Original subtitles

Narrator: a vast complex At the ends of the earth.

Auerbach: No one wanted to end up here.

And if you did, it was likely You would never leave.

Narrator: A concrete cavern created to Protect a merciless tyrant.

Meigs: it's like it's something Out of a james bond movie.

The ultra-villain who's gonna Take over the world

Must be inside there somewhere.

Narrator: And the ruins of a ruthless Regime's deadly prototype.

Narrator: And the ruins of a ruthless Regime's deadly prototype.

Nusbacher: it's strange. It's weird.

Why would somebody put This much cement

In the middle of the woods?

*

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.

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

*

Off the coast of croatia,

In the crystal-clear Waters of the adriatic sea,

Is the beautiful island of vis.

Is the beautiful island of vis.

But not all is as it seems.

Bell: vis island is a hugely Popular tourist destination,

And you can see why.

But every now and then, You catch a glimpse

Of something you feel Shouldn't really be there.

A relic from a bygone era.

Meigs: If you sail around this island,

It looks like a mediterranean Vacation paradise.

It looks like a mediterranean Vacation paradise.

And then you come across This bizarre concrete structure.

It's like a keyhole leading Into the island itself.

Narrator: what purpose could This curious structure have?

The concrete cave is Just the beginning.

Bell: as you delve deeper Into the island,

You realize there's a vast Network of tunnels

That point to something Really quite major,

That point to something Really quite major,

But what their purpose was And who built them

Is initially mystifying.

Narrator: does the location Of vis provide a clue

To these structures' purpose?

Local guide tomislav mileis

Knows how strategically Important the island is.

Meigs: going all the way back To the time of the greeks

And the romans, Military leaders

Have recognized this island's Incredible strategic location

And how useful It is to control it.

Narrator: after world war I,

Vis became part of a newly Formed nation --

Yugoslavia.

Within 30 years,

This young country would become A communist republic

This young country would become A communist republic

And would be center stage In the battle

Between the ussr and the west.

The structures on vis Are key to this story.

The origins of this hidden Labyrinth of tunnels and caves

Stretch back to the heights Of the cold war.

Stretch back to the heights Of the cold war.

It was built to defend The island

And its country, yugoslavia,

From the horror of a nuclear Attack by an unexpected enemy.

This is a secret communist base.

A maze of tunnels extend 12 miles across the island,

A maze of tunnels extend 12 miles across the island,

Connecting camouflage bunkers, Caves, and gun emplacements.

And on the northern coast

Lies the centerpiece Of these fortifications.

Probably the most impressive Installation

Is an imposing concrete Submarine pen

That leads right Into the island hills.

And although it's obvious From the water,

It's invisible from the air.

Narrator: code named "Lobster," This concrete cave

Narrator: code named "Lobster," This concrete cave

Could hide submarines Like the sava,

A yugoslavian attack vessel Capable of disappearing

1,000 feet underwater, With 10 huge torpedoes.

But why did communist yugoslavia Need this fortress

In the adriatic?

Was it a defense against The military might of the west?

At the center of this story

Is the country's most infamous Leader, josip tito,

And the dangerous Political tightrope he walked.

Josip tito was a communist Partisan fighter

Against the nazis In world war ii,

Against the nazis In world war ii,

And a very effective one.

When the war ended, He was able to unify yugoslavia

Under his own very particular Brand of communism.

Narrator: as world war ii Came to an end,

The iron curtain was descending Across europe.

Corum: tito and stalin Were allies until 1948,

But tito is very, very Afraid of yugoslavia

Becoming an east germany Or a poland,

Becoming an east germany Or a poland,

Which is effectively a colony Of the soviet union.

In 1948, he will take the step Of formally breaking with stalin

And saying that yugoslavia Will not cooperate.

"There will be no soviet bases, No soviet troops."

In fact, tito cleverly played Off the powers of east and west

Against each other

And was instrumental In creating the third way,

Or what was called The non-aligned movement.

