All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S05E02.American.Atlantis.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

Narrator: coastal structures
In latvia

That succumbed to a
Relentless assault.

They're so shattered
And splintered,

It appears almost as if
Some vast explosive force

Has taken them all out
In a chain reaction.

Narrator: a chilling site that
Contains a burning secret.

I'm instantly
Seeing experiments.

I'm seeing torture,
And I'm seeing horror.

Narrator: and an epic
Construction project

In the mountains
Of southern africa

Built on deadly material.

Barratt: the thing that made it
Such an amazing material

Also turned it into a killer.

*

Narrator: decaying relics,
Ruins of lost worlds,

Forged through years of toil,
Now haunted by the past,

Forged through years of toil,
Now haunted by the past,

Their secrets waiting
To be revealed.

*

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

In a picturesque town
North of berlin, germany,

Lies the charred
Remains of a site

With a deeply troubling past.

*

*

Wawro: it's hard to discern
What it is.

It's a big kinda
Hangar-like structure.

It looks like it was
For the production

Of something important.

It's all very secure.

It's gated and cut off.

You're wondering why.

Narrator: the clues
To the dark past of this site

Are found on the inside.

As you come indoors, you see
These big halls and spaces,

And you've got
These massive ovens.

And you've got
These massive ovens.

Corum: clearly,
There was intense heat.

Certainly, there's evidence
Of a fire having taken place

Because of the scorch marks
On the walls and ceiling.

When I see old soulless german
Engineering rusting away

With bricks that have got
Gas piping in them and taps

And I think the
Most horrible things

About what might
Have happened here,

But what you think
About this place

Isn't what happened here.

Isn't what happened here.

It's a little bit of
A different story.

Narrator: so, what horrors
Did this site witness?

And why is it still
Standing today?

The key to unlocking
The story of this place

Is found less than
2 miles away

At sachsenhausen
Concentration camp.

Built by the nazis

In the year leading up
To the second world war,

Here, the seeds were
Sown for a brutal system

Here, the seeds were
Sown for a brutal system

That would change
The lives of millions.

Wawro: sachsenhausen is placed
In the outskirts of berlin

Because it's hoped
That the german people

Won't know too much
About its existence.

As the nazis start
To tighten their grip

On german political life,
More and more people

Are being pulled off
The streets of berlin

And the surrounding cities
And locked up in this place.

Narrator: but the camp
Wasn't the only part

Narrator: but the camp
Wasn't the only part

Of this gruesome crusade.

That decaying structure nearby

Also played a key part
In fueling this mission

As a place prisoners
Were sent to work.

Corum: you were worked
Seven days a week.

Your ration was minimal.

And these weren't
Specifically death camps,

But people were
Worked close to death.

Narrator: this was
The ss bakery,

The place built to
Feed their captors.

The place built to
Feed their captors.

But as local expert
Horst seferens believes,

Working here meant an
Extra layer of torture.

[ horst speaking
In foreign language ]

Interpreter: these big stoves
Or the remains of them

Had been producing
Thousands of loaves of bread

Day after day.

What a misery it would
Have been for them

To see all that food being
Produced here in abundance

While all of them and their
Fellow inmates in the camp

While all of them and their
Fellow inmates in the camp

Were starving.

Narrator: even so,
The bakery might have been

One of the few places to
Offer a glimmer of hope

But at a potentially
Deadly price.

Nusbacher: prisoners in german
Concentration camps

Were systematically starved.

So even some crusts
That had fallen off of bread

In those industrial ovens

Might mean the difference
For them between life and death.

Might mean the difference
For them between life and death.

Wawro: you might think that, oh,
If you took the end of the loaf

That they were
Gonna lop off anyway

Or a crust that fell on the
Floor, it would be no big deal,

But of course,
It was a big deal.

The germans were big on
Insisting on obedience.

You'd be mercilessly beaten.

Narrator: despite the dangers,

A report from a former
Prisoner shows that for some,

The desperate situation
Left them no choice.

