Original subtitles

*

Narrator: A secret underground facility With a toxic past...

Nusbacher: No matter how healthy you were

When you went into Those tunnels,

After only a few weeks,

Your body is starting To fall apart.

*

Narrator: ...A ghost town Home to hidden treasure...

People have to be pretty Desperate to come out here,

Or there must be something

That makes it worth All that trouble and danger.

Narrator: ...And a palatial complex left Deserted and forgotten.

Narrator: ...And a palatial complex left Deserted and forgotten.

Bell: whoever was here Obviously left in a mad rush,

Which begs the question --

What forced them Into such a sudden evacuation?

*

*

Narrator: engineering marvels Now abandoned,

Ruins shrouded in mystery.

Within these decaying structures Are the echoes of history.

They speak of death And destruction,

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

*

*

In the remote wilderness Of southern montana

Lies a deserted valley Haunted by a dark past.

*

Auerbach: This is a hard land to live in.

There's not a lot of water.

It gets incredibly cold In the winter.

This is one of the most sparsely Populated regions

In the whole country.

Narrator: at first glance,

This landscape appears Stark and desolate.

But there is some eerie Evidence of life

But there is some eerie Evidence of life

Here in the form Of a derelict town.

Auerbach: coming over the hill And seeing this town,

You'd think there were people Still living in it.

The outside, the inside --

It's like time was frozen there,

And the people were just Vanished away somehow.

Gough: This was a well-established And large town

That had the infrastructure To cater to a large population

That had a reason to be there.

That had a reason to be there.

Jerram: But just why they were there Is not abundantly clear

From the sort of ghost town That's there now.

*

Narrator: the first clue to The settlement's origins

Is in its geography.

Jerram: all of the buildings Follow very closely

The route of the river.

It makes you wonder whether There was something more

Than just the supply of water

That was valuable About this river.

Auerbach: Something has drawn people There for hundreds of years.

There's value in the ground And in the rivers.

There's something there That's worth killing for.

There's something there That's worth killing for.

*

You wouldn't know it To look at it now,

But this was once

One of the most violent places In america --

Killings, robberies, shoot-outs, Hangings.

What could have caused All this violence?

Narrator: one rumor still haunts This valley.

Gough: in the surrounding area, Somewhere nearby, buried,

Is a great, great treasure.

Narrator: but the controversy Around these hidden riches

Is just one of the mysteries That still torment this town.

*

The graphic tales of robberies, Betrayals, and murders

That swirl around this place

Stem from when this was

One of the last frontiers Of the wild west.

The story begins in the 1860s,

As park ranger john phillips Explains.

*

*

In july 1862, John white and a party of men

Were on their way To the salmon river,

To the community of florence.

And en route, They came upon this stream.

Narrator: Just like thousands of others in The middle of the 19th century,

These pioneers were scouring The land across america

In search of a new life

And hoping To make their fortune.

They were going to put their Pans down into this stream,

Go through these gravels Looking for black sands.

Go through these gravels Looking for black sands.

And, lo and behold, After a little test,

They found out That they had found

What they were looking for -- Gold.

Narrator: john white And his fellow travelers

Had hit the jackpot.

And this wasn't just Any old gold.

It was 99% pure.

That find started the gold rush To what we now call montana.

Within weeks, There were hundreds.

Within months,

Within months,

There were thousands of people In this community

All trying to get rich

By out there panning for gold In this little stream.

Narrator: The gold-mining town Of bannack was born

And boomed.

You would have seen houses And tents and wagons

As far as the eye could see.

*

There were people.

There were saloons.

There were brothels. There was everything.

There were brothels. There was everything.

This was a very active And wild place.

*

Narrator: But alongside wealth came crime.

*

Auerbach: once people realized There's gold in the river,

Greed overruns everything else.

The idea that you need Law and order --

Well, that's A secondary consideration.

Gough: morals -- They were out the window.

Outlaws -- They came like a magnet.

And that created Nothing but trouble.

And that created Nothing but trouble.

*

The hills around town

Were practically filled With bandits and outlaws,

And guess what?

That led to murder.

*

Narrator: Was it this out-of-control crime

That led to the town Being abandoned?