Or what was called The non-aligned movement.

Narrator: So, tito refused to support The russians or the west.

But this left the country

Constantly under the threat Of invasion,

Or even nuclear attack, By the soviets.

Yugoslavia's very existence Was at risk.

How could tito Protect his homeland?

The way to do it is What he learned during the war,

Is establish these bases All throughout the country,

Is establish these bases All throughout the country,

And if the soviet union and its Allies should invade yugoslavia,

They can retreat To the mountain areas.

They can retreat to these Fortified bases,

And they can Carry out resistance.

Narrator: It was a plan that put vis Directly in the line of fire.

The island had been home To tito's headquarters

When he led resistance to the Nazis in the second world war.

When he led resistance to the Nazis in the second world war.

Tito never forgot the strategic Importance of vis

And kept a tight grip On the island,

Making it one of The main naval bases

Of the yugoslav people's army.

Narrator: so, these concrete Caves and tunnels

Were built to defend yugoslavia From the mighty red army.

But was vis attacked By the russians?

And is that why these Mighty fortifications

Are now abandoned?

Are now abandoned?

*

Narrator: on the mediterranean Island of vis,

This cold war base Was designed

To help communist dictator Josip tito

Keep control of yugoslavia.

But the leader's cold-blooded Determination to hold onto power

Had brutal consequences For his country's citizens.

Tito ran a ruthless Internal policy

Tito ran a ruthless Internal policy

To suppress any Internal opposition.

Narrator: Tito's merciless regime is Thought to be responsible

For hundreds of Thousands of deaths.

But what became of this Heavily armed hidden base?

But what became of this Heavily armed hidden base?

If the soviets succeeded In invading yugoslavia,

They could take over the base On the island

And even use it to launch Nuclear weapons across europe.

Corum: the purpose of this Massive defense system

In yugoslavia Is not offensive.

It's purely defensive.

It is to make it so difficult To overrun yugoslavia.

It's a deterrence policy,

And it's a very effective Deterrence policy.

And it's a very effective Deterrence policy.

Narrator: Tito's game plan worked.

Creating this forbidding Fortress

Helped ensure the russians Never attacked.

But there was another Serious threat

To the existence Of yugoslavia on the horizon.

After tito's death, That iron-fisted rule

That held yugoslavia together Went away

And the different regions

And the different Tribal animosities

Began to manifest themselves

Began to manifest themselves

And the country Really fractured into different,

Sometimes warring, segments.

Narrator: no amount of Military bases could stop

The brutal civil wars Of the 1990s.

Yugoslavia tore itself apart.

Tito's socialist republic became Seven independent countries

Divided along ethnic lines.

The island of vis Is part of croatia,

Which pulled away and became Its own independent state.

Which pulled away and became Its own independent state.

Narrator: After years of conflict, This new nation wanted peace,

And the base in the adriatic Was abandoned.

Synonymous with sunshine And vacations,

Vis today is a long way From tito's dark vision

Of an island defense Against the soviets.

But these concrete ruins Offer a chilling reminder

Of how different things Could have been.

Of how different things Could have been.

This submarine base reflects The very real threat

Of nuclear attack that existed At the height of the cold war.

*

Narrator: On the west coast of the usa,

In the shadow of The golden gate bridge,

Is a rocky bay covered With bizarre remains.

Meigs: you see this ruin here.

You have no idea how old it is.

If you were in The mediterranean,

You might think it dates back To the time of the romans.

Scott: at first glance, you just See these weather-beaten

Concrete foundations.

But the more you look, The more you see.

Jerram: it's clearly something That's been built in and around

Using the landscape As part of it, but why was that?

Narrator: this eery debris Extends beyond the cliff tops.

Narrator: this eery debris Extends beyond the cliff tops.

Beneath the rocky shoreline,

A series of basins Emerge out of the waves.

Meigs: this thing is huge.

This is not just One little pool.

This covers an area Of about two acres.

Narrator: what was this all for?

