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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:27,475 --> 00:00:29,201 - [Narrator] A remote mountain castle in Germany 2 00:00:29,201 --> 00:00:31,341 holds dark secrets. 3 00:00:31,341 --> 00:00:34,172 - It's almost like you'd expect knights from a time gone by 4 00:00:34,172 --> 00:00:37,037 to come crashing through the door at any moment. 5 00:00:38,279 --> 00:00:39,694 - [Narrator] Upon closer inspection, 6 00:00:39,694 --> 00:00:41,800 this isn't a castle at all. 7 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,183 - Why was it designed structurally to look this way? 8 00:00:45,183 --> 00:00:46,736 - [Narrator] What nefarious plans 9 00:00:46,736 --> 00:00:49,049 did the Nazis have in store? 10 00:00:49,049 --> 00:00:53,398 - They don't want just to topple the democratic system, 11 00:00:53,398 --> 00:00:56,815 but they want to destroy it from the inside. 12 00:00:56,815 --> 00:00:59,921 - [Narrator] And then nearly 900 miles away, 13 00:00:59,921 --> 00:01:03,408 strange creatures are found in a primeval forest. 14 00:01:03,408 --> 00:01:06,652 - This is a forest that would have looked like 15 00:01:06,652 --> 00:01:09,897 that which covered Europe a thousand years ago. 16 00:01:09,897 --> 00:01:11,657 - [Narrator] Rumors of top secret projects 17 00:01:11,657 --> 00:01:15,247 and strange experiments give way to horrifying truths. 18 00:01:15,247 --> 00:01:18,595 - Some of the medical and biological experiments 19 00:01:18,595 --> 00:01:23,497 the Nazis undertook were truly horrifying, pure evil. 20 00:01:24,774 --> 00:01:25,913 - [Narrator] What did the Nazis want 21 00:01:25,913 --> 00:01:27,570 with this ancient forest, 22 00:01:27,570 --> 00:01:30,745 and what may still be lurking in its shadows? 23 00:01:32,713 --> 00:01:35,750 [suspenseful music] 24 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,875 1945, US troops capture Vogelsang Castle, 25 00:01:56,875 --> 00:01:59,636 a strange medieval structure on the top of a mountain 26 00:01:59,636 --> 00:02:01,638 in Germany's Westphalia region. 27 00:02:03,675 --> 00:02:06,919 The Nazis have long since fled the area. 28 00:02:06,919 --> 00:02:09,715 - The decor is all very strange. 29 00:02:09,715 --> 00:02:12,339 You've got the great big castle-like walls, 30 00:02:12,339 --> 00:02:14,996 these brutish sculptures and reliefs 31 00:02:14,996 --> 00:02:17,171 of knights and Nordic gods. 32 00:02:17,171 --> 00:02:21,244 What dark plans do the Nazis have here at Vogelsang? 33 00:02:22,797 --> 00:02:25,248 - [Narrator] As the Americans inspect this bizarre complex, 34 00:02:25,248 --> 00:02:28,182 it becomes apparent it is not medieval at all. 35 00:02:29,425 --> 00:02:32,290 - It's chilling because it's built from scratch 36 00:02:32,290 --> 00:02:34,361 as this ancient medieval castle 37 00:02:34,361 --> 00:02:37,847 harking back to this this ancient time. 38 00:02:37,847 --> 00:02:39,918 - But when you scratch beneath the surface 39 00:02:39,918 --> 00:02:43,093 you soon see that that's not at all what this place is. 40 00:02:44,198 --> 00:02:46,683 The grand stone exterior that gives it 41 00:02:46,683 --> 00:02:50,135 this strong medieval appearance, 42 00:02:50,135 --> 00:02:52,758 is actually just a facade that's stuck on 43 00:02:52,758 --> 00:02:55,692 to great concrete slabs, and all of that's 44 00:02:55,692 --> 00:02:58,385 just for show on the outside. 45 00:02:58,385 --> 00:03:01,940 - Picking those stones and laying them out is very onerous. 46 00:03:01,940 --> 00:03:03,183 It's a big task to do that. 47 00:03:03,183 --> 00:03:05,046 And it takes a lot of skill with masonry 48 00:03:05,046 --> 00:03:06,600 to integrate that seamlessly, 49 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:08,947 to make it look like that's the bones of the structure, 50 00:03:08,947 --> 00:03:11,398 that that stone is how this whole thing's built, 51 00:03:11,398 --> 00:03:12,675 but it's not. 52 00:03:12,675 --> 00:03:15,367 And that's really expensive to do. 53 00:03:15,367 --> 00:03:17,404 Why would you do that? 54 00:03:17,404 --> 00:03:19,060 - Like so much of Nazi Germany, 55 00:03:19,060 --> 00:03:21,373 not all the architectural embellishments 56 00:03:21,373 --> 00:03:23,686 served a practical purpose. 57 00:03:23,686 --> 00:03:25,860 It's unmistakable that a lot of are there 58 00:03:25,860 --> 00:03:30,140 to imbue the German people with a sense of superiority. 59 00:03:30,140 --> 00:03:31,349 - There's nothing really here 60 00:03:31,349 --> 00:03:33,523 apart from the few small villages 61 00:03:33,523 --> 00:03:36,146 and an immense amount of forest. 62 00:03:36,146 --> 00:03:38,873 So why would they build such a huge project 63 00:03:38,873 --> 00:03:41,462 seemingly in the middle of nowhere? 64 00:03:41,462 --> 00:03:44,189 - [Narrator] The Nazis begin by removing the local farmers 65 00:03:44,189 --> 00:03:47,710 in the area and claiming the land for this awing structure. 66 00:03:47,710 --> 00:03:49,505 - So the dictatorships, they don't have 67 00:03:49,505 --> 00:03:53,509 to ask for any permissions, so the Nazis just took the land. 68 00:03:53,509 --> 00:03:55,959 - Germany has plenty of buildings, 69 00:03:55,959 --> 00:03:57,823 and the Nazis certainly weren't adverse 70 00:03:57,823 --> 00:04:00,343 to taking them over for their own needs. 71 00:04:00,343 --> 00:04:04,347 So why go to all the extra effort, all the extra cost 72 00:04:04,347 --> 00:04:07,592 of constructing these new buildings. 73 00:04:07,592 --> 00:04:09,766 - [Narrator] Engineering a project of this size 74 00:04:09,766 --> 00:04:12,355 on top of a mountain in a remote region 75 00:04:12,355 --> 00:04:14,978 presents a multitude of challenges. 76 00:04:14,978 --> 00:04:17,533 - And you'd have to carve out your own road, 77 00:04:17,533 --> 00:04:22,089 clear away the forests, and bring everything in by truck. 78 00:04:22,089 --> 00:04:24,436 - They would've had to basically build a city 79 00:04:24,436 --> 00:04:26,852 for all the workers that they had to truck in. 80 00:04:26,852 --> 00:04:28,751 It boggles the mind. It's just that 81 00:04:28,751 --> 00:04:30,649 the scope of it is almost unimaginable. 82 00:04:31,857 --> 00:04:34,446 - Mountains aren't great spots to build things. 83 00:04:34,446 --> 00:04:36,345 You're subject to landslides, 84 00:04:36,345 --> 00:04:39,555 So a lot of construction on hillsides 85 00:04:39,555 --> 00:04:42,799 revolves around geotechnical investigations. 86 00:04:42,799 --> 00:04:45,181 A lot of foresight has to go into this. 87 00:04:45,181 --> 00:04:46,424 - You have to build flat areas 88 00:04:46,424 --> 00:04:48,495 upon which you can then build a structure on. 89 00:04:48,495 --> 00:04:50,773 But you can't construct on an upper level 90 00:04:50,773 --> 00:04:53,327 until you've stabilized that slope as well. 91 00:04:53,327 --> 00:04:55,571 If you have a terrace and you put some heavy equipment 92 00:04:55,571 --> 00:04:58,746 on this upper portion, it could make the soil 93 00:04:58,746 --> 00:05:01,439 underneath it unstable and provide it to slip down. 94 00:05:01,439 --> 00:05:04,338 - We have a very weird inherent heuristic 95 00:05:04,338 --> 00:05:06,478 that higher is better. 96 00:05:06,478 --> 00:05:09,723 This actually harkens back to the predator in us. 97 00:05:09,723 --> 00:05:12,864 So a predator would stand on a high place 98 00:05:12,864 --> 00:05:17,178 to overlook a large area of land, to look for resources, 99 00:05:17,178 --> 00:05:20,285 look for prey, food, mates. 100 00:05:20,285 --> 00:05:22,874 By placing Vogelsang at the top of this hill, 101 00:05:22,874 --> 00:05:26,015 you're really showing the people who are in those spaces 102 00:05:26,015 --> 00:05:27,603 feeling like they've conquered something. 103 00:05:27,603 --> 00:05:29,018 They're conquers, they're predators, 104 00:05:29,018 --> 00:05:31,710 they're at the apex, they're in charge. 105 00:05:31,710 --> 00:05:33,712 - [Narrator] It's not just the location that was used 106 00:05:33,712 --> 00:05:36,025 to get the message of domination across. 107 00:05:36,025 --> 00:05:39,511 It was also evident in every detail of the architecture. 108 00:05:40,926 --> 00:05:44,861 - How much the building appeals to you affects your mood. 109 00:05:44,861 --> 00:05:46,069 It affects your cognition. 110 00:05:46,069 --> 00:05:47,692 It affects your behavior. 111 00:05:47,692 --> 00:05:50,350 It affects how you act and how you think. 112 00:05:51,799 --> 00:05:54,630 - Depending on the types of materials that you pick, 113 00:05:54,630 --> 00:05:57,667 the types of lighting that you engage, 114 00:05:57,667 --> 00:06:01,809 the way that you traverse and move through different levels, 115 00:06:01,809 --> 00:06:06,780 it all impacts your feeling about this space. 116 00:06:07,677 --> 00:06:09,196 - [Narrator] Vogelsang's design 117 00:06:09,196 --> 00:06:11,440 echoes the Nazis' insidious intentions for this facility. 118 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:13,131 - They're all sharp corners. 