[ horst speaking
In foreign language ]

Interpreter: he reports that
They smuggled the bread

Into the camp by halving
The loaves lengthwise

Into the camp by halving
The loaves lengthwise

And tying them
Around their calves

So that they were covered
By their wide trousers

And could be smuggled
Into the camp.

Of course, it was
Very dangerous.

Narrator: the brutality
Of these sites is undeniable,

But this wasn't just about
Containing the local population.

The ss, one of hitler's
Most feared organizations,

Was using these locations

As the first step in a
Devastating campaign.

As the first step in a
Devastating campaign.

Interpreter: we are now
On the second floor

Of the central watchtower,
The so-called tower "A,"

Through which the inmates
Entered the concentration camp.

A machine gun was
Stationed here,

As well as two guards who were
Standing here day and night.

One of the model
Features of sachsenhausen

Was that the guards
Standing up here

Were able to control
The entire camp

From this central point.

Narrator: sachsenhausen was
The first of its kind,

Narrator: sachsenhausen was
The first of its kind,

The template for future
Concentration and death camps.

While other sites would
Use a rectangular model

Rather than this
Triangular shape,

The key feature was
Evident in both,

Clear lines of sight
To prevent escape.

You would be gunned down either
By that guard at the apex

Or in the guard towers
Scattered around the facility.

There was a need that
People wouldn't escape

Because their labor was needed,
But also,

They didn't want people
To escape and spread the word

Of what was going on
Inside these camps.

Interpreter: the concept had
A psychological effect, as well.

Interpreter: the concept had
A psychological effect, as well.

Wherever the prisoners
Moved in the camp,

This watchtower was to
Be seen from everywhere.

They basically looked directly

Into the hole of
His machine gun,

Symbolically expressing
The total power of the ss.

Narrator: as the prototype camp,
In the early years,

This place held
An additional role

Of vital importance
To the regime.

Nusbacher: in the mid '30s, the
Nazis were just starting

To figure out how to build
A concentration camp.

To figure out how to build
A concentration camp.

The nazis are hiring
Ordinary police officers,

And they're hiring
Ordinary tradesmen.

And sachsenhausen is the place
Where an ordinary german

Can be turned into an ss killer.

Narrator: helping fuel
This nightmarish system

Was the bakery,

And its success meant the next
Stage in a tragic legacy

Would soon begin.

Would soon begin.

*

Narrator: at the bakery

Outside of sachsenhausen
Concentration camp,

Prisoners were being forced
To bake their own rations.

But there real
Importance of the site

Was to feed the swelling
Ss ranks

And help fuel the spread
Of their barbaric rule

In more ways than one.

When world war ii begins
In 1939

And germany massively mobilized,

And germany massively mobilized,

Calls all the reserves,
Expands its conscription,

You suddenly have a need
For bread, you know,

To feed the big
Garrison around berlin.

At the beginning,
Production is moderate.

We're talking
10,000 loaves a day.

Later on, you're talking
Of a much greater expansion

Of four to five times of
The original factory output.

Narrator: the brutal systems
Of the camp

Were soon replicated at sites
All across the german reich,

Were soon replicated at sites
All across the german reich,

And the nazis' success

In exploiting the inmates
For slavery here

Meant that, too, was expanded
On a devastating scale.

Because this is one
Of the early attempts

To set up a large
Ss industrial enterprise,

This is used as a model for
Other large ss facilities.

By the middle of world war ii,
The ss is one of the largest

Industrial operations
In the third reich.

Industrial operations
In the third reich.

Narrator:
Slavery had become a key part

Of the nazi war machine.

The statement on the gate,
"Work sets you free,"

Was far from the truth.

Interpreter: in fact,
Working in a concentration camp

Had a completely
Different function.

Work here had always been
An instrument to abuse,

Torture, and even
Put prisoners to death.

Of course, that slogan was
Used to conceal the reality.

Of course, that slogan was
Used to conceal the reality.