And why would an area like this, Right on the brink of the water,

Be chosen for such A complex design?

There was obviously a reason Why they chose that location --

There was obviously a reason Why they chose that location --

That the sea obviously played an Important role in this building.

But building that close To the sea

Is always gonna Give you trouble.

Narrator: this coastline Construction would have to face

The full force of the pacific.

But that was just one of The dangers it would encounter.

100 years ago, this site Would have been full of people

100 years ago, this site Would have been full of people

From nearby san francisco.

In the 19th century, The city was booming,

And its growing population Had money to spend

In their spare time.

One businessman saw An opportunity.

Millionaire engineer adolph Sutro bought the land

Known as naiad cove in 1881.

Meigs: Pacific coast near san francisco Is very rocky with high surf.

Sutro noticed that there Were a lot of tide pools

Sutro noticed that there Were a lot of tide pools

And the waves would wash up On the rocks and then flow down.

That gave him an idea.

What if he took some of These natural tide pools

And connected them To a larger manmade pool?

He could turn that Into an aquarium.

Narrator: the first step was to Build a basin to catch seawater,

As local historian John martini explains.

This is where it all began -- At the very tip of point lobos,

Furthest west point In san francisco.

Furthest west point In san francisco.

The workers blasted away The tip of the point,

And they created this basin they Called the wave catch basin.

Narrator: a hidden tunnel Would then carry that water,

Using gravity, To a tank inland,

Where spectators could observe The sea creatures within it.

But to construct something So sophisticated

On the edge of a cliff Would be a huge challenge.

On the edge of a cliff Would be a huge challenge.

Martini: this was a very Dangerous place to work.

You're literally at the edge Of the ocean.

They could only work At low tide.

Narrator: and the elements Weren't the only threat

To this ambitious plan.

One night, something Washed up nearby

That would endanger Its very existence.

Would this put an end To sutro's dreams?

And how do we explain the rest Of the ruins on the shore?

*

*

*

Narrator: on a californian beach Lie the remains

Of what appears to be A vast coastal construction.

Why is it now no more Than rubble?

In the late 19th century, Engineer adolph sutro

Was building an aquarium In one corner of the site,

Until something deadly drifted Towards the shore.

Until something deadly drifted Towards the shore.

We're inside the walls Of the original aquarium.

This collapsed section reflects The damage that occurred

When a sailing ship Loaded with dynamite

Wrecked on the point Right out there.

And shortly after midnight,

It blew up with A monstrous explosion.

A huge piece of the ship Was sent sailing

Through the wall Of the aquarium.

Narrator: with the site Not yet completed,

Narrator: with the site Not yet completed,

This could have been a disaster,

But in fact, sutro used it

As an opportunity To expand his vision.

What sutro had learned from this Is that he'd come up

With this system Where he could work

With the tides To fill up pools further inland.

And that sparked His imagination.

Meigs: he decided he wanted Something more.

He wanted a place where people Could actually swim.

Narrator: these are the remains Of the sutro baths.

Narrator: these are the remains Of the sutro baths.

Sutro envisioned a grand Cathedral-like structure

On the shore

Enclosed with 100,000 Square feet of glass.

As well as seawater pools, This complex would include over

500 changing rooms, 7 slides, And a grand, sweeping staircase.

But could this epic plan Be made into a reality?

You're building a structure That has to sort of deal

With large waves, Small waves,

Depending on What the ocean's doing.

So it's a real interface between Engineering and nature

That was being attempted here.

Who was gonna win?

Narrator: The whole design relied on it,

But building so close To the ocean

Meant nothing could be taken For granted.

These derelict ruins suggest Things didn't go to plan.

Sutro made several attempts To contain his pool,

Sutro made several attempts To contain his pool,

And at first, they kept getting Washed away by the storms.

Narrator: it was only With the construction

Of a monumental concrete wall

9 feet deep and 285 feet long That workers were able to begin

Building the rest Of the complex.

Martini: it wasn't just A single big pool.