119 00:06:13,131 --> 00:06:14,615 The windows are the same. 120 00:06:14,615 --> 00:06:17,307 It's short and squat for the most part. 121 00:06:17,307 --> 00:06:21,691 It was very ordered, structured and utilitarian. 122 00:06:21,691 --> 00:06:24,384 So it felt like a place that wanna get into, 123 00:06:24,384 --> 00:06:26,178 and you'd wanna get out of. 124 00:06:26,178 --> 00:06:30,528 It's a space that reduces your creativity. 125 00:06:30,528 --> 00:06:32,702 It increases your stress levels. 126 00:06:32,702 --> 00:06:37,327 But at the same time, suppressing your thought processes. 127 00:06:37,327 --> 00:06:40,089 - We do know that the Nazis were very wary 128 00:06:40,089 --> 00:06:41,711 of the spirit of critical thinking 129 00:06:41,711 --> 00:06:43,230 that might cause people to question 130 00:06:43,230 --> 00:06:45,750 some of the precepts of Nazi ideology. 131 00:06:45,750 --> 00:06:50,582 - The human mind likes a certain level of complexity. 132 00:06:50,582 --> 00:06:53,930 We know that if you want to punish somebody, 133 00:06:53,930 --> 00:06:57,555 you put them in a space that is very uniform, 134 00:06:57,555 --> 00:06:59,660 that has very little complexity. 135 00:06:59,660 --> 00:07:01,835 So you see the same color everywhere. 136 00:07:01,835 --> 00:07:03,837 You see simple walls. 137 00:07:03,837 --> 00:07:06,943 You don't see a lot of architectural features. 138 00:07:06,943 --> 00:07:09,256 Prisons work like this. 139 00:07:09,256 --> 00:07:10,947 - [Narrator] Vogelsang's architecture 140 00:07:10,947 --> 00:07:14,468 was intended to keep its occupants docile and subservient. 141 00:07:14,468 --> 00:07:16,539 Could this be part of an education program 142 00:07:16,539 --> 00:07:18,610 to warp the minds of its students? 143 00:07:20,060 --> 00:07:22,511 A collection of statues found on Vogelsang's grounds 144 00:07:22,511 --> 00:07:25,514 provide further ins to this location's purpose. 145 00:07:26,653 --> 00:07:27,861 - As you moved through this structure, 146 00:07:27,861 --> 00:07:30,104 you recognized that these aren't sculptures 147 00:07:30,104 --> 00:07:33,832 that are inviting you to sit and eat and enjoy and relax. 148 00:07:33,832 --> 00:07:37,664 It's more about strength and determination. 149 00:07:37,664 --> 00:07:41,046 - Your eyes are driven to things that are important. 150 00:07:41,046 --> 00:07:45,810 These spaces are affecting you on an unconscious level. 151 00:07:45,810 --> 00:07:48,468 They're putting you in a certain state of mind. 152 00:07:48,468 --> 00:07:51,367 It's already biased you a certain way. 153 00:07:51,367 --> 00:07:53,852 - The monumental nature of these structures 154 00:07:53,852 --> 00:07:56,096 is designed to make the individual feel small, 155 00:07:56,096 --> 00:07:58,339 but also ideally to make the individual 156 00:07:58,339 --> 00:08:02,240 feel like they are working together towards a common goal, 157 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,829 and that collectively they are all powerful 158 00:08:04,829 --> 00:08:08,280 like the giant sculptures that you see on the site. 159 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,559 - This is something that wanted to communicate 160 00:08:10,559 --> 00:08:12,319 a Nazi superiority. 161 00:08:12,319 --> 00:08:13,631 But then you notice that there's nothing 162 00:08:13,631 --> 00:08:15,736 really very defensive about it at all. 163 00:08:15,736 --> 00:08:17,807 So if it wasn't the military, 164 00:08:17,807 --> 00:08:21,328 then who was occupying these buildings? 165 00:08:21,328 --> 00:08:22,881 - [Narrator] Perhaps a clue can be found 166 00:08:22,881 --> 00:08:25,608 in the inscription on this ominous sculpture. 167 00:08:27,023 --> 00:08:31,062 - The torchbearer is designed to show strength. 168 00:08:31,062 --> 00:08:34,928 - It's enormous. You can see it from miles away. 169 00:08:34,928 --> 00:08:37,137 - [Narrator] While the inscription is scratched out today, 170 00:08:37,137 --> 00:08:39,519 it used to bear a frightening message. 171 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:42,107 "You are the torch bearers of the nation. 172 00:08:42,107 --> 00:08:44,109 "You carry forth the light of spirit 173 00:08:44,109 --> 00:08:46,767 "in the fight for Adolf Hitler." 174 00:08:47,941 --> 00:08:50,702 - We know that the Nazis had huge ambitions 175 00:08:50,702 --> 00:08:52,877 to establish the Third Reich 176 00:08:52,877 --> 00:08:55,949 as a regime that would last a thousand years. 177 00:08:55,949 --> 00:08:59,711 Now could this complex have been part of that plan? 178 00:08:59,711 --> 00:09:03,473 And if so, who was it that attended these buildings, 179 00:09:03,473 --> 00:09:05,510 and what were they doing here? 180 00:09:05,510 --> 00:09:08,444 - If you look at 1933, national socialism 181 00:09:08,444 --> 00:09:09,894 just came into power. 182 00:09:09,894 --> 00:09:12,068 It still has to fight its opponents 183 00:09:12,068 --> 00:09:13,553 from its own perspective. 184 00:09:13,553 --> 00:09:16,245 So and therefore the idea comes on the one hand 185 00:09:16,245 --> 00:09:18,834 that they need men, and on the other hand 186 00:09:18,834 --> 00:09:21,388 with the racist ideology in the background, 187 00:09:21,388 --> 00:09:25,565 they want to train a new elite, a new German man. 188 00:09:25,565 --> 00:09:26,945 - [Narrator] Vogelsang would become home 189 00:09:26,945 --> 00:09:28,947 to the Nazis' grand plan to greet 190 00:09:28,947 --> 00:09:31,501 the next generation of Nazi elite. 191 00:09:32,986 --> 00:09:35,091 Germany has taken great effort to create 192 00:09:35,091 --> 00:09:38,232 a medieval-looking castle in the Westphalia region. 193 00:09:38,232 --> 00:09:41,960 Statues and reliefs of knights, swastikas and eagles 194 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:43,583 are built into the structure. 195 00:09:43,583 --> 00:09:46,689 Within these walls, the Nazis would cement their plans 196 00:09:46,689 --> 00:09:49,865 to groom the next generation of Nazi elite. 197 00:09:49,865 --> 00:09:52,453 - Hitler saw the Nazi reign as being 198 00:09:52,453 --> 00:09:55,560 the Thousand Year Glorious Reich. 199 00:09:55,560 --> 00:09:57,493 So if you're gonna have a Thousand Year Reich, 200 00:09:57,493 --> 00:10:01,324 you need a place to train the next fanatical generation. 201 00:10:01,324 --> 00:10:04,086 And if you're talking about you're the masters of the earth, 202 00:10:04,086 --> 00:10:06,882 you need projects befitting that scale, 203 00:10:06,882 --> 00:10:09,263 something jaw dropping that people look at and go, 204 00:10:09,263 --> 00:10:10,851 "Oh my goodness." 205 00:10:10,851 --> 00:10:13,578 - So they deliberately used methods and materials 206 00:10:13,578 --> 00:10:16,650 that brought age into the structure to say, 207 00:10:16,650 --> 00:10:18,272 "We've been here for a long time. 208 00:10:18,272 --> 00:10:19,791 "We're going to be here for a long time. 209 00:10:19,791 --> 00:10:21,931 "We're going to draw on that ancient strength and wisdom 210 00:10:21,931 --> 00:10:23,105 "and bring it forward." 211 00:10:24,037 --> 00:10:25,072 - [Narrator] Vogelsang Castle 212 00:10:25,072 --> 00:10:26,695 was to be a Nazi training school 213 00:10:26,695 --> 00:10:30,250 where students came to be known as squires. 214 00:10:30,250 --> 00:10:33,805 - There are only men here, and those men that were selected 215 00:10:33,805 --> 00:10:36,981 they would have to be physically, not only able, 216 00:10:36,981 --> 00:10:40,847 but no what the Nazis would call a malfunction, 217 00:10:40,847 --> 00:10:43,228 so not even glasses were allowed here. 218 00:10:43,228 --> 00:10:45,610 They should have been married before they came here. 219 00:10:45,610 --> 00:10:48,440 And they would have been in their mid-20s. 220 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,753 - Most of them were generally working class. 221 00:10:50,753 --> 00:10:53,411 They were deeply convinced that this was their future. 222 00:10:53,411 --> 00:10:54,723 They were diehard Nazis, 223 00:10:54,723 --> 00:10:56,552 and they didn't have to be programmed, 224 00:10:56,552 --> 00:10:59,003 and they had already subscribed to the notion 225 00:10:59,003 --> 00:11:00,590 of the Thousand Year Reich. 226 00:11:00,590 --> 00:11:03,697 So they saw themselves as the guardians of the future. 227 00:11:03,697 --> 00:11:07,149 - The Germans considered themselves all to be superhuman 228 00:11:07,149 --> 00:11:09,599 and higher up than any other race. 229 00:11:09,599 --> 00:11:12,016 And the people who were trained in the Vogelsang program 230 00:11:12,016 --> 00:11:13,914 were there to be the best of the best. 231 00:11:15,157 --> 00:11:16,572 - [Narrator] Robert Ley was the architect 232 00:11:16,572 --> 00:11:18,643 behind this intensive training program, 233 00:11:18,643 --> 00:11:22,405 and was also one of Hitler's most fervent supporters. 234 00:11:22,405 --> 00:11:25,270 - On many respects he's the poster child of Nazism. 235 00:11:25,270 --> 00:11:27,134 He's a fanatical Nazi. 236 00:11:27,134 --> 00:11:29,102 He doesn't come from privilege and elite. 237 00:11:29,102 --> 00:11:31,725 He comes from a troubled background of working class, 238 00:11:31,725 --> 00:11:33,520 and even lower working class background. 