Narrator:
But in a final twist of fate,

The bakery that had
Helped supply

The vicious regime of the ss

Would turn out to be the
Lifeline for those few inmates

Fortunate enough to
See the end of the war

And the camp being
Liberated by the soviets.

Wawro: the soviets find
This bread factory,

And they press it into service
To feed their own troops,

To feed the 3,000 or so
Surviving inmates.

To feed the 3,000 or so
Surviving inmates.

And for these camp inmates,
It must have been fantastic

Because they had
Been looking hungrily

At these thousands of loaves
Of bread made everyday,

And suddenly, they have
The opportunity to eat them.

Nusbacher: the fact that people
Remained alive

In this concentration camp
Was almost miraculous.

The fact that there
Was a bakery nearby

That could feed them
Was a blessing.

Narrator: with its
Darkest years behind it,

The bakery remained
In use until the 1990s

The bakery remained
In use until the 1990s

Before a fire tore
Through the site.

But as those years of horror
Recede further from memory,

Today, the two sites remain
As important as ever.

[ horst speaking
In foreign language ]

Interpreter: they testify
The very existence

Of these camps and crimes,

And that cannot be denied.

We think that these
Architectural witnesses

Will be all the more
Important in the future

Will be all the more
Important in the future

Because the people
Who once survived the terror

Of the ss in these camps

Will soon no longer
Be amongst us.

*

Narrator: in the arid lands
Of nevada,

Miles from the nearest
Form of civilization

Are the dusty remains
Of a scorched site.

*

*

Somara: this is a harsh place
To live.

It's in the middle
Of the desert.

The sun is beating down on it.

But it's not clear

What exactly would have
Caused such devastation.

Meigs: everything is almost
Completely dismantled,

Kind of like what you see
In a very ancient ruin.

But when you look more closely,

You can see it's not
Actually that old.

You can see signs of concrete.

Something swept through here.

Something's happened to
Take away the structure.

Something's happened to
Take away the structure.

Narrator: upon close
Inspection of the site,

Strange features begin to
Reveal the chain of events

That brought this place
To its knees.

Barratt: we're looking for
Clues, and one of the details

That stands out is the tree
Trunks just all kind of cut off.

Another detail is that

Everything's incredibly
Weathered.

There's no sharp edges.
There's no right angles here.

Everything's been rounded off.

Somara: what's really strange
Is that

You're in the middle
Of the desert,

But there are shells,
Which might actually be the clue

But there are shells,
Which might actually be the clue

That describes exactly
What happened here.

*

It's really hot out here.

We're in the mojave desert,

And temperatures can get up
To 115 degrees in the summer.

The most important
Thing being out here

Is to have a lot
Of water with you.

Narrator:
Working as an archeologist
With the national park service,

Erin eichenberg has scoured
The land near the ruins.

Erin eichenberg has scoured
The land near the ruins.

And despite the heat,
The draw of this site is clear.

This is a pretty
Inhospitable place to live,

But because we're
Near the confluence

Of the virgin
And the muddy river here,

People were able to make it work

And lived here
For over 70 years.

Narrator:
Focused on agriculture,

This settlement once blossomed,

But it wasn't the first
To suffer a tragic fate.

Originally, a group of mormons

Hoped to establish a town here.

When the first settlers
Arrived here in 1865,

When the first settlers
Arrived here in 1865,

This was the middle of nowhere
In the middle of nowhere.

They thought they were still
Within the boundaries of utah,

But it turned out they had
Moved into nevada.

And when the tax
Inspector turned up

And informed them that
They weren't in utah,

They actually decided to move on
And burn the town to the ground.

So what we see here today is
The next stage of this town.

This is a following story.

This is a following story.

Narrator: while the cause
Of this site's destruction

Couldn't be more different,
It, too, would ultimately feel

The impact of outside forces
Encroaching on its borders.

This is the ghost town
Of st. Thomas.

*

So, after the mormons moved out,
Other settlers moved in.

