and a galley,

so the Nazis could blow
up the Big Apple in comfort.

And unlike other hypothetical
designs for the Amerikabomber,

this one was different.

It actually made it
off the assembly line.

Hitler himself demanded
the fastest possible production

of ME 264s.

How many of
the Messerschmitt 264s
were made?

Three prototypes, we know of,
but we believe they were

destroyed during the war.

-We believe.
-Exactly.

-They could be out there still.
-Yeah.

But nothing was ever found.

There's no blueprints
or aircraft parts

ever recovered.
-Not yet.

But the owner of this property
just found something

which could rewrite history --
come with me.

I'm all ears.

[dramatic orchestral
music plays]

[Josh]
We head outside,
crossing the factory grounds,

which once contained buildings
used to keep the Nazi

war machine equipped and deadly.

At the edge of the property,
Joanna introduces me to

the current owner,
Krzysztof Mezyk.

Nice to meet you, sir.

So, how long have
you owned this place?

We bought the place
two years ago.

[Josh] Two years ago.
Big property.

-Yes.
-So tell me what you found here.

We were cleaning this area
and we find that

concrete elements.
-Oh, all of this.

-Yes.
-[Josh] So all this concrete
we see here, this is

from the original factory?
-[Kryzysztof] Yes.

OK, so we can see these big pads
up here and all sorts of like

pipes and steel.
So something was here.

-Yes.
-OK.

And so, what do
we think was here?

We think people were
working here underground.

Underground.
So why do we think that?

[Josh] Like the MRU tunnels,
the Nazis built

many factories underground
to avoid bombing

and Allied aerial
reconnaissance.

There projects were
dependent on slave labor

from nearby concentration camps.

Anna, a prisoner taken from
the Warsaw Ghetto, was forced

to build special Messerschmitt
parts in an underground section

of this facility.

The trouble is,
there is no record of

any subterranean factory here.

But Anna later described
its location

to her granddaughter,
who drew this map,

the only evidence
of a top-secret location.

And let me show
you what we find.

OK, yeah, sure.
What did you find?

[suspenseful music plays]

Oh, my god.
It's a tunnel.

You found a tunnel.
Unbelievable.

Look at this.

[Josh] This was just buried
under the ground here.

-Exactly, we had
no idea it was here.
-Incredible.

[Josh]
Journalist Joanna Lamparska has
uncovered eyewitness testimony

from a factory worker
that suggests a top-secret

underground facility was used
to build a long-range bomber

that might have turned the tide
of World War II.

And the current property owner
has just found

a possible entrance.
-How far back does it go?

-Around 40 meters, I think.
-40 meters?

-Can we go in?
-Yeah.

Let's go in.
Come on.

We don helmets and enter
as the first visitors

since the Third Reich
was a going concern.

Look at this place.
This is crazy.

All brick-lined.

This is a proper tunnel.

Oh, and then what is this?

So we've got another tunnel
here that goes to the left,

but it's all bricked up.

-This is incredible.
-It's crazy.

I wonder what is behind
this wall.

[Josh]
Absolutely.

And then we've got some
evidence of other construction

in here --
this metal up here.

-[Joanna] I think
it's for lighting.
-[Josh] Right.

[Josh] There must have been
lighting in here.

So this is a place people were
going back and forth.

So the question is, why?
What were they doing down here?

Let's see where this goes.

[suspenseful music plays]

OK, so...

underneath this sketchy
ceiling here.

And then, where does this go?
Let's see.

-[Josh] So it goes back further.
-Can you see where it goes?

[Josh] It looks like another
bricked-up wall behind it.

So it must have gone somewhere,
and then it's been bricked up.

It's getting more interesting
every minute.

-[Josh] Yeah.
-[Joanna] OK.

[Josh] This is what?
This is metal?

-Piece of metal.
-[Joanna] What did you find?

[Josh]
I don't know, it's metal.

-Oh, it's writing!
-[Joanna] Wow.

[Josh]
Look at that!

-[Josh] Stelle?
-[Joanna] Stelle.

Stelle.
So, Stelle means what?

-A closed zone.
-A closed zone.

OK, so this is
the end of a word.

-[Joanna] Yeah.
-So what might have
gone in front of this?

I believe
it could be baustelle.

[Josh] Baustelle,
which means what?

-A building place.
-Like a factory?

