1 00:00:28,718 --> 00:00:31,790 - [Narrator] March 1945, the Nazis are mounting 2 00:00:31,893 --> 00:00:34,965 a last-ditch counterattack to take back the town of Luban 3 00:00:35,069 --> 00:00:36,760 from the Soviets. 4 00:00:36,864 --> 00:00:40,178 - This was the last effective German offensive action 5 00:00:40,281 --> 00:00:42,421 of the entire conflict. 6 00:00:42,525 --> 00:00:43,940 - [Narrator] The Germans succeed 7 00:00:44,044 --> 00:00:46,011 in wresting control of the town from the Red Army. 8 00:00:46,115 --> 00:00:47,978 But the timing is strange. 9 00:00:49,635 --> 00:00:53,398 - The Soviet Red Army is rolling towards Berlin. 10 00:00:53,501 --> 00:00:55,883 This is the end game of the war. 11 00:00:57,333 --> 00:00:58,851 - [Narrator] Within two months, Hitler will be dead, 12 00:00:58,955 --> 00:01:00,784 and the war in Europe ended. 13 00:01:00,888 --> 00:01:04,512 Germany's evil dream of a thousand-year Reich is over. 14 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:07,170 - But here's this one last attempt 15 00:01:07,274 --> 00:01:09,621 to try to convince the German people that it's all good 16 00:01:09,724 --> 00:01:11,899 and we got it under control. 17 00:01:12,002 --> 00:01:13,832 - [Narrator] Stranger still is the area 18 00:01:13,935 --> 00:01:15,730 so desperately fought over. 19 00:01:15,834 --> 00:01:17,663 - Nobody knows what's going on there. 20 00:01:17,767 --> 00:01:21,426 I don't think there was any strategic purpose to it. 21 00:01:21,529 --> 00:01:25,361 - Why was this place so important to the Nazis? 22 00:01:25,464 --> 00:01:28,088 [dramatic music] 23 00:01:49,178 --> 00:01:51,249 - [Narrator] In early March of 1945, 24 00:01:51,352 --> 00:01:53,423 during the final months of World War II, 25 00:01:54,769 --> 00:01:56,875 a determined division of German soldiers 26 00:01:56,978 --> 00:02:00,050 are heading into the town of Luban in Lower Silesia. 27 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,124 Assisted by two Panzer divisions, 28 00:02:04,227 --> 00:02:06,264 they intend to take it back from the Soviets, 29 00:02:06,367 --> 00:02:09,370 who had captured it a few weeks earlier. 30 00:02:09,474 --> 00:02:12,304 But this desperate attack seems pointless, 31 00:02:12,408 --> 00:02:14,064 as the Nazis are forced to confront 32 00:02:14,168 --> 00:02:16,688 an increasingly inevitable defeat. 33 00:02:16,791 --> 00:02:18,172 - At this stage of the war, 34 00:02:18,276 --> 00:02:21,796 the ring is closing on Hitler and the Nazis. 35 00:02:21,900 --> 00:02:23,384 From the west, 36 00:02:23,488 --> 00:02:26,111 the Allies have established their bridgeheads in France 37 00:02:26,215 --> 00:02:29,494 and Allied ground troops are moving towards Germany, 38 00:02:29,597 --> 00:02:33,256 while Allied bombers continue to pound Germany from the sky. 39 00:02:36,259 --> 00:02:37,364 - [Narrator] From the east, 40 00:02:37,467 --> 00:02:39,366 the 11-million-man-strong Red Army 41 00:02:39,469 --> 00:02:40,988 has been rolling across Europe, 42 00:02:41,091 --> 00:02:43,473 retaking the territory conquered by the Germans 43 00:02:43,577 --> 00:02:44,785 earlier in the war. 44 00:02:46,235 --> 00:02:50,825 - The Soviets just built this massive war machine. 45 00:02:50,929 --> 00:02:55,105 The entire German armies were vanishing and coming out 46 00:02:55,209 --> 00:02:58,523 as mincemeat out of the Red Army machine. 47 00:02:58,626 --> 00:03:01,698 - [Narrator] By 1945, the Soviets have retaken Belarus 48 00:03:01,802 --> 00:03:03,252 and Western Ukraine, 49 00:03:03,355 --> 00:03:05,254 and are working their way across Poland 50 00:03:05,357 --> 00:03:07,048 and into German territory. 51 00:03:08,222 --> 00:03:11,087 - It was just flattening the Nazis. 52 00:03:11,191 --> 00:03:14,055 Marshal Zhukov have had very clear directions from Stalin. 53 00:03:14,159 --> 00:03:16,126 "Don't stop 'till Berlin." 54 00:03:16,230 --> 00:03:19,164 All the urban centers which were on the path to Berlin 55 00:03:19,268 --> 00:03:20,821 would be taken by the Red Army. 56 00:03:22,719 --> 00:03:25,135 - [Narrator] Luban is on that path. 57 00:03:25,239 --> 00:03:27,517 But General Ferdinand Schorner has spent a month 58 00:03:27,621 --> 00:03:29,657 building up German forces in the area, 59 00:03:29,761 --> 00:03:32,212 in anticipation of the Soviets' arrival. 60 00:03:34,006 --> 00:03:36,699 - Schorner was ideologically committed up until the very end 61 00:03:36,802 --> 00:03:39,771 and was willing to use all of his authority 62 00:03:39,874 --> 00:03:42,705 to keep as many soldiers in action as he could, 63 00:03:42,808 --> 00:03:44,224 even though each day of fighting 64 00:03:44,327 --> 00:03:46,640 was only prolonging the inevitable. 65 00:03:48,780 --> 00:03:49,919 - [Narrator] The Silesian region, 66 00:03:50,022 --> 00:03:51,783 in what is modern day Poland, 67 00:03:51,886 --> 00:03:54,199 was fully German during World War II 68 00:03:54,303 --> 00:03:56,615 and viewed as the doorstep to Berlin. 69 00:03:56,719 --> 00:04:01,379 - In 1945, Luban was Lauban which was a German town. 70 00:04:01,482 --> 00:04:05,383 German forces are essentially trying to buy time 71 00:04:05,486 --> 00:04:07,488 for populations to move westward 72 00:04:07,592 --> 00:04:09,870 and get out of the way of the Red Army. 73 00:04:09,973 --> 00:04:11,492 - [Narrator] But in the face of the pincer move 74 00:04:11,596 --> 00:04:14,771 on the Fuhrer from east and west, it's a mystery 75 00:04:14,875 --> 00:04:17,326 why the Nazis would put their dwindling resources 76 00:04:17,429 --> 00:04:19,155 into this region. 77 00:04:19,259 --> 00:04:22,952 Why not mount a larger, stronger defense around Berlin? 78 00:04:24,298 --> 00:04:26,783 A structure a few kilometers south of Luban 79 00:04:26,887 --> 00:04:28,682 may provide some clues. 80 00:04:29,579 --> 00:04:30,960 - One of the reasons 81 00:04:31,063 --> 00:04:32,996 Luban might have been so important to the Nazis 82 00:04:33,100 --> 00:04:37,311 were the industrial facilities based here. 83 00:04:37,415 --> 00:04:40,314 - There is this constant need on both the Axis 84 00:04:40,418 --> 00:04:43,041 and the Allied side to outsmart each other 85 00:04:43,144 --> 00:04:46,355 in terms of better weaponry, better armaments, 86 00:04:46,458 --> 00:04:48,011 better war production, 87 00:04:48,115 --> 00:04:51,498 bigger and better and deadlier ways to kill people. 88 00:04:51,601 --> 00:04:53,672 - They were in effect trying to avoid 89 00:04:53,776 --> 00:04:54,984 the specter of World War I 90 00:04:55,087 --> 00:04:56,744 which was a war of attrition. 91 00:04:56,848 --> 00:04:58,436 You and me in trenches fighting each other 92 00:04:58,539 --> 00:05:00,058 until one of us bleeds to death. 93 00:05:00,161 --> 00:05:03,061 So the German military strategy from the get-go 94 00:05:03,164 --> 00:05:05,201 was to hit hard and fast 95 00:05:05,305 --> 00:05:07,755 and use technology as the cutting edge of that. 96 00:05:07,859 --> 00:05:09,412 - [Narrator] This cutting edge 97 00:05:09,516 --> 00:05:11,690 took shape in Hitler's infatuation 98 00:05:11,794 --> 00:05:14,210 with advanced wonder weapons. 99 00:05:14,314 --> 00:05:16,626 - He no longer has hope in his generals. 100 00:05:16,730 --> 00:05:20,389 Goöring and Luftwaffe had failed him. 101 00:05:20,492 --> 00:05:22,460 His dream of super weapons 102 00:05:22,563 --> 00:05:25,428 are the one thing that keeps him going. 103 00:05:25,532 --> 00:05:29,881 - I think there's a sort of fetishization of technology, 104 00:05:29,984 --> 00:05:31,365 one simply loses count 105 00:05:31,469 --> 00:05:33,678 of all of the different weapons projects 106 00:05:33,781 --> 00:05:37,475 and experimental programs that are underway 107 00:05:37,578 --> 00:05:40,063 with the idea that one could invent 108 00:05:40,167 --> 00:05:42,721 their way out of this strategic cul-de-sac 109 00:05:42,825 --> 00:05:45,206 that the Germans find themselves in. 110 00:05:45,310 --> 00:05:47,001 - If you consider what the United States 111 00:05:47,105 --> 00:05:48,900 had to do with the Manhattan Project, 112 00:05:49,003 --> 00:05:52,800 and how that miraculously ended the war in the Pacific, 113 00:05:52,904 --> 00:05:57,598 Hitler's dream is not all that crazy, 114 00:05:57,702 --> 00:06:00,325 if only it was based on some kind of working science 115 00:06:00,429 --> 00:06:02,500 and they had the resources for it. 116 00:06:04,191 --> 00:06:05,537 - [Narrator] Though German scientists 117 00:06:05,641 --> 00:06:07,988 are at the forefront of research and technology, 118 00:06:08,091 --> 00:06:10,266 the Reich's advantage falls short. 