They started farms,
They built a village,

And they were able to establish

A pretty self-sufficient
Community.

They were pretty remote,
In the desert,

They were pretty remote,
In the desert,

But they had
Everything they needed.

They had built a really
Nice life for themselves.

They didn't need for anything.

Narrator:
But while it began life
Hidden away deep in the desert,

Evidence of an old rail track
On the edge of town

Shows it wouldn't remain
Isolated for long.

At the beginning of
The 20th century,

The world is getting smaller.

America is turning a corner
At this point.

Railways are spreading across.
The population was growing.

Opportunity is out there.

Opportunity is out there.

And this brings great hope
For the people living here.

Narrator:
Initially, at least,

Modernity brought prosperity,

But the ruins today show
That something catastrophic

Was about to roll into town.

*

Narrator: in the early decades
Of the 20th century,

St. Thomas was growing steadily.

And once the railroad
Had come to town,

The highway soon followed.

We're on main street
Of st. Thomas,

And as you could see,
It's a big wide road,

Enough for a horse and carriage,
And later, automobiles.

St. Thomas was one of
The stopping points

St. Thomas was one of
The stopping points

Along los angeles
To salt lake city.

And so on the other side
Of these stumps,

We would have buildings
And businesses

That would have
Supported the tourists

That were coming into town,

Not just the people that
Lived here at st. Thomas.

Narrator: the town was spread
Over almost 200 acres.

It had everything from
Stores, to garages,

To an ice cream parlor.

Surrounding this was farmland,

Fields of wheat,
Cotton, and fresh produce.

At its height,
Around 500 people lived here,

At its height,
Around 500 people lived here,

And the prospects of the town
Looked certain.

St. Thomas is an established
Community at this point.

It has a school.
It has a graveyard.

It's about the past
And the future.

And then suddenly,
That's all about to change.

Narrator:
Walking the barren streets today

Gives a sense of what life
Was once like here,

But it also reveals the clues
To the town's demise.

Eichenberg: these shells
Aren't something

You'd normally
Find in the desert.

You'd normally find
Them near the ocean.

You'd normally find
Them near the ocean.

But these shells are found
All over the site here,

So it's actually a clue
To what happened to this town.

One of the key things to
Surviving in the desert

Is water,
But it was actually water

That led to the downfall
Of this settlement.

Narrator:
A dramatic transformation

Was about to take place.

The dry and dusty
Streets of st. Thomas

Would soon be swallowed

By an incoming tide of
Biblical proportions.

By an incoming tide of
Biblical proportions.

Meigs: the rising waters reached
St. Thomas in 1938

And filled the streets
And covered the buildings.

And ultimately,
It reached a height of 60 feet

Above where the town had been.

Narrator: the desert town of
St. Thomas was no more.

Somara: it must have been a
Really bizarre thing to watch

Because here you are in
The middle of the desert

And suddenly,
You're being flooded by water.

Narrator: but this fate
Was no surprise

To the town's residents.

To the town's residents.

They'd had years of warning.

In the 1920s,

Plans for one of the largest
Construction projects

Of the 20th century
Had been announced --

The hoover dam.

Hentzner: we're in
Lake mead, nevada.

We're near hoover dam,
At the bottom end of the lake.

It stretches 85 miles
Today to the upper end

Where the colorado river
Dumps in.

Narrator: local resident
Christopher hentzner

Has been navigating these
Waters for 40 years.

Has been navigating these
Waters for 40 years.

When they dammed hoover dam,

Of course,
It filled up the lake,

And basically, it covered
The mountains and the valleys.

Right now, we're pushing
400, 450 feet deep.

The lake contains approximately

200,000 to 300,000 acres
Of covered water.

Narrator: work began in 1931

With a plan to build
The world's tallest dam.

The idea behind hoover dam

The idea behind hoover dam

Was to harness the power
Of the colorado river.

They would use it
To make electricity.

They would also use
The water for irrigation.

They would make
The desert bloom.

