Original subtitles

Narrator: An apparent paradise designed

To hold an All-powerful prisoner...

Meigs: that was reserved For mafia bigwigs,

Including one of the top mafiosi In italy at the time.

Narrator: ...An industrial monster lost In the alaskan tundra...

Its half structure, Its half machine,

Its a burnt out carcass, and you Wonder what this was used for,

What its purpose was.

What its purpose was.

Narrator: ...And scattered remains Both above and below ground

On a beautiful korean island.

Nusbacher: This shoreline is honeycombed With these caves,

But there is something More to this island

Than being a tropical paradise.

*

Narrator: decaying relics,

Ruins of lost worlds,

Ruins of lost worlds,

Sights haunted by the past,

Their secrets waiting To be revealed.

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

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

*

On the shoreline of malta Is a site that's watched

Over the capital city Of valletta for centuries.

Over the capital city Of valletta for centuries.

Bell: you see old forts All across europe,

But this is something different, Something unique.

Nusbacher: this is a fortress That is lavishly designed,

Expensively designed To not only be functional,

But also be beautiful.

Narrator: Originally built to face One old enemy,

Certain features betray A more recent call to arms.

Certain features betray A more recent call to arms.

Jerram: the closer you get, The more you can see

It's actually a little bit Of a patchwork of buildings.

They've had to rebuild And change things and refortify.

Narrator: but the port itself Is only part of this story.

Nearby, there are tunnels hidden Beneath the streets

And buildings of the city, That dark, wet and humid.

I've got a spooky feeling About it.

Almost like a little underground Labyrinth beneath the city.

Narrator: so, What connects these two sites And how would they work together

Narrator: so, What connects these two sites And how would they work together

In malta's Most desperate time of need?

*

Originally home to an order Of christian knights

In '50 and '65,

Just over a decade After being constructed,

The fort was facing An unrelenting attack

By the ottomans.

Bell: the nights were Vastly outnumbered.

It was something like 35,000 Against less than 10,000.

It was something like 35,000 Against less than 10,000.

It was a bloody And brutal conflict.

Narrator: The siege of this fort lasted For almost a month,

In the end, though,

The invading forces Broke through.

Bell: a last band of nights,

Found themselves Holed up in a chapel.

They said their final prayers Before heading out to face

What was almost certain death.

Narrator: For the site's resident Historian, charles debono,

This building provided the night

The space they needed To prepare themselves.

The ottomans finally Took the fort

The ottomans finally Took the fort

But couldn't hold on To the city,

Soon leaving The knights to reclaim

And rebuild this place.

Jerram: when the fighting Was so brutal

That what you actually Look at today

Is really constructed After this this time.

But if you hunt around The patchwork,

You can find some remnants

With the original constructs From this era.

Narrator: The fort st. Elmo visible today

Tells of hundreds of years Of preparation for war,

But eventually the second siege Of malta would arrive.

Those extra towers And more modern additions,

They show you what was to come.

But that begs the question,

Was a centuries old fort up To the task of dealing

With a very modern kind of war?

With a very modern kind of war?

Narrator: the first stage of the Reconstruction began in 1566.

But the fort was, in fact,

Just one part Of a far larger plan.

The fort wasn't the only piece Of construction underway.

The city itself was Being rebuilt as well,

And it all linked together.

So, in order to build this Lavish defensive facility

Around the harbor, The knights of malta

Around the harbor, The knights of malta

Commissioned The local maltese builders

To start quarrying The ground underneath.

Narrator: As local historian ryan vella Knows well,

This was the starting point For the city's next chapter.

As the city itself Grew upwards in this manner,

So too did the new fort.

The limestones of malta Are an ideal building stone

And they make these Fantastic fortifications,

Which is why when You look at these,

They almost seem to come out Of the geology

And become the buildings In one seamless movement

Because they're made Of the same material.

Narrator: The lower section of the walls

Are from this early period Of construction,

Are from this early period Of construction,

But such fortifications weren't Limited to this site alone.