119 00:06:11,957 --> 00:06:15,375 - The Germans were pretty capable when it came to research, 120 00:06:15,478 --> 00:06:17,238 but they had some challenges 121 00:06:17,342 --> 00:06:19,240 in converting the early scientific stages 122 00:06:19,344 --> 00:06:22,382 of these projects into a product 123 00:06:22,485 --> 00:06:25,764 that somebody can actually employ on a battlefield. 124 00:06:25,868 --> 00:06:27,697 - The journey from prototype 125 00:06:27,801 --> 00:06:30,838 to an actually used weapons system 126 00:06:30,942 --> 00:06:32,840 is a long, drawn out process 127 00:06:32,944 --> 00:06:35,947 the Germans tried to accelerate at that time, 128 00:06:36,050 --> 00:06:37,776 but not always successfully. 129 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:39,191 - This pressure to innovate 130 00:06:39,295 --> 00:06:41,366 led to a type of conscription 131 00:06:41,470 --> 00:06:44,127 of the scientific and engineering elite 132 00:06:44,231 --> 00:06:45,957 to work on the war effort. 133 00:06:46,060 --> 00:06:47,579 That hadn't happened before. 134 00:06:47,683 --> 00:06:50,133 Now they're being hustled away to secret sites 135 00:06:50,237 --> 00:06:53,136 to work on projects and not speak about it, 136 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:55,484 and not go back to their families for a while. 137 00:06:57,969 --> 00:06:59,626 - [Narrator] But the research labs and factories 138 00:06:59,729 --> 00:07:01,075 that enabled this innovation 139 00:07:01,179 --> 00:07:03,595 were under constant threat from the Allies. 140 00:07:04,941 --> 00:07:06,633 - During the Second World War, 141 00:07:06,736 --> 00:07:10,809 the Americans and British had undertaken a concerted effort 142 00:07:10,913 --> 00:07:13,640 to bomb German war industry. 143 00:07:14,917 --> 00:07:17,195 And in response to those bombing raids, 144 00:07:17,298 --> 00:07:18,679 the Nazis had moved 145 00:07:18,783 --> 00:07:22,545 their production facilities further east. 146 00:07:22,649 --> 00:07:24,720 - Once you get as far east as Silesia, 147 00:07:24,823 --> 00:07:26,998 that's pushing the outer ranges of the bombers 148 00:07:27,101 --> 00:07:29,276 as well as any escort fighters 149 00:07:29,379 --> 00:07:32,452 that might be accompanying them during daytime operations. 150 00:07:34,419 --> 00:07:35,627 - [Narrator] In the Luban region, 151 00:07:35,731 --> 00:07:37,664 hulking structures guard the secrets 152 00:07:37,767 --> 00:07:41,668 of some of the Nazis' last desperate plans. 153 00:07:41,771 --> 00:07:42,945 - As they moved east, 154 00:07:43,048 --> 00:07:44,705 they took over existing facilities 155 00:07:44,809 --> 00:07:48,053 in these countries that they had already seized, 156 00:07:48,157 --> 00:07:50,608 textile factories, and he had manufacturing factories, 157 00:07:50,711 --> 00:07:53,473 and they would actually retool that factory 158 00:07:53,576 --> 00:07:55,233 for their own war production. 159 00:07:57,615 --> 00:07:59,548 - [Narrator] This enormous prison-like building, 160 00:07:59,651 --> 00:08:02,689 in nearby Lesna, once held a manufacturing facility 161 00:08:02,792 --> 00:08:03,931 that produced components 162 00:08:04,035 --> 00:08:05,761 for some of the most advanced weapons 163 00:08:05,864 --> 00:08:07,383 of the Second World War. 164 00:08:09,247 --> 00:08:11,870 These are the remains, of just one of the buildings, 165 00:08:11,974 --> 00:08:13,700 of the Walter-Werke factory. 166 00:08:13,803 --> 00:08:15,633 - The output from the Walter-Werke factory 167 00:08:15,736 --> 00:08:17,773 was so important to the Nazis, 168 00:08:17,876 --> 00:08:19,602 they went to great lengths 169 00:08:19,706 --> 00:08:21,777 to keep it hidden from the Allies. 170 00:08:23,019 --> 00:08:25,125 It was covered over by a masking net, 171 00:08:25,228 --> 00:08:28,438 making it very difficult to spot from the air. 172 00:08:28,542 --> 00:08:31,441 Any roads also leading to the factory 173 00:08:31,545 --> 00:08:34,583 were incredibly heavily guarded, 174 00:08:34,686 --> 00:08:36,757 making it very difficult for unwanted guests 175 00:08:36,861 --> 00:08:38,759 to get in on land. 176 00:08:40,312 --> 00:08:42,729 - [Narrator] Even stranger, in the hills nearby, 177 00:08:42,832 --> 00:08:44,524 a network of tunnels and caverns 178 00:08:44,627 --> 00:08:47,078 have been carved into the hard rock. 179 00:08:48,597 --> 00:08:50,564 Most of these are left unfinished 180 00:08:50,668 --> 00:08:54,361 with bits of machinery left to rust in the dark. 181 00:08:54,464 --> 00:08:55,845 - And absolutely, that would suggest 182 00:08:55,949 --> 00:08:58,192 that there was some pretty top secret 183 00:08:58,296 --> 00:09:01,230 technologically cutting edge stuff going on there. 184 00:09:03,784 --> 00:09:06,925 - [Narrator] The Walter-Werke Company is founded in 1934 185 00:09:07,029 --> 00:09:10,550 by pioneering engineer, Hellmuth Walter. 186 00:09:10,653 --> 00:09:12,275 Walter first comes to the attention 187 00:09:12,379 --> 00:09:14,692 of the Kriegsmarine in 1937, 188 00:09:14,795 --> 00:09:15,969 when he shows them plans 189 00:09:16,072 --> 00:09:17,971 for a new submarine propulsion system 190 00:09:18,074 --> 00:09:20,801 using hydrogen peroxide. 191 00:09:20,905 --> 00:09:24,287 - His first prototype came about in 1940, 192 00:09:24,391 --> 00:09:27,636 and it remarkably was able to double the speed 193 00:09:27,739 --> 00:09:29,154 of existing submarines, 194 00:09:29,258 --> 00:09:31,640 but it relied on a very volatile mix 195 00:09:31,743 --> 00:09:34,125 of chemicals to achieve this. 196 00:09:34,228 --> 00:09:36,714 - This is a problem which perhaps is faced 197 00:09:36,817 --> 00:09:38,819 all over the world by engineers. 198 00:09:38,923 --> 00:09:41,511 There are certain demands which are made in wartime 199 00:09:41,615 --> 00:09:44,514 and demand for speed, efficiency and so forth. 200 00:09:44,618 --> 00:09:46,309 The kind of submarine propulsion systems 201 00:09:46,413 --> 00:09:47,690 he was working with, 202 00:09:47,794 --> 00:09:49,140 these take time to develop and to perfect 203 00:09:49,243 --> 00:09:50,797 and to bring into production, 204 00:09:50,900 --> 00:09:53,075 and they are often taking great risks 205 00:09:53,178 --> 00:09:55,871 because time was something which the Nazis didn't have. 206 00:09:57,631 --> 00:09:58,770 - Although this propulsion system 207 00:09:58,874 --> 00:10:02,325 was too volatile for naval systems, 208 00:10:02,429 --> 00:10:05,984 it was more easily adapted to rocketry. 209 00:10:06,088 --> 00:10:08,297 - [Narrator] The Walter-Werke Company produces components 210 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,059 for two of the Nazi's most well-known wonder weapons: 211 00:10:12,163 --> 00:10:15,822 The V1 missile and the V2 rocket. 212 00:10:15,925 --> 00:10:17,651 - Basically, they're flying bombs. 213 00:10:17,755 --> 00:10:18,963 They were unmanned. 214 00:10:19,066 --> 00:10:21,621 They are designed to go up 215 00:10:21,724 --> 00:10:23,726 and launched from sites in Europe. 216 00:10:25,072 --> 00:10:26,142 - [Narrator] While The Walter-Werke Company 217 00:10:26,246 --> 00:10:27,972 doesn't make the V1 itself, 218 00:10:28,075 --> 00:10:30,457 they are responsible for getting it in the air. 219 00:10:31,907 --> 00:10:35,945 - The V1 had to be fired from a fixed launching point 220 00:10:36,049 --> 00:10:38,430 and required a very long rail, 221 00:10:38,534 --> 00:10:40,329 almost like a roller coaster rail 222 00:10:40,432 --> 00:10:42,883 upon which the missile was launched. 223 00:10:44,264 --> 00:10:46,300 - [Narrator] This is called the Walter Catapult, 224 00:10:46,404 --> 00:10:47,716 and its engine is powered 225 00:10:47,819 --> 00:10:50,684 by the same hydrogen peroxide steam technology 226 00:10:50,788 --> 00:10:53,376 used in Walter's submarine engine, 227 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,725 giving the V1 a rocket-powered boost. 228 00:10:58,761 --> 00:11:00,660 - They would reach particular altitudes. 229 00:11:00,763 --> 00:11:02,247 They would burn out their fuel systems 230 00:11:02,351 --> 00:11:04,353 and the moment that fuel system exhausted, 231 00:11:04,456 --> 00:11:05,803 they would come crashing down 232 00:11:05,906 --> 00:11:08,909 full of explosives on enemy targets. 233 00:11:09,013 --> 00:11:11,601 - And people would hear the sound of these V1s 234 00:11:11,705 --> 00:11:14,466 coming into the city and they weren't worried 235 00:11:14,570 --> 00:11:16,745 while they were buzzing overhead. 