Somara: the hoover dam project
Was gonna benefit

So many people
In different states,

But it came at a very
High price to some.

Barratt: for the people
Of st. Thomas,

This was a disaster on
A very personal level.

Their homes were going to
Be literally washed away,

Ancestors, their history,
Their stories

Ancestors, their history,
Their stories

Just covered up
By feet of water.

Narrator:
The trees were cut down.

Anything salvageable was
Removed from the town.

And as the waters rose,

The final inhabitants
Rode away from their homes.

But if this town was
Lost to the deep,

Then why are its streets today
Filled with sand and not water?

The answer is revealed by
The water marks on the cliffs.

Hentzner: 100% full is the top
Of the white line.

Hentzner: 100% full is the top
Of the white line.

And today, we're at 42% full,
129 feet below that line.

The last time it was full
At the top of the water mark

Was in 2000.

Since then, it's been
In a steady decline.

Narrator: years of drought
And increasing demand for water

Has put pressure on the supply

With the result of
Those waters receding

And exposing
St. Thomas once again.

*

*

St. Thomas has risen
From the deep before,

But its current prolonged
Exposure stands as a reminder

Of the difficulty in
Regulating water usage

In an expanding modern world.

Hentzner: the bottom line --
There's not enough water.

It's a finite supply.

It's gonna require conservation
On the people's part.

Today, water's the most
Valuable resource in the desert.

It's the new gold.

It's the new gold.

*

Narrator: in the eastern
European country of latvia

Is a disintegrating set of ruins
Falling into the sea.

*

Wawro: it's very strange,
You know.

You arrive here in
The baltic cast of latvia,

Beautiful and very natural,
And then you see these objects

Littered around the beach
That look almost like ufos

Littered around the beach
That look almost like ufos

That just kinda
Dropped onto the beach,

These big wheels
And slabs of concrete.

Here, you see large
Concrete buildings,

And they have broken in half.

It looks as if it's been
Struck by a major catastrophe.

But whatever this was, they
Spent heavily and extensively

To build something vast.

To build something vast.

Narrator: strange towers,
Overgrown bunkers

And other forts are found
Nearby, but there is still more.

Further inland,

There are an entirely
Different style of buildings

With very different
Architecture, much more ornate,

But they're also crumbling,
Also destroyed.

With this level of destruction
Across both sites,

Clearly, something went
Very horribly wrong here.

*

Narrator: 100 years ago,

Narrator: 100 years ago,

A defining battle unfolded
Violently on this land,

But the record of this was
Then wiped from history.

Finally, now, the ruins
Have begun to reveal

That forgotten secret.

*

Narrator: at the end
Of the 19th century,

This coastline
Of modern day latvia

Sat on the fringe
Of the russian empire,

And these structures were
Built with the intention

Of cementing that position
For years to come.

Corum: 1890, the old alliance,
Russia is starting to fall apart

And the russians are clearly
Looking at the germans

And the russians are clearly
Looking at the germans

As likely future enemies.

The russian empire

Is completely reorienting
Itself strategically.

So you see a complete focus
On defending the baltic sea.

Narrator: for this new
Defensive structure,

The russian tsar chose
The port of liepaja,

A position close to
The ever-growing german threat.

But in time, that decision
Would prove to be a fatal error.

Local expert kristers krafts

Local expert kristers krafts

Has explored every inch
Of this site,

And on the surface, at least,

It once appeared to be a
Formidable artillery position.

Narrator: the repetitive
Nature of the design

Narrator: the repetitive
Nature of the design

Meant a huge force
Would be stationed here,

With the guns trained upon
The waters to the west.

The aim was to create the mother
Of all coastal defenses

That no one in their right mind
Would ever attack.

Narrator: these are
The northern forts of karosta,

The russian naval war port
Of the city of liepaja.

But this was just one section
Of a far larger plan

To defend against the
Inevitable german attack

To defend against the
Inevitable german attack

Wawro: you see the creation
Of a big breakwater

That juts a mile into the sea.