The walls extended all around The city with this fort

Spearheading the defense, And it didn't stop there.

You can see the fort Being rebuilt,

But then there was an upgrade, 1.1,

You build it again, Upgrade 1.2.

You go even higher, You make it more fortified.

And the very fact that this Particular strategic position

And the very fact that this Particular strategic position

Was important Did not change for centuries.

Narrator: The underground quarries Also evolved over the years

With the final And most surprising use

Occurring in The second world war.

In the 1930s with malta Under british control,

Final preparations were made Both below and above ground.

Tragically, it would be Fort st. Elmo

That suffered the first blow In malta's fight.

The second siege of malta Had begun.

It would continue For over two years

And some 15,000 tons of bombs Would fall from the skies.

Could the city's old foundations

And defenses really save Its citizens from the carnage?

*

Narrator: In the second world war, Fort saint elmo found itself

Facing a terrific aerial threat,

Something it was never Designed to withstand.

But hope and a new kind Of defense

Was found in the very spaces Left behind

When the city and Its fortifications were built.

Bell: these old tunnels Formed the basis

For a network Of underground spaces

That would save An incredible number of lives.

The upgrades began In the late 1930s,

So when the bombs started Raining down on valletta,

The people took cover.

Jerram: people can immediately Go underground

And actually spend some hours,

Even maybe even days living in These small little holes

That they curve for themselves.

*

Narrator: the city's foundations Help protect the people,

But above ground, the old fort Had its own role to play.

But above ground, the old fort Had its own role to play.

On the 26th of july 1941,

Italian naval ships were spotted Approaching the fort

And the grand harbor area, And attack was on the cards

And the guns Were about to be put to use.

The twin six pound coastal guns Hit their targets.

There was only a handful

Of enemy vessels Approaching that day,

But the fort had done its job.

A full invasion of the harbor Was never attempted.

It seems the defensive presence Of the fort

Was enough to deter the enemy.

Finally decommissioned in 1972, For over 400 years,

The old fort had kept The harbor safe.

*

*

Around 15,000 buildings Were destroyed

By the bombing of malta, And tragically,

More than 1,500 lives were lost.

Nusbacher: If you look at the maltese flag, You'll see a george cross,

The highest medal That the british empire

Gives to civilians.

And that medal was awarded to The entire population of malta

And that medal was awarded to The entire population of malta

For standing up Under relentless german

And italian bombardment Throughout the second world war.

*

Narrator: In the northwest of alaska Lies an industrial wreckage

Trapped in a frozen landscape.

For people who were indigenous, This is a harsh landscape.

It's bitter cold, There's snow,

It's bitter cold, There's snow,

There's frost, there's ice.

Narrator: in stark contrast To its desolate surroundings,

This multifaceted contraption Is full of intrigue.

It's hard to say what it is At first glance.

It looks kind of like a building Or a warehouse,

But then it's got something That looks kind of

Like a crane off of one end.

So you got this mad giant Steampunk set up,

So you got this mad giant Steampunk set up,

You've got all sorts Of things going on.

Meigs: The first question you have when You look at something like this

Is who built this.

Who brought this massive Piece of equipment

Into the middle of nowhere?

They must have been after Something of extraordinary value

To go to this absurd effort.

Narrator: What warranted such a bold Investment of time and money

And how did this Mechanical monster work?

*

*

Narrator: rising from the flat And seemingly endless tundra,

This industrial monument Can be seen for miles.

Mitchell: as you approach, You see the top,

The frame peeking out,

You see rusted metal,

The skeletal structure that you Wonder whether it's meant

To help extract Something from the earth.

Narrator: Bob hafner worked on this Contraption for 25 years

Narrator: Bob hafner worked on this Contraption for 25 years

And still remembers the first Time he laid eyes on it.

So the first time I seen one,

Those I came here Working for the airlines

And we were flying Over the tundra

And it was just Bare tundra for miles.

And then we came over The top of a hill

And seen what looked like A small village

And everything sitting there.