-[Joanna] Yeah.
-OK.

So this sign, undoubtedly,
this must have hung down here

somewhere, right?
So this is directing people to

some sort of stelle,
some sort of closed-off space.

The records did not show
any underground facilities here

at the Krupps factory,
but clearly there is.

-We're in it.
-Absolutely, this is it.

So we have the evidence
all around us that there is

some sort of underground
tunnel system here.

Now the question is,
what does it mean?

What was it for?

So let's try and figure
that out.

Kryzysztof, this definitely
goes deeper, but it's
a dead end here,

so we're gonna
come back to you.

-[Kryzysztof] OK, we can go in.
-OK, let's do it.

[Josh] We reconvene in
the main passage and assess

how to get past the blockage.

I mean, I think we'd have
a very hard time digging

through this, so how do we get
to the rest of the tunnel?

From above?

-Yes.
-OK.

How are we gonna
get there from above?

Oh, you've got a koparka?

-Yes.
-How do you know this
word, "koparka"?

-It's Polish.
-Because I love a koparka.

Let's get a koparka.

-[dramatic music plays]
-[motor rumbling]

[Josh]
Unleash the koparka.

OK, this ought to
do the trick.

For those of you who are new
around here, a koparka is

an excavator, and this one is
going to dig into this tunnel

from above, attempting to
bypass the collapse by finding

a new way for us
to safely enter.

We gouge a few holes into
the earth, but all we find is

dirt and debris,
until...

-[Josh] Whoa.
-[Joanna] Whoa.

Something there?

-[Joanna] Oh, my.
-Oh, there's an opening!

Oh, my word!
Look at this!

Hey!
Nice work!

Oh, my God, look at that.

-[indistinct]
-A flashlight, a flashlight.

[suspenseful music plays]

Oh, it goes down.
It goes way down underground.

OK, we got an entrance here.

Let's open this up,
see what else is there.

[suspenseful music plays]

[Josh]
The dig team draws straws
to choose who goes first.

Excavator Jacek Lokaj wins,
so he loses.

-OK, you're gonna go in first?
-Yeah.

God bless you.
Here we go.

[laughter]

[Josh]
He shimmies his way down into
the tunnel, followed closely

by another team member.

OK, so how far back
does it go?

[speaking foreign language]
10 meters.

-10 meters, it goes
back 30 feet?
-Yeah.

OK, I'm coming down.

[Josh]
I'll be damned if I'm gonna
let these guys go into

a death trap tunnel without me,
so I join in.

OK, coming in.

[grunting]
OK.

Boy, that's tight.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
OK.

Here we go.
Oh, look at this place.

Wow --
so you can see

there's a pipe
at the end, and it looks like

you can see where a pipe
was in the dirt there as well,

in the mud --
but no door.

So this looks like maybe
more of a utility tunnel.

[Josh] I see, so maybe like
a water pump down here.

But where does that pipe go?

Yeah, that is the mystery.

All right, guys, nice work.

OK, back to the surface.

OK --
[heavy breathing]

I got to get a new job.

[grunting]
OK.

That was fun.

[laughter]

OK, we got to keep searching.
Here we go.

[suspenseful music plays]

[Josh]
We found more tunnel all right,
but not like where

we were before --
this is a service tunnel.

We continue digging to see
if we can find out

what it serviced.

The excavator, though, comes up
with something that may be

even better.

[indistinct speaking]

What's that?
Oh, metal.

Hold on, hold on.
Stop, stop, stop.

-Is it aluminum?
-It looks like.

It is, yeah?

[Joanna] Aluminum.
Wow.

-Oh, my god.
-Oh, wow.

[cheerful music plays]

[Josh] Searching for
the Amerikabomber
is hungry work,

and there's no better place
to recharge than here,

at the world's only
potato vending machine.

Yep, this is real.

That's because potatoes are
the starchy staple of so many

Polish favorites, like potato
pancakes, potato soup,

potato pierogies,
potato toothpaste.

I don't know.
It goes in everything here.

And it's so simple.

You just put your coins
in the slot.

[coins clattering]

Choose your shelf.
Oh, I don't know.

One potato, two potato,
three potato, four.

Here we go.

The door opens, and you help
yourself to a generous serving

of spuds --
look at that.

Unbelievable.

I'll tell you one thing,
this machine is

pretty a-peeling [appealing].
What?

