Original subtitles

♪

Narrator: An elaborate complex that continues to mystify.

Meigs: As you go down this tunnel,

There's hardly room for a human to fit through.

You start to feel the heat rising.

♪

Narrator: An american colossus carved into the bay.

Bell: There's a real spooky feeling,

Especially when the mist is just hanging over it.

It's almost like a ghost workforce

Has vanished from sight.

Narrator: An apparent paradise masking a history of violence.

Auerbach: And some of these drawings are made in blood,

Hinting at the island's dark past.

♪

Narrator: Engineering marvels now abandoned.

Ruins shrouded in mystery.

Within these decaying structures are the echoes of history.

They speak of death and destruction,

But also human ingenuity and endeavor.

Each haunted shell ready to be unmasked

And tell its own unique story.

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

Captions paid for by discovery communications

[ rumbling, crumbling ]

♪

♪

Narrator: In the lichtenburg district of berlin,

Capital city of germany,

An imposing gray wall lines an otherwise typical street.

We don't really think about what horrors

Might have happened behind the walls right beside us.

It looks ominous, and you know intuitively

That you wouldn't want to be on the other side of that wall.

You can't go by without asking yourself,

"what did people have to do to get locked up

In a horrible place like that?"

Narrator: Inside, long corridors are lined

With bars and thick gray doors.

A few miles away, intrinsically linked to this complex

Is an innocuous looking tower block.

These hallways and offices,

They seem almost deliberately bland, faceless, anonymous.

Nusbacher: It could be the offices

Of a third-rate office supplies company.

It's banal, it's cold, it's dull.

Narrator: On closer inspection, the interiors of these offices

Could have come straight from a set of a spy movie.

You do see a lot of equipment -- old-fashioned equipment

And various electronic devices.

Nusbacher: This isn't just an office where people do something productive.

This is an office where people pry and spy

And look into things that perhaps ought to be left alone.

Narrator: How are these contrasting complexes connected?

Who was based here?

And what was their ultimate purpose?

♪

This high-walled complex still sends shudders

Down the spine of many germans.

Among them is former inmate peter keup.

At the age of just 22, peter was bundled into one of these vans

And locked in a cell the size of a cupboard,

No idea where he was going and what fate awaited him.

Narrator: After four hours locked in this van,

Peter was brought to a stark facility.

So, what was peter's crime?

And whose betrayal was behind his capture?

Nusbacher: We hear a lot about the berlin wall,

And, of course, that was significant,

But the entire border between east germany

And its neighbors was heavily fortified.

♪

Narrator: Peter was trying to escape east germany

By crossing the border into neighboring czechoslovakia.

Nusbacher: It was hard to get from any part of

East germany into west germany or czechoslovakia

Or anywhere that might make it easier to get to the west.

Narrator: East germany was turned into one giant prison.

The reason it developed this way goes back to its birth.

After world war ii,

It was agreed nazi germany would be divided into occupied zones.

The east would come under soviet control.

Nusbacher: The communist regime of east germany

Discovered very early on that moscow, their soviet overlords,

Would not tolerate anything

Other than unthinking obedience to moscow's rule.

But they're going to exceed the soviet union

In their devotion to communism.

They're going to exceed stalin in their work

To create the new socialist man.

And to do so,

You have to control every aspect of people's life.

That is the job of the stasi.

♪

Narrator: This complex is the stasi's central remand prison.

Peter was one of many picked up by the stasi,

Who were attempting to control a population of 18 million

And prevent them escaping to the west.

The state security services

Comprised a force of over a quarter of a million people,

And this was essentially the political police

To enforce conformity

To the communist regime in east germany.

This is a state that is utterly repressive.

Narrator: Once incarcerated, inmates were kept in total isolation.

Narrator: With no contact with anyone, including family,

This was part of the stasi's interrogation technique.

Nusbacher: The stasi would isolate people with no other human contact,

Rob them of an understanding of day and night,

When their meals were going to come,

And most important, rob them of sleep.

Narrator: The man behind peter's arrest

And pulling the strings was erich mielke.

He was the head of the stasi.

He was a very bland,

Very unremarkable government bureaucrat

Who ruled over one of the most frightening

And intrusive secret polices ever known in the world.

♪

Narrator: Just minutes away from the prison

Was mielke's seat of power --

The nerve center of the stasi state.