That was created so that
You can then

Shelter big warships behind it.

And then all of these ports
Ran out by the breakwater

And then all along the beach
So that no enemy fleet

Can come in, get close
Enough to bombard the port,

To blockade the port,
To try to attack the port.

Narrator:
From here, the defensive
Lines then ran inland.

The tsar's aim was to turn the
Port into a fortified city.

The tsar's aim was to turn the
Port into a fortified city.

The area was vast --
14 or 15 square miles,

With coastal defenses
On the seafront

And on the rest,
Walls and moats,

All of it protected by some
Of the most powerful weaponry

That he had access to.

Narrator: at the heart of this
Grand fortress complex

Was everything needed to
Keep the port operating

And to keep the walls defended.

Narrator: but not everything
About this place was ideal.

The main attraction of the site

Was that the port was
Ice free all year round.

The danger, though,
And the vulnerability,

Even though it's one of the
Reasons for its existence,

Even though it's one of the
Reasons for its existence,

Was its proximity to germany.

Corum: the fundamental problem
With this is only about 50 miles

From the closest
German port at memel.

You are right on the front lines
If a war occurs,

And you don't wanna risk
Too much of your fleet

Right on the front lines.

Narrator: constructed
Over 13 long years,

By the time of its
Completion in 1906,

By the time of its
Completion in 1906,

Regrets about the location

Were now only one part
Of the problem.

Built without metal
Reinforcement,

Larger, more destructive
Artillery

Could now easily tear apart
These structures.

Could now easily tear apart
These structures.

So after just two years of use,
It was suddenly abandoned.

When they rethought
Their strategy

And they realized that
This was not going to work,

This is reduced to a
Relatively unimportant

Military installation by
The time world war I begins.

Narrator: but if the site was
Deserted by the russians,

Then what crucial battle would
Finally strike this place?

And would it be the cause
Of this destruction?

And would it be the cause
Of this destruction?

*

Narrator: in 1908,
On the coast of latvia,

Having decided to
Abandon this fortress,

The russians attempted to
Dismantle it but couldn't,

So left it deserted.

In 1915, german forces
Waltzed through liepaja,

Taking hold of the city
And the fortifications,

But the russian empire soon
Faced far larger problems.

This period was the
Beginning of the end

Of the russian empire.

The vast losses
Sustained in the war

And the tsar's inability
To manage the war effort

Led to sweeping
Changes back home

And the russian revolution.

Narrator: the german loss
In the first world war

Narrator: the german loss
In the first world war

Soon followed and suddenly,

Latvia had a chance
At independence.

The movement began
In the capital

But the battle soon came to
The old fortress of liepaja

As it did here at
The redan fort.

Wawro: this little latvian army

That's fighting this kind
Of triangular conflict

Against the soviets
On the one front

And these german troops
Coming out of germany.

Narrator: with the odds
Stacked against them,

They chose to retreat.

The germans took the fort

But many of their troops
Were soon moved on

Offering the latvian
Fighters an opportunity.

Offering the latvian
Fighters an opportunity.

A year after the
Armistice was signed,

Fighting across liepaja
Draws an historic chapter

Fighting across liepaja
Draws an historic chapter

To a close.

Corum: the latvians win,
Germans withdraw

And the last act of world war I
Is actually finished

The last battle is
Actually liepaja.

Narrator: ultimately,
War did little

To cause the damage
Seen at these sites.

Time, neglect, and nature
Have been the true forces

Of destruction here.

In the end, it's
100 years of erosion

That has destroyed these forts.

That has destroyed these forts.

The ground has been ripped
Away from under them by the sea

And now they're simply
Crumbling into the water.

*

Narrator: unfortunately
For latvia,

Independence was short lived.

The country fell
Under soviet rule

For much of the 20th century

And the story of independence
Was stricken from the record,

Giving these structures an
Even greater importance today.

*

In south africa, 200 miles east

Of the country's biggest
City, johannesburg,

Is dramatic mountain country.