This lack of law enforcement Couldn't last forever.

*

A sheriff finally arrives With a couple of deputies.

He's here to promote Law and order.

But is that all he's here to do?

*

*

His name was henry plummer, And he quickly got to work.

He built a prison

And began rounding up The troublemakers.

*

The first jail in montana.

You could just imagine What it would have been like

Here in the wintertime.

Henry plummer was a man That had multiple sides.

He put on this great front,

And he showed, you know, By building the jail and thing,

That he was an honest,

That he was an honest,

Hardworking law-enforcement Official.

But on the other side,

Nothing is ever As crystal clear

As that we like To believe it is.

*

Narrator: maybe plummer Wasn't all that he seemed.

Despite the arrival Of the sheriff,

Bannack would soon become More violent, not less.

Why was plummer so ineffective?

And what does he have to do with The stories of buried treasure

And what does he have to do with The stories of buried treasure

That still haunt these streets?

*

*

Narrator: in the 1860s,

The gold-mining town Of bannack, montana,

Was one of the most Lawless places in america.

Henry plummer had arrived

To become the settlement's First sheriff,

But nothing had changed,

And the people of the town Weren't happy.

*

Auerbach: so, the sheriff And his deputies

Are just not enough to bring Law and order to this place.

So a new group sets itself up -- The montana vigilantes.

So a new group sets itself up -- The montana vigilantes.

*

The locals band together

To do something About all the crime.

Narrator: the masked men Of the the montana vigilantes

Began hunting down Suspected criminals

And executing Those they deemed guilty.

The entire town Was riddled with corruption.

But what's really interesting

Is that it comes To our attention

That the center Of that corruption

That the center Of that corruption

Was the sheriff himself.

*

Narrator: A rumor spread that plummer Might be the secret head

Of a terrifying gang of bandits Known as the innocents.

And at the beginning of 1864,

The montana vigilantes Decided to take action.

*

Phillips: On a freezing-cold night,

Henry plummer and his men,

Taken from their homes And from the saloons,

Are captured by vigilantes,

And brought into This area out here,

And brought into This area out here,

Where they would meet Their final demise.

All three men Were hanged on the gallows.

So, were the vigilantes Right to execute plummer?

A certain tale About his last moments

Has some convinced.

One legend has it that On his way to the gallows,

Sheriff plummer pleaded For his life,

And in exchange for his life,

He offered the location Where a secret stash of gold

He offered the location Where a secret stash of gold

Worth $100,000 back then

Was buried.

*

Narrator: But despite the sheriff's death,

The violence continued.

And some began to think It was the montana vigilantes

Who had been behind The crime all along.

*

In fact, bannack remained As lawless as ever until 1870,

When the gold began to run out.

With towns like these Out in the wild,

With towns like these Out in the wild,

When the incentive For people to stay is gone,

People just left.

Only a few stayed.

Narrator: then there was The sheriff's hidden treasure.

Auerbach: What about this buried gold

That plummer had tried to buy His way out of death with?

Did it really exist?

It was never found.

Narrator: a small number Of tough inhabitants

Continued to eke out A life in bannack,

Continued to eke out A life in bannack,

But by the 1950s, The population had dwindled.

And what remained of The infamous mining town

Became a state park.

But the mystery At the heart of its lawless past

Still endures.

Was sheriff plummer bannack's Real criminal mastermind?

And will we ever find His missing treasure?

Did they get rid of him 'cause he was bad?

Or did they get rid of him Because he was good?

No one knows for certain.

No one knows for certain.

*

*

Narrator: In southwest poland,

Deep in the woods Of the owl mountains

Lies a secret entrance Into a dark underworld.

*

From the outside, it doesn't Really look like much at all,

But when you get underground, It's vast.

And it's all in solid rock.

Narrator: Inside, murky tunnels lead into Eerie halls and flooded caves.

Narrator: Inside, murky tunnels lead into Eerie halls and flooded caves.

Is this a natural phenomena Or something more sinister?

*

It's in rock that wouldn't Normally form caverns like this.

There's something That's been built here

To create those hollows.

Somebody has gone To great lengths

To make this secret Underground facility.