239 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,591 So at least in Hitler's logic, 240 00:11:35,591 --> 00:11:38,214 he represents the true face of the German people, 241 00:11:38,214 --> 00:11:41,770 not these intellectual elites, but rather your everyday man. 242 00:11:41,770 --> 00:11:44,151 And in a lot of ways was a perfect choice 243 00:11:44,151 --> 00:11:48,397 to develop a program which was all about polishing Nazis. 244 00:11:48,397 --> 00:11:51,469 - Ley was also the head of the German Labor Front 245 00:11:51,469 --> 00:11:55,128 and given charge of smashing the trade unions 246 00:11:55,128 --> 00:11:59,097 and destroying independent workers' organizations 247 00:11:59,097 --> 00:12:01,306 that challenged Nazi authority. 248 00:12:01,306 --> 00:12:02,514 - [Narrator] In Ley's program, 249 00:12:02,514 --> 00:12:04,102 Vogelsang wouldn't stand alone 250 00:12:04,102 --> 00:12:06,001 to create the new Nazi elite. 251 00:12:06,001 --> 00:12:09,487 There were to be four Order Castles to realize Ley's vision. 252 00:12:11,420 --> 00:12:13,871 - Squires would first visit Castle Krossinee, 253 00:12:13,871 --> 00:12:16,287 located in Pomerania to learn history 254 00:12:16,287 --> 00:12:18,876 as Germany saw it. 255 00:12:18,876 --> 00:12:22,534 It was here squires would be taught to be racially superior. 256 00:12:24,260 --> 00:12:26,607 Next, squires would visit Vogelsang 257 00:12:26,607 --> 00:12:29,334 where they were subjected to intensive sports programs 258 00:12:29,334 --> 00:12:32,234 and learn the value of bravery and heroism. 259 00:12:34,167 --> 00:12:37,239 The third castle, Sonthofen, located in Bavaria 260 00:12:37,239 --> 00:12:39,897 would test their physical acumen and endurance, 261 00:12:39,897 --> 00:12:41,277 which was so intensive 262 00:12:41,277 --> 00:12:44,280 it resulted in many accidental deaths. 263 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:46,317 The fourth castle was Marienburg, 264 00:12:46,317 --> 00:12:47,732 but its construction was halted 265 00:12:47,732 --> 00:12:50,148 by the outbreak of World War II. 266 00:12:50,148 --> 00:12:53,048 It's here squires were to learn Nazi foreign policy 267 00:12:53,048 --> 00:12:55,602 to further the national socialist agenda. 268 00:12:57,052 --> 00:13:00,883 - The idea of constructing four separate Order Castles 269 00:13:00,883 --> 00:13:04,024 at huge cost, and then designing a process 270 00:13:04,024 --> 00:13:07,096 to put squires through all four of them, 271 00:13:07,096 --> 00:13:09,547 you don't go to all that trouble 272 00:13:09,547 --> 00:13:11,929 unless you're intending the outcome of that 273 00:13:11,929 --> 00:13:15,587 to be hugely significant to your operations. 274 00:13:15,587 --> 00:13:17,072 - When the Nazis come to power, 275 00:13:17,072 --> 00:13:19,419 it's not necessarily a given 276 00:13:19,419 --> 00:13:21,973 that they will be accepted in the long run 277 00:13:21,973 --> 00:13:24,010 as the legitimate government of Germany. 278 00:13:24,010 --> 00:13:25,597 They're not aristocrats. 279 00:13:25,597 --> 00:13:28,048 They don't have ties to the old royalist circles. 280 00:13:28,048 --> 00:13:31,500 They are trying to create a set of stories and myths 281 00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:35,435 around themselves that could serve as a justification 282 00:13:35,435 --> 00:13:39,404 for their role as the rulers of German society. 283 00:13:39,404 --> 00:13:41,579 - For the Nazis, it's quite clear 284 00:13:41,579 --> 00:13:46,549 that they don't want just to topple the democratic system, 285 00:13:47,723 --> 00:13:50,139 but they want to destroy it from the inside. 286 00:13:50,139 --> 00:13:52,348 - [Narrator] Ley's curriculum would look beyond science 287 00:13:52,348 --> 00:13:56,214 to validate the Nazi leadership role over Germany. 288 00:13:56,214 --> 00:13:58,389 - In all academic or scientific research 289 00:13:58,389 --> 00:14:01,392 you test, you come to conclusions, you present, 290 00:14:01,392 --> 00:14:02,876 now it gets peer-reviewed, 291 00:14:02,876 --> 00:14:05,741 and then you might settle on an accepted truth. 292 00:14:05,741 --> 00:14:07,398 The Nazis already had their truth, 293 00:14:07,398 --> 00:14:10,815 and they needed science to prove it, pseudoscience. 294 00:14:10,815 --> 00:14:12,921 - There was in the eyes of the Nazis, 295 00:14:12,921 --> 00:14:17,304 a superior gene within them, which they wanted to secure 296 00:14:17,304 --> 00:14:20,825 and basically to give on for future generations. 297 00:14:20,825 --> 00:14:23,621 So with this social dominance thought, 298 00:14:23,621 --> 00:14:26,866 they tried to get rid of everything out of society 299 00:14:26,866 --> 00:14:29,213 what they thought would be inferior. 300 00:14:29,213 --> 00:14:34,183 They took bits and pieces of every medieval time basically, 301 00:14:35,426 --> 00:14:36,876 put them together in order to create 302 00:14:36,876 --> 00:14:39,775 some kind of an artificial reference point within the past 303 00:14:39,775 --> 00:14:43,158 to support the racist standpoint 304 00:14:43,158 --> 00:14:47,645 that the Aryans where of pure northern blood. 305 00:14:47,645 --> 00:14:49,543 - When we think about the Nazi desire 306 00:14:49,543 --> 00:14:54,514 to recast German workers as members of the Nazi party, 307 00:14:55,929 --> 00:14:57,103 and the idea of just taking over a small building 308 00:14:57,103 --> 00:14:59,243 and putting them in there would not impress 309 00:14:59,243 --> 00:15:02,832 upon the recruits or impress upon German society 310 00:15:02,832 --> 00:15:07,113 how important it was for people to participate actively 311 00:15:07,113 --> 00:15:10,495 in the reordering and the remaking of society on Nazi lines. 312 00:15:11,738 --> 00:15:15,190 - Drawing you into a fabricated history, 313 00:15:15,190 --> 00:15:20,091 it's presenting you with a falsified aged structure 314 00:15:20,091 --> 00:15:24,751 to attempt to emphasize your longevity. 315 00:15:24,751 --> 00:15:27,616 - Like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, 316 00:15:27,616 --> 00:15:29,721 it fits perfectly into it. 317 00:15:29,721 --> 00:15:34,692 The Nazis are fulfilling the dream of an imagined past. 318 00:15:35,589 --> 00:15:37,315 - For people back in the 1930s, 319 00:15:37,315 --> 00:15:38,903 this was scientific evidence. 320 00:15:38,903 --> 00:15:41,802 This was based on a Darwinian view of the world 321 00:15:41,802 --> 00:15:43,804 that some people were better than others. 322 00:15:43,804 --> 00:15:46,359 And clearly Vogelsang was very much a part 323 00:15:46,359 --> 00:15:47,601 of that racial idea. 324 00:15:47,601 --> 00:15:49,465 It was meant to be this incubator 325 00:15:49,465 --> 00:15:51,709 that this Petri dish for the best of the best, 326 00:15:51,709 --> 00:15:54,401 the elite of the elite, the most superhuman 327 00:15:54,401 --> 00:15:57,611 of all of the best humans, the Aryan race. 328 00:15:57,611 --> 00:16:00,718 - It's amazing how many people were affected by it. 329 00:16:00,718 --> 00:16:02,685 How many people were swept along 330 00:16:02,685 --> 00:16:06,482 by this wave of symbolism and sense of superiority. 331 00:16:08,622 --> 00:16:11,487 - A big part of national socialist ideology 332 00:16:11,487 --> 00:16:15,595 is the societies and even the people within society, 333 00:16:15,595 --> 00:16:18,908 they are in a constant struggle against each other 334 00:16:18,908 --> 00:16:21,083 and only the strongest would survive. 335 00:16:21,083 --> 00:16:23,361 So therefore, for the Nazis it was really important 336 00:16:23,361 --> 00:16:28,056 to have a constant struggle, even between organizations 337 00:16:28,056 --> 00:16:30,886 or within an educational system. 338 00:16:30,886 --> 00:16:32,922 - All of the senior Nazi leaders, Robert Ley included, 339 00:16:32,922 --> 00:16:34,717 they're all jostling for power. 340 00:16:34,717 --> 00:16:36,616 They're all trying to justify their position. 341 00:16:36,616 --> 00:16:38,273 They're trying to build a power base. 342 00:16:38,273 --> 00:16:40,792 And for Robert Ley to have this training school, 343 00:16:40,792 --> 00:16:43,209 this finishing school for future Nazi leaders, 344 00:16:43,209 --> 00:16:45,452 well that would have made him more important. 345 00:16:45,452 --> 00:16:48,007 - [Narrator] For the Nazis, this grueling training program 346 00:16:48,007 --> 00:16:51,044 should reflect its image of an ideal society. 347 00:16:52,563 --> 00:16:55,980 - We know that sports were really, really important, 348 00:16:55,980 --> 00:16:57,947 which means that they got up in the morning, 349 00:16:57,947 --> 00:16:59,984 the first thing they did was sports, 350 00:16:59,984 --> 00:17:01,882 then they would go to the lecture, 351 00:17:01,882 --> 00:17:04,402 and then they had sports again in the afternoon, 352 00:17:04,402 --> 00:17:06,680 and then they would have to do the homework, and so on. 353 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:08,924 - The fear was always if you're educating them, 354 00:17:08,924 --> 00:17:12,134 you're possibly allowing in a critical thinking function 355 00:17:12,134 --> 00:17:15,068 that could cause people to start asking awkward questions 356 00:17:15,068 --> 00:17:17,001 about the regime, that you were better off 357 00:17:17,001 --> 00:17:18,658 putting them in a lot of physical activities 358 00:17:18,658 --> 00:17:20,694 and telling them how to improve their bodies 359 00:17:20,694 --> 00:17:23,870 rather than their minds to be good members of Nazi society. 