Meigs: The stasi headquarters was, in a way,

The most important building in east germany.

It was entirely focused on controlling the population,

Gathering as much information

About the most intimate details of people's lives.

Narrator: With construction complete in 1961,

This complex functioned as the nerve center

For a surveillance state on an unprecedented scale.

They needed to know what was happening in your apartment,

In your house, in your factory, in your school,

And they had spies in all those places.

Narrator: That meant collating a truly massive archive.

Two to three percent of the population is actually paid

To inform on their neighbors, their classmates,

Their work colleagues to inform the state security

As to what people are thinking.

And they kept vast files.

Everything that you want to know about 18 million people

Is kept in the stasi headquarters.

Narrator: However, by the late 1980s,

Momentum was shifting, dissidence snowballing.

Among those members of the stasi on the ground

Trying desperately to maintain order

Was none other than the current

Russian president vladimir putin.

Corum: Very often the k.G.B. Would would use the stasi

In some cases to influence the west,

To carry out espionage operations.

But they're also supervising

And keeping close contact of the stasi's activities

Against any dissidence in east germany.

In dresden, the head of the k.G.B. Branch office

Is vladimir putin, who is a career k.G.B. Officer.

Narrator: But for how long could putin

And the stasi maintain control,

And what would happen to their vast classified archive?

♪

Narrator: After months of civil unrest,

The berlin wall came crashing down on November 9, 1989.

As well as a wave of euphoria,

People began to turn their anger and frustration

Against the state, and in particular, the stasi.

In January of 1990, something incredible happened.

The public had this idea that the records contained

In the stasi headquarters were gonna be destroyed,

And they wanted these records preserved.

They went and they occupied the building and they insisted

That the government preserve what had happened here.

They wanted to give some kind of a testimony

To what they lived through,

And they felt that if the records were gone,

There would be no way to document

These generations of injustice.

♪

Narrator: Meanwhile, the prison closed its gates

As the stasi was dissolved.

Mielke was publicly disgraced live on television,

And he himself faced the inside of a prison cell.

Then, from 1992, the records were declassified,

And people like peter could finally access their files.

Narrator: But the most extraordinary discovery

Peter made was more recent --

After his brother died in 2012.

Narrator: Peter's brother was a stasi spy,

Informing on both him and his family.

♪

While the wall has long gone,

The victims and perpetrators of this terror state

Still walk and live amongst each other,

The memories still fresh.

♪

Narrator: Today, 600 million shreds of paper

From stasi files are being pieced together

Using new computer technology --

Testament to just how much this still means to those

Who lived in this police state.

Germans desperate to find closure,

To finally know who betrayed them and why.

♪

On the west coast of the united states,

Just north of the city of san francisco,

Lies a colossal structure carved into the ground.

♪

Bell: It's a long, stadium-like structure

Sitting right next to the water,

And it is enormous -- this vast, empty pit.

♪

The entire structure slopes away from you in steps,

Like an inverted mayan pyramid.

Whatever this was built for, this was a serious operation.

♪

Narrator: Down at the base of this vast site

Are possible clues to its demise.

It's clearly designed to be a strong structure,

But sort of towards the bottom,

It appears to be made of something quite different.

Scott: The last few steps, they are crumbling away,

And it's just confusing

That they've changed the materials in this way.

Why -- why would you do that?

Narrator: So, was this abandoned before it had time

To prove its worth?

And did it eventually collapse under its own weight?

♪

The roots of this structure reach back to the 19th century.

While the east coast was developed and well defended,

The younger west coast cities were catching up,

But this shore was left vulnerable.

As gold is discovered in california,

It becomes more and more important to project power

To the west coast

In order to make sure that nobody comes along and takes it.

It must be defended.

Narrator: With wars being fought against native americans to the north

And others in central america to the south,

Mare island was the obvious site

For the first naval station on the west coast.

But it was the completion of this particular facility in 1891

That would propel the u.S. Into the next century,

As retired engineer bruce christensen explains.

♪

This was definitely the dawn of a new era

For the united states navy

In the defense of the united states of america.

♪

Narrator: Standing at over 400 feet in length

And taking almost 20 years to construct,

This is mare island's drydock number 1.