*

Nusbacher: The only reason you carve Your way into rock

Is either to get something Valuable out of it

Is either to get something Valuable out of it

Or put something Valuable into it.

*

Narrator: above the ground,

The mystery continues with these Puzzling concrete structures.

*

Who built this vast complex?

Jerram: to make those holes In that rock,

Anyone working on that, it's Gonna be horrendous conditions.

Narrator: this is a creation That caused great suffering

And that aimed to support An evil and ruthless regime.

And that aimed to support An evil and ruthless regime.

Nusbacher: It's a place that demonstrates

The willingness of people To do the most difficult things,

To carve their way Into mountains

In order to keep the machinery Of death operating.

*

Narrator: Polish author igor witkowski

Knows these underground tunnels And the vast caverns

Knows these underground tunnels And the vast caverns

Better than anyone.

Those secret subterranean halls

Were around the length Of a football field.

So, what dark purpose Did this vast complex have?

And who was forced to build it?

And who was forced to build it?

*

*

Narrator: in the shadowy woods Of present-day poland

Lies an underground network Of tunnels

Carved out of solid rock.

The facility's original use Is shrouded in mystery.

But can its location Offer a clue?

*

Here is a place that is isolated From other population centers.

Here is a place that is isolated From other population centers.

It's hard to get to.

Narrator: hidden by forest,

This remote facility is Almost invisible from the air.

This was essential When it was first built

At the height Of the second world war.

*

The nazis and other axis powers Dominated europe,

Including this part Of present-day poland.

But their deadly empire Was under threat.

By 1943, the allies had Stepped up their aerial attacks,

By 1943, the allies had Stepped up their aerial attacks,

Raining down bombs on cities Across german territory.

It's a shock to the germans.

All of a sudden,

The reality of The allied bombing campaign

Becomes very, very real.

Nusbacher: As germany loses control

Of the skies Over the third reich,

Germany has got to harden The protection of its industry.

Germany has got to harden The protection of its industry.

Corum: And they start a program

To put as many things As possible deep underground

For fear of The allied bombers.

*

Narrator: desperate to turn The tide of the war,

The germans invested in this Colossal feat of engineering.

It was part of a top-secret Nazi project code-named

"Der riese" -- the giant.

*

If we were building A tunnel complex like this

If we were building A tunnel complex like this

In peacetime,

Tunneling through hard rock,

We'd use machinery.

We would use fuel.

But of course the nazis were Fighting the second world war.

They couldn't spare resources.

Narrator: This could have explained

Why the tunnels were abandoned Before they were finished.

But the nazis found a solution To the lack of supplies.

*

Corum: We're looking at a facility

Corum: We're looking at a facility

That is being built with Thousands of slave laborers.

And by 1943-'44, The german war economy

Is operating under A massive slave-labor system.

narrator: der riese was close

To several of the third reich's Most sickening apparatus --

The concentration camp.

With this facility, The nazis found a perverse use

For the men And women they tortured.

*

*

This is like A concentration camp

That has been deployed Into a mountain.

Everyone there Is being worked to death.

Jerram: The fact that there's this Almost inexhaustible supply

Of slave labor

Makes it even more eerie

When you look at How much of a hollows

And how much of a network Was built

By the blood, sweat, and tears Of slave laborers.

*

Narrator: The germans were desperate

To complete This secret construction

At any cost.

But why?

*

Even after the war, Its true purpose was obscured.

Some nazi leaders claimed

It was designed as a secret Headquarters for hitler.

It was designed as a secret Headquarters for hitler.

But theories still swirl around These tunnels and caverns.

Igor has his own Chilling hypothesis.

Narrator: With the allies advancing Into germany territory,

The nazis were in desperate Need of a miracle weapon.

*

Was this where they planned To produce that weapon?

*

*

Narrator: In remote southern poland

Is a cryptic Underground complex.

Built by the nazis,

Its epic proportions suggest

It was central to their efforts In the second world war.

*

And one theory claims

This was where the germans Were pinning their hopes

For transforming Their fortunes in the war.

For transforming Their fortunes in the war.