360 00:17:23,870 --> 00:17:27,080 It emphasized teamwork amongst the recruits. 361 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,290 It tested their physical abilities, 362 00:17:30,290 --> 00:17:33,259 and it prepared them potentially for combat. 363 00:17:33,259 --> 00:17:35,123 - [Narrator] Squires were all handpicked, 364 00:17:35,123 --> 00:17:36,848 and upon arriving at Vogelsang, 365 00:17:36,848 --> 00:17:39,644 they would receive a chilling message. 366 00:17:39,644 --> 00:17:42,302 - The cadets at the school were greeted by Robert Ley, 367 00:17:42,302 --> 00:17:44,270 and he warned them that if they walked away 368 00:17:44,270 --> 00:17:46,720 from this project at any point in those four years, 369 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:48,274 their career in the Nazi party, 370 00:17:48,274 --> 00:17:50,655 their future in Nazi Germany would be finished. 371 00:17:50,655 --> 00:17:53,382 In fact, he threatened them that he would destroy them. 372 00:17:54,728 --> 00:17:56,627 - [Narrator] Even Vogelsang's mountaintop location 373 00:17:56,627 --> 00:17:58,594 seems to echo Ley's warning. 374 00:18:00,286 --> 00:18:02,529 - As a squire would be starting down at the bottom 375 00:18:02,529 --> 00:18:05,049 of all of these structures that are moving upwards. 376 00:18:06,223 --> 00:18:08,570 And so you see it dominating over you. 377 00:18:08,570 --> 00:18:10,675 You see a very powerful structure. 378 00:18:10,675 --> 00:18:14,507 But you also see a goal that you can climb for yourself. 379 00:18:14,507 --> 00:18:16,474 You see that there are steps 380 00:18:16,474 --> 00:18:19,788 and a way to get to the top to where you wanna be. 381 00:18:19,788 --> 00:18:21,548 So it starts off dominating you. 382 00:18:21,548 --> 00:18:24,172 But at the same time you get an unconscious feeling 383 00:18:24,172 --> 00:18:27,830 that you can make it to the top and dominate yourself, 384 00:18:27,830 --> 00:18:30,281 dominate others yourself as a result of it. 385 00:18:30,281 --> 00:18:33,008 - The idea of Clemens Klotz, the architect, 386 00:18:33,008 --> 00:18:37,978 is to show that the Nazis could rule over nature. 387 00:18:39,428 --> 00:18:42,051 Which means if you stand at the top, you have this feeling 388 00:18:42,051 --> 00:18:45,710 that basically nature is laying to your feet. 389 00:18:45,710 --> 00:18:47,160 And if you're at the bottom, 390 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,646 you feel inferior and you wanna go up. 391 00:18:52,061 --> 00:18:53,477 - [Narrator] Even the layout of the fortifications 392 00:18:53,477 --> 00:18:56,031 on Vogelsang's grounds planted Germany's vision 393 00:18:56,031 --> 00:18:58,102 of total domination. 394 00:18:58,102 --> 00:19:00,967 - If you look at it, it has a hierarchy within itself. 395 00:19:00,967 --> 00:19:03,763 At the bottom, you have the swimming pool at the gym, 396 00:19:03,763 --> 00:19:07,801 and the track fields, you have sports, 397 00:19:07,801 --> 00:19:11,046 and comradeship was the next level on top of that. 398 00:19:11,046 --> 00:19:15,706 So the open air stage, and you have the barracks. 399 00:19:15,706 --> 00:19:18,916 And the third level of the building that was just started 400 00:19:18,916 --> 00:19:22,161 but never finished, the so-called house of knowledge. 401 00:19:22,161 --> 00:19:24,370 It's the ideology on top. 402 00:19:24,370 --> 00:19:26,268 It's frightening. 403 00:19:26,268 --> 00:19:28,305 - Imagine if you're a Nazi party member 404 00:19:28,305 --> 00:19:31,308 and you've been handpicked by Robert Ley himself 405 00:19:31,308 --> 00:19:32,792 to join this program. 406 00:19:32,792 --> 00:19:34,794 From your point of view, it's the golden ticket. 407 00:19:34,794 --> 00:19:37,797 You're gonna rise to the highest ranks of the Nazi party. 408 00:19:37,797 --> 00:19:40,006 Maybe even one day become the next fuhrer. 409 00:19:41,214 --> 00:19:42,733 - [Narrator] What dark secret oaths 410 00:19:42,733 --> 00:19:45,908 were taken by the squires to ensure their loyalty? 411 00:19:45,908 --> 00:19:47,531 What rituals would be needed 412 00:19:47,531 --> 00:19:50,568 to firmly seal their membership into this cult? 413 00:19:52,536 --> 00:19:54,365 Under the vision of Robert Ley, 414 00:19:54,365 --> 00:19:57,334 Nazi Germany has developed an extensive training program 415 00:19:57,334 --> 00:20:00,060 to groom the next generation of Nazi elite. 416 00:20:01,993 --> 00:20:04,927 - For the average squire involved in the program, 417 00:20:04,927 --> 00:20:06,964 who was really committed ideologically, 418 00:20:06,964 --> 00:20:09,898 being at the center of the start of the Thousand Year Reich, 419 00:20:09,898 --> 00:20:13,281 must've been a giddy, exciting experience. 420 00:20:13,281 --> 00:20:15,524 - [Narrator] What kind of dark rituals were held here 421 00:20:15,524 --> 00:20:18,113 to create such blind loyalty? 422 00:20:18,113 --> 00:20:20,874 The strange, seemingly out of place watchtower 423 00:20:20,874 --> 00:20:23,946 on Vogelsang's ground may hold the answer. 424 00:20:25,258 --> 00:20:27,364 - The watchtower is a tall imposing structure, 425 00:20:27,364 --> 00:20:29,089 that's overlooking everything. 426 00:20:29,089 --> 00:20:31,782 It was a symbol of engineering feat 427 00:20:31,782 --> 00:20:34,474 and construction ability to build this tall tower 428 00:20:34,474 --> 00:20:35,751 out of concrete. 429 00:20:35,751 --> 00:20:38,651 And for it to be even taller than this hill, 430 00:20:38,651 --> 00:20:43,034 it's indicative of control and perspective over everything. 431 00:20:43,034 --> 00:20:45,002 - The idea of building a watchtower 432 00:20:45,002 --> 00:20:47,315 as part of this complex just feels very odd 433 00:20:47,315 --> 00:20:49,455 and actually quite misplaced. 434 00:20:49,455 --> 00:20:52,285 These were not defensive buildings. 435 00:20:52,285 --> 00:20:54,322 What were you watching out for? 436 00:20:54,322 --> 00:20:56,565 - [Narrator] The watchtower was not only out of place, 437 00:20:56,565 --> 00:20:58,981 it also had an atypical interior. 438 00:21:00,431 --> 00:21:03,089 - Normally you would expect that there to be multiple levels 439 00:21:03,089 --> 00:21:06,403 and lots of open windows and spaces higher up. 440 00:21:06,403 --> 00:21:09,026 But the Watchtower is actually functionally used 441 00:21:09,026 --> 00:21:10,752 a very different way where all the activities 442 00:21:10,752 --> 00:21:13,237 were happening down at the ground floor. 443 00:21:13,237 --> 00:21:16,413 And light was filtering down through all the levels 444 00:21:16,413 --> 00:21:18,518 of the watch tower to the bottom. 445 00:21:18,518 --> 00:21:23,005 The aesthetics of the space are affecting your mind 446 00:21:23,005 --> 00:21:25,076 very differently than the rest. 447 00:21:25,076 --> 00:21:26,699 So what's done there? 448 00:21:28,356 --> 00:21:29,978 - [Narrator] Once the squires entered the room 449 00:21:29,978 --> 00:21:31,566 inside of the watchtower, 450 00:21:31,566 --> 00:21:35,915 an entire new level of dark and ominous trials await. 451 00:21:35,915 --> 00:21:38,987 - The cult room is probably the creepiest place 452 00:21:38,987 --> 00:21:41,230 across the entire complex. 453 00:21:41,230 --> 00:21:44,026 We have records of torch-lit ceremonies, 454 00:21:44,026 --> 00:21:45,821 rallies, and parades. 455 00:21:45,821 --> 00:21:48,617 Well, it's not that big, but stood in there, 456 00:21:48,617 --> 00:21:51,724 it would feel incredibly imposing. 457 00:21:51,724 --> 00:21:53,242 - If you were looking to make a cult, 458 00:21:53,242 --> 00:21:55,175 Oldenburg would be the right place. 459 00:21:55,175 --> 00:21:57,592 You've got these statues holding flames. 460 00:21:57,592 --> 00:22:00,491 You've got the names of the Nazi party members 461 00:22:00,491 --> 00:22:02,182 who were killed in the Putsch. 462 00:22:02,182 --> 00:22:05,600 And their names are read out, and the cadets there, 463 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:07,878 the squires have to shout, "Here," 464 00:22:07,878 --> 00:22:10,467 as if they're recreating them again, 465 00:22:10,467 --> 00:22:12,296 as if their names will be etched in stone 466 00:22:12,296 --> 00:22:15,023 and part of the Thousand Reich mythology forever. 467 00:22:15,023 --> 00:22:16,921 It's the perfect place to start a cult. 468 00:22:18,164 --> 00:22:19,890 - So the cult room reminds me of a room 469 00:22:19,890 --> 00:22:21,270 where you would go to worship 470 00:22:21,270 --> 00:22:23,997 or to have a meaningful religious experience. 