Don't be mad.
Tater's gonna tate [hate],
am I right?

Tater's gonna tate [hate].

Anybody know
how to make vodka?

-This is aluminum.
-[Joanna] Yes, it is.

-Could this be from an aircraft?
-[Kryzysztof] Yeah.

-Aircraft aluminum.
-Aircraft aluminum.

-[Kryzysztof] You see the paint?
-[Josh] Oh, there's paint on it.

-Green paint.
-[Kryzysztof] And
that's riveted.

And that's riveted!
There's a rivet mark there,
there, there, there.

So this is riveted
aluminum skin.

This looks like
it's from a plane.

In Poland, above a reported
secret underground factory,

we've just discovered evidence
that suggests this site was

used to develop the Nazi
Wonder Weapon known as

the Amerikabomber.

Is there more?

Oh!

Oh, my word.

Aluminum was very rare
during the war.

[Josh] This looks very much
like it's from an airplane.

I mean, let's take stock of
where we are here, right?

We're at this factory where
we know they were producing

aircraft parts.

Yes, something underground.

And we have this
testimony from Anna.

-Anna.
-[Josh] Right.

Who says she worked
underground --

And now we know from this
tunnel and from what we're

digging up here, there was
a subterranean complex here.

-[Josh] For sure.
-Yeah, we are sure that
something was here.

-[Josh] Yes.
-Yeah, something special.

And it's definitely associated
with aviation.

No question.

The main building.

[Josh] Right.

Exactly, and we know that
in the main facility,

they were building
those Messerschmitt spars.

So this must have been
something else,

something more
top secret.

And so, could this be
from a prototype?

Could this be from
the Amerikabomber Project?

Like, this is aircraft aluminum
in a secret facility.

[Josh]
Hopefully.

-Yeah.
-We should keep digging around
here, see if we can find

more of this aluminum, yeah?
-[Kryzysztof] Yes.

Maybe we can put a plane
back together, yeah?

-[Kryzysztof] OK.
-[Josh] Amazing.

Amazing.
Amazing work, guys.

-[Joanna] Thank you.
-[Josh] Thank you so much.

Amazing.

Great job.
Unbelievable.

That's awesome.

[Josh] The discovery of
aircraft aluminum

in the ruined tunnels
here is a bombshell.

It almost certainly confirms
the account that Joanna found,

which said experimental planes
were being built here.

[reporter]
War against Germany is won.

[Josh] History, they say,
is written by the victors.

And, in this case,
thank God that those victors

were the Allies.

It's not hard to imagine what
the world would have looked like

had the Nazis been victorious
in World War II.

It likely would have looked
like Poland in 1943.

The fear, the burned
cities, the camps.

This was the Reich's eventual
vision for America, if only

it could reach us.

The Nazis, blessedly,
ran out of time.

They were stopped
before they could finish
their Wonder Weapons,

the Amerikabomber
or the Atomic Bomb that would

surely have followed.

Exactly how close we came
to living the vision outlined

in Albert Speer's diaries,
I'm certain that we will one

day learn, as dedicated
researchers in Poland

dig through eight decades
of rubble...

Oh, my god, it's broken.
You can get through.

...to claw the truth
out of the Earth itself.

The Nazis didn't get
their Amerikabomber,

but today their ideological
heirs are rising from the ashes
of history.

And so, like our greatest
generation, we are now called

to resist a new wave of
extremists, or else the future

will surely be written by them.

[Josh] Thirteen brand-new
epic adventures spanning
five continents.

Whoo-hoo!

[Josh] It can only be
"Expedition Unknown."

Come on!
Look at that!

[Josh]
From a hunt for man-eating
lions on the African savanna...

Oh, lion!
Oh, there's two!

...to the discovery of a lost
plane from a World War II hero.

We got it! Yes!

[Josh]
A real-life Spanish galleon
that inspired "The Goonies."

I think I have a match.

[Josh]
And a search for a gold rush
fortune with a gold rush

expert, Parker Schnabel.
-Oh, look!

The student has
become the teacher!

Are you kidding me?

[Josh]
Then, in the expedition of
a lifetime, I'm going deep

inside the Great Pyramid
of Giza to finally reveal

the truth behind one of
the Seven Wonders of the World.

On an all new season...

Yow!

...of "Expedition Unknown."

Hang on!
Ha ha! Whoo!