Nusbacher: these tunnels Are intended to be the place

Where german know-how, German racial superiority,

Is going to create The wonder weapons,

the wunderwaffen,

That will enable germany To win the war.

*

So, was this site developing An experimental super weapon?

The mystery only deepens When you explore further.

Jerram: just vast in itself,

Jerram: just vast in itself,

But actually there's another Five underground constructions

Along this particular Mountain range.

Narrator: The whole region is littered With these facilities,

Which were heavily armed And hidden from view.

*

Abandoned in various stages Of completion,

It's believed the intention Was for them all to link up,

Forming a vast underground city

That could win the war For germany.

*

Nusbacher: the red army, The soviet army,

Is relentlessly Invading westward,

Taking back big chunks of europe From the nazis.

*

As the red army comes closer,

Like the rest of the s.S.'s Concentration-camp system,

Like the rest of the s.S.'s Concentration-camp system,

Everything is death-marched Back into germany

In order to ensure that there Will be no evidence left

For the war crimes tribunal.

Narrator: by the end of 1944,

The russians had reached The polish capital, warsaw.

Early the next year, the nazis fled der riese,

Abandoning their Epic underground project.

*

*

Today, questions and rumors Still abound

about der riese's role in the nazi war machine.

But what's certain Is the terrible price paid

By those who were forced To construct it.

*

Nusbacher: This is an underground Concentration camp

Where thousands And thousands of people

Were forced To breathe their last

In the service Of an evil regime.

This is a monument To the deaths of millions.

This is a monument To the deaths of millions.

*

Narrator: At the southwestern tip Of england,

Deep in the tranquil Cornish countryside,

Is a valley scattered With overgrown remains.

*

Barratt: There's all sorts of curious Things going on here.

There's a chimney.

There's obviously foundations From different buildings.

There's obviously foundations From different buildings.

Selwood: It's a confused site

With a variety Of abandoned buildings,

Some partly buried masonry, Some collapsed structures.

Narrator: From beneath the grass,

Bizarre circular mounds Appear alongside the ruins.

*

Barratt: looking deeper here,

There's clearly been A lot of activity

Over a considerable period Of time.

*

Jerram: it's got the makings Of some big buildings

Jerram: it's got the makings Of some big buildings

But, in part, it looks like They've been pulled down

Or they've fallen down Or something's even broken them.

Narrator: Almost nothing remains

Of the extensive structures That once stood here.

Barratt: Clearly, nature's taken its toll On the landscape here.

But there's also, Could there have been something

More explosive in the past?

What has destroyed This environment?

*

Narrator: look closely,

And you can uncover This landscape's deadly history.

And you can uncover This landscape's deadly history.

Barratt: in this particular part Of cornwall,

It's not what's above The surface that's the clue.

It's what's below.

*

Beneath nature is a toxic past.

*

Narrator: so, what makes This place so poisonous,

And does that explain Why it's now abandoned?

*

Cocks: When I first came to this Landscape about 30 years ago,

Cocks: When I first came to this Landscape about 30 years ago,

I felt a real sense of mystery

And definitely An urge to explore.

Narrator: ainsley cocks,

Research and information officer At cornwall council,

Has studied this area Extensively.

Here, at the head of The poldice valley

In midwest cornwall,

We're in very much A rural setting.

But you'll see around me Crumbling walls,

Crumbling features,

Which allude To an industrial past.

Which allude To an industrial past.

Narrator: This valley was once home

To the region's Biggest business --

Mining.

Barratt: cornwall Is famed for its tin mines.

This is where it started.

And the expertise That people built up here,

They exported around the world.

Cornish tin drove The industrial revolution.

Cocks: Cornwall has been described As being in the mid-19th century

As probably the most important Mining district in the world,

And the production Of copper and tin

And the production Of copper and tin

Specifically was The principle reason for that.

Narrator: but these aren't just The remains of a mine

For tin or copper.

There's evidence of something Much more lethal.

What was produced here had The capacity to kill millions.

This site was at the heart Of an international trade

In top-grade poison

That spread around the world.

*

*

So, what deadly chemical Was produced here,

And for what evil purpose Was it used?

*

*

Narrator: in the 19th century, This english valley produced

One of the deadliest chemicals Known to man.