The construction of this huge drydock resulted in a new era

To allow ships larger than had ever been allowed before

To dock and be repaired and overhauled.

♪

Narrator: It immediately proved invaluable,

Advancing the defensive capability of the west coast.

But an unexpected event

Soon threatened the core of this structure.

The main parts of the structure, these big steps,

Are made of massive blocks of granite,

And all of that granite had to be brought in by ship.

So you can imagine this is a major undertaking.

Scott: Granite is heavy.

Whoever built this, they weren't thinking about saving money.

They were thinking about building a structure

That would last.

Narrator: But the bottom few steps tell a different story.

Nusbacher: When you look at this crumbling of the lowest levels,

You wonder, was it this disintegration

That caused this place to be abandoned?

♪

Narrator: So, is this evidence of an early catastrophe,

Or did the granite prove its worth?

In 1898, it was put to the test.

Testament to how good and strong the structure is

That there was a big earthquake that struck that island.

All the buildings in the facility sort of around it,

They -- they collapsed.

But the structure itself remained pretty much intact

With very little damage whatsoever.

♪

Narrator: The fractured lower steps, in fact,

Reveal a later attempt to adapt the site.

So as soon as the surrounding facilities were rebuilt,

This and other shipyards combined to advance

The defense of the west coast to another level.

But mare island was a cut above the rest,

Setting the bar high during the first world war

With a construction of u.S.S. Ward.

This place set a record in ship building.

Just 17 days to construct a battleship.

That's just phenomenal.

♪

Narrator: Sliding off a neighboring shipbuilding way,

U.S.S. Ward soon entered the drydock

For some essential finishing touches

Before joining active service.

♪

However, the real turning point for both u.S.S. Ward

And this drydock would be in the next world war.

♪

♪

Narrator: As the second world war began in europe,

Mare island's u.S.S. Ward

Was soon recommissioned and upgraded ready for battle.

Both the drydock and that ship would soon make history.

The pacific starts to be a place of danger

For the u.S., and in order to ensure

That the united states can defend its pacific coast,

It needs facilities to support a navy on the pacific coast.

♪

Narrator: In 1941, as japanese forces

Prepared to attack pearl harbor,

U.S.S. Ward tracked down a lone enemy vessel nearby.

♪

U.S.S. Ward fired the first shots

For the americans in world war ii.

She saw a japanese submarine in her sights

And seized the opportunity.

Nusbacher: And it's significant that the first ship

To cause japanese casualties

Is a ship that's built on the california coast

In mare island's own facility.

♪

In terms of u.S. History, the attack on pearl harbor

Was one of the country's gravest moments,

But that first retaliation by u.S.S. Ward

Would set the tone.

The americans were gonna come right back at the enemy.

Narrator: The second world war saw drydock number 1 come into its own.

Here, the ingenious design made light work

Of getting damaged ships in and ready for repair.

Well, first we take this drydock,

We fill it with water through the pumps at the far end.

Next, we bring it to the level of the strait out here.

Narrator: With the water now level either side,

And the pressure balanced,

This end gate called a caisson can be moved out,

Allowing the damaged ship in.

Next, the drydock is sealed back up and drained,

Leaving the ship ready to be worked on.

In order for the united states

To keep its navy fighting in the pacific theater,

It had to be able to rebuild warships.

And american ships that had been chewed up

By the japanese navy needed to be brought back to america

And refitted and sent back out to fight the japanese again.

Narrator: This was all about efficiency in war.

Christensen: It was vital.

This dock probably was key in being able

To keep the fleet as operational as it was

For as long as it was during the war.

♪

Narrator: Having now been invaluable in two world wars,

This giant would next enlist for the cold war,

And it's here that those cracked bottom steps came into play.

Mare island adapted from being a place

Where you would build or repair surface ships

Into a place where you would repair submarines

That would be shadowing the soviet navy in the pacific.

♪

Narrator: Not part of the original structure,

These steps and the long concrete section at the end

Were added in the late 1960s to allow larger ships to dock.

Scott: So, those layers that you see and those bottom few steps,

Those ones that are now crumbling,

They were the tagged-on extension, so to speak.

♪

Narrator: Playing a vital role in the cold war effort,

This site was finally deemed

Surplus to requirements in 1993,

And from that moment, while the granite stood strong,

The lower levels began to suffer.