And I asked the pilot, I said, "What is that?"

He said, "A dredge camp."

Narrator: Round the clock manpower Was essential

Narrator: Round the clock manpower Was essential

To keep this relentless Digging machine going.

What was amazing about these Is they were really loud

When they were running All the scraping metal,

And they would just keep Plugging away as they turned.

And it's just to think Of the amount of material

That they moved in a day.

Narrator: This is dredge number five,

A modern solution To a centuries old problem,

How to pull gold Out of the ground.

It's found less than five miles Outside the city of nome,

Once a lawless Frontier town

And site of the last great North american gold rush.

This is nome, alaska, A city that sprang up out

Of almost nothing practically Overnight for one reason, gold.

In september 1898, they Discovered gold in this area.

Suddenly, gold prospectors Came in from europe,

From the rest of america, From san francisco, from seattle

From the rest of america, From san francisco, from seattle

And even from as far away As australia.

Narrator: just getting to nome Was an adventure of a lifetime.

From seattle, it was either A treacherous two week boat ride

Or an even longer land journey.

Finding the gold When you had arrived, though,

Was surprisingly simple.

Here in nome, A few prospectors realized

They could literally Find gold on the beach.

Barratt: The very fact that the gold Was found on a beach here,

Barratt: The very fact that the gold Was found on a beach here,

That information Flew around the world.

Because if anyone was Looking for gold,

It's hard work and you have To stake your claim.

But on a beach, There are no claims.

It's every man for himself.

Within just a few months, This little village of nome

Had turned into a city Of 20,000 people.

Narrator: The days of sleepy nome Were well and truly over.

Barratt: this new city was A wild and boisterous place.

Barratt: this new city was A wild and boisterous place.

It had its bars, It had its clubs,

It had its brothels.

This was a rough, Tough frontier town.

Hafner: Alaska still was a territory,

It wasn't a state, so there Wasn't much law up here.

Eventually they sent In a contingency of the army

To try to keep rule.

It's a lot of clam jumping, A lot of backstabbing.

You know, gold, Especially when you get hungry,

Can turn men into something

That we don't want To admit we are.

That we don't want To admit we are.

Narrator: back at the turn Of the 20th century,

Searching for gold here Was mostly

A very basic manual process.

Had simple means, what's called A rocker and a bucket

That they would flow water Over the top

And put some dirt in there And shake it back and forth

While they add A little bit of water to it.

It teaches you patience.

Narrator: tolerance of this Painstaking method

Did not last long.

Prospectors and engineers Soon began skimming up

Novel ways to extract the gold.

Novel ways to extract the gold.

A new era of gold mining Was just around the corner.

*

Narrator: by 1909,

Nome's gold rush Was on the wane,

But there was still gold To be had here.

It just needed a bold And new approach.

As the easy pickings got taken, Bigger companies started

Moving in with serious Investment in machinery.

It takes on a more Industrial scale.

It takes on a more Industrial scale.

That becomes a different beast, Really a more rationalized way

Of extracting the resources From the land.

Dredge number five, Built in 1941,

Was a new breed of machine

That revolutionized The hunt for gold.

It could dig deeper, Faster and longer

Than any human with a pick And shovel.

On the front of the dredge here You can see the bucket line,

Which is a lot like a chainsaw.

It is a series of buckets Linked together and rotates

It is a series of buckets Linked together and rotates

In a big circle driven By a motor on the dredge,

And it picks up the material From the pit.

Narrator: But it did more than simply dig.

It was a factory, too.

Inside the dredge, larger rocks Were filtered out

Before the gold Was then separated

From this finer mixture By running water through it

In a contraption Called a sluice box.

Hafner: a lot of fine gold Would wash out,

Which is what we really Have around nome here.

It's mostly a real fine gold Like salt,

It's mostly a real fine gold Like salt,

Pepper shaker Kind of size pieces.

Meigs: if you can move enough Material every day,

It could be worth investing A huge amount of money

And building a dredge like this.