But before that, This was simply a mine.

*

Barratt: originally in cornwall, Tin was the goal.

That's the product That had the market

And commanded the profit,

And anything that got In the way of that profit

Was a nuisance.

Was a nuisance.

One of the biggest ones Was arsenic,

A completely poisonous, Toxic nuisance.

*

Narrator: odorless and tasteless But highly toxic,

Arsenic was known As the perfect poison.

But at these mines, It was impossible to escape it.

Jerram: what's interesting With tin mining

Is that the very nature Of those types of tin-rich veins

Is they often contain Quite high concentrations

Is they often contain Quite high concentrations

Of arsenic and sulfur as well.

And, for the most part, Early on,

You try and discard these,

Particularly things Like arsenic,

Which are highly poisonous.

*

Narrator: This is the poldice valley,

Where arsenic was produced For over 100 years.

In the 19th century, This mine switched production

From copper and tin to poison.

But why would anyone need Industrial amounts of arsenic?

But why would anyone need Industrial amounts of arsenic?

*

These have been fenced off Because of concerns

About contamination And public access.

But you can see The multi-walled nature

Of the arsenic labyrinth here.

*

Narrator: The arsenic labyrinths

Were where the purified arsenic Was collected.

*

First, the metal ore Dug up by the miners

Was heated to a fiery 1,000 degrees fahrenheit.

Was heated to a fiery 1,000 degrees fahrenheit.

During this roasting process,

The arsenic separated From the metal

And turned into gas.

This gas was fed through flues That led to labyrinth chambers,

Where it would cool down And solidify as crystals.

The doorways would have been Unplugged, opened up,

And then workers would go in With shovels and brooms

And basically remove All of the arsenic soot,

And basically remove All of the arsenic soot,

As it was called,

From the interior Of the labyrinth.

Narrator: in the 19th century, The arsenic industry boomed,

And sites dedicated To its production

Opened throughout this valley.

By the 1870s, a handful of Facilities in cornwall

Were providing over half Of the world's arsenic.

*

Narrator: this lethal commodity Was in demand

For more than just murder.

*

*

Barratt: by about 1800, The world is starting to mold

A wider range of raw materials.

One of those was arsenic, A toxic poison.

It's hard to think Of a use for it, isn't it?

But people needed it for All sorts of different reasons

All around the world.

Narrator: As the industrial revolution Took hold,

Investors realized Arsenic could be used

Investors realized Arsenic could be used

To make new Manufactured products.

Selwood: Arsenic was suddenly everywhere.

It was a key requirement For wallpaper coloring,

Glass manufacture, lead shot,

Pharmaceutical processes, Sheep dip.

Arsenic was suddenly The wonder compound

Of the early 1800s.

*

Narrator: Women even used it as makeup To whiten their faces.

The poison contaminated

Almost every aspect Of 19th-century life.

Almost every aspect Of 19th-century life.

But those worst affected

Were the people who worked In these plants producing it.

*

This is not A mechanized process,

So it's all done By hand with shovels

And scraping of the crystallized Arsenic off the walls.

Selwood: there were no organized Safety measures

Or protective clothing For the workers.

They individually covered Their skin in clay

And used wet rags To cover their faces.

And, as you can imagine, Neither of these were effective.

And, as you can imagine, Neither of these were effective.

Narrator: Prolonged exposure to arsenic

Could have Devastating consequences.

*

People start to get fatigue And become quite --

You get stomach cramps And so on.

And ultimately, In very extreme exposures,

This can lead To body shock and death.

Narrator: This was truly a deadly job.

Just one teaspoon Of the arsenic they produced

Just one teaspoon Of the arsenic they produced

Was a lethal dose For six people.

*

Narrator: and before long, This murderous product

Was wiping out more than Just the workers who made it.

*

In the first world war,

Chemical weapons containing Arsenic made in england

Killed thousands.

And it became clear

That prolonged exposure To the chemical

Was causing Serious health issues

For people employed

In pharmaceuticals And agriculture.

Eventually, The dangers of producing poison

Eventually, The dangers of producing poison

Could no longer be ignored.