471 00:22:23,997 --> 00:22:26,137 There was a real emphasis 472 00:22:26,137 --> 00:22:28,381 on celebrating and mourning the dead, 473 00:22:28,381 --> 00:22:31,867 reminding the living that the dead had not died in vain, 474 00:22:31,867 --> 00:22:33,697 and that if the living were to die, 475 00:22:33,697 --> 00:22:36,147 they would have died in the service to the Reich. 476 00:22:36,147 --> 00:22:38,943 This is in a way, a political religion 477 00:22:38,943 --> 00:22:41,636 where you would go to have a bonding experience 478 00:22:41,636 --> 00:22:46,606 with your fellow Nazis, but also find your purpose 479 00:22:47,849 --> 00:22:50,196 in the collective and in celebrating the rituals 480 00:22:50,196 --> 00:22:53,372 that bind you together very closely as a group. 481 00:22:53,372 --> 00:22:57,755 - This space is really set to crank up the emotional state 482 00:22:57,755 --> 00:22:59,895 and the cognitive state of the people inside of it. 483 00:22:59,895 --> 00:23:04,279 It adds a level of this is something secret 484 00:23:04,279 --> 00:23:06,488 because people can't really see. 485 00:23:06,488 --> 00:23:07,800 There's a small number of people 486 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:09,491 who'd be in the space at the time. 487 00:23:09,491 --> 00:23:12,252 And you're getting into this idea that it's special 488 00:23:12,252 --> 00:23:15,255 and secret while your arousal levels are going up 489 00:23:15,255 --> 00:23:18,189 that would put you in a positive frame of mind, 490 00:23:18,189 --> 00:23:20,813 make you feel like you were special, 491 00:23:20,813 --> 00:23:23,988 and it would feel stronger to you than it would 492 00:23:23,988 --> 00:23:26,853 in a large open rectangular space. 493 00:23:26,853 --> 00:23:28,199 - People keep telling you, 494 00:23:28,199 --> 00:23:29,856 "You are born to rule over others. 495 00:23:29,856 --> 00:23:32,376 "You are superior to everybody else. 496 00:23:32,376 --> 00:23:33,998 "You are the new human. 497 00:23:33,998 --> 00:23:35,828 "You are the new German." 498 00:23:35,828 --> 00:23:38,278 I think it's not that hard to imagine 499 00:23:38,278 --> 00:23:41,420 that people start to believe that themselves. 500 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,251 - [Narrator] In this room, a statue stands tall 501 00:23:45,251 --> 00:23:47,564 over every cult member. 502 00:23:47,564 --> 00:23:48,841 - It's an imposing sculpture. 503 00:23:48,841 --> 00:23:51,775 It has the physique that is basically unrealistic 504 00:23:51,775 --> 00:23:53,017 for a human figure. 505 00:23:53,017 --> 00:23:56,435 It is in a position of power, of standing tall 506 00:23:56,435 --> 00:24:01,474 in the Heil position, imposing its will on you 507 00:24:02,682 --> 00:24:05,374 in that room that is ritualized and lit 508 00:24:05,374 --> 00:24:08,032 and built in a way, and finished in a way 509 00:24:08,032 --> 00:24:12,278 that is about power and submission as well. 510 00:24:12,278 --> 00:24:15,384 - It feels to me that if I had spent any time here 511 00:24:15,384 --> 00:24:19,112 when it was operational, there's a very intimidating feel 512 00:24:19,112 --> 00:24:20,666 about the whole place. 513 00:24:20,666 --> 00:24:23,772 And it seems to me that if you didn't go along with it, 514 00:24:23,772 --> 00:24:26,706 then you'd probably feel quite isolated 515 00:24:26,706 --> 00:24:30,192 surrounded by all this strong symbolism. 516 00:24:30,192 --> 00:24:33,368 - There's giant eagles, there's giant torches, 517 00:24:33,368 --> 00:24:35,577 there's giant Nazi swastikas. 518 00:24:35,577 --> 00:24:38,338 Everything seems to be super-sized. 519 00:24:38,338 --> 00:24:39,857 - [Narrator] In addition to the cult room, 520 00:24:39,857 --> 00:24:41,376 massive stone sculptures 521 00:24:41,376 --> 00:24:43,930 of the Teutonic Knights on the Vogelsang grounds 522 00:24:43,930 --> 00:24:46,485 help bolster perceptions of superiority. 523 00:24:47,934 --> 00:24:50,799 - The symbols of the knights that are around Vogelsang 524 00:24:50,799 --> 00:24:55,770 are symbols of a time of individuals being powerful, 525 00:24:57,219 --> 00:24:59,187 and individuals working with that power for a cause. 526 00:24:59,187 --> 00:25:01,534 So when you have individuals walking around 527 00:25:01,534 --> 00:25:04,779 in a place like that, and you see a symbol 528 00:25:04,779 --> 00:25:06,435 of a powerful knight, 529 00:25:06,435 --> 00:25:09,715 you can imagine yourself being such a person. 530 00:25:09,715 --> 00:25:12,787 And it's trying to set you up in that mind frame. 531 00:25:12,787 --> 00:25:14,789 - [Narrator] Dating back to the 12th century, 532 00:25:14,789 --> 00:25:17,895 the German Teutonic Knights protected Christian crusaders 533 00:25:17,895 --> 00:25:20,035 in the Holy Land throughout the middle ages. 534 00:25:22,175 --> 00:25:23,729 - I mean, the irony here of course, 535 00:25:23,729 --> 00:25:25,938 is that the Teutonic Knights are deeply embedded 536 00:25:25,938 --> 00:25:28,181 and affiliated with Catholicism, 537 00:25:28,181 --> 00:25:31,668 which the really hardcore Nazis were very hostile towards, 538 00:25:31,668 --> 00:25:34,602 but they try to co-opt some of the stories 539 00:25:34,602 --> 00:25:37,708 about the Teutonic Knights to fit into the mythologies 540 00:25:37,708 --> 00:25:40,504 that they're trying to create about the ideal community. 541 00:25:42,299 --> 00:25:44,543 - [Narrator] In one of the rooms above the fireplace 542 00:25:44,543 --> 00:25:47,684 a stone carving appears to depict the god Odin. 543 00:25:49,133 --> 00:25:52,999 - Here it's actually a depiction of the so-called wild hunt. 544 00:25:52,999 --> 00:25:57,728 It's a Germanic belief that the gods Odin 545 00:25:57,728 --> 00:26:00,420 that they would ride across the sky 546 00:26:00,420 --> 00:26:02,250 with the souls of the dead. 547 00:26:02,250 --> 00:26:06,944 What you see here is how they try to use death 548 00:26:06,944 --> 00:26:10,534 as something that is desirable for the men. 549 00:26:10,534 --> 00:26:13,123 Something that is the ultimate sacrifice 550 00:26:13,123 --> 00:26:16,782 that they could give to create some kind of a cult of death 551 00:26:16,782 --> 00:26:19,474 in order to support national socialism. 552 00:26:20,855 --> 00:26:22,442 - [Narrator] But the tides of war are changing, 553 00:26:22,442 --> 00:26:26,067 and the Third Reich is now engaged in an all-out war. 554 00:26:26,067 --> 00:26:29,553 Suddenly there's no real use for the Order Castles. 555 00:26:29,553 --> 00:26:32,556 The squires are repurposed for Germany's war effort. 556 00:26:33,902 --> 00:26:38,389 - The program is essentially up-ended by the war. 557 00:26:38,389 --> 00:26:41,703 - Main part of those men that were trained here 558 00:26:41,703 --> 00:26:43,532 are either drafted, or most of them 559 00:26:43,532 --> 00:26:45,431 they volunteer to the Wehrmacht, 560 00:26:45,431 --> 00:26:48,468 so they want to fight on the front. 561 00:26:48,468 --> 00:26:50,332 - It's not surprising that some of them 562 00:26:50,332 --> 00:26:52,852 were tried with some of the worst crimes of the regime 563 00:26:52,852 --> 00:26:55,027 because they were indoctrinated to believe 564 00:26:55,027 --> 00:26:57,823 that this was in fact part of their mission. 565 00:26:57,823 --> 00:27:00,239 - For all the bluster of creating this master race 566 00:27:00,239 --> 00:27:01,827 and the elite of the elite, 567 00:27:01,827 --> 00:27:05,831 the truth is that these were mid-level, lower-level people. 568 00:27:05,831 --> 00:27:08,799 They weren't particularly important to the Nazi war machine. 569 00:27:08,799 --> 00:27:11,491 And that says a lot about the failure of this project. 570 00:27:12,838 --> 00:27:14,356 - [Narrator] Because Vogelsang was never intended 571 00:27:14,356 --> 00:27:15,806 to be a defensive structure, 572 00:27:15,806 --> 00:27:18,671 it is easily captured by US troops. 573 00:27:18,671 --> 00:27:22,088 At one time, it would become the home of the Belgian army. 574 00:27:22,088 --> 00:27:23,849 - It's actually a very dark legacy. 575 00:27:23,849 --> 00:27:26,748 And when I think about walking through the complex 576 00:27:26,748 --> 00:27:28,094 and looking at the sculptures, 577 00:27:28,094 --> 00:27:29,820 and looking at the grand buildings, 578 00:27:29,820 --> 00:27:33,272 and the way it was designed, it's very important I think 579 00:27:33,272 --> 00:27:35,930 to keep those nefarious intentions in mind, 580 00:27:35,930 --> 00:27:39,692 and the deep racism that underpins so much 581 00:27:39,692 --> 00:27:41,556 of the learning that took place there. 582 00:27:42,764 --> 00:27:44,214 - [Narrator] The Order Castles are just 583 00:27:44,214 --> 00:27:47,424 one step in the Nazi effort to reshape the world. 584 00:27:47,424 --> 00:27:51,462 900 miles away in an ancient forest at the edge of Poland, 585 00:27:51,462 --> 00:27:54,465 Germany is twisting science in order to realize 586 00:27:54,465 --> 00:27:56,157 a horrifying vision. 587 00:27:57,641 --> 00:28:00,023 In an ancient forest at the edge of Poland, 588 00:28:00,023 --> 00:28:03,474 something secret and ominous is taking place. 