Narrator: by staying In one place, though,

You could only get So much new material,

It's somehow needed access To untapped ground.

What's amazing about These dredges,

What's amazing about These dredges,

And if you haven't seen one,

I think this is the incredible Thing, is that they move.

Meigs: There's no way you could put big Enough wheels on this thing

To roll across This rugged terrain.

But if you can dig a pond, Then you can float the dredge

And then you can keep expanding Your pond as you move forward.

Narrator: A major obstacle, though, Was the frozen ground

That surrounded the dredge.

Thawing,it involved The construction

Of huge ditch lines

Of huge ditch lines

That brought water in From 70 miles away.

Once afloat, moving the dredge Was still a complex procedure.

What we have on the sides here, What you're looking at

Is the winch lines That are there

To pull the boat back and forth.

There's a series of winches That one pulls forward,

Two pull sideways like this.

Narrator: Incredibly, this mechanical Beast actually walked.

Hafner: And what it has on the back That you can't really see

Hafner: And what it has on the back That you can't really see

From this angle are two spuds.

One spud would drop down And lift the other one up,

And so it would alternate And walk.

The dredge would walk forward.

Narrator: Shuffling this beast even a few Yards was a huge amount of work,

But all this effort was worth it When you struck gold.

There's nothing more satisfying

When you get that first bit Of gold and it's in your hands

And you're looking at it And this is yours.

And you can take that Almost anywhere in the world

And you can take that Almost anywhere in the world

And use that for money.

Narrator: Despite its decades of success,

The profitable years Weren't to last.

Meigs: Often the price of the thing

That you're mining Is going down.

There are people Mining all over the world.

The supply is increasing.

You're not getting as much Out of the ground.

That's not a great combination.

It extracted millions of dollars Of gold from the ground here,

And the town of nome Has survived

And the town of nome Has survived

And thrived over the years Because of it.

Narrator: shut down in 1996,

Dredge number five now Lies as a silent reminder

Of a golden age.

*

For people like bob,

It's not just the hunt for gold That keeps them here.

It's something that runs A little deeper.

I love nome, I love the region. I love the people.

And so I don't really plan On retiring anywhere else.

If I've I made my million,

If I've I made my million,

I'll spend it here At the grocery store.

*

Narrator: on the island of jeju,

Off the southern tip Of south korea,

Is an area littered With strange features.

They look almost natural In their way.

Wawro: they're kind Of carpeted in grass,

But they're too symmetrical

And they're laid out In some kind of a pattern.

Nusbacher: you can see One after another,

Nusbacher: you can see One after another,

More than a dozen Of these structures,

Which are not part Of the terrain.

Narrator: These unusual forms, however, Are not alone.

Wawro: looking along the coast, We see these evenly spaced caves

Dug into the rock of the island,

Sort of disappearing Into the island out of sight,

Very symmetrical, all sort of The same size openings.

They don't look Like natural caves.

They don't look Like natural caves.

Nusbacher: these cave structures Are all over the island.

This shoreline is honeycombed With these caves.

Narrator: forgotten for years,

Only recently has the full Picture been pieced together.

You start to see That this whole island

Might be hiding something.

Wawro: these strange little Hillocks on the plateau,

These strange caves Along the coast,

These strange caves Along the coast,

They all tie together In the same story.

*

Narrator: the first clue To what happened here

Is found within the small grass Covered mounds

That date back To the second world war.

If we look at the actual opening Into these hills,

It's shaped like an aircraft With a cut out for the fuselage

And for the wingspan.

So basically, these are hangars.

So basically, these are hangars.

Narrator: Local resident lee yun-heong

Has scoured this land for clues Relating to the site's past life

When korea was under Japanese occupation.

Yun-heong's interpreter: There were fighter planes In this hangar

Like zeros and fighters Or naval bombers.

A total of 36 hangars Were built on this airfield.

While today The surviving 20 hangars

Are the most prominent reminders Of this past,

Are the most prominent reminders Of this past,

Hidden all around Our other ruins.