It was subdivided. There were five smaller pools --

One, two, three, four, five --

That were heated To different temperatures.

That were heated To different temperatures.

The warmest one was the one That was right behind me.

Narrator: five boilers heated up To 2 million gallons of water

Brought in from the ocean,

Which was then released Into the different pools.

Overall, the structure could Accommodate up to 10,000 people.

Sutro had created the world's Largest indoor swimming baths.

When the sutro baths Opened in 1894,

People were just overwhelmed.

People were just overwhelmed.

The scale of the place Was just so huge.

Meigs: it wasn't just a pool.

It was an amphitheater.

He knew that not everyone Would want to swim.

Some people just came And watched the swimmers.

So he had rows And rows of seats.

The entire place was decorated

Like some kind Of lovely fantasy land.

Sutro did nothing halfway.

Scott: Not only was it beautiful, But it was also genius.

Scott: Not only was it beautiful, But it was also genius.

When the tide was high,

The water would come Into the bath,

And then obviously, When the tide became low,

It would take the water with it.

And in that way, he had built A self-regulating swimming pool

That would refresh With the tides twice every day.

Narrator: The baths were a success.

So why is there so little left Of them today?

Scott: this building did not Have an easy life.

It's on the coast, So it was battered by storms.

Meigs: and although they Didn't know it yet,

Meigs: and although they Didn't know it yet,

It's one of the world's Most dangerous areas

In terms of earthquakes.

Man: the west coast city Of san francisco

Was struck by A violent earthquake in 1906.

Narrator: although it lasted Less than a minute,

As much as 75% of the city Was destroyed,

But not the sutro baths.

So, what was it that demolished This colossal monument?

*

Narrator: on the west coast Of the u.S. Lie the remains

Of what was once the world's Largest swimming baths.

The sutro baths served The people of san francisco

For nearly 80 years.

Scott: This beautiful building

That had been able to withstand An earthquake

But also decades of being That close to the sea

Was finally destroyed,

Was finally destroyed,

In a bizarre twist of fate, By fire.

Narrator: in 1966, A fire broke out on the site.

Fed by strong winds, it quickly Became a raging inferno,

And within hours,

The once magnificent baths Were raised to the ground.

Today, the site is maintained By the national park service.

And although they're long gone, The baths still intrigue.

And although they're long gone, The baths still intrigue.

Martini: As one person said, you know,

San francisco's A very young city.

We don't have a lot of ruins,

But, by god, These are our ruins.

And every day, hundreds, If not thousands of people

Are crawling around Basically trying to figure out

"What was this place?"

Narrator: at the southern tip Of australia,

On the remote island of tasmania

Is a collection Of imposing buildings.

Is a collection Of imposing buildings.

*

Auerbach: at first glance, this Looks like a grand site --

A royal Or aristocratic home.

But there's more here Than meets the eye.

Nusbacher: In all of this lush vegetation,

To see what looks like a created Ruin of a medieval abbey

With all of its dormitories And workshops and church,

With all of its dormitories And workshops and church,

It's a little bit strange.

Auerbach: it's a bewildering Mix of buildings --

Different sizes and shapes.

Selwood: it looks as if It might have had some factory

Or warehouse purpose.

There's even a feeling Of something

Slightly sinister about it.

It doesn't quite, as a building And an ensemble, make sense.

Auerbach: It really feels like you're at The very edge of the world.

Auerbach: It really feels like you're at The very edge of the world.

You get the sense that whoever Designed this place

Wanted to isolate its population From everyone else.

Narrator: why build such A diverse group of structures

In this far-flung location.

Behind their grand facades,

These buildings Hide a dark purpose.

Nusbacher: it's odd how only A few dilapidated buildings

Can take a gorgeous scene Of beautiful countryside

Can take a gorgeous scene Of beautiful countryside

And turn it into something That feels as though

There's deep Human misery involved.

This became one of the most Feared places in the region.

No one wanted to end up here,

And if you did it was likely You would never leave.