It's funny when you look at the structure.

The most modern parts -- those --

Those concrete step extensions,

They're the ones that are in the worst state of repair.

♪

Ultimately, this drydock had been a vital part

Of the defense of the west coast for over a century.

Without this place, the history books

Might tell a very different story.

♪

Narrator: In the so-called fire fields of Italy

On the bay of naples

Is a site imbued with the supernatural.

♪

In the shadow of mount vesuvius, destroyer of pompeii,

A labyrinth of underground tunnels continues to mystify.

This tunnel entrance looks like something

Straight out of "lord of the rings".

It takes you deep under a mountain,

And it looks like you're entering mordor.

Meigs: A location like this was surrounded

By a lot of myth and mystery.

Symbolically, it certainly seems like an entrance

To the underworld.

Narrator: Evidence suggests this tunnel complex

Was purposely filled in,

Its secrets left buried for thousands of years.

Yet, investigations are unearthing clues

That this was some kind of ritual center.

♪

Barratt: There was a kind of feeling of showmanship.

This is not just an access a to b tunnel.

This complex network of caverns and tunnels was so extensive

That clearly some incredible engineering happened here.

♪

Narrator: This subterranean network is somehow connected

To a grand complex of ruins above.

Meigs: It was meticulously built with a massive amount

Of difficult engineering of tunnels and waterways,

Columns, frescos, mosaics.

Somara: Above ground it looks so palatial

That you couldn't help but wonder what this was for

Or who it was for.

Narrator: This site is connected to some of the most famous names

In human history.

But why did they come here?

And what secrets are held beneath this mountain?

♪

Descending under the sister volcano of mount vesuvius

Is a mesmerizing tunnel.

Purposely filled in,

The secrets contained at the base of this mountain

Remained dormant for thousands of years

Until a dramatic discovery was made in the 1960s,

As caver graziano ferrari explains.

[ beeps ]

♪

In the 1960s, you've got a big local n.A.T.O. Base,

And all sorts of people are working there,

Including a chap whose hobby was archaeology,

And he found this site.

Narrator: This amateur archaeologist was robert paget,

And he realized he'd stumbled onto something

Hugely significant.

Barratt: He read up about it,

And then the next 10 years spent digging out these tunnels.

And in that 10 years

He came up with the most incredible theories.

Narrator: Paget was convinced this passage

Was part of an elaborate ceremonial site.

♪

Today, explorers are once again delving into the mystery.

Could this be the site of the famed oracle of the dead?

♪

Narrator: Caver graziano ferrari is exploring

The age-old mystery of the oracle of the dead,

Descending into an elaborate tunnel

Equipped with analyzers

To monitor potentially lethal gases.

It looks ancient and otherworldly,

And at times it's extremely narrow -- barely shoulder width.

And you have to descend down these ladders

With gas analyzers.

It's actually really frightening.

[ beeps ] barratt: Someone's put

A lot of work into this.

There are niches for candles as you go down.

Not just enough to light the way,

But enough to make a massive impact.

This is some serious illumination going on here.

Narrator: Amateur archaeologist robert paget believed

The tunnels' design backed up his theory

That it was more than simply functional,

But part of something ritualistic.

Barratt: It's also not straightforward.

As you go down into this tunnel, very narrow,

You have to turn your shoulders.

It doesn't actually lead you straight to where you're going.

It's curved. It snakes around a little bit.

Narrator: As the tunnel takes on a steeper gradient and curves,

There is a sense of the theatrical in this journey.

The point of the journey is partly in this kind of curve,

In this showmanship.

And then it's getting hotter in there.

You can kind of feel the volcanic activity.

You can feel that this is getting into

The depths of the earth.

And the smell is kind of sulfurous, but exciting.

Narrator: But what was the purpose of this journey?

And where does this tunnel lead?

The tunnel comes across this small underground stream.

It's really a hot spring.

But in the mythology,

Perhaps it was a representation of the famous river styx --

That the dead would have to be transported across

On their way to the underworld.

Narrator: This pool of hot water was once a flowing river,

Believed by some to be the river styx,

In greek mythology, the border between the world of the living

And the underworld known as hades.

Paget believed there might be a landing stage

Where boats could pull up

To take people across to the other side.

♪

Narrator: Above the pool, however,

Is a filled-in chamber, or hidden sanctuary.