Yun-heong's interpreter: There is an airfield runway, An underground bunker,

Anti-aircraft bunkers And many other facilities

Within a one kilometer radius Of the airfield

Such a concentration of military Facilities like this

Is hard to find Anywhere else.

Narrator: these are the remains Of alddreu airfield,

A key part of japan's operation Seven defenses.

A key part of japan's operation Seven defenses.

Interpreter: Number one to number six Were operational areas

In mainland japan.

However, only jeju island Was included in number seven.

Most of what we're seeing here Is infrastructure from late

In the second world war, When japan shifts its focus

To defending the japanese home Islands from allied invasion.

Interpreter: Jeju was the only place outside Of japan that was included

Interpreter: Jeju was the only place outside Of japan that was included

In the mainland's Final defensive plans.

That shows how much japan

Valued the defense Of jeju island.

Narrator: So, what made this island So vital to their plans,

And beyond the airfield, What hidden weapons,

Traps and defenses were lying In wait for the allies?

*

Narrator: From the moment the occupation Of korea began in 1910,

Japan had ruled with An iron fist.

For those living In the south of jeju,

The regime's brutal approach

Was felt with the establishment Of this airfield.

Interpreter: the first phase Of the airfield's construction

Began in 1926.

There were six villages Here in jeju,

And the residents From each of those villages

Were evicted to make space For this airfield.

Wawro: japan's treatment Of the locals on jeju

Was like their treatment Of the locals

Everywhere they occupied.

It was absolutely brutal.

They would force all the men Into slave labor,

And the women of jeju Were forced into prostitution,

The famous comfort women The japanese military demanded

The famous comfort women The japanese military demanded

To take care of their soldiers.

Nusbacher: so, when the japanese Armed forces decide

That they need to use this area For an airfield,

They shave it flat,

And they do that not by using Industrial machinery,

Which is in short supply, but By using korean forced labor.

Yun-heong's interpreter: There were hills all over,

However, many residents Of jeju were called up

For forced labor To flatten the landscape here.

For forced labor To flatten the landscape here.

The workers lived around here, And did not have much to eat.

There was a lot of hunger And there were many casualties

In the process.

*

Narrator: Japan held little regard For the locals well being.

Their focus was firmly fixed On exploiting

This island's potential, A potential that helps explain

Why jeju became so important To their later defensive plans.

Why jeju became so important To their later defensive plans.

If you look at jeju island On a map,

It's just in an unbelievably Strategic location.

It's right smack in the middle Of the east china sea

Between japan And mainland china.

If you wanted to build a base That would allow you

To dominate that whole region, This is where you'd put it.

Narrator: in the 1930s, Japan was on the front foot

And looking to expand, As they did

And looking to expand, As they did

With the invasion of china In the sino japanese war.

Nusbacher: when japan goes To war with china.

They need forward air bases.

This is an ideal spot

Because it takes you partway To china

So that targets in manchuria

Are brought within the range Of japanese air power.

Narrator: but a few years later,

When japan was losing ground In the second world war,

When japan was losing ground In the second world war,

The role of the island was Flipped on its head up and

Interpreter: The airfield was originally Built by japan

Because of the site's Geographical importance.

That's why japan's strategy Was to think of jeju island

As an important defensive base

For the japanese Mainland battles

And to devise and prepare For the mainland showdown.

It's envisioned more and more As a sort of iwo jima-type place

Where the japanese will mass Ground troops to fight

Where the japanese will mass Ground troops to fight

A last stand against The americans

Will be forced to attack it

Because of its Strategic location.

Narrator: in january 1944,

They were just 300 japanese Troops stationed on jeju,

But that number Was about to skyrocket.

Wawro: by mid 1945, There are 70,000

Japanese troops on the island,

A third of the total number Of japanese troops

On the whole korean peninsula.

On the whole korean peninsula.

The japanese defense concept Was that the invader

Might land on the island,

But that the island might then Become a living hell for them.

Narrator: once again, the local Population was forced

To carry out backbreaking work

As a new network of defenses And subterranean bases

Were carved out of the island.