236 00:11:16,848 --> 00:11:18,470 It was when they stopped buzzing, 237 00:11:18,574 --> 00:11:20,231 because that's when they knew it would drop 238 00:11:20,334 --> 00:11:21,853 and that they would explode. 239 00:11:23,579 --> 00:11:25,270 - [Narrator] Nearly 30,000 V1s are made 240 00:11:25,374 --> 00:11:27,756 and 10,000 are fired at England. 241 00:11:28,964 --> 00:11:30,551 Over 2,000 of them reach London, 242 00:11:30,655 --> 00:11:32,208 killing more than 6,000 people 243 00:11:32,312 --> 00:11:35,004 and injuring nearly 20,000. 244 00:11:38,249 --> 00:11:40,285 Hellmuth Walter's ground-breaking technology 245 00:11:40,389 --> 00:11:42,494 is also applied in the Nazis' next, 246 00:11:42,598 --> 00:11:45,566 and most terrifying, wonder weapon. 247 00:11:45,670 --> 00:11:47,085 - The V1 was followed 248 00:11:47,189 --> 00:11:50,571 a little bit later in the war by the V2. 249 00:11:50,675 --> 00:11:54,230 It was the first guided ballistic missile. 250 00:11:54,334 --> 00:11:56,405 It could be fired from mobile launching sites 251 00:11:56,508 --> 00:11:59,201 and was a more advanced weapon, 252 00:11:59,304 --> 00:12:02,583 but one that actually played a smaller part in the war. 253 00:12:04,378 --> 00:12:06,760 - [Narrator] Walter's hydrogen peroxide steam technology 254 00:12:06,864 --> 00:12:08,486 is used to power a turbine 255 00:12:08,589 --> 00:12:11,006 that pushes rocket fuel and liquid oxygen 256 00:12:11,109 --> 00:12:12,593 into the V2's engine. 257 00:12:15,389 --> 00:12:18,185 The V2 travels at supersonic speeds, 258 00:12:18,289 --> 00:12:19,704 and impacts without warning, 259 00:12:19,808 --> 00:12:23,052 making defense against it nearly impossible. 260 00:12:24,329 --> 00:12:27,263 They are manufactured from September 1944. 261 00:12:27,367 --> 00:12:30,094 And more than 3,000 are launched towards London, 262 00:12:30,197 --> 00:12:31,302 Antwerp, and Liege, 263 00:12:32,821 --> 00:12:36,479 resulting in the deaths of approximately 9,000 people. 264 00:12:37,687 --> 00:12:39,241 - The Germans put an awful lot of time, 265 00:12:39,344 --> 00:12:40,898 money and effort into that. 266 00:12:41,001 --> 00:12:42,900 And they did it with all of what's left 267 00:12:43,003 --> 00:12:44,487 of the German resources. 268 00:12:44,591 --> 00:12:46,248 They did it with slave labor. 269 00:12:46,351 --> 00:12:47,697 They did it with a conviction 270 00:12:47,801 --> 00:12:51,218 that they were going to perfect the technology 271 00:12:51,322 --> 00:12:53,255 and be able to turn the tide of war. 272 00:12:53,358 --> 00:12:55,084 And of course, all of that is ridiculous 273 00:12:55,188 --> 00:12:56,983 that because they weren't even close. 274 00:12:58,536 --> 00:12:59,917 - [Narrator] Hitler imagines thousands 275 00:13:00,020 --> 00:13:01,470 of these terrifying weapons 276 00:13:01,573 --> 00:13:03,437 raining down on the British. 277 00:13:03,541 --> 00:13:05,094 An objective that is now out of reach 278 00:13:05,198 --> 00:13:07,994 for the hard-pressed Nazi war machine. 279 00:13:10,617 --> 00:13:12,412 With the Allies bombing ever further 280 00:13:12,515 --> 00:13:14,586 into German-occupied territory, 281 00:13:14,690 --> 00:13:17,244 could the massive efforts here in the lower Silesian region 282 00:13:17,348 --> 00:13:20,627 be a final attempt to win the war? 283 00:13:25,735 --> 00:13:27,599 In March of 1945, 284 00:13:27,703 --> 00:13:29,912 the German army is preparing to take back 285 00:13:30,016 --> 00:13:33,847 the seemingly unimportant town of Luban from the Soviets. 286 00:13:35,366 --> 00:13:37,575 Factories in the region around this town 287 00:13:37,678 --> 00:13:40,681 are hard at work supplying the Nazi war machine 288 00:13:40,785 --> 00:13:42,960 including the Walter-Werke factory, 289 00:13:43,063 --> 00:13:44,824 which produces engine components 290 00:13:44,927 --> 00:13:48,241 for Hitler's wonder weapons, the V1 and V2. 291 00:13:49,932 --> 00:13:52,590 - We've got this factory is owned by this prominent engineer 292 00:13:52,693 --> 00:13:54,557 who is trying to push the envelope of our technology 293 00:13:54,661 --> 00:13:57,077 who likely has a mandate from Hitler 294 00:13:57,181 --> 00:14:00,632 to innovate, to create weapons of destruction. 295 00:14:00,736 --> 00:14:02,462 - Was that the reason that the Nazis 296 00:14:02,565 --> 00:14:04,740 defended the area so vigorously? 297 00:14:04,844 --> 00:14:06,535 Chances are pretty good for sure. 298 00:14:08,364 --> 00:14:10,435 - The so-called miracle weapons are supposed 299 00:14:10,539 --> 00:14:14,784 to help reverse the course of the war at the 11th hour. 300 00:14:14,888 --> 00:14:17,063 But that's not how the Second World War 301 00:14:17,166 --> 00:14:18,512 was really fought, was it? 302 00:14:18,616 --> 00:14:22,102 I mean this is a war fought by mass armies, 303 00:14:22,206 --> 00:14:26,693 who are most effective when they have simple 304 00:14:26,796 --> 00:14:30,041 but reliable technology available in large quantities. 305 00:14:30,145 --> 00:14:33,631 By 1944 and '45, the Germans have neither. 306 00:14:33,734 --> 00:14:36,254 The army actually fighting on the ground 307 00:14:36,358 --> 00:14:39,119 seem to becoming in many respects more and more primitive 308 00:14:39,223 --> 00:14:40,949 rather than more sophisticated in the equipment 309 00:14:41,052 --> 00:14:43,675 that they're actually able to use to good effect. 310 00:14:45,229 --> 00:14:47,403 - [Narrator] But there is one piece of innovative tech 311 00:14:47,507 --> 00:14:49,440 being worked on right in Luban 312 00:14:49,543 --> 00:14:52,443 that is of vital importance to the troops in action. 313 00:14:53,962 --> 00:14:55,860 - One of the major areas of technological competition 314 00:14:55,964 --> 00:15:00,037 in the Second World War was in the realm of radar. 315 00:15:00,140 --> 00:15:03,661 - Radar works quite simply by sending radar waves 316 00:15:03,764 --> 00:15:05,456 out into your surroundings, 317 00:15:05,559 --> 00:15:08,321 which will then bounce off any solid objects 318 00:15:08,424 --> 00:15:10,047 which you can then detect. 319 00:15:10,150 --> 00:15:12,187 So in a way, it gives you eyes 320 00:15:12,290 --> 00:15:14,568 where your eyes physically can't see, 321 00:15:14,672 --> 00:15:16,432 whether that's because it's too far away 322 00:15:16,536 --> 00:15:18,365 or whether it's in inclement weather. 323 00:15:18,469 --> 00:15:20,954 - It really changes the nature of the battlefield. 324 00:15:21,058 --> 00:15:23,543 Remember that it was only 20 or 25 years earlier 325 00:15:23,646 --> 00:15:25,096 during the First World War, 326 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,754 when about your only option for detecting the presence 327 00:15:27,857 --> 00:15:30,999 of oncoming enemy aircraft from a long range 328 00:15:31,102 --> 00:15:35,969 was to have a giant cone-shaped device 329 00:15:36,073 --> 00:15:37,626 mounted on a truck 330 00:15:37,729 --> 00:15:39,973 that had like a stethoscope attached to it 331 00:15:40,077 --> 00:15:41,492 that you put up to your ear 332 00:15:41,595 --> 00:15:44,391 to try to capture sound coming away from a distance. 333 00:15:44,495 --> 00:15:47,187 And we're moving from this now to in the Battle of Britain, 334 00:15:47,291 --> 00:15:50,156 where the RAF Chain Home defense system 335 00:15:50,259 --> 00:15:53,090 can detect German aircraft 336 00:15:53,193 --> 00:15:56,162 even as they're taking off from their own airfields. 337 00:15:56,265 --> 00:15:58,647 - It swings the Battle of Britain 338 00:15:58,750 --> 00:16:02,892 for the Allies dramatically because you see them coming, 339 00:16:02,996 --> 00:16:05,481 and it becomes now essential. 340 00:16:09,899 --> 00:16:12,247 - [Narrator] One of the key enterprises in radar development 341 00:16:12,350 --> 00:16:14,974 was the GEMA company, founded in 1934, 342 00:16:15,077 --> 00:16:16,596 by physicist and scientific director 343 00:16:16,699 --> 00:16:19,633 at the Kriegsmarine, Rudolf Kuhnhold. 344 00:16:21,601 --> 00:16:23,948 In the years leading up to World War II, 345 00:16:24,052 --> 00:16:28,056 GEMA innovates the most advanced radar systems in the world, 346 00:16:28,159 --> 00:16:32,129 outperforming those used in both Britain and the US. 347 00:16:32,232 --> 00:16:33,509 As the war rages, 348 00:16:33,613 --> 00:16:36,926 GEMA leads the charge in radar development. 