All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S07E03.Secrets.of.Mafia.Island.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

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.