Interpreter: this is a large Underground bunker

Built by the japanese.

Built by the japanese.

It was big enough For vehicles to pass through.

And when there were important Facilities here,

Including the command Headquarters at the airfield

And the torpedo Storage facility.

Narrator: this single Underground facility

Stretches on into the darkness For three quarters of a mile,

But it was just a fraction Of the true extent

Of the defenses hidden beneath The surface within.

Interpreter: in jeju, There are about 700

Underground tunnels dug By the japanese

Underground tunnels dug By the japanese

During the pacific war.

Narrator: As the so called operation Seven got underway,

The four most offensive tunnels

Were cut right into The island's cliffs,

And they harbored A deadly weapon.

They began carving out these Caves for these mini submarines

That will launch undersea Kamikaze attacks

Against american warships.

Interpreter: these bases Were used to station boats

Interpreter: these bases Were used to station boats

Loaded with over 500 pounds Of explosives.

They would be driven By a soldier

And used as a suicide bomber Boat against the u.S. Ships.

*

Narrator: With jeju island prepped And ready for a full invasion

By u.S. Forces,

How would japan's Kamikaze attitude

Alter the course of the war?

*

*

Narrator: On the coast of jeju island, Carved into the cliffs

Are openings where kamikaze Boats loaded with explosives

Were once readied for launch.

Nusbacher: The idea that somebody Might give his life

In order to sink An american destroyer

Using himself As part of a weapon,

Using himself As part of a weapon,

That idea was genuinely Disturbing to americans

And very effective Both as a propaganda tool

And as a military reality.

Narrator: In the last years of the war,

It's estimated that over 7,000 Naval personnel were killed

By aerial Or seaborne kamikaze attacks.

It was a devastating tactic, But it came at a huge price

It was a devastating tactic, But it came at a huge price

And it may help explain

Why so many of these military Positions here are still intact.

In a way, though, all these Kamikaze missions

Might have backfired On the japanese.

It convinced the americans That the japanese military

Would never surrender, that they Would fight to the last man.

Taking the japanese home islands To end the war

Would have killed millions.

Using atomic bombs To end the war killed thousands.

The choice wasn't easy, But the choice was clear.

The choice wasn't easy, But the choice was clear.

The allied invasion of jeju

At the beginning Of the allied invasion of japan,

That carnage was avoided.

*

Narrator: what remains on jeju Are some of the best examples

Of japanese pacific war Infrastructure

Still in existence,

And now these remnants From that brutal occupation

Have a far greater purpose.

Have a far greater purpose.

Interpreter: I hope people Around the world

Will recognize these facilities

As places to reflect on That original war of aggression,

The violation of the human Rights of those enslaved

And the importance of peace.

*

Narrator: Off the coast of sardinia is An 11-mile long sliver of land,

A haven for nature and wildlife.

*

*

This island is a bit of A paradise of lush vegetation,

The waters.

It's no surprise That it's a national park.

Meigs: when you first come On the scene,

This looks like an idyllic Mediterranean island

With little rocky outcrops And olive trees.

Narrator: yet beyond this Pastoral beauty lies a series

Of abandoned buildings

Virtually uninhabited By man today,

Virtually uninhabited By man today,

They offer up A confused picture

And suggest the island once Housed a significant population.

One particular building Looks like it might

Almost be a monastery Or a religious retreat.

It's very inward facing,

But then you see The barbed wire,

You see the guard towers.

Inside, You see the locked doors.

You realize This is no monastery.

Narrator: Eight miles away at the Northern end of the island

Narrator: Eight miles away at the Northern end of the island

Is a second prison-like Structure

With strange design features.

And of course, you look, You realize that this wasn't

Just any old prison.

You have this huge high walls, The guard towers,

The spotlights And just one tiny hatch

For an entrance.

Narrator: Within its outer walls, The mystery deepens.

There are hardly any windows Or openings to speak of,

And from above,

You can see there's A secondary inner structure,

You can see there's A secondary inner structure,

Almost a prison Within the prison.