This led paget to conclude the whole design

Of this cavernous system

Was meant to mimic a visit to the underworld.

♪

He was convinced he'd stumbled upon

The so-called oracle of the dead.

In both the greek and the roman eras,

People believed that in certain locations like this

There was a special type of a priestess,

An oracle who could tell your future.

Narrator: People would descend to the sweltering depths

To hear prophecy

And have their future read by this priestess.

Investigators believe they may have unlocked

Some of the mystery surrounding these oracles.

Today, there's a theory that many of these oracles

Were actually in locations

Where, in fact, there were fumes coming out of the earth

That would lead any person to begin to hallucinate

Or to have out-of-body experiences.

Barratt: And the priestesses at the area kind of played on that,

And if they were using the sulfurous fumes

And the sheer theater of the experience,

Then perhaps I'd fall for it today

Just as people did 2,000 years ago.

Narrator: Some of the tunnels and cavernous rooms

Remain a mystery to this day.

Others, however, provide a clue to the connection

With the ruin site above.

Narrator: For current investigator graziano,

The subterranean tunnels served a purely functional purpose.

This was, in modern terms,

A steam room and part of a wider complex

Designed to exploit the geology of the region.

The whole complex was engineered to let visitors take advantage

Of all this volcanic heat and hot water.

There were steam rooms, there were hot tubs,

There were also cold pools.

All of them connected,

All of them clearly part of some kind of health giving ritual.

♪

Narrator: This is baia archaeological park,

Once a roman spa town.

♪

But why did it gain such a notorious reputation?

And what triggered its demise?

♪

Narrator: In the bay of naples

Is a former roman spa town

That developed quite the reputation.

The whole complex was a luxurious resort

For the roman elite.

You had beautiful mosaics along the walkways,

Frescos painted on the walls.

An enormous amount of work and artistry

Went into building this complex.

♪

Narrator: Chambers and tanks interconnected with tunnels

And underground steam channels complete with waterproof lining

Created a complex hydraulics system.

Domes, such as the temple of diana,

Which is older than the pantheon in rome,

Functioned as cold baths.

Other features include sunning rooms

And swimming pools on the terraces

With dramatic views across the bay.

Somara: Baia became notorious for that hedonistic lifestyle.

It really became an area of scandalous immorality.

We know from the records that caesar and cicero

Frequently visited there.

I mean, it was a playground for the rich and famous.

♪

Narrator: So, how and why did this extraordinary

And famous resort meet its end?

Ultimately, this site's abandonment

Brings us back to the land.

Barratt: The reason this site is here

Is because of the thermal seismic activity.

That was a big part of its downfall.

Barratt: One day it all went too far,

And parts of the resort started to slip underwater.

When that happened, the writing was on the wall.

♪

Narrator: Today, this remarkable site is open to the public,

Yet remains largely unknown to tourists.

Meanwhile, investigators such as graziano

Continue to delve into the mysteries held

In this remarkable complex.

This is over 2,000 years old, and yet you can imagine people

Coming here for that luxury experience.

The joy of the archaeology here is immense,

And the stories behind it,

Well, they could have happened yesterday.

♪

Narrator: In the gulf of nicoya, off costa rica's pacific coast,

Is what appears to be an isolated paradise...

♪

...An island encircled by palm trees and sandy beaches.

Bell: This island is full of natural life

And surrounded by tropical waters.

At first glance, it looks like some kind of paradise,

But it hides a dark and cruel history.

♪

Today, costa rica is a popular holiday destination

For americans.

This place, however, couldn't be further from that image.

It has a haunted and desolate feel to it.

♪

Narrator: Approaching the island,

A rickety old pier leads into a maze of structures.

Roots and vines wrap themselves around ruined remains.

Plants and trees emerge out of roofless buildings.

The walls of these structures are covered

In writing and graffiti,

But it's not your typical drawings and graffiti.

Bell: These painting depict life

And tell stories of severe pain and anger.

On closer inspection, it appears that some of these drawings

Have been written in blood.

♪

Narrator: Why is there blood on the walls?

What darkness took hold of this apparent paradise?

♪

This island has been exploited for centuries,

Going back to a time when costa rica

Was part of the spanish empire.

Isla san lucas is an infamous island.