349 00:16:37,030 --> 00:16:38,618 - Anyone who would have more sophisticated radar 350 00:16:38,721 --> 00:16:39,860 would have an edge. 351 00:16:39,964 --> 00:16:41,310 And even though the Germans 352 00:16:41,414 --> 00:16:43,381 were late to the party, as it were, 353 00:16:43,485 --> 00:16:45,245 they were working on radar 354 00:16:45,349 --> 00:16:48,007 which would have far outstripped what the Allies had. 355 00:16:49,249 --> 00:16:50,664 - [Narrator] Radar gives the Luftwaffe 356 00:16:50,768 --> 00:16:53,874 the ability to navigate even with poor visibility, 357 00:16:53,978 --> 00:16:56,084 allowing pilots to increase their time in the air 358 00:16:56,187 --> 00:16:58,051 to carry out raids. 359 00:17:00,536 --> 00:17:01,986 Kriegsmarine U-boats 360 00:17:02,090 --> 00:17:04,540 not only support their own radar capabilities, 361 00:17:04,644 --> 00:17:06,404 but these deadly ships are also fitted 362 00:17:06,508 --> 00:17:08,751 with radar detection systems 363 00:17:08,855 --> 00:17:10,788 to give them an edge when they're surfacing 364 00:17:10,891 --> 00:17:14,102 as they become visible and vulnerable to the Allies. 365 00:17:16,794 --> 00:17:18,865 The radar development at GEMA in Luban 366 00:17:18,968 --> 00:17:21,799 is vitally important to the German war effort 367 00:17:21,902 --> 00:17:24,146 and the Soviets are on their way. 368 00:17:25,492 --> 00:17:27,287 - The kind of work that was being done there 369 00:17:27,391 --> 00:17:28,840 was not something the Germans 370 00:17:28,944 --> 00:17:31,188 were going to surrender to the Soviets without a fight. 371 00:17:34,053 --> 00:17:37,746 - [Narrator] World War II constant Allied bombardment 372 00:17:37,849 --> 00:17:41,508 forces the Nazis to move weapons production further east. 373 00:17:42,854 --> 00:17:44,580 But while this does, at least temporarily, 374 00:17:44,684 --> 00:17:47,135 put them out of Allied reach, 375 00:17:47,238 --> 00:17:49,275 it also places them right in the path 376 00:17:49,378 --> 00:17:53,693 of another great danger: the oncoming Red Army. 377 00:17:55,004 --> 00:17:58,560 Following operation Barbarossa in June 1941, 378 00:17:58,663 --> 00:18:01,149 the Soviets are overwhelmed by the Nazis, 379 00:18:01,252 --> 00:18:04,497 losing vast expanses of territory. 380 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,361 But they manage to turn the tide 381 00:18:06,464 --> 00:18:08,673 in the deadliest battle of the War: 382 00:18:08,777 --> 00:18:11,469 the five-month long Battle of Stalingrad 383 00:18:11,573 --> 00:18:14,990 in late 1942 and early 1943. 384 00:18:16,405 --> 00:18:19,546 Despite heavy casualties of over one million men, 385 00:18:19,650 --> 00:18:21,721 and the city that bears their leader's name 386 00:18:21,824 --> 00:18:24,965 reduced to rubble, the Red Army hands the Nazis 387 00:18:25,069 --> 00:18:27,934 their first significant defeat of the war 388 00:18:28,037 --> 00:18:30,316 and gives people worldwide hope 389 00:18:30,419 --> 00:18:32,904 for Hitler's inevitable downfall. 390 00:18:35,286 --> 00:18:38,047 The victory invigorates the Red Army. 391 00:18:38,151 --> 00:18:40,567 And with Joseph Stalin's massive war machine 392 00:18:40,671 --> 00:18:42,638 of tanks and weapons behind them, 393 00:18:42,742 --> 00:18:44,192 the 11-million-man force 394 00:18:44,295 --> 00:18:48,196 is ruthlessly working its way across Europe to Germany. 395 00:18:51,992 --> 00:18:55,927 - Nazi propaganda is absolutely frightening 396 00:18:56,031 --> 00:18:59,828 everybody in Germany with good cause, 397 00:18:59,931 --> 00:19:02,831 because certainly the Russians are showing no quarter 398 00:19:02,934 --> 00:19:05,005 man, woman or child in Germany 399 00:19:05,109 --> 00:19:07,939 considering what the Germans did with Russia. 400 00:19:08,043 --> 00:19:09,769 - For years, the Nazi state 401 00:19:09,872 --> 00:19:12,220 had been hammering home to Europeans 402 00:19:12,323 --> 00:19:14,843 not just Germans that national socialism 403 00:19:14,946 --> 00:19:16,741 was the last bastion 404 00:19:16,845 --> 00:19:19,675 that could protect European civilization 405 00:19:19,779 --> 00:19:22,126 from sort of the Bolshevik menace, 406 00:19:22,230 --> 00:19:25,509 so the Eastern Front has to hold fast at all costs. 407 00:19:27,373 --> 00:19:28,512 - [Narrator] To help safeguard 408 00:19:28,615 --> 00:19:30,065 German resources from the Soviets, 409 00:19:30,169 --> 00:19:33,448 the City of Breslau has been converted into a fortress. 410 00:19:36,002 --> 00:19:38,901 If the Luban area is supplying defensive weapons to Breslau, 411 00:19:39,005 --> 00:19:40,248 it would be vitally important 412 00:19:40,351 --> 00:19:42,284 to safely transport them where needed. 413 00:19:43,837 --> 00:19:46,771 - They needed to maintain their roads, their railways, 414 00:19:46,875 --> 00:19:48,877 the whole transportation system, 415 00:19:48,980 --> 00:19:51,120 they all had to be in good condition 416 00:19:51,224 --> 00:19:53,330 to keep the war machine moving. 417 00:19:53,433 --> 00:19:54,986 - [Narrator] Luban represents a key location 418 00:19:55,090 --> 00:19:57,989 in the regional railway network. 419 00:19:58,093 --> 00:19:59,957 - This was a distribution point 420 00:20:00,060 --> 00:20:02,787 which was whitelisted for the Nazis to retain. 421 00:20:02,891 --> 00:20:05,273 If they had lost this distribution point, 422 00:20:05,376 --> 00:20:08,241 they would lose access to the rail network, 423 00:20:08,345 --> 00:20:10,174 which allowed good and commodities, 424 00:20:10,278 --> 00:20:12,349 including weapons, to circulate 425 00:20:12,452 --> 00:20:14,799 and actually be put into use. 426 00:20:14,903 --> 00:20:16,145 - [Narrator] Across the Reich, 427 00:20:16,249 --> 00:20:17,940 industry is being turned to the manufacture 428 00:20:18,044 --> 00:20:19,804 of advanced super weapons 429 00:20:21,185 --> 00:20:23,187 including engine components being made 430 00:20:23,291 --> 00:20:25,638 at the Walter-Werke factory in the Luban area. 431 00:20:28,399 --> 00:20:30,850 But these are not the only important innovations 432 00:20:30,953 --> 00:20:32,817 being made by this company. 433 00:20:32,921 --> 00:20:35,441 - A lot of the work carried out at the Walter-Werke factory 434 00:20:35,544 --> 00:20:39,686 included the development of existing weaponry. 435 00:20:39,790 --> 00:20:42,689 So for example, there was the Type XVII U-boat, 436 00:20:42,793 --> 00:20:46,659 which was a smaller, faster version of what had come before. 437 00:20:48,523 --> 00:20:50,732 - [Narrator] The Type XVII uses an updated version 438 00:20:50,835 --> 00:20:53,217 of Walter's record-breaking submarine engine. 439 00:20:53,321 --> 00:20:57,463 It comes into service in 1944 but only 16 are built, 440 00:20:57,566 --> 00:20:59,292 none of which saw combat. 441 00:21:01,398 --> 00:21:04,124 Though the tide is turning in the Allies' favour, 442 00:21:04,228 --> 00:21:05,436 the Nazis aren't through 443 00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:08,059 creating new nightmarish technology. 444 00:21:09,509 --> 00:21:12,961 And the factories in this area are key to success. 445 00:21:13,064 --> 00:21:16,309 - Among the other innovations of the Walter-Werke factory 446 00:21:16,413 --> 00:21:18,587 was the Henschel 293, 447 00:21:18,691 --> 00:21:22,867 which was an unmanned underwater bomb, 448 00:21:22,971 --> 00:21:24,904 which would actually be dropped 449 00:21:25,007 --> 00:21:27,286 from an aircraft into the water, 450 00:21:27,389 --> 00:21:30,841 but could only work when it was still within radio range 451 00:21:30,944 --> 00:21:32,083 of the aircraft, 452 00:21:32,187 --> 00:21:33,775 making it vulnerable and ineffective 453 00:21:33,878 --> 00:21:37,503 because it revealed where the attacking aircraft was. 454 00:21:39,194 --> 00:21:42,335 The Walter-Werke factory also developed the Enzian missile, 455 00:21:42,439 --> 00:21:45,442 which was a radio-controlled drone, 456 00:21:45,545 --> 00:21:47,823 but never entered into service during the war. 457 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:52,518 - [Narrator] After the war, 458 00:21:52,621 --> 00:21:53,967 as the Allies sweep through Nazi factories, 459 00:21:54,071 --> 00:21:55,314 taking what they want 460 00:21:55,417 --> 00:21:57,316 for their own research and development, 461 00:21:57,419 --> 00:21:58,834 they find evidence 462 00:21:58,938 --> 00:22:01,389 of one of Walter-Werke's most innovative creations 463 00:22:01,492 --> 00:22:03,391 in an unusual location. 464 00:22:06,635 --> 00:22:09,189 A few kilometers east of Walter's Lesna factory 465 00:22:09,293 --> 00:22:11,985 stands the 13th century Czocha Castle. 466 00:22:13,711 --> 00:22:16,404 - The strange piece of equipment shows up in an old castle, 467 00:22:16,507 --> 00:22:17,784 why would you put it there? 