Narrator: why did This remote site strike terror

Into the hearts Of all who knew it?

Into the hearts Of all who knew it?

These buildings may be on the Edge of the southern hemisphere,

But their origins are 10,000 miles away in britain.

In the 18th century,

Attitudes to crime And punishment were changing,

And the courts began Sentencing convicts

To transportation To the country's new colonies.

Nusbacher: Because people were starting To view capital punishment

As unfair and inhumane, Instead of hanging people

As unfair and inhumane, Instead of hanging people

Who were repeat offenders Or serious criminals,

We'd just send them away.

Narrator: Transportation from the United kingdom to australia

Began in 1778,

Just 18 years after british Explorer captain cook

Landed in botany bay, Naming it new south wales.

Eventually, this new location Would hold over 165,000 people

Eventually, this new location Would hold over 165,000 people

From across the british empire,

Becoming, effectively, The empire's largest prison.

Narrator: So before long, penal colonies Had been established

Across this vast Southern continent.

And here in tasmania was The largest

And most infamous of them all -- Port arthur.

Auerbach: it was designed to be Escape-proof.

Auerbach: it was designed to be Escape-proof.

There was only one passage To the mainland,

And the water Was full of sharks.

And that one passage To the mainland had fences,

Armed guards,

And even half-starved dogs To ensure security.

Narrator: Located on a remote peninsula

Surrounded by water On three sides,

The port arthur penal colony Held 1,200

Of the british empire's Most dangerous prisoners.

Selwood: Port arthur became notorious For two sorts of offenders --

Repeat offenders,

Those who willingly chose Not to be reformed

And continue Their life of crime,

And those who committed some of The most heinous offenses.

Narrator: So, how did this prison punish The world's worst convict?

And could port arthur Really contain them?

*

*

Narrator: on the australian Island of tasmania

Lie the remains Of port arthur penal colony.

In the 19th century,

It held some of britain's Most dangerous criminals.

But this wasn't just An ordinary prison.

This place is an idealistic Settlement for prisoners,

And the idea is that we'll allow The prisoners, through work,

And the idea is that we'll allow The prisoners, through work,

To redeem themselves.

Narrator: this site Was a giant experiment,

Testing out a cutting-edge Approach to criminal justice.

Selwood: One of the driving ideas of this New thinking was productivity,

The idea that if people Could made to be useful,

Then they would feel Some purpose.

So in addition To being a prison facility,

It also became in a very Major sense, a production site.

It also became in a very Major sense, a production site.

Narrator: port arthur was An industrial prison

Where convicts were used For forced labor.

For the prisoners Who cut timber, built ships,

And ground grain, Conditions were brutal.

One of the worst jobs Was in the flour mill,

As historical archeologist Richard tuffin explains.

So, this wall that we're looking At is the treadmill ward.

This was where there was A big wheel,

And that had 56 men on it At any one time,

And that had 56 men on it At any one time,

And they would be turning the Wheel and grinding the grain.

These guys were doing Thousands of steps per day,

So it was an incredibly Harsh punishment.

You also have this Economic element as they are

Just grinding the grain, Making the flour

That is going into The rations for the convicts.

Narrator: But the port arthur system

Didn't just involve Psychical suffering.

Central to the rehabilitation Of the prisoners

Was psychological treatment.

Was psychological treatment.

Selwood: behind this new Thinking were the ideas

Of one man in particular --

Jeremy bentham, Who urged the world

To think that beatings And floggings

Only entrenched Criminal behavior

And that the world had to find Another way to try and deal

With, minimize, And repurpose criminals.

Narrator: So, did this approach bring About a less brutal system?

Or were the new rehabilitation Methods even more extreme?

Or were the new rehabilitation Methods even more extreme?

At the edge of the colony Is the building

Chillingly known As the separate prison.

Nusbacher: This facility is for the people Who are too rough

For the regular prisoners In tasmania.

In this facility,

The prisoners are kept under Constant observation,

In solitary confinement, In thick-walled cells.

