All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S08E03.Fortress.of.Nuclear.Secrets.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

[Kasper] A dense forest hides
a royal family secret.

[Polly] She seemed
to appear out of thin air

like a ghost from Macbeth.

[Kasper] A fortified site
overrun

by a determined force.

Any Soviet spy would kill
for the secrets kept there.

[Kasper] And a building
that offered hope,

hijacked by criminal intent.

It's definitely
not the kind of place

you wanna be alone at night.

[dramatic music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Kasper] Decaying relics,

ruins of lost worlds,

sites haunted by the past.

Their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

[dramatic music playing]

[Kasper] In the middle
of Delhi,

an Indian mega city
of 30 million people,

an Indian mega city
of 30 million people,

is an unexpected sight.

[Polly] It's one
of the biggest

and most bustling cities
in the world.

And then right there
in the center is this giant

jungle-like forest.

[Sascha] To find a forest
of this size,

where we are is amazing.

It's said that
the only residents are mobs

of monkeys
and howling jackals.

[Polly] There seems to be
something hiding

behind all that thick
foliage.

The ruins of an old building
that look like

they're from another world.

[Jim] There is bushes
and trees growing out

of the roofs
and some of the staircases

are beginning to collapse.

But they were quite well-built
because they're still

standing after
what looks like centuries.

[Kasper] Formidable stone
walls and grand archways

haunted by years of neglect
disguise a more recent past.

haunted by years of neglect
disguise a more recent past.

Whatever furniture
and decor were once

in this place are gone.

This has been
thoroughly plundered,

thoroughly ransacked.

[Polly] There are hints
to its former glory.

But now it's just a shell.

No amenities, no interiors,
no signs of any life.

[Kasper] Yet, concealed
within is a story

of intrigue and deception.

of intrigue and deception.

[Sascha] Given the imposing
nature of the place,

it's sensible to conclude
that someone of significance

must have once lived here.

But that doesn't get us
any closer to answering

the question,

"Where have they gone
and why was this abandoned?"

[Kasper] Only a few years ago,

a mysterious family occupied
this forlorn jungle abode.

a mysterious family occupied
this forlorn jungle abode.

Rarely seen,
rumors of their strange

existence quickly spread.

Jawahar Lal lives locally
and was captivated

by the incredible tales
of the reclusive

forest dwellers.

[Jawahar] There
are different versions.

Some people say they look like
djinns or supernatural beings.

They were not social at all.

They really wanted
to live in secrecy.

[Sascha] There were many
stories told about them.

What is clear is that
the people who lived here

wanted no contact
with outsiders.

There were even signs
up saying

that "unauthorized intruders
would be gunned down."

[Jim] Though every
so often they would grant

an interview
to a foreign journalist.

[Kasper] And what a story
it was they had to tell.

[Sascha] The first record
we have of the inhabitants

is when the mother of the
group showed up unannounced

at a Delhi train station
in the early 1970s.

She turned up with
her two children, servants

and fifteen bloodhounds.

[Sascha] She called herself
Begum Wilayat Mahal.

And she claimed
to be the direct descendant

of the kings of Oudh.

of the kings of Oudh.

[Jim] She was the rightful
heir to the throne.

Of course,
there was no throne anymore.

India was a democracy.

But she claimed
they owed her something

for the great injustice done
to her family.

[Kasper] The Kingdom
of Oudh was a wealthy

Muslim state in the northern
region of India.

But it hadn't existed
for over a century.

[dramatic music playing]

[Jim] The British East India
Company in the 19th Century

[Jim] The British East India
Company in the 19th Century

was gradually taking over
more and more of India.

Sometimes they collaborated
with the local governments.

Other times they more
or less overthrew them

to take control
of the resources of India.

[Polly] But the final
and richest state

was forcibly seized
by the British on the basis

that their prince
lived a debauched life,

which made him unfit to rule.

[Kasper] Outraged
by the wrongdoing inflicted

on her royal ancestors,

Queen Wilayat demanded
the Indian government

Queen Wilayat demanded
the Indian government

return what was rightfully
hers.

And her bizarre behavior
soon attracted

the world's attention.

The children
called Prince Cyrus

and Princess Sakina addressed
their mother as "her highness"

or "your highness."

And the Nepalese servants
only approached her

walking on their knees.

This must have been quite
a sight.