Whoever was held here Was dangerous indeed.

Narrator: So, how are these two sites Linked and who was locked up

At the heart of this complex?

The first structure is found on The southern end of the island.

A large rectangular building Ominously surrounded

By searchlights, metal bars And smashed up guard huts.

By searchlights, metal bars And smashed up guard huts.

Today, access inside Is strictly forbidden,

But former prison guard Gianmari deriv remembers

What life was like For those on the inside.

Interpreter: Less freedom, less space.

The procedures are really Strict,

So they can't leave The building at all.

Everything takes place inside.

Narrator: This is fornelli prison,

Narrator: This is fornelli prison,

A maximum security facility Where guards like gianmari

Could keep inmates On a tight leash.

Interpreter: bringing them to an Island on an island,

We could say it was like Cutting the umbilical cord.

Narrator: Separated from the mainland By 180 miles of open sea,

The government saw The potential of this site

As a place to lock up

Italy's most dangerous Criminals.

Interpreter: originally, It was a judiciary sanatorium

Interpreter: originally, It was a judiciary sanatorium

And tuberculosis hospital.

But then with The emergence of red

And black terrorism in italy, The government decided

To turn this facility Into a supermax prison.

Narrator: Extreme left wing groups Known as red terrorists

Were leading a wave of Domestic violence across italy

In the late 1970s,

Revolutionaries attempting to Overthrow the capitalist state

And force italy's Withdrawal from nato --

The north atlantic Treaty organization.

The north atlantic Treaty organization.

They had homegrown Ultra left wing terrorist groups

Like the red brigades

That were literally going To war against the country

And against the government.

Narrator: In 1978, they even assassinated

Former italian prime minister Aldo moro.

As members of the organization Were rounded up in response,

The government increasingly

Turned to the isolated Island of asinara

Turned to the isolated Island of asinara

And used fornelli As a dumping ground.

They sent so many members Of the red brigade

To the fornelli prison That it became

A huge focus of the group To get those people released.

Narrator: September 1979, a clash breaks Out on the streets of rome.

Meigs: there was a huge shootout Between red brigade forces

And the authorities, and When one of them was captured,

And the authorities, and When one of them was captured,

He had on him this whole Elaborate plan

For a mass escape From the fornelli prison.

They were going to smuggle In machine guns.

They were going To have motorboats.

They were going to Overwhelm the prison

And get all these prisoners out.

Narrator: The plan had been scuppered,

But members of The brigade inside

Fornelli take matters Into their own hands.

Rioters destroy cells and smash Sections of the building.

Rioters destroy cells and smash Sections of the building.

Interpreter: the had packed Their stovetop

Coffee machines With explosives and plastic

They had managed To create real bombs.

Narrator: Riot police on horseback

Surround the maximum Security wing.

Interpreter: There were tense moments,

But you weren't supposed To show fear.

Narrator: Tear gas is launched into The heart of the rebel uprising.

Interpreter: The red brigades attempted The rebellion

And then tried to leave The facility, but they failed.

And then tried to leave The facility, but they failed.

They surrendered At about 3:00 a.M.

Narrator: The riot had been quashed.

But soon after, without warning,

The authorities transferred all The terrorists off the island.

They began replacing them

With italy's new public enemy Number one mafia bosses,

But to handle them, they were Going to need a new facility.

*

Asinara's location, rugged Coastline and lethal currents

Mean it has long been utilized As a prison island

By the italian government.

In the 1980s, Extreme left wing terrorists

Were being replaced by a more Powerful and deadly enemy.

The fornelli prison Was no longer enough.

They needed to up their game.

They needed to up their game.

Interpreter: at the end of the Day, we were selected.

500 guards were chosen Because of this situation.

Narrator: enrico mereu Was selected as head guard

Of a new specialized facility,

Lookout towers Stood at each corner

While walkways Around the perimeter

Left no area out of sight,

But at the center Of the facility

But at the center Of the facility

Was one particularly Strange feature.