468 00:22:17,888 --> 00:22:19,890 You think a castle is historical. 469 00:22:19,993 --> 00:22:21,512 It's a space of appreciation. 470 00:22:21,616 --> 00:22:22,927 It's not a high tech lab. 471 00:22:23,031 --> 00:22:24,239 It's not a fabrication plant. 472 00:22:24,343 --> 00:22:25,689 It's not a warehouse. 473 00:22:26,931 --> 00:22:28,312 - [Narrator] Through the centuries, 474 00:22:28,416 --> 00:22:30,866 this enormous building was home to Silesian princes 475 00:22:30,970 --> 00:22:32,661 and other noble families. 476 00:22:34,007 --> 00:22:37,010 So how did this strange object end up there? 477 00:22:38,460 --> 00:22:41,152 Perhaps the artifact itself can provide some clues. 478 00:22:42,775 --> 00:22:44,604 The object is a metal component 479 00:22:44,708 --> 00:22:46,744 belonging to one of the most advanced 480 00:22:46,848 --> 00:22:50,196 German military apparatus ever created. 481 00:22:50,299 --> 00:22:52,681 - The Messerschmitt 163 482 00:22:52,785 --> 00:22:55,063 was the only rocket-powered fighter plane 483 00:22:55,166 --> 00:22:56,582 ever to have been manufactured 484 00:22:56,685 --> 00:22:57,686 that could reach speeds 485 00:22:57,790 --> 00:23:00,033 of over 620 miles an hour, 486 00:23:00,137 --> 00:23:02,381 which would have been a massive advantage 487 00:23:02,484 --> 00:23:04,244 over Allied aircraft at the time. 488 00:23:05,694 --> 00:23:07,282 - [Narrator] These record speeds are thanks largely 489 00:23:07,386 --> 00:23:09,457 to Walter's hydrogen peroxide-based engines, 490 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,976 whose success in testing had caught the attention 491 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:13,530 of the Messerschmitt company. 492 00:23:14,807 --> 00:23:16,602 - The goal of such a fast aircraft 493 00:23:16,705 --> 00:23:19,950 was to engage oncoming bomber forces. 494 00:23:20,053 --> 00:23:23,505 The idea was that the Messerschmitt 163 Komet 495 00:23:23,609 --> 00:23:26,025 would use its speed to fly higher 496 00:23:26,128 --> 00:23:28,096 than oncoming bomber formations, 497 00:23:28,199 --> 00:23:30,650 drop down on top of those bombers, 498 00:23:30,754 --> 00:23:33,722 and deploy a warhead that would destroy 499 00:23:33,826 --> 00:23:35,275 these Allied bomber forces. 500 00:23:35,379 --> 00:23:38,865 And in fact, the aircraft was so fast and so capable, 501 00:23:38,969 --> 00:23:41,350 it was expected to be able to make multiple attacks 502 00:23:41,454 --> 00:23:46,252 against multiple bomber formations in one sortie. 503 00:23:46,355 --> 00:23:49,117 - There was no way for the Allies 504 00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:51,982 to bring any countermeasures against this fighter 505 00:23:52,085 --> 00:23:54,294 when it was already in the air. 506 00:23:54,398 --> 00:23:57,263 The only way that this fighter could be countered 507 00:23:57,366 --> 00:24:00,024 was when it was taking off or landing 508 00:24:00,128 --> 00:24:01,750 or when it was parked somewhere. 509 00:24:04,097 --> 00:24:05,996 - [Narrator] Components of this incredible machine 510 00:24:06,099 --> 00:24:08,654 are being made at Walter's Lesna factories. 511 00:24:10,138 --> 00:24:12,278 Could the piece of the Komet found at Czocha Castle 512 00:24:12,381 --> 00:24:15,212 mean it too was being used in the creation 513 00:24:15,315 --> 00:24:16,765 of these wonder weapons? 514 00:24:17,939 --> 00:24:19,699 There has been much speculation 515 00:24:19,803 --> 00:24:22,115 about Czocha's role in World War II. 516 00:24:23,254 --> 00:24:24,670 Some stories say that the castle 517 00:24:24,773 --> 00:24:26,741 was a site for weapons research. 518 00:24:28,225 --> 00:24:30,952 Others say it housed a secret intelligence center, 519 00:24:31,055 --> 00:24:33,989 tasked with decrypting Soviet communications. 520 00:24:35,439 --> 00:24:37,683 And there are even rumors that Wernher von Braun, 521 00:24:37,786 --> 00:24:39,857 the engineer behind the V2, 522 00:24:39,961 --> 00:24:42,584 had visited Czocha Castle during the war. 523 00:24:44,103 --> 00:24:46,312 The advanced nature of the Me 163 524 00:24:46,415 --> 00:24:49,142 makes it essential to keep its existence quiet. 525 00:24:50,385 --> 00:24:51,800 Could this simply be a case 526 00:24:51,904 --> 00:24:54,838 of hiding something very important in plain sight? 527 00:24:54,941 --> 00:24:57,254 - A castle is a bit of camouflage in a way, 528 00:24:57,357 --> 00:24:58,807 someone could say "Oh, that's a castle. 529 00:24:58,911 --> 00:25:01,154 There's probably nothing exciting happening in there." 530 00:25:02,949 --> 00:25:04,433 - [Narrator] Work on developing the propulsion technology 531 00:25:04,537 --> 00:25:08,403 continues right until the last possible moment, 532 00:25:08,507 --> 00:25:10,543 with Hellmuth Walter receiving the Knight's Cross 533 00:25:10,647 --> 00:25:13,408 for his service in 1945, 534 00:25:13,512 --> 00:25:15,962 shortly before his capture by the British. 535 00:25:17,170 --> 00:25:20,035 But the Me 163 arrived too late 536 00:25:20,139 --> 00:25:22,831 to be of any real help to the Nazis. 537 00:25:22,935 --> 00:25:24,315 - This is another example 538 00:25:24,419 --> 00:25:27,526 of one of these advanced technologies 539 00:25:27,629 --> 00:25:30,080 that was just starting to come online 540 00:25:30,183 --> 00:25:32,185 towards the end of the war. 541 00:25:32,289 --> 00:25:36,017 While the Messerschmitt 163 did enter into service, 542 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:37,846 it flew very few missions, 543 00:25:37,950 --> 00:25:40,849 and so it's impossible to really calculate 544 00:25:40,953 --> 00:25:43,403 the effect something like this would have had 545 00:25:43,507 --> 00:25:46,510 had the war continued or if it had been designed earlier. 546 00:25:47,822 --> 00:25:49,271 - [Narrator] Regardless of its late arrival, 547 00:25:49,375 --> 00:25:53,379 the Nazis were exceptionally proud of the Me 163 Komet 548 00:25:53,482 --> 00:25:56,624 and the potential it had for wide-scale destruction. 549 00:25:58,867 --> 00:26:02,008 If the Komet came too late to fulfill Hitler's plans, 550 00:26:02,112 --> 00:26:05,425 why would the Nazis order troops to recapture the region? 551 00:26:06,599 --> 00:26:08,014 At the time of the Battle of Luban, 552 00:26:08,118 --> 00:26:11,121 the Red Army is all but knocking on Berlin's door, 553 00:26:11,224 --> 00:26:13,710 where the Fuhrer is cornered. 554 00:26:13,813 --> 00:26:16,298 Perhaps something else is brewing. 555 00:26:19,819 --> 00:26:22,511 1945, the Soviet Red Army 556 00:26:22,615 --> 00:26:25,135 is plowing through Poland and into Germany, 557 00:26:25,238 --> 00:26:29,208 taking over Nazi-occupied territory quickly and efficiently. 558 00:26:32,176 --> 00:26:34,903 In January, the Soviets make major advances 559 00:26:35,007 --> 00:26:39,080 capturing Warsaw, Krakow, and Poznan. 560 00:26:39,183 --> 00:26:42,739 The Lower Silesian offensive in February sees further gains. 561 00:26:43,981 --> 00:26:45,534 - Of course, they're headed to Berlin. 562 00:26:45,638 --> 00:26:47,951 They're just cutting through Silesia on the way. 563 00:26:48,054 --> 00:26:50,954 There's actually a race of different Soviet commanders 564 00:26:51,057 --> 00:26:53,439 who are trying to be the first to Berlin. 565 00:26:53,542 --> 00:26:55,061 - [Narrator] On February 17th, 566 00:26:55,165 --> 00:26:56,856 as they approach the town of Luban, 567 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,618 Soviet soldiers are struggling. 568 00:26:59,721 --> 00:27:02,759 Weeks of fighting have left the men exhausted. 569 00:27:04,001 --> 00:27:06,279 But the Soviets far outnumber the Nazis 570 00:27:06,383 --> 00:27:08,454 in terms of soldiers and artillery 571 00:27:08,557 --> 00:27:11,008 and they capture the North Eastern part of Luban 572 00:27:11,112 --> 00:27:13,459 including its vital railway line. 573 00:27:15,047 --> 00:27:17,670 They believe all will be well. 574 00:27:17,774 --> 00:27:20,742 - You start off with the mindset that "We're successful, 575 00:27:20,846 --> 00:27:23,089 we're successful, this is easy, this is easy," you know? 576 00:27:23,193 --> 00:27:25,367 And it's repeating and it's repeating. 577 00:27:25,471 --> 00:27:29,475 And then all of a sudden, something gums up the gears. 578 00:27:29,578 --> 00:27:33,859 - What these tired, hard fighting Soviet forces don't know 579 00:27:33,962 --> 00:27:37,034 is that the Germans have actually been building up forces 580 00:27:37,138 --> 00:27:39,865 in this region with the express purpose 581 00:27:39,968 --> 00:27:41,729 of launching a counter offensive 582 00:27:41,832 --> 00:27:45,284 of pushing back against the Soviet attackers. 