Is dramatic mountain country.

*

Barratt: this desolate landscape
Is border region.

This is the mountain range
Between swaziland, south africa

And there is nothing
Here apart from nature.

Somara: the mountains
Are craggy.

It's remote.

It's difficult to access.

So if you want to be there,

There has to be a
Pretty good reason.

There has to be a
Pretty good reason.

Barratt: but if you look
Very, very carefully,

Tucked away in places,
Mankind has left its mark.

And it's not just
Planting a flag.

Narrator:
Dotted along the valley

Is surprising evidence
Of human engineering.

All of a sudden this
Incredible construction

Comes into view.

And we have these pylons,
We have these tall, thin

Lattice towers
Supporting a cableway.

Just a few places, you can
Actually see the remains

Just a few places, you can
Actually see the remains

Of some form of carriage.

Auerbach: there are objects
Hanging from the cables,

Cars for holding something but
Where were they coming from

And where were they going to?

Narrator: at one end,

The cables lead up to a
Sprawling mountaintop site.

Amongst the battered buildings
And rusting machinery,

Numerous carriages
Hang eerily still.

When humanity makes
Its mark on the planet,

We always do it for a reason.

And here, it's just
Hard to make that out.

And here, it's just
Hard to make that out.

It doesn't look like
A leisure setup.

It doesn't look like a
Military installation.

Whatever it was that merited
This incredible effort

Of construction,

Has to lie at the end
Of this cable line.

But if it was so valuable,

Why was it abandoned

And why does this
Machinery now stand still

In the landscape?

Narrator:
In the late 19th century,

Gold and diamond
Prospectors struck lucky

Gold and diamond
Prospectors struck lucky

Across southern africa.

It's impact was
Instant and dramatic.

The discovery of gold and
Diamonds changed everything

Especially in the
Interior of south africa

Which was very
Sparsely populated,

Mostly by various
Indigenous african groups.

All of a sudden,
You have europeans

Flooding into the interior
To export this new resource.

They're gonna build mines.

They're gonna build
Railroad lines

And the population
Of the entire region

And the population
Of the entire region

Is going to boom as a result.

Narrator: saloon bars,
Music halls, and hotels

Accompanied the
Swelling population

Of the new boom
Town of barberton.

However, the gold rush
Here was short lived.

The population quickly
Deserted barberton,

Searching for gold
Further afield.

The few diggers left behind

Began encountering
Something strange.

The miners were looking
For telltale signs of gold

The miners were looking
For telltale signs of gold

But they found something else,

This white, fibrous material.

It would be another
Quarter century

Before they realize
Just how important

The strange fiber would be,

And their lives would
Be changed forever.

Narrator: this previously
Unknown material

Would bring fortune
To the region

But with deadly consequences.

*

Narrator: in the 1880s,

Near the border between
South africa and swaziland,

The havelock gold mining and
Exploration company was founded

They were sitting on a fortune,
But not from gold.

Barratt: havelock mine had one
Of the wonder materials

Of the 20th century.

Just sitting there underground,
Waiting to be extracted.

Just sitting there underground,
Waiting to be extracted.

Narrator: the mysterious
Fibrous material

That, for decades, miners had
Cast aside was asbestos.

The actual asbestos is up
The top of the mountain.

It could be extracted
Quite easily

But getting it to a point
Where you could transport it,

It's 20 kilometers away.

Water's not an option
For transportation.

Roads are very, very difficult

So they had to think
In an imaginative way

And boy did they.

Man: there are 52 towers
Supporting the steel roadway

Man: there are 52 towers
Supporting the steel roadway

And the overall distance
Is 20 kilometers.

When it was built,
It was the longest cableway

Outside europe.

On a normal working day,
Two and a half thousand bags --

That's about a 120 tons
Of asbestos fiber --

Makes this journey
To the outside world.

What a lovely way to go.

[ people singing ]

Narrator: exploring
This sprawling site

Is local expert tony ferrar.