In solitary confinement, In thick-walled cells.

Prisoners wore hoods.

They weren't allowed To communicate

With other prisoners.

Selwood: it was a Psychologically brutal system.

They were locked up for 23 hours A day in isolation

And total silence was imposed On them at all times.

This is the solitary punishment Cell of the separate prison.

So most convicts would be kept In the cells

For 23 hours In the separate prison.

Those who continued to misbehave Would be brought into this cell,

Which was a punishment cell In solitary confinement.

Which was a punishment cell In solitary confinement.

They would be in here up To 48 hours on bread and water.

There were four doors, Very thick walls --

No one could hear them scream Out if they were in this place,

And what they would do Is shut the doors,

And they would be left In the dark.

Narrator: To encourage the convicts To reflect on their crimes,

Silence and isolation Were enforced everywhere.

Nusbacher: The prisoners are sent to church For their improvement --

Obvious thing to do.

Obvious thing to do.

But we don't want the prisoners To see each other.

So their church pews are built As little stalls.

They can see the minister, They can listen to the sermon,

But they can't look at or listen To the other prisoners.

Auerbach: It's hard to imagine a more Dramatic stripping away

Of identity, Of sense of self.

You must have felt that you were Truly alone in the world.

You must have felt that you were Truly alone in the world.

Narrator: so, what became of the Convicts forced to live

Under port arthur's Brutal system?

Some of these prisoners survived And were trained as craftsmen

And became part of the permanent Population of the colony.

Selwood: For those who weren't so lucky,

There was a cemetery On the campus as well,

Known as the isle of the dead,

And over 1,000 convict Are known to be buried there,

A vast majority In unmarked graves.

A vast majority In unmarked graves.

Narrator: With transportation from britain Abolished in the 1850s,

In 1877, Australia's largest

And most infamous prison Closed down.

But port arthur quickly got A new lease of life.

As soon as it closed, the public Flocked in as tourists eager

To see and experience what the Convicts had been put through.

Narrator: The historic site evolved Into a popular open-air museum

Narrator: The historic site evolved Into a popular open-air museum

And port arthur reverted

To being A peaceful corner of tasmania.

But one last act of terrible Cruelty would take place there.

In 1996, port arthur became The site of the deadliest mass

Shooting in australian history.

Narrator: 35 people were killed By a lone gunman.

The atrocity shook australia To the core.

The atrocity shook australia To the core.

Within four months,

The government had enacted Major gun reform.

Automatic and semi-automatic Weapons were banned.

Gun laws were imposed, And over a million weapons

Were handed in to the australian Government and destroyed.

Narrator: The massacre at port arthur Had changed australia forever.

Today, it's one of australia's Most important historic sites.

Today, it's one of australia's Most important historic sites.

But the memories Of the suffering

That took place here remain.

In the steep hills Of southern germany,

Outside the bavarian city Of nuremberg,

Lies the overgrown remains of a Monumental construction project.

Nusbacher: If you're going through An ancient, scared forest,

The last thing you expect Is for the woods to end

The last thing you expect Is for the woods to end

Where someone Has scrapped away the forest

And left Almost no trees behind.

Narrator: the forest is littered With solid lumps of stone.

If I saw this in a town, I'd think I was looking at

The ruins of a building That had been demolished.

What you're seeing makes you Think of ruins of ancient roman

Or greek cities that you might Find in asia minor,

What was once the Agora acropolis of a city.

What was once the Agora acropolis of a city.

Narrator: But this site has a dark past

Linked to an evil regime's Epic plans.

The layout of these blocks Suggests that this was part

Of something That could be much larger.

Narrator: does the unique Placing of these structures

Hint at why they were built?

They're dispersed over An almost vertical slope.

They're dispersed over An almost vertical slope.

When you stumble across them, You kind of wonder

What the purpose of this stepped Formation up a hill was for.

Nusbacher: It's strange. It's weird.

Why would somebody put this Much cement

In the middle of the woods.