583 00:27:46,665 --> 00:27:48,045 - [Narrator] General Schorner has been amassing 584 00:27:48,149 --> 00:27:50,323 a sizable force, and in early March, 585 00:27:50,427 --> 00:27:52,740 he's about to launch a series of counterattacks 586 00:27:52,843 --> 00:27:54,155 to take back the region, 587 00:27:54,258 --> 00:27:55,674 starting with Luban. 588 00:27:58,435 --> 00:28:01,507 But why? What is so important in Luban? 589 00:28:03,302 --> 00:28:05,269 - [Narrator] Could it have anything to do with the rumors 590 00:28:05,373 --> 00:28:08,445 about another technology being tinkered with at GEMA? 591 00:28:08,548 --> 00:28:11,586 One that suggests something far more sinister 592 00:28:11,690 --> 00:28:13,726 than radar development. 593 00:28:13,830 --> 00:28:16,971 - There were rumors at that time in Luban 594 00:28:17,074 --> 00:28:19,767 that the Nazis perhaps for doing experiments 595 00:28:19,870 --> 00:28:21,769 with the electromagnetic field. 596 00:28:21,872 --> 00:28:26,463 And at one point, all the cars in the town stopped working. 597 00:28:26,566 --> 00:28:28,223 - Electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, 598 00:28:28,327 --> 00:28:31,019 is actually the real weapon in the post-war world. 599 00:28:31,123 --> 00:28:32,676 It's conceivable that enemies 600 00:28:32,780 --> 00:28:34,713 could release an electromagnetic pulse 601 00:28:34,816 --> 00:28:37,370 that would disable or irreparably damage 602 00:28:37,474 --> 00:28:39,718 all kinds of electrical components, 603 00:28:39,821 --> 00:28:41,409 not just military components, 604 00:28:41,512 --> 00:28:43,549 but civil infrastructure as well. 605 00:28:45,137 --> 00:28:46,552 - [Narrator] Could the Nazis have been working 606 00:28:46,655 --> 00:28:50,936 on secret electromagnetic weapons still unknown to us? 607 00:28:51,039 --> 00:28:52,178 - When it comes to the Nazis, 608 00:28:52,282 --> 00:28:53,939 nothing surprises me. 609 00:28:55,147 --> 00:28:57,563 They were so bizarre in so many ways, 610 00:28:57,666 --> 00:29:00,600 not just hateful and horrible and violent, 611 00:29:00,704 --> 00:29:04,535 but also entertains innumerable possibilities. 612 00:29:04,639 --> 00:29:06,365 - [Narrator] The Nazis were known to be experimenting 613 00:29:06,468 --> 00:29:10,403 with a range of wonder weapons and outlandish sci-fi ideas; 614 00:29:10,507 --> 00:29:13,717 like the sun gun, which would harness the power of the sun 615 00:29:13,821 --> 00:29:17,928 to fry whole countries like ants under a magnifying glass. 616 00:29:19,171 --> 00:29:21,138 - So when you have these moments, 617 00:29:21,242 --> 00:29:22,691 Luban and other places 618 00:29:22,795 --> 00:29:25,039 where people say strange things have gone on, 619 00:29:25,142 --> 00:29:26,903 our devices aren't working properly, 620 00:29:27,006 --> 00:29:28,767 there's weird atmospheric conditions, 621 00:29:28,870 --> 00:29:31,355 you probably go, "Yeah, it's true," right? 622 00:29:31,459 --> 00:29:34,082 - [Narrator] The Nazis are desperate at this stage. 623 00:29:34,186 --> 00:29:36,533 Hitler refuses to surrender 624 00:29:36,636 --> 00:29:40,986 despite great loses of men, equipment, and territory, 625 00:29:41,089 --> 00:29:44,783 his is an evil, uncompromising regime. 626 00:29:44,886 --> 00:29:46,439 And as the war progresses, 627 00:29:46,543 --> 00:29:48,821 so does his madness and obsession 628 00:29:48,925 --> 00:29:52,825 with striking back with absolute destruction. 629 00:29:52,929 --> 00:29:55,794 Could the factories frantically at work in the region 630 00:29:55,897 --> 00:29:58,762 be a reason for the German counter-offensive? 631 00:30:01,282 --> 00:30:03,871 The Nazis are well known for building vast networks 632 00:30:03,974 --> 00:30:06,390 of underground complexes throughout the Reich. 633 00:30:06,494 --> 00:30:08,910 And the Luban area is no exception. 634 00:30:11,740 --> 00:30:14,295 An extensive tunnel system has been built into the hills 635 00:30:14,398 --> 00:30:17,332 around the towns and factories of the region. 636 00:30:17,436 --> 00:30:20,370 But there is little information about their purpose. 637 00:30:20,473 --> 00:30:22,406 - There's all sorts of speculation 638 00:30:22,510 --> 00:30:24,788 as to what they might have been. 639 00:30:24,892 --> 00:30:26,583 - [Narrator] With so much high-stakes research 640 00:30:26,686 --> 00:30:30,035 being carried out at facilities like the GEMA radar plant, 641 00:30:30,138 --> 00:30:33,417 the Nazis consider their protection a top priority. 642 00:30:34,660 --> 00:30:36,386 Could the mysterious underground tunnels 643 00:30:36,489 --> 00:30:39,838 have been the beginning of a subterranean factory? 644 00:30:39,941 --> 00:30:41,391 - We have real-world examples 645 00:30:41,494 --> 00:30:43,324 where the Germans are moving 646 00:30:43,427 --> 00:30:45,982 production facilities underground. 647 00:30:46,085 --> 00:30:48,260 And use of these underground facilities 648 00:30:48,363 --> 00:30:49,917 is doubly frightening 649 00:30:50,020 --> 00:30:52,402 because not only do you have these cases 650 00:30:52,505 --> 00:30:55,646 where slave labor is employed 651 00:30:55,750 --> 00:30:58,546 to manufacture and assemble the weapons, 652 00:30:58,649 --> 00:31:00,375 but slave labor can also be employed 653 00:31:00,479 --> 00:31:02,343 to construct the facilities 654 00:31:02,446 --> 00:31:04,448 underground in which the weapons are being built. 655 00:31:04,552 --> 00:31:06,795 And if one wants to work people to death, 656 00:31:06,899 --> 00:31:09,419 this is a pretty straightforward way of doing it, isn't it? 657 00:31:09,522 --> 00:31:11,731 Achieving two objectives at once. 658 00:31:13,216 --> 00:31:15,114 - [Narrator] But stories circulating after the war 659 00:31:15,218 --> 00:31:17,151 suggest that the tunnels could have been used 660 00:31:17,254 --> 00:31:19,153 for a more secretive purpose. 661 00:31:23,260 --> 00:31:26,298 Luban and its surrounding area is an industrial center, 662 00:31:26,401 --> 00:31:28,817 manufacturing weapons for the Nazi war effort. 663 00:31:30,233 --> 00:31:32,062 And buried in the hills around these factories 664 00:31:32,166 --> 00:31:34,409 is a vast network of tunnels. 665 00:31:35,894 --> 00:31:38,034 Many think they are simply underground extensions 666 00:31:38,137 --> 00:31:40,829 of above-ground production facilities. 667 00:31:40,933 --> 00:31:43,487 But there are rumors of another story. 668 00:31:45,834 --> 00:31:48,803 400 kilometers from Luban in the City of Krakow, 669 00:31:50,218 --> 00:31:52,738 a den of top Nazi brass is established 670 00:31:52,841 --> 00:31:54,982 not long after the invasion of Poland. 671 00:31:56,638 --> 00:32:00,263 Here, the dreaded Gestapo will make their headquarters. 672 00:32:00,366 --> 00:32:03,783 - The Gestapo was broadly speaking a secret police force. 673 00:32:03,887 --> 00:32:06,062 It was the job of the Gestapo 674 00:32:06,165 --> 00:32:07,822 to keep their finger on the pulse 675 00:32:07,926 --> 00:32:09,858 of the local populations 676 00:32:09,962 --> 00:32:12,551 and in conjunction with a constellation 677 00:32:12,654 --> 00:32:14,104 of other security services 678 00:32:14,208 --> 00:32:16,900 under the larger umbrella of the SS 679 00:32:17,004 --> 00:32:19,558 to undermine resistance networks 680 00:32:19,661 --> 00:32:21,974 and other activities which could be seen 681 00:32:22,078 --> 00:32:23,907 as acting against the interests 682 00:32:24,011 --> 00:32:25,909 of the National Socialist occupation. 683 00:32:27,462 --> 00:32:28,636 - [Narrator] It is here 684 00:32:28,739 --> 00:32:29,948 in what is now known as Silesian House, 685 00:32:30,051 --> 00:32:31,811 that the Nazis held and tortured 686 00:32:31,915 --> 00:32:33,744 countless prisoners and party members 687 00:32:33,848 --> 00:32:35,919 in their constant hunt for traitors. 688 00:32:37,196 --> 00:32:39,129 - They could have surveillance activities 689 00:32:39,233 --> 00:32:41,131 against anyone in the general population 690 00:32:41,235 --> 00:32:43,168 and wouldn't necessarily matter who they were, 691 00:32:43,271 --> 00:32:45,998 or what they were doing or what their walk of life was. 692 00:32:47,827 --> 00:32:49,174 - [Narrator] It is thought that the Gestapo 693 00:32:49,277 --> 00:32:51,314 collected a great deal of sensitive information 694 00:32:51,417 --> 00:32:52,625 during these interrogations 695 00:32:52,729 --> 00:32:55,007 and cataloged it in their own archives. 