589 00:28:03,474 --> 00:28:07,582 Villagers evicted, fences put up, military scouts 590 00:28:07,582 --> 00:28:10,654 and a high ranking Nazi leader visits. 591 00:28:10,654 --> 00:28:12,691 - There's no question that locals must've wondered 592 00:28:12,691 --> 00:28:13,899 what on earth is going on. 593 00:28:13,899 --> 00:28:15,832 They're living in one of the most remote 594 00:28:15,832 --> 00:28:18,420 and rural places in all of Europe. 595 00:28:18,420 --> 00:28:21,458 And all of a sudden Nazis in black leather 596 00:28:21,458 --> 00:28:24,150 are showing up and are building facilities, 597 00:28:24,150 --> 00:28:27,775 putting up fencing, driving people out of their homes. 598 00:28:27,775 --> 00:28:30,950 - Why is there suddenly so much secret activity 599 00:28:30,950 --> 00:28:33,712 going on in this forest when it doesn't really feel 600 00:28:33,712 --> 00:28:36,784 like there's any real strategic importance to this place, 601 00:28:36,784 --> 00:28:39,787 and as far as we're aware, there's no military equipment 602 00:28:39,787 --> 00:28:40,649 being brought in. 603 00:28:42,099 --> 00:28:44,895 What could the Nazis have wanted with this forest? 604 00:28:46,586 --> 00:28:48,761 - The forest itself, it's a bit different 605 00:28:48,761 --> 00:28:50,694 from any other forest I've ever been to. 606 00:28:50,694 --> 00:28:52,661 The first thing I noticed immediately 607 00:28:52,661 --> 00:28:54,491 is the fact that this is a primeval forest, 608 00:28:54,491 --> 00:28:56,631 so it hasn't been managed by humans 609 00:28:56,631 --> 00:28:59,565 in the same way that most forests you ever visit have. 610 00:28:59,565 --> 00:29:02,499 - This is a forest that would have looked 611 00:29:02,499 --> 00:29:06,020 like that which covered Europe a thousand years ago, 612 00:29:06,020 --> 00:29:08,643 before much of it was cut down. 613 00:29:08,643 --> 00:29:10,783 - [Narrator] Why would the Nazis take such great effort 614 00:29:10,783 --> 00:29:12,958 in securing this region? 615 00:29:12,958 --> 00:29:15,581 - Humans have always had a bit of a dual relationship 616 00:29:15,581 --> 00:29:17,203 when it comes to the forest. 617 00:29:17,203 --> 00:29:19,723 I mean on the one hand it can be nurturing, 618 00:29:19,723 --> 00:29:22,208 beautiful, resourceful. 619 00:29:22,208 --> 00:29:24,797 On the other hand, it can also be dark, 620 00:29:24,797 --> 00:29:27,938 mysterious and dangerous. 621 00:29:27,938 --> 00:29:30,492 - [Narrator] The Nazis tapped into a strong emotional link 622 00:29:30,492 --> 00:29:33,116 between Germans and the land. 623 00:29:33,116 --> 00:29:35,221 - For the Germans, the forest is actually critical 624 00:29:35,221 --> 00:29:36,878 when they look back at the mythology 625 00:29:36,878 --> 00:29:39,605 of the Germanic tribes that were able to, for example, 626 00:29:39,605 --> 00:29:41,434 defeat the Romans where other tribes 627 00:29:41,434 --> 00:29:43,920 had truly no chance of doing so. 628 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,922 So the forest for them is important 629 00:29:45,922 --> 00:29:47,958 because it's the last remaining part 630 00:29:47,958 --> 00:29:50,616 of the forest that used to cover the whole of Europe. 631 00:29:50,616 --> 00:29:53,308 And this directly links back to the ancient Germanic tribes 632 00:29:53,308 --> 00:29:57,726 that Hitler is trying to re-imagine in this new Third Reich. 633 00:29:57,726 --> 00:30:00,868 - When we think about the slogans of the Nazi period, 634 00:30:00,868 --> 00:30:03,008 one of them is of course adhering to the notion 635 00:30:03,008 --> 00:30:04,423 of blood and soil. 636 00:30:04,423 --> 00:30:07,909 The Nazi desire to harken back to a Germanic 637 00:30:07,909 --> 00:30:11,154 sort of rural agrarian past is a big part 638 00:30:11,154 --> 00:30:13,812 of the romantic side of Nazi imagery, 639 00:30:13,812 --> 00:30:17,436 the celebration of the pastoral, of the rural, 640 00:30:17,436 --> 00:30:18,955 of the traditional. 641 00:30:18,955 --> 00:30:21,440 They wanted to celebrate German farmers, 642 00:30:21,440 --> 00:30:22,924 and they wanted to encourage Germans 643 00:30:22,924 --> 00:30:24,443 to get back to the land. 644 00:30:24,443 --> 00:30:26,031 - [Narrator] While the Bialowieza Forest 645 00:30:26,031 --> 00:30:28,827 sprawls across Poland and Belarus today, 646 00:30:28,827 --> 00:30:30,863 then it was under Soviet control. 647 00:30:32,071 --> 00:30:33,555 - As I walked around the towns and villages 648 00:30:33,555 --> 00:30:35,868 around the forest, I was struck by how beautiful they were. 649 00:30:35,868 --> 00:30:38,353 They're generally gorgeous places. 650 00:30:39,527 --> 00:30:41,046 But when the Germans arrived, 651 00:30:41,046 --> 00:30:42,668 it would have been very different. 652 00:30:42,668 --> 00:30:44,497 The lands itself had actually been occupied 653 00:30:44,497 --> 00:30:48,053 by the Soviet army in 1939 in the secret pact 654 00:30:48,053 --> 00:30:51,159 that Russia and Germany had signed with each other. 655 00:30:51,159 --> 00:30:54,059 - [Narrator] In 1941, Germany invades Russia, 656 00:30:54,059 --> 00:30:56,682 and wastes no time in sending in Nazi troops 657 00:30:56,682 --> 00:30:59,098 to infiltrate the Bialowieza Forest 658 00:30:59,098 --> 00:31:02,446 sending there horrifying plans into motion. 659 00:31:02,446 --> 00:31:04,621 - The first thing they do is they ethnically 660 00:31:04,621 --> 00:31:08,383 cleanse the land, the local peasants, Jews, Poles, Slavs, 661 00:31:08,383 --> 00:31:10,454 whoever's there, the German troops would have been 662 00:31:10,454 --> 00:31:13,216 pulling people out of their homes, executing them, 663 00:31:13,216 --> 00:31:15,874 and there's multiple accounts of slave labor teams 664 00:31:15,874 --> 00:31:18,117 being used to build the roads for the Germans. 665 00:31:18,117 --> 00:31:21,465 One step out of line, shot instantly. 666 00:31:21,465 --> 00:31:24,468 - That was just the beginning of the dark purposes 667 00:31:24,468 --> 00:31:26,850 for this particular forest. 668 00:31:26,850 --> 00:31:29,025 - [Narrator] Witnesses report members of the Luftwaffe, 669 00:31:29,025 --> 00:31:32,304 Germany's air force, scouting and patrolling here. 670 00:31:32,304 --> 00:31:35,203 Could the Nazis be planning an airbase? 671 00:31:35,203 --> 00:31:37,999 In July of 1941, Hermann Goring, 672 00:31:37,999 --> 00:31:41,209 a member of Hitler's inner circle, arrives in the area. 673 00:31:43,108 --> 00:31:45,455 - Goring is the commander of the Luftwaffe, 674 00:31:45,455 --> 00:31:47,353 Germany's air force. 675 00:31:47,353 --> 00:31:49,631 - Goring had quite a number of properties, 676 00:31:49,631 --> 00:31:52,358 and quite an insatiable desire, really, 677 00:31:52,358 --> 00:31:54,740 for living a certain kind of life, 678 00:31:54,740 --> 00:31:56,569 aspirational to what we might consider 679 00:31:56,569 --> 00:31:58,571 the life of a German aristocrat. 680 00:31:58,571 --> 00:32:02,161 And so the traditional activities of an aristocrat, 681 00:32:02,161 --> 00:32:04,198 which would have been hunting, and shooting, 682 00:32:04,198 --> 00:32:05,820 and weekends at the country estate, 683 00:32:05,820 --> 00:32:07,235 Goring would have been very drawn 684 00:32:07,235 --> 00:32:08,719 to this kind of a lifestyle. 685 00:32:08,719 --> 00:32:11,999 So to that end, he became very interested 686 00:32:11,999 --> 00:32:13,552 in hunting, in animals, 687 00:32:13,552 --> 00:32:16,658 and in these large forested properties 688 00:32:16,658 --> 00:32:20,248 where he could have a certain amount of freedom to live 689 00:32:20,248 --> 00:32:22,457 what was in fact, a very luxurious lifestyle. 690 00:32:23,700 --> 00:32:24,977 - [Narrator] This wasn't the first time Goring 691 00:32:24,977 --> 00:32:27,566 had been to the Bialowieza Forest. 692 00:32:27,566 --> 00:32:30,500 - So in the 1930s, Hermann Goring was invited 693 00:32:30,500 --> 00:32:32,019 as a German government official 694 00:32:32,019 --> 00:32:35,436 to come here and hunt with Polish government officials. 695 00:32:35,436 --> 00:32:37,956 They were having intergovernmental talks 696 00:32:37,956 --> 00:32:39,164 and thinking to himself, 697 00:32:39,164 --> 00:32:40,820 "I wouldn't mind having a palace to myself," 698 00:32:40,820 --> 00:32:42,788 and this probably was part of his plan. 699 00:32:44,031 --> 00:32:45,549 - [Narrator] Hitler goes even further, 700 00:32:45,549 --> 00:32:49,001 giving Goring much more power and control over the forest. 701 00:32:50,209 --> 00:32:52,177 - To cap it all off, because Hermann Goring 702 00:32:52,177 --> 00:32:55,145 is known as this chief's huntsman of the Third Reich, 703 00:32:55,145 --> 00:32:57,872 they even put the German Forestry Division 704 00:32:57,872 --> 00:32:59,425 underneath the Luftwaffe, 705 00:32:59,425 --> 00:33:02,808 and they bring these units and people straight to this site. 706 00:33:02,808 --> 00:33:04,983 This is obviously a priority. 707 00:33:04,983 --> 00:33:07,399 - Now it could just be that Goring and his men 708 00:33:07,399 --> 00:33:10,919 want a nice bit of private forest to hunt in. 709 00:33:10,919 --> 00:33:13,853 But take a deeper look at what's going on. 710 00:33:15,303 --> 00:33:17,236 - [Narrator] This untouched primeval forest 711 00:33:17,236 --> 00:33:19,031 wasn't enough for Goring. 