Auerbach: a new area was added To the design, the bunker,

Built with reinforced concrete And surrounded with barbed wire.

Narrator: The bunker was a singular prison Within a prison,

A tiny villa built Within high stone walls

And only one small entrance.

It was designed to house Just one man.

That's where the top mafia boss Or bosses were sent,

That's where the top mafia boss Or bosses were sent,

Where they could Really be isolated,

You can keep an eye on them.

You could also protect them

From being executed By other forces or poison.

Auerbach: the bunker was Reserved for the top dog,

The last great sicilian Mafia chief, salvatore riina,

Who is the head Of the corleonesi clan.

They came from corleone In sicily,

They came from corleone In sicily,

And that is famously associated With the godfather trilogy.

Narrator: riina had gone to war With the state,

Targeting top officials

And organizing terrorist-style Bombings.

As the government fought back,

Just as it had For the red terrorists,

This island became Its main prison for mobsters.

Riina was given 26 life Sentences

For the murder Of hundreds of individuals.

For the murder Of hundreds of individuals.

Two of the victims enrico Had known personally.

Mereu's interpreter: it was an Awful experience for me.

I found myself here With riina,

The instigator of those murders.

Narrator: riina's influence Was such that even

Within prison walls, He could wield great power.

Meigs: for a lot of americans Whose idea about the mafia

Comes from, you know, The godfather movies

And things like that,

It's hard to appreciate just How powerful the mafia was up

It's hard to appreciate just How powerful the mafia was up

Until really quite recent times.

It was almost like A shadow government.

The surrounding area was Patrolled by 100 agents.

Boats crisscrossed The sea day and night.

Threats from the sky Were monitored with radar.

Narrator: controls within the Bunker had to be

Equally watertight.

Interpreter: So, every time we entered Or left the bunker,

Interpreter: So, every time we entered Or left the bunker,

We had to search each other.

In fact, there were no friends Allowed here.

Auerbach: even his food Was brought to him

In a special briefcase To avoid attempts at poisoning.

Meigs: We always hear a lot about codes Of honor among the mafia types,

But history shows that provided With the right incentives,

They'll turn on each other In a heartbeat.

Narrator: Protocols were designed To prevent corrupt guards

Carrying out assassinations On behalf of rival mafiosi

Carrying out assassinations On behalf of rival mafiosi

Looking to take riina's crown.

Interpreter: we couldn't carry Cell phones or paperwork

That might endanger you By revealing your identity.

We couldn't talk Or mention names

Of wives or daughters.

Nothing at all.

We talked only About the service, that was it.

Meigs: prison is brutalizing For everyone.

Meigs: prison is brutalizing For everyone.

These prisons were were terrible Places for the prisoners,

But also for the guards Who were in fear for their lives

And so isolated, so far away From normal civilization.

It had to have been A very rugged existence.

Narrator: the real need for this Extreme isolation

Was not about preventing escape,

But getting them To turn informer.

Meigs: they isolated them So thoroughly

That the idea was They would realize,

That the idea was They would realize,

Wait, if I'm facing 20 years

Where I can't talk to Any of my associates,

I can't do any Of my former business,

I might as well become An informant

And maybe get out earlier.

Narrator: Yet riina never turned.

Enrico hand-delivered his dinner

In an armored briefcase Every day for four years

Until the prison Was closed down in 1997.

By the late 90s,

The tide of violence From first the red brigades

The tide of violence From first the red brigades

And then the mafia was receding And law enforcement

Was getting the upper hand, And they realized

They didn't need this kind Of ultra security prison

To the same degree,

Narrator: The so-called beast lived out

His days in a different prison In solitary confinement.

At the time of his death In 2017,

Some claimed he was Still operating

As the head Of the sicilian mafia.

As the head Of the sicilian mafia.

Today, asinara is A national park,

Home to the rare albino donkeys

That gave the island its name.

The dilapidated prison The structures are preserved

As relics Of a very different time,

One that is thankfully Consigned to the past.