Despite arsenic's use

In a range of pharmaceutical And medical products,

Increased knowledge About its intense toxicity

And its links to cancer

Soon spelled the end For the arsenic trade.

Narrator: One of these sites in cornwall

Continued producing arsenic

Until the outbreak Of the second world war.

*

Cocks: Work continued until 1939.

Cocks: Work continued until 1939.

At that time, other materials Had come along

For use in insecticides And so forth,

So arsenic Was no longer needed

In the huge quantities it was

Particularly In the 19th century.

*

Narrator: for decades, After these sites closed,

The valley's toxic past Was all but forgotten.

But in 1994, A survey revealed

The countryside still contained High levels of the poison,

The countryside still contained High levels of the poison,

And the area had To be decontaminated

Before it could be Opened to the public.

Selwood: these days, The site is a nature reserve.

Most visitors to the site

Are blithely unaware Of the deadly past

Which lies just Beneath their feet.

*

Narrator: Due south of germany's capital,

Standing alone on the edge Of the city,

Is a vast complex Of deserted buildings.

Is a vast complex Of deserted buildings.

*

Bell: through the mist And the autumn leaves,

These grand buildings emerge, Almost palatial.

Narrator: at first glance,

The architecture suggests Old-fashioned opulence.

Then, jutting out In the center of this courtyard,

This strange circular structure

That looks altogether Different in style.

*

*

Narrator: This concrete addition

Is decorated With distinctive murals,

Hinting that this site Had other powerful influences.

Nusbacher: When you come on an example

Of something that's clearly Alien to the middle of europe,

Something that is clearly there Because some other culture

Has implanted itself Onto the soil of germany.

Narrator: Hundreds of disparate buildings

Extend across this huge stretch Of berlin suburbia.

Extend across this huge stretch Of berlin suburbia.

Inside, long corridors Reveal endless empty rooms.

Bell: The theater, the swimming pool,

And many of the other facilities Suggest something civilian.

But then the maps and the murals Give you the sense

Of something That feels far more military.

*

Narrator: this place is cut off From everything around it.

Isolated, derelict, And decaying,

Isolated, derelict, And decaying,

The buildings are a relic From the past.

Who was this all for, And why did they leave?

Bell: whoever was here Obviously left in a mad rush,

Which begs the question,

What forced them Into such a sudden evacuation?

*

Narrator: On one cold march day in 1994,

This place changed forever.

The people who lived here Were leaving,

The people who lived here Were leaving,

And everything was in turmoil.

Jurgen naumann, Now the site's caretaker,

Saw it for himself.

Naumann: [ speaking german ]

Interpreter: A certain chaos broke out.

There was no discipline anymore.

Order and discipline Had gone down the drain.

They sold everything here, From gasoline to kalashnikovs.

*

Narrator: the people leaving Were part of a tiny elite.

Narrator: the people leaving Were part of a tiny elite.

For decades, the site Had been set off-limits

To everyone except them.

They annexed this neighborhood,

And they put this big wall Around it.

It was forbidden for any East german to go in there.

Narrator: With over 600 buildings

In an area encompassing More than 2 1/2 square miles,

This site dominated Everything around it.

So, what was it?

*

When hitler Had been defeated in 1945,

When hitler Had been defeated in 1945,

The allied powers Had split germany in half.

This divided country Quickly became the center

Of cold war tensions, And the russians needed

Somewhere to station Their troops.

Nusbacher: when the red army Took over eastern germany,

The easiest thing for them to do

Was to take over existing German armed forces complexes

From the second world war.

*

When the soviets arrived In april 1945,

They found a large Military complex,

They found a large Military complex,

And they simply rolled in And took it over.

Narrator: this is wunsdorf,

The headquarters Of the russian army

In east germany.

This was the most formidable Concentration

Of soviet armed might

Outside the borders Of the soviet union.

Narrator: the site was Off-limits to germans,

But some locals Did find a way in

To take part in shady dealings.

To take part in shady dealings.

[ speaking german ]

Interpreter: the whole place Was surrounded by fences,

And there were Several entrances --

Large, fortified gates With guards.

But if you were to, say, Give a soldier a gift,

They would let you in.