696 00:32:56,664 --> 00:32:58,321 - The Nazi security apparatus 697 00:32:58,424 --> 00:33:02,118 is a huge informational bureaucracies. 698 00:33:02,221 --> 00:33:04,879 The Nazis had this card index system. 699 00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:07,261 This was essentially a mechanical analog 700 00:33:07,364 --> 00:33:09,435 database management system. 701 00:33:09,539 --> 00:33:11,748 So the Gestapo records of Krakow, 702 00:33:11,851 --> 00:33:14,302 you're talking about like housing 703 00:33:14,406 --> 00:33:18,099 a national security computer database. 704 00:33:18,203 --> 00:33:20,170 - [Narrator] Some suggest that the secret tunnel system 705 00:33:20,274 --> 00:33:23,656 in the Luban area may have been an ultra-secure vault 706 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,452 meant to house highly classified documents. 707 00:33:28,282 --> 00:33:31,147 - That the Gestapo had stuff to hide is not surprising. 708 00:33:31,250 --> 00:33:33,839 One has to think that there's some tension over here 709 00:33:33,942 --> 00:33:35,737 between the need to preserve those records 710 00:33:35,841 --> 00:33:37,981 and also to keep them out of the public eye. 711 00:33:39,948 --> 00:33:40,949 - [Narrator] As it becomes clear 712 00:33:41,053 --> 00:33:42,399 the Nazis are losing the war, 713 00:33:42,503 --> 00:33:45,092 the Gestapo abandons their Krakow headquarters, 714 00:33:45,195 --> 00:33:47,646 and allegedly dispose of their sensitive archives 715 00:33:47,749 --> 00:33:48,750 by burning them. 716 00:33:50,097 --> 00:33:53,134 At least that's the official version of events. 717 00:33:54,963 --> 00:33:56,862 According to the post-war testimony 718 00:33:56,965 --> 00:33:59,761 of SS-Obersturmfuhrer Kurt Heinemeyer, 719 00:33:59,865 --> 00:34:02,005 a Gestapo officer operating in Poland 720 00:34:02,109 --> 00:34:04,732 from 1940 to 1945, 721 00:34:04,835 --> 00:34:06,665 a sizable portion of the archive 722 00:34:06,768 --> 00:34:09,426 was not destroyed as previously thought. 723 00:34:12,567 --> 00:34:15,950 Instead, it was transported to the lower Silesian town, 724 00:34:16,054 --> 00:34:18,194 then known as Rothwasser, Germany 725 00:34:18,297 --> 00:34:20,058 18 kilometers from Luban. 726 00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:25,028 Could these tunnels have been intended as temporary storage 727 00:34:25,132 --> 00:34:28,928 for a longer-term project to resurrect the Third Reich? 728 00:34:29,032 --> 00:34:32,622 Or should we be skeptical about the dubious source 729 00:34:32,725 --> 00:34:34,796 that passed on this information? 730 00:34:34,900 --> 00:34:37,420 - In the immediate post-war period, 731 00:34:37,523 --> 00:34:40,940 the Allies relied heavily on information 732 00:34:41,044 --> 00:34:44,323 gained in the interrogation of prisoners of war 733 00:34:44,427 --> 00:34:46,049 at all levels of command. 734 00:34:46,153 --> 00:34:48,051 Clearly, in many of these instances, 735 00:34:48,155 --> 00:34:51,261 the individuals either had their own Axis to grind 736 00:34:51,365 --> 00:34:54,126 against some of their peers or counterparts, 737 00:34:54,230 --> 00:34:57,060 or they had an interest in exculpating themselves 738 00:34:57,164 --> 00:34:58,958 as far as any criminal activities 739 00:34:59,062 --> 00:35:01,409 in which they may have been personally involved. 740 00:35:02,859 --> 00:35:04,205 - [Narrator] It would be in Heinemeyer's interest 741 00:35:04,309 --> 00:35:07,519 to portray himself as having valuable information. 742 00:35:07,622 --> 00:35:08,899 But this is only one factor 743 00:35:09,003 --> 00:35:11,937 in deciding this information's authenticity. 744 00:35:13,387 --> 00:35:16,114 - What we don't have here are strong other options. 745 00:35:16,217 --> 00:35:19,013 You know, it's not clear that there was an extension 746 00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:21,153 with materials with men working. 747 00:35:21,257 --> 00:35:23,017 We don't have ventilation shafts 748 00:35:23,121 --> 00:35:24,743 and everything else that would have happened 749 00:35:24,846 --> 00:35:27,711 if it was a bunker to protect people against bombing raids. 750 00:35:27,815 --> 00:35:30,438 So when that individual comes forward and says, 751 00:35:30,542 --> 00:35:33,165 "Hey, these tunnels, I think they were used 752 00:35:33,269 --> 00:35:35,650 because we're moving records into them." 753 00:35:35,754 --> 00:35:37,928 Without other plausible things, 754 00:35:38,032 --> 00:35:40,172 we'll just fall back into whichever option 755 00:35:40,276 --> 00:35:43,831 that we do have available to us is likely it 756 00:35:43,934 --> 00:35:47,352 even if it should fall below a line of plausibility itself. 757 00:35:49,457 --> 00:35:51,770 - [Narrator] As World War II is coming to a close, 758 00:35:51,873 --> 00:35:53,116 Germany's battle strategy 759 00:35:53,220 --> 00:35:56,188 has turned from conquest to survival. 760 00:35:56,292 --> 00:35:58,880 Desperation is in the air. 761 00:35:58,984 --> 00:36:03,402 In October 1944, the Volkssturm is created. 762 00:36:03,506 --> 00:36:06,716 - We have increasingly older men in their 50s and 60s, 763 00:36:06,819 --> 00:36:08,890 even older perhaps in some cases, 764 00:36:08,994 --> 00:36:12,411 and children, teenage boys, very young teenagers 765 00:36:12,515 --> 00:36:14,965 who are being pressed into service. 766 00:36:15,069 --> 00:36:16,312 - [Narrator] The boys in the Volkssturm 767 00:36:16,415 --> 00:36:18,555 were members of the Hitler Youth. 768 00:36:18,659 --> 00:36:22,973 All Germans from age 10 to 18 were required to join. 769 00:36:23,077 --> 00:36:25,321 They trained boys to be future soldiers 770 00:36:25,424 --> 00:36:28,358 and girls to be wives and mothers. 771 00:36:28,462 --> 00:36:32,120 - The Nazi war machine included much propaganda. 772 00:36:32,224 --> 00:36:34,399 They needed to have buy in, 773 00:36:34,502 --> 00:36:37,885 by all their citizens, especially the Nazi youth, 774 00:36:37,988 --> 00:36:41,233 they needed them to believe in their fuhrer 775 00:36:41,337 --> 00:36:44,512 that what he was doing was for their best interests. 776 00:36:46,238 --> 00:36:48,344 - [Narrator] No longer just a propaganda tool, 777 00:36:48,447 --> 00:36:51,864 the Hitler Youth is now part of a ragtag fighting force: 778 00:36:51,968 --> 00:36:54,729 a last-ditch effort to throw something, anything, 779 00:36:54,833 --> 00:36:56,593 at the oncoming Red Army. 780 00:36:57,905 --> 00:37:00,770 - So as an adult soldier in the army, 781 00:37:00,873 --> 00:37:02,289 if you see a kid doing, 782 00:37:02,392 --> 00:37:04,877 well, then obviously you should be able to do better. 783 00:37:04,981 --> 00:37:09,606 But it's also providing message for the other people 784 00:37:09,710 --> 00:37:11,608 that you don't have to be a trained soldier 785 00:37:11,712 --> 00:37:13,196 to help us fight. 786 00:37:13,300 --> 00:37:16,406 And so it would be inspiring to the general population. 787 00:37:17,959 --> 00:37:20,307 - And these are more senseless sacrifices being made 788 00:37:20,410 --> 00:37:23,379 in this death cult which sees not just the collapse 789 00:37:23,482 --> 00:37:25,484 of the Nazi regime and its hierarchy 790 00:37:25,588 --> 00:37:28,038 but as many ordinary Germans as possible. 791 00:37:29,454 --> 00:37:31,110 - [Narrator] But despite their looming defeat, 792 00:37:31,214 --> 00:37:34,838 the German military is preparing to put up a fight at Luban. 793 00:37:34,942 --> 00:37:36,495 - The last thing Soviet to expect, 794 00:37:36,599 --> 00:37:38,325 which is to have any kind of problems 795 00:37:38,428 --> 00:37:40,844 rounding up what's left to the German armed forces, 796 00:37:40,948 --> 00:37:42,570 but that's exactly what they get. 797 00:37:47,679 --> 00:37:49,508 - [Narrator] In February of 1945, 798 00:37:49,612 --> 00:37:51,752 Soviet forces take the town of Luban 799 00:37:51,855 --> 00:37:54,341 as part of the Lower Silesian offensive. 800 00:37:56,066 --> 00:37:57,654 But only three weeks later, 801 00:37:57,758 --> 00:38:01,348 they will face a new fight for this conquered territory. 802 00:38:01,451 --> 00:38:02,832 - The German forces 803 00:38:02,935 --> 00:38:04,834 who were deployed in that area were actually able 804 00:38:04,937 --> 00:38:07,940 to mount a fairly powerful counterattack. 805 00:38:08,044 --> 00:38:12,013 - General Schorner has been building up these Nazi forces 806 00:38:12,117 --> 00:38:15,154 and he launches a two-pronged attack. 807 00:38:16,190 --> 00:38:17,571 - [Narrator] On March 1st, 808 00:38:17,674 --> 00:38:20,608 the 17th Panzer Division and Fuhrer Grenadiers 809 00:38:20,712 --> 00:38:22,714 move across the north of Luban. 