712 00:33:19,031 --> 00:33:21,654 In his vision, the forest should look just as it had 713 00:33:21,654 --> 00:33:24,105 when the mythologized Teutonic Knights roamed them. 714 00:33:25,624 --> 00:33:28,834 - The Nazis were actually redesigning this forest, 715 00:33:28,834 --> 00:33:30,870 removing certain species of trees 716 00:33:30,870 --> 00:33:33,218 and replanting more of others 717 00:33:33,218 --> 00:33:35,047 so that it would fit their vision 718 00:33:35,047 --> 00:33:39,258 of what a pure ancient German forest should look like. 719 00:33:39,258 --> 00:33:41,467 - That forest lasted because it was diverse, 720 00:33:41,467 --> 00:33:43,055 because it had new species in it. 721 00:33:43,055 --> 00:33:46,645 And to destroy all the plants that were in there 722 00:33:46,645 --> 00:33:49,337 that didn't fit their picture of what it looked like 723 00:33:49,337 --> 00:33:54,135 in the 1600s, this forest could have been eradicated. 724 00:33:54,135 --> 00:33:56,241 - [Narrator] Zoologists and other scientists 725 00:33:56,241 --> 00:33:57,932 are quickly brought onto the project 726 00:33:57,932 --> 00:34:00,107 as it goes down a darker path. 727 00:34:01,487 --> 00:34:04,939 - Why are Nazi scientists and zoologists 728 00:34:04,939 --> 00:34:08,046 combing the world for animal samples? 729 00:34:08,046 --> 00:34:09,668 - The project itself is spearheaded 730 00:34:09,668 --> 00:34:12,705 by a zoologist from the Berlin Zoo, Lutz Heck. 731 00:34:12,705 --> 00:34:15,225 He's key in making this thing happen. 732 00:34:15,225 --> 00:34:17,262 - [Narrator] Lutz Heck wouldn't work alone. 733 00:34:17,262 --> 00:34:19,264 His brother, Heinz Heck, would join him 734 00:34:19,264 --> 00:34:20,679 in this dark endeavor. 735 00:34:22,163 --> 00:34:24,062 - The Heck brothers even traveled to France and Spain 736 00:34:24,062 --> 00:34:25,925 and looked at ancient cave paintings 737 00:34:25,925 --> 00:34:28,066 from thousands of years ago. 738 00:34:28,066 --> 00:34:29,895 - [Narrator] Goring makes his next move, 739 00:34:29,895 --> 00:34:32,794 a secret deal to the unsuspecting Canadian government 740 00:34:32,794 --> 00:34:34,934 to export animals to Germany 741 00:34:34,934 --> 00:34:36,764 where the Heck brothers are waiting. 742 00:34:38,110 --> 00:34:41,009 - He's also stealing animals from whichever zoos 743 00:34:41,009 --> 00:34:44,358 or private collections he finds in the conquered countries 744 00:34:44,358 --> 00:34:46,808 that Germany has taken over and he's bringing them all back 745 00:34:46,808 --> 00:34:49,225 to his own personal fiefdom. 746 00:34:49,225 --> 00:34:50,674 There's something a little bit chilling, 747 00:34:50,674 --> 00:34:52,090 a little bit creepy about this forest 748 00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:54,126 that you wouldn't automatically feel 749 00:34:54,126 --> 00:34:56,301 if you were anywhere else. 750 00:34:56,301 --> 00:34:57,992 Then when you find out what the Nazis are planning here, 751 00:34:57,992 --> 00:35:00,788 it's literally the epicenter of something much bigger. 752 00:35:00,788 --> 00:35:04,895 - Lutz Heck, this zoologist and scientist 753 00:35:04,895 --> 00:35:08,658 is going to bring back extinct species, 754 00:35:08,658 --> 00:35:12,627 and bring back a giant aurochs, this massive bull. 755 00:35:12,627 --> 00:35:16,044 He's gonna bring back large prehistoric wolves 756 00:35:16,044 --> 00:35:18,599 that once roamed the European landscape 757 00:35:18,599 --> 00:35:20,256 thousands of years ago. 758 00:35:20,256 --> 00:35:24,363 And they're gonna recreate this Germanic Jurassic Park. 759 00:35:24,363 --> 00:35:26,503 - [Narrator] It's an ominous and dark experiment 760 00:35:26,503 --> 00:35:29,127 only the Nazis could begin to explore. 761 00:35:31,715 --> 00:35:34,408 An ancient forest attracts mysterious attention 762 00:35:34,408 --> 00:35:36,375 from one of the Nazi elite. 763 00:35:36,375 --> 00:35:39,206 Zoologists and biologists begin to formulate 764 00:35:39,206 --> 00:35:41,415 top secret projects here. 765 00:35:41,415 --> 00:35:45,453 What nefarious plans do the Nazis have with this place? 766 00:35:45,453 --> 00:35:48,525 - Sometimes I think it's easy to laugh at Hermann Goring. 767 00:35:48,525 --> 00:35:50,320 He seems this ridiculous character, 768 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,011 but he was anything but. 769 00:35:52,011 --> 00:35:54,393 This extent of his savagery, 770 00:35:54,393 --> 00:35:58,121 the cruelty with which he was known to rule his lands. 771 00:35:58,121 --> 00:35:59,916 And there's something quite disturbing 772 00:35:59,916 --> 00:36:02,850 about the depth of his vision for this particular area. 773 00:36:04,058 --> 00:36:05,508 - [Narrator] Germany expends great effort 774 00:36:05,508 --> 00:36:09,167 to conceal their plans, fencing off the entire forest. 775 00:36:09,167 --> 00:36:11,134 - This forest was picked for a reason. 776 00:36:11,134 --> 00:36:14,206 They're in the middle of preparing for World War II. 777 00:36:14,206 --> 00:36:16,346 And then they're in the middle of World War II, 778 00:36:16,346 --> 00:36:19,246 and they're building fantastical, and outlandish 779 00:36:19,246 --> 00:36:23,250 and incredibly expensive projects all over the continent. 780 00:36:23,250 --> 00:36:25,976 - For Lutz Heck, this is more than just a job. 781 00:36:25,976 --> 00:36:28,531 This is his personal and national priority. 782 00:36:28,531 --> 00:36:29,911 He's even on record as saying 783 00:36:29,911 --> 00:36:32,328 that, "Returning this dull and strange land 784 00:36:32,328 --> 00:36:36,124 "to a Germanic one must be our highest priority." 785 00:36:36,124 --> 00:36:37,919 - [Narrator] The Heck brothers go to great lengths 786 00:36:37,919 --> 00:36:40,853 to make this vision a reality. 787 00:36:40,853 --> 00:36:44,512 - You do hear about strange animal experimentation, 788 00:36:44,512 --> 00:36:46,376 experimentation for medical needs, 789 00:36:46,376 --> 00:36:48,240 but this is something else. 790 00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:51,174 This is a whole new level. 791 00:36:51,174 --> 00:36:53,694 - [Narrator] In order to realize these massive aurochs, 792 00:36:53,694 --> 00:36:57,318 Lutz Heck utilizes a frightening technique, back breeding. 793 00:36:58,561 --> 00:36:59,803 - And when you talk about back breeding, 794 00:36:59,803 --> 00:37:01,702 you have this idea of the species in mind. 795 00:37:01,702 --> 00:37:02,979 In this case it's the aurochs. 796 00:37:02,979 --> 00:37:04,636 So what you do is you start to look 797 00:37:04,636 --> 00:37:09,606 at other similar species that you may think are related. 798 00:37:09,606 --> 00:37:12,609 And then you start to look at those features that they have. 799 00:37:12,609 --> 00:37:15,233 And if they're close to matching the feature 800 00:37:15,233 --> 00:37:18,546 of the original species that you want to recreate, 801 00:37:18,546 --> 00:37:20,721 and they start to breed them one by one. 802 00:37:20,721 --> 00:37:22,447 And eventually you get closer and closer 803 00:37:22,447 --> 00:37:24,345 to that original species. 804 00:37:25,795 --> 00:37:27,866 - The idea of being able to back breed these animals 805 00:37:27,866 --> 00:37:29,902 to restore these ancient traits, 806 00:37:29,902 --> 00:37:31,490 it's a bit like they imagine themselves 807 00:37:31,490 --> 00:37:33,768 as Dr. Frankenstein able to bring back 808 00:37:33,768 --> 00:37:34,942 any animal they please. 809 00:37:36,461 --> 00:37:37,979 - [Narrator] The Heck brothers breed Spanish fighting bulls, 810 00:37:37,979 --> 00:37:39,326 and French fighting cattle 811 00:37:39,326 --> 00:37:41,914 in an attempt to realize the mythic auroch. 812 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:45,504 - Key to all of this is this obsession 813 00:37:45,504 --> 00:37:47,679 that Hermann Goring has with hunting. 814 00:37:47,679 --> 00:37:50,509 So this Heck horse and the bison to bring them all back 815 00:37:50,509 --> 00:37:52,166 for one specific purpose, 816 00:37:52,166 --> 00:37:55,445 to be hunted by these Germanic spearman, 817 00:37:55,445 --> 00:37:57,378 it's quite a disturbing idea 818 00:37:57,378 --> 00:37:58,931 and it seems to be quite powerful 819 00:37:58,931 --> 00:38:01,555 because it connects this modern Third Reich 820 00:38:01,555 --> 00:38:04,005 to ancient German tribes. 821 00:38:04,005 --> 00:38:06,422 - This is the ultimate round of hunting, 822 00:38:06,422 --> 00:38:09,528 bare chested Nazi men in a primeval forest 823 00:38:09,528 --> 00:38:13,843 like Teutonic Knights hunting extinct massive species. 824 00:38:13,843 --> 00:38:16,880 This is absolute madness. 825 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:18,503 - [Narrator] The Nazis believed these animals 826 00:38:18,503 --> 00:38:20,919 had been polluted over time and should be restored 827 00:38:20,919 --> 00:38:22,438 to their former existence. 828 00:38:23,473 --> 00:38:24,371 - Let's be absolutely clear. 