You could go shopping here, Buy some cigarettes,

And, well, a lot of alcohol,

Because it was reasonably priced

For those who liked To drink a bit more.

Naumann: [ speaking german ]

Naumann: [ speaking german ]

Narrator: by the late 1980s,

Wunsdorf had become More than just an army camp.

It was a whole forbidden city.

This place was home

To 75,000 men, women, And children.

It was known as little moscow.

It had shops, schools, And leisure facilities.

It even had A daily train service

To the soviet capital.

Naumann: [ speaking german ]

Interpreter: Here in wunsdorf,

This area served as The cultural center

This area served as The cultural center

For the soviet citizens Who lived here.

There was a theater With a lot of performances.

In the big building behind me,

There were exhibitions, museums, Memorial rooms, and much more.

Narrator: But all this would come To a dramatic end.

*

Europe was on the verge Of a seismic change.

What would happen to wunsdorf

When the soviets Lost control of east berlin?

When the soviets Lost control of east berlin?

*

*

Narrator: Wunsdorf was the high command

Of soviet forces In east germany

For over 40 years.

But in 1989, The berlin wall fell,

And the east germans overthrew Their communist oppressors.

The huge soviet infrastructure In east germany

Was enormously expensive To maintain,

And as the soviet economy Collapsed,

And as the soviet economy Collapsed,

The soviet presence in germany Had to be pulled back.

Narrator: After the reunification Of germany,

The russians agreed To withdraw all their troops

By the end of 1994.

But it was far from A straightforward process.

For the officers And their families at wunsdorf,

Life was turned upside down.

This very orderly society that The red army had lived under

Is now gone.

Is now gone.

The government handled This relocation of their forces

Very, very badly.

In many cases, families were Given just one or two days

To pack up and leave.

Narrator: jurgen naumann Remembers the deep distress

Felt by the russians At the time.

Naumann: [ speaking german ]

Interpreter: once, I went up To see a sales manager

Who I used to see almost daily.

She was sitting in her office Crying.

She had two little children.

She had two little children.

She said, "We have to leave The country in two days,

And I don't know Where we are going."

Narrator: The turmoil in berlin had Its roots 1,000 miles away.

The government in moscow Was in chaos,

And wunsdorf's Experienced officers

Were a threat to the president

Of the newly independent Russian state.

Boris yeltsin had already Survived one coup attempt,

So with all these high-ranking And loyal soviet soldiers

So with all these high-ranking And loyal soviet soldiers

Being sent back To the motherland,

They were purposefully split up And sent to different locations

To reduce the risk of Another attempted military coup.

Narrator: many of these soldiers Didn't want to leave wunsdorf.

Would they refuse and challenge Their rulers in moscow?

Corum: Certainly, in many respects,

The red army officers liked Being stationed in east germany

Because, actually, the standard Of living in east germany

Because, actually, the standard Of living in east germany

Was way above the standard Of living in russia.

Nusbacher: they had access To goods and shops

That east germans didn't have.

They had swimming facilities, Athletic facilities.

You would have not known You were in east germany.

Narrator: Life was much harder for those Who lived outside the gates.

After 50 years Under foreign rule,

There was a danger That these east germans

Might seize the chance For revenge on the russians.

Might seize the chance For revenge on the russians.

For jurgen, Working nearby at the time,

The new bad relationship between The two nations was a shock.

*

Interpreter: Suddenly, we were not Their friends anymore.

We were the enemy.

Narrator: But serious violence in wunsdorf Was narrowly avoided,

And the russians left.

After one final military parade, They pulled out,

And they left in their wake

And they left in their wake

A site littered with ammunition, Ordnance, and rubbish.

Shops were simply abandoned,

Left full of electronics, Tvs, radios, fridges.

Houses were left full of Domestic appliances.

Narrator: And by the end of 1994,

There were no more Russian troops in germany.

The buildings in wunsdorf

Were handed back To the german government.

But today, the former Soviet city is still deserted.

But today, the former Soviet city is still deserted.

The only regular visitor Is jurgen naumann.

Naumann: [ speaking german ]

Interpreter: In terms of the architecture,

These are beautiful buildings,

And I hope They will be restored soon.

It's our history.