810 00:38:22,817 --> 00:38:24,440 The 8th Panzer Division 811 00:38:24,543 --> 00:38:26,407 comes in from the south to meet them, 812 00:38:26,511 --> 00:38:28,685 effectively trapping the Soviets. 813 00:38:30,377 --> 00:38:33,863 And allowing the 6th Volksgrenadiers to take the town back. 814 00:38:35,727 --> 00:38:38,385 The Soviet commanders attempt to evacuate the town, 815 00:38:38,488 --> 00:38:40,732 and many soldiers do manage to get away. 816 00:38:42,768 --> 00:38:45,840 But by March 4th, the encirclement has tightened. 817 00:38:47,290 --> 00:38:49,223 - In an example of the gruesome 818 00:38:49,327 --> 00:38:52,985 and extremely fierce fighting at this stage of the war, 819 00:38:53,089 --> 00:38:56,575 no Soviet soldier survives the encirclement. 820 00:38:56,679 --> 00:38:58,715 The Germans take no prisoners. 821 00:39:02,270 --> 00:39:03,513 - [Narrator] The battle for Luban 822 00:39:03,617 --> 00:39:05,343 is part of a larger offensive strategy 823 00:39:05,446 --> 00:39:07,793 to take back Lower Silesia for the Nazis, 824 00:39:07,897 --> 00:39:11,418 and to stop the Soviets' advance toward Berlin. 825 00:39:11,521 --> 00:39:14,041 Schorner has some success on March 11th 826 00:39:14,144 --> 00:39:16,146 recapturing the City of Striegau. 827 00:39:18,183 --> 00:39:19,598 Working his way east, 828 00:39:19,702 --> 00:39:22,221 he is organizing an ambitious offensive at Breslau, 829 00:39:22,325 --> 00:39:25,052 besieged by the Soviets for nearly a month. 830 00:39:28,262 --> 00:39:29,746 But the Soviets have regrouped 831 00:39:29,850 --> 00:39:31,955 and the attack does not proceed. 832 00:39:32,059 --> 00:39:34,337 However, after his success at Luban, 833 00:39:34,441 --> 00:39:36,891 General Schorner is promoted to Field Marshal 834 00:39:36,995 --> 00:39:39,618 on April 5th, 1945. 835 00:39:39,722 --> 00:39:42,828 And after Hitler's death on April 30th, 836 00:39:42,932 --> 00:39:46,832 Schorner is made commander of the entire German army, 837 00:39:46,936 --> 00:39:49,387 as ordered in Hitler's will. 838 00:39:50,836 --> 00:39:52,424 - This counter attack, 839 00:39:52,528 --> 00:39:56,117 it was the last locally effective German offensive action 840 00:39:56,221 --> 00:39:57,395 of the entire conflict. 841 00:39:57,498 --> 00:39:59,569 So it is, I guess, sort of important 842 00:39:59,673 --> 00:40:01,847 to bookmark in that sense. 843 00:40:01,951 --> 00:40:04,367 Even though in a larger strategic context, 844 00:40:04,471 --> 00:40:06,887 it wasn't going to reverse any sort of outcomes 845 00:40:06,990 --> 00:40:08,992 in the grand scheme of things. 846 00:40:09,096 --> 00:40:10,269 - [Narrator] But the victory at Luban 847 00:40:10,373 --> 00:40:12,858 did have one important effect. 848 00:40:12,962 --> 00:40:15,654 - This battle becomes a touch point. 849 00:40:15,758 --> 00:40:18,554 It's an important victory by the Germans 850 00:40:18,657 --> 00:40:20,590 to take on the Red Army 851 00:40:20,694 --> 00:40:23,559 and squash the Allied invasion 852 00:40:23,662 --> 00:40:25,043 of that one small town. 853 00:40:25,146 --> 00:40:26,493 And it became part 854 00:40:26,596 --> 00:40:29,219 of the propaganda at that time, 855 00:40:29,323 --> 00:40:32,291 even at the late stage of the war. 856 00:40:32,395 --> 00:40:34,432 - There's also an advantage externally 857 00:40:34,535 --> 00:40:35,950 to keep that positive propaganda, 858 00:40:36,054 --> 00:40:37,780 "We're still strong, we're still determined, 859 00:40:37,883 --> 00:40:39,367 we'll still there." 860 00:40:39,471 --> 00:40:41,508 By having this propaganda, 861 00:40:41,611 --> 00:40:43,268 you're waging that war 862 00:40:43,371 --> 00:40:45,995 in the minds of the people across the table. 863 00:40:46,098 --> 00:40:49,377 - I'm sure in the war diaries, it's written up, 864 00:40:49,481 --> 00:40:52,588 we held the vital industrial facilities here 865 00:40:52,691 --> 00:40:55,453 rather than, you know, we sacrifice two divisions 866 00:40:55,556 --> 00:40:58,663 to make a propaganda show for the rest of the Germans 867 00:40:58,766 --> 00:41:00,388 not to hang out white sheets 868 00:41:00,492 --> 00:41:02,218 outside their windows and surrender. 869 00:41:02,321 --> 00:41:04,703 That's not going to be in the war diary. 870 00:41:04,807 --> 00:41:08,293 - One of the famous photographs shows the right minister 871 00:41:08,396 --> 00:41:10,778 for culture and enlightenment, Joseph Goebbels, 872 00:41:10,882 --> 00:41:13,436 involved in an award ceremony 873 00:41:13,540 --> 00:41:17,405 where iron crosses are being presented to German soldiers. 874 00:41:17,509 --> 00:41:19,511 And one of the soldiers is Willi Huebner 875 00:41:19,615 --> 00:41:22,928 who I think was 15 or 16 years old at the time. 876 00:41:23,032 --> 00:41:26,000 - That is a big propaganda value for the Germans. 877 00:41:26,104 --> 00:41:27,830 That's incredibly important 878 00:41:27,933 --> 00:41:29,935 because most Germans are painfully aware 879 00:41:30,039 --> 00:41:32,006 that they've lost this war already, 880 00:41:32,110 --> 00:41:33,180 and are waiting for the end. 881 00:41:33,283 --> 00:41:34,975 But here's this one last attempt 882 00:41:35,078 --> 00:41:37,322 to try to convince the German people that, you know, 883 00:41:37,425 --> 00:41:40,049 "It's all good, and we got it under control." 884 00:41:40,152 --> 00:41:42,223 And ultimately, it doesn't make a difference. 885 00:41:42,327 --> 00:41:44,018 Like let's be honest, at the end of the day, 886 00:41:44,122 --> 00:41:46,365 no matter what they were defending or why or how, 887 00:41:46,469 --> 00:41:48,057 they still lost the damn war. 888 00:41:51,474 --> 00:41:53,096 - [Narrator] In the aftermath of the war, 889 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:56,479 the Potsdam Agreement gives most of lower Silesia to Poland. 890 00:41:56,583 --> 00:41:59,586 And Lauban is renamed to Luban. 891 00:41:59,689 --> 00:42:02,347 All Germans remaining in the town are expelled, 892 00:42:02,450 --> 00:42:05,833 and Luban is repopulated with Polish citizens. 893 00:42:07,835 --> 00:42:10,735 On April 30th, 1945, 894 00:42:10,838 --> 00:42:13,289 Hitler commits suicide by gunshot 895 00:42:13,392 --> 00:42:15,463 in his besieged bunker. 896 00:42:15,567 --> 00:42:17,327 Abandoned by many of his followers, 897 00:42:17,431 --> 00:42:20,020 save the most fevered Nazis, 898 00:42:20,123 --> 00:42:22,609 and leaving a wake of death and destruction 899 00:42:22,712 --> 00:42:24,300 across much of the world, 900 00:42:24,403 --> 00:42:27,786 and an evil legacy of the Holocaust. 901 00:42:27,890 --> 00:42:30,548 As his own country is destroyed and burning, 902 00:42:30,651 --> 00:42:32,273 the final days of the Third Reich 903 00:42:32,377 --> 00:42:34,482 are marked with the roundup of war criminals 904 00:42:34,586 --> 00:42:36,933 and utter defeat of the Nazis, 905 00:42:37,037 --> 00:42:39,557 and a rush to restore some sense of order 906 00:42:39,660 --> 00:42:41,697 and peace to Europe. 907 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,527 Allies are already measuring each other up 908 00:42:44,631 --> 00:42:47,772 for the next conflict: The Cold War 909 00:42:47,875 --> 00:42:49,532 - Patton famously said, you know, 910 00:42:49,636 --> 00:42:51,051 "Once we finish with the Germans, 911 00:42:51,154 --> 00:42:52,570 let's just keep going. 912 00:42:52,673 --> 00:42:54,917 Let's go all the way to Moscow, take them all out." 913 00:42:55,020 --> 00:42:59,646 And the capture of industrial facilities, scientists, 914 00:42:59,749 --> 00:43:01,406 all those things by the Russians 915 00:43:01,509 --> 00:43:06,031 is something that is troubling Western intelligence. 916 00:43:07,723 --> 00:43:09,863 - [Narrator] Lines are drawn on maps to create new borders, 917 00:43:09,966 --> 00:43:11,865 and the world is beginning to come to grips 918 00:43:11,968 --> 00:43:14,108 with the horrors of the last 12 years 919 00:43:14,212 --> 00:43:16,283 since the Nazis rose to power. 920 00:43:18,734 --> 00:43:20,011 Lost in all of this 921 00:43:20,114 --> 00:43:22,392 is a mysterious story of the desperate rush 922 00:43:22,496 --> 00:43:25,257 to defend a small patch of countryside, 923 00:43:25,361 --> 00:43:28,364 hiding a collection of buildings and tunnels. 924 00:43:28,467 --> 00:43:30,090 As the research continues, 925 00:43:30,193 --> 00:43:31,954 the ruins of these structures 926 00:43:32,057 --> 00:43:34,957 slowly reveal their secrets. 927 00:43:35,060 --> 00:43:38,754 [suspenseful dramatic music]