829 00:38:24,371 --> 00:38:26,165 This is no conservation project. 830 00:38:26,165 --> 00:38:29,445 This is really horrible and nasty ideology. 831 00:38:29,445 --> 00:38:32,827 - There was an attempt by some of the scientific thinkers 832 00:38:32,827 --> 00:38:36,383 to justify what they believed was their natural superiority. 833 00:38:36,383 --> 00:38:39,938 You had to overcome and conquer nature. 834 00:38:39,938 --> 00:38:43,113 - It allowed the Germans to tie it into these myths 835 00:38:43,113 --> 00:38:46,254 they had concocted of these Aryan superman, 836 00:38:46,254 --> 00:38:49,568 of this blood soil linkage to Teutonic Knights 837 00:38:49,568 --> 00:38:53,158 that long ago there was this great Germanic tribe 838 00:38:53,158 --> 00:38:54,815 which was the most powerful on earth, 839 00:38:54,815 --> 00:38:57,335 which simply wasn't the case. 840 00:38:57,335 --> 00:38:58,957 - One of the first things the Germans do 841 00:38:58,957 --> 00:39:01,373 when they enter power is introduce these racial purity laws 842 00:39:01,373 --> 00:39:02,650 which are all about proving 843 00:39:02,650 --> 00:39:05,101 that some humans were better than others. 844 00:39:05,101 --> 00:39:06,585 Some animals are better than others. 845 00:39:06,585 --> 00:39:09,623 It's all continuation of the same policy. 846 00:39:09,623 --> 00:39:13,074 - Some of the medical and biological experiments 847 00:39:13,074 --> 00:39:18,045 the Nazis undertook were truly horrifying and pure evil. 848 00:39:19,495 --> 00:39:21,842 - [Narrator] Though the war rages all around the continent, 849 00:39:21,842 --> 00:39:23,395 the Heck brothers delve deeper 850 00:39:23,395 --> 00:39:25,328 into their mad science experiment, 851 00:39:25,328 --> 00:39:27,675 shedding any fear or hesitation. 852 00:39:29,574 --> 00:39:31,472 Under the instruction of Hermann Goring, 853 00:39:31,472 --> 00:39:33,647 the Heck brothers have worked towards bringing back 854 00:39:33,647 --> 00:39:37,685 extinct species to create a hunting ground for the Nazis. 855 00:39:37,685 --> 00:39:41,275 - This is like something out of science fiction or fantasy, 856 00:39:41,275 --> 00:39:43,484 like the Island of Dr. Moreau. 857 00:39:43,484 --> 00:39:46,245 The very idea of tinkering with biology 858 00:39:46,245 --> 00:39:48,247 to bring back extinct animals 859 00:39:48,247 --> 00:39:51,354 does have moral and ethical implications. 860 00:39:51,354 --> 00:39:55,807 But in the hands of the Nazis, well, it makes you shudder. 861 00:39:55,807 --> 00:39:58,050 - [Narrator] But this isn't a science fiction film, 862 00:39:58,050 --> 00:40:00,467 it's real, and after many attempts, 863 00:40:00,467 --> 00:40:02,814 the Heck brothers succeed. 864 00:40:02,814 --> 00:40:04,091 - I think it's easy to dismiss 865 00:40:04,091 --> 00:40:06,265 some of the weirder conspiracies 866 00:40:06,265 --> 00:40:07,853 about what the Nazis were trying to do, 867 00:40:07,853 --> 00:40:09,027 but this is very real. 868 00:40:09,027 --> 00:40:11,581 This is an actual project which had legs. 869 00:40:11,581 --> 00:40:14,653 They were breeding these aggressive Spanish fighting bulls. 870 00:40:14,653 --> 00:40:16,275 They were making progress. 871 00:40:16,275 --> 00:40:18,830 The animals weren't obviously the original animals, 872 00:40:18,830 --> 00:40:20,625 but they were making things happen 873 00:40:20,625 --> 00:40:22,005 and that's quite disturbing. 874 00:40:23,455 --> 00:40:25,871 - [Narrator] But the war turns against Nazi Germany. 875 00:40:25,871 --> 00:40:28,736 - The forestry projects that they're pouring money into 876 00:40:28,736 --> 00:40:31,981 comes out of a disbelief that they could in fact, 877 00:40:31,981 --> 00:40:33,465 actually lose this war. 878 00:40:33,465 --> 00:40:36,744 For many of them, they have become so convinced 879 00:40:36,744 --> 00:40:38,470 that they are in fact a superior people, 880 00:40:38,470 --> 00:40:39,920 that they can't imagine that they're actually 881 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:41,231 gonna lose the war. 882 00:40:41,231 --> 00:40:42,681 - [Narrator] The Nazis were so committed 883 00:40:42,681 --> 00:40:43,993 to their own supremacy, 884 00:40:43,993 --> 00:40:46,029 that when the allies approached the region, 885 00:40:46,029 --> 00:40:48,549 they made a horrifying decision. 886 00:40:48,549 --> 00:40:50,344 - The Germans issue the orders to shoot down 887 00:40:50,344 --> 00:40:52,415 as many animals as they can find. 888 00:40:52,415 --> 00:40:54,452 It's all part of their scorched earth policy 889 00:40:54,452 --> 00:40:56,557 to leave nothing for the Soviets. 890 00:40:56,557 --> 00:40:58,594 For them, this was the end of the world. 891 00:40:58,594 --> 00:41:01,493 This was their own personal Valhalla. 892 00:41:01,493 --> 00:41:04,220 - [Narrator] The Nazi atrocities led to many mass graves 893 00:41:04,220 --> 00:41:05,911 in the Bialowieza Forest. 894 00:41:07,361 --> 00:41:09,570 - As morbid of the thought of that many people 895 00:41:09,570 --> 00:41:12,228 dying in a forest, all that organic matter 896 00:41:12,228 --> 00:41:14,299 will go back into the nutrients of the soil, 897 00:41:14,299 --> 00:41:16,957 which could lead to a lot of different life 898 00:41:16,957 --> 00:41:20,581 that would allow that forest to continue on. 899 00:41:20,581 --> 00:41:22,583 - [Narrator] Today, scientists are examining 900 00:41:22,583 --> 00:41:25,068 a plant's ability to produce memories. 901 00:41:25,068 --> 00:41:27,485 Through calcium-based signaling in their cells, 902 00:41:27,485 --> 00:41:29,487 plants are able to change their behavior 903 00:41:29,487 --> 00:41:31,834 based on past experiences. 904 00:41:31,834 --> 00:41:34,284 With such a dark and unusual past, 905 00:41:34,284 --> 00:41:38,392 what might we discover one day in this forest of secrets? 906 00:41:39,566 --> 00:41:41,222 - In the way that humans have used that forest 907 00:41:41,222 --> 00:41:45,157 over the last 500 years has definitely shaped history. 908 00:41:45,157 --> 00:41:48,298 But it's definitely soaked in blood and death 909 00:41:48,298 --> 00:41:49,852 of a lot of people. 910 00:41:49,852 --> 00:41:51,370 - If you walk through the forest today, 911 00:41:51,370 --> 00:41:53,234 you won't actually understand what the Germans 912 00:41:53,234 --> 00:41:55,996 are planning here because they left no real traces. 913 00:41:55,996 --> 00:41:58,964 But that doesn't mean that this forest doesn't hold secrets. 914 00:42:00,310 --> 00:42:01,760 - [Narrator] The Nazis deemed themselves 915 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,280 to be masters of science and technology, 916 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:07,386 but they went too far with their attempt to twist nature, 917 00:42:07,386 --> 00:42:10,769 and proved not to be masters at all. 918 00:42:10,769 --> 00:42:14,739 - It's the recurring human flaw that we can control nature. 919 00:42:14,739 --> 00:42:16,775 Say there's an invasive species. 920 00:42:16,775 --> 00:42:19,571 And we bring in another species 921 00:42:19,571 --> 00:42:23,368 to introduce into that area that we know will kill it. 922 00:42:23,368 --> 00:42:26,509 Well, that introduced species can all of a sudden be able 923 00:42:26,509 --> 00:42:28,684 to dominate that area. 924 00:42:28,684 --> 00:42:30,340 You're starting to mess with nature 925 00:42:30,340 --> 00:42:34,448 where you have no understanding of what can happen. 926 00:42:34,448 --> 00:42:36,001 - [Narrator] While the Bialowieza Forest 927 00:42:36,001 --> 00:42:37,727 is a protected site today, 928 00:42:37,727 --> 00:42:41,593 we might consider what could still be lurking in the forest. 929 00:42:41,593 --> 00:42:43,319 - As I was walking through the forest today, 930 00:42:43,319 --> 00:42:44,872 a thought came to me. 931 00:42:44,872 --> 00:42:47,150 What's terrifying about this whole project 932 00:42:47,150 --> 00:42:49,912 is not what we know about what the Nazis were doing 933 00:42:49,912 --> 00:42:52,570 with genetic engineering and back breeding. 934 00:42:52,570 --> 00:42:54,088 It's about what we don't know, 935 00:42:54,088 --> 00:42:55,296 what they might've been doing 936 00:42:55,296 --> 00:42:56,884 that hasn't yet come to light, 937 00:42:56,884 --> 00:42:59,162 and what they might've been planning for the future. 938 00:43:00,405 --> 00:43:02,614 - As an engineer, I'm always impressed 939 00:43:02,614 --> 00:43:05,721 by the lengths that scientists and engineers will go to 940 00:43:05,721 --> 00:43:09,828 in order to achieve a desired result, a desired outcome. 941 00:43:09,828 --> 00:43:13,349 But the lengths that the Nazis were prepared to go to, 942 00:43:13,349 --> 00:43:17,422 to strip away any ethical or moral limitations 943 00:43:17,422 --> 00:43:20,977 to achieve the vision of the world as they saw it, 944 00:43:20,977 --> 00:43:25,292 both the natural world and the humans that live on it 945 00:43:25,292 --> 00:43:27,812 is absolutely horrifying. 946 00:43:33,818 --> 00:43:36,786 [suspenseful music] 78011

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