It's been used as a prison for centuries,

Going right back to the spanish conquistadors

Who used it as a detention center

For local tribes in the 16th century.

Narrator: But remnants of metal bars and thick security doors

Suggest this site has more recently been utilized.

♪

In 1871, president tomás guardia

Created a constitution

For the newly independent nation of costa rica.

While he abolished the death penalty,

He also chose this location for a new penitentiary,

And being sent here was seen as virtually

A death sentence in itself.

♪

This is isla san lucas prison.

This became a prison for some of costa rica's

Most notorious criminals.

Thieves, murderers, hit men -- you name it, they were here.

♪

Narrator: How did this prison gain such notoriety?

And did that lead to its demise?

♪

Narrator: This costa rican site

Was not a place for the faint-hearted.

Prisoners fought amongst themselves, not just with fists,

But with self-styled machetes,

As former inmate eloy solorzano recalls.

[ speaking spanish ]

Translator: I was in a machete fight

With some prison inmates.

Thank god I'm alive to tell this story.

These things I experienced,

I hoped to god never to live again.

Atrocities were common place here,

And overcrowding was rife.

You had as many as 70 prisoners kept in a single cell.

Adolescents as young as 14 years old were incarcerated

And placed in this environment of disease and murder.

And to be sentenced here was considered

By many to be a death sentence.

♪

Narrator: Inside the crumbling cells,

Graffiti covers every wall.

The art and graffiti on the cell walls

Give a fascinating insight

To what the prisoners were going through.

They clearly depict the life of suffering, pain,

Hatred, and loneliness, as well as highly sexual content.

Narrator: A horrific rumor had surfaced

Relating to the suspicious fading red color

Of certain parts of the graffiti.

Some were allegedly painted with the blood of a nurse

Who was murdered inside the prison.

♪

Narrator: The notoriety of the prison

Wasn't just from those incarcerated.

The prison guards were infamous in their own right.

They used torture to control the inmates,

And one punishment was particularly barbaric.

[ speaking spanish ]

Translator: Here in san lucas, before human rights came in,

You, for any reason, could be put in la plancha.

[ concludes in spanish ]

Bell: One common punishment was placing prisoners

In a dungeon full of raw sewage

And leaving them there for days on end.

[ speaking spanish ]

Translator: It was a penitence to be there.

There were bugs.

It was something subhuman.

I wouldn't wish this for anybody.

♪

Narrator: This cruel and humiliating torture

Was meted out by an infamous police squad

Based at the prison.

There was a police squad here called los cocobolos.

Now, if you were a prisoner,

These were guys you wanted to keep on the right side of.

[ speaking spanish ]

Translator: They were good at hitting us with sticks.

That was the really bad part.

You tried to get along with them to have a better coexistence.

♪

Narrator: Little wonder that escape

Was never far from the minds of inmates.

Translator: Some inmates would throw themselves into the water

Trying to escape.

♪

Narrator: But was the island escapable,

And would the prison's brutality lead to its own destruction?

♪

To escape from here was no easy feat.

Even if you could get out of the complex and to the water,

You were gonna find sharks and a long, dangerous swim.

Isolated on this tropical island,

They'd never have stood a chance.

♪

Narrator: Many didn't even make it to the water.

[ speaking spanish ]

Translator: And from where they were caught

Within the perimeter of the island,

They were brought to the dungeons,

Hitting them without stopping.

♪

Narrator: But was this brutal retribution

About to go too far?

Translator: Here on this island there are bodies buried,

And no one knows who killed that person.

[ continues in spanish ]

However, there are prisoners buried here,

And their bodies never appeared drowned or anything.

♪

Narrator: Cruel and intentional torture,

Bodies disappearing without a trace.

Were these brutal actions about to come back

And haunt the authorities?

Translator: A lot of people were saying

That san lucas was shut because of inhumane treatment.

This is not necessarily true.

♪

Narrator: Some claim the island was set

To be turned into a tourist resort,

Complete with hotels, casinos, and an airstrip.

This plan has never materialized,

But the prison has been abandoned,

And the future for isla san lucas

Looks altogether brighter.

♪

Today, the island is part of the national wildlife preserve,

With tourists visiting the island daily,

Enjoying both the ruins and nature.

♪

And now it feels much more like the costa rica

That holiday makers have come to know and love.

♪