Narrator: The story begins 20 miles west

Of these neglected ruins In nuremberg,

A city that was central To the vision of adolf hitler.

When the nazis start to have Their great big,

When the nazis start to have Their great big,

Political pep rallies, They have them in nuremberg.

The nazi party developed The idea of nuremberg

As almost the capital Of the aryan race.

Corum: hitler loved His german history.

He was a german nationalist.

By making nuremberg the center For the nazi party

Rallies and days, He is hearkening back very,

Rallies and days, He is hearkening back very,

Very directly To the first reich,

Which lasted 1,000 years, Which created the german nation.

Narrator: to show the world That the third reich intended

On dominating europe forever,

Hitler commissioned new Imperial buildings in nuremberg.

But what role did these concrete Ruins in the forest

Have in this plan For nazi world domination?

*

Narrator: deep in the Countryside of southern germany

Lie the ruins of a colossal Nazi engineering project.

But its origins are in a city 20 miles away.

In 1930s nuremberg, Hitler ordered the construction

Of a complex of grand edifices To glorify the nazi regime.

The final building was to be A national stadium

The final building was to be A national stadium

On a truly epic scale.

Somara: The ambition for this project

Was to create a massive Auditorium space

That could house 405,000 people.

This was gonna be A stadium as big

As the four largest stadiums In the united states today.

No stadium in the world Has ever been as big as

No stadium in the world Has ever been as big as

This new german stadium Was going to be.

Narrator: but first, It had to be built.

The vast scale of the deutsches stadion, or "German stadium"

Would be a challenge For nazi architect

And close friend of hitler, Albert speer.

Somara: to be able to create A structure like this

Was a real statement of power And dominance and authority.

Narrator: But what does this have to do

Narrator: But what does this have to do

With the concrete ruins On the hill

In the woods 20 miles From nuremberg?

Speer realized that to build The stadium

He would first need A prototype.

Historian dr. Alexander schmidt Has investigated the site.

*

In 1937, work began On a life-size model,

And this was test site.

Nusbacher: what the germans did Was they found a hill

That was just the right angle To simulate the angle

That they wanted the stadium To be at when they finished it.

Somara: Building a scale model allows You to improve the design.

But building on an actual Test site

Allows you to really experience What it would be like.

Narrator: for 18 months, Hundreds of workers labored

Narrator: for 18 months, Hundreds of workers labored

To construct This extravagant prototype.

The end result was five levels Of bleachers

That could hold Thousands of people.

But only one person could Sign off on the final design.

Schmidt: albert speer Comes with hitler,

And he needs his permission To go on,

And hitler was only here one day

On this -- 21 march of 1938.

Hitler said, "Okay, we do it."

Hitler said, "Okay, we do it."

Narrator: The sinister reason behind Hitler's determination

To construct such a vast stadium Lies in his plans

For world domination.

If it was completed, the german Stadium in nuremberg

Would provide the perfect Location to demonstrate

The nazi nation's Unparalleled strength.

Nazi ideology requires Eternal war.

The aryan race has got to keep On fighting

The aryan race has got to keep On fighting

In order to perfect itself.

Schmidt: this is the concept From the beginning.

If you wanted a war Against the whole world,

Then you have to have soldiers.

Once they conquered All of the surrounding nations,

Once they killed all of the jews And gypsies and russians

And everybody, what would They do to continue to fight?

They would hold Life-and-death war games

Where they came together In this massive stadium

Where they came together In this massive stadium

For the pleasure Of the german people

And the continued improvement Of the aryan race.

Narrator: but these ruins Are all that remain

Of the nazi's terrifying vision Of aryan dominance.

Of the nazi's terrifying vision Of aryan dominance.

When war broke out, the building Of the stadium in nuremberg

Was put on hold And then eventually abandoned.

Today, the concrete foundations Are being reclaimed by nature.

But the wooden bleachers That once stood here have

Since helped repair the damage Caused by the nazi regime.

*