Is local expert tony ferrar.

The purpose was to
Transport asbestos

To the rail head
Here in barberton

And coal back to havelock mine
To power the generators.

A critical aspect
Of the cableway

Was that you had to balance
The goods coming out,

Which was asbestos,

And the coal going back
Had to be exactly equal.

Barratt: once you start using
Your imagination

And you get your engineering
Brain in the game,

And you get your engineering
Brain in the game,

This is the obvious solution.

Pylons, nice lightweight,

You can carry them up the
Mountain, bolt them all together

Kept them going
And then the cableway,

String that up and suddenly,
You have this moving roundabout.

Narrator:
Around the 13-mile loop,

The materials were carried
In cradles or cocopans.

Ferrar: the whole cableway
Is about 52 pylons

And it would take a
Single cocopan two hours

And it would take a
Single cocopan two hours

To do the trip.

Behind me are the big sheds
Where the asbestos was stored.

They'd all arrive
In 50-kilogram bags

And was exported by rail truck
To johannesburg.

*

Narrator: from johannesburg,
It was exported worldwide

As demand exploded.

Insulation for homes
And electric wiring,

Cement, brake pads,
Pre-cast panels for buildings

And across manufacturing.

And across manufacturing.

It's uses were many and varied.

30,000 to 40,000 tons
Of asbestos was shipped out

Around the world
Every single year.

Narrator: for decades,
It was the largest,

Single employer in swaziland

And all these workers
Lived in the town close by.

Bilumbu, formerly
Known as havelock,

With little idea of what
They were

Letting themselves in for.

No one really knew the deadly
Nature of this material,

Least of all the people who
Were mining it at the time.

Least of all the people who
Were mining it at the time.

Barratt: asbestos, the very,
Very fine fibers.

The thing that made it
Such an amazing material

Also turn it into a killer.

Somara: asbestos contains
Microscopic fibers

That get into the lungs
And cause cancer

And other really
Deadly ailments.

So the miners were not
Only being paid very low

But they were also paying with
Their health and their lives

To keep this industry going.

Narrator: in fact,
The dangers of asbestos

Had been known for some time.

Had been known for some time.

But in the 1960s, the evidence
Became overwhelming.

Auerbach:
Asbestos-producing companies

Had long suppressed
The dangers of this material.

The knowledge that
Microscopic fibers

Could get into people's
Lungs and cause cancer.

And that was just the people
Who are around asbestos.

You can imagine how dangerous
It was for the workers.

Narrator: as public awareness
Increased,

The british company
That operated the mine,

Turner and newall,
Were faced with a wave

Of compensation claims.

Of compensation claims.

But as one of the largest
Asbestos companies in the world,

They simply couldn't keep up.

Barratt: suddenly, this amazing
Boom town had no purpose.

The population went from
10,000 to about 600 people

Almost overnight.

And today, when we look around,
This is what we see.

We see the legacy of a
Huge scale mining operation

With no purpose anymore.

Narrator: after the mine
Finally closed in 2001,

Turner and newall entered
Voluntary bankruptcy

Turner and newall entered
Voluntary bankruptcy

To avoid compensating
The remaining miners

And their families.

It also absolved them
Of their responsibility

Of paying to clean up the mine,

Leaving the hazardous
Fibers blowing in the wind.

*

*

*

The value of producing
Gold and asbestos

Is now being surpassed by
More recent discoveries.

Some of the oldest
And best-preserved rocks

Dating back over
Three billion years,

Are providing a window
Into how the earth evolved

Into a green planet
That could support life.

Barberton, born out of gold,

But now it's future

Is in the scientific value
Of these rocks.

They will lay down at
The time that life began

And there's no bigger
Question in science

And there's no bigger
Question in science

Than how and where
Did life begin,

And that is barberton's future.

It's the scientific value
Attracting visitors

From all over the world.

Narrator: these scientific
Studies are promising

A very different and brighter
Future for this region

Based on tourism.

*