I mean, imagine all this going
on in a train station

I mean, imagine all this going
on in a train station

waiting room.

[Kasper] Over the years,
the Indian government

offered her various houses
and large sums of money.

She refused all, demanding
she be given something

worthy of her standing.

[Jim] And reporters
would come and she would give

interviews and she would
make demands and she was

such a compelling
imperious figure

that people eventually said,
"Well, we have to do

something for her.

We have to get her out
of the railroad station."

We have to get her out
of the railroad station."

[Sascha] In 1984,
after ten years

of living
in the train station

waiting room,

the government
finally offered

the Begum a building

of regal descent to occupy.

And to their great relief,
she accepted their offer.

[Kasper] This 14th Century
medieval hunting lodge

called Malcha Mahal
became the new home

of the deposed aristocrats.

This place
was all carpeted.

This place
was all carpeted.

And on these columns,
there were nice paintings

were hung.

Everything was tidy.

In the kitchen,
there was a nice

crockery
and a silver tea set.

And everything was lined up.

[Kasper] Royalty may have
originally built

Malcha Mahal.

But that was 700 years ago.

It was never intended
to be a permanent residence

in the modern era.

in the modern era.

The word
"mahal" means palace.

We know it from the Taj Mahal
of course.

So when you see this crumbling
ruin out in the forest,

it doesn't really
look like a palace.

[Sascha] It was overgrown
long before the Begum arrived

and hadn't been occupied
in decades.

There was no running water,
there was no electricity.

[Jawahar] When she came here,
she was promised

to have the facility of water
and electricity.

to have the facility of water
and electricity.

But she did not get.

Moreover, there were no doors,
nothing.

[Sascha] You can see Delhi
off in the distance.

And standing up here,
the family...

You can imagine them thinking,

"Ah, we rule over
everything we can see."

But that wasn't the truth.

Really, all they ruled over
was this tiny little building

and its environs.

[Kasper] And for the queen
of Oudh, Malcha Mahal

wasn't enough.

In time, a great sadness
would descend.

And with it, an astonishing
deceit exposed.

[dramatic music playing]

[Kasper] In India
is a run-down ruin,

gifted to the heirs
of aristocrats deposed

by the British
over a century ago.

Driven by injustice,
the family sought

to tell the world
their story.

But soon, tragedy
would befall Malcha Mahal.

In 1993,
the Begum killed herself.

In 1993,
the Begum killed herself.

[Jim] It was even said
that the way

she committed suicide
was by grinding up

all of her diamonds
and eating them.

And after that,
it was only the prince

and the princess left.

[Kasper] The surviving heirs
continued to tell

their tragic tale
until they too died,

alone and in poverty.

It was at that point
that the whole story

of Queen Wilayat and her
family started to unravel.

of Queen Wilayat and her
family started to unravel.

[Jim] In 2019, a reporter
for the New York Times

was curious
about this famous story.

And she started digging deep,
she looked into records.

[Polly] The journalist
followed the family coffers,

which led not back
to any royal ancestry,

but to a certain Mr. Butt
back in Bradford, England.

He was her stepson
and he was no prince,

and she was no queen.

It was all an elaborate hoax.

[Jim] She was a Muslim woman
whose family had moved

[Jim] She was a Muslim woman
whose family had moved

to Pakistan during the
partition of India
and Pakistan.

This was a wrenching moment
in the late 1940s

when India was granted
its independence,

the British in their wisdom
decided that perhaps

they should just divide it up
into two countries.

And the Muslims
were all supposed

to move north to Pakistan,

the Hindus were supposed
to move south to India.

[Kasper] In Lahore,
the family lived

a comfortable life.

But Wilayat had never wanted
to move to Pakistan.

But Wilayat had never wanted
to move to Pakistan.

Her home was in India.

Consumed by unhappiness,
the cracks started to show.

After her husband died,

she grew more
and more eccentric.

[Polly] There were also signs
of her mental health failing.

She was said to have received
electroshock therapy

while she was in Pakistan.

[Jim] And then
next thing you know,

she turns up
in the Delhi train station

proclaiming herself
this long, lost queen.

proclaiming herself
this long, lost queen.

[Kasper] For three decades,
Malcha Mahal served

as the residence for
a royal family

that never was.

It's a tragic story
about lives

torn apart
by conquest and division.

[dramatic music playing]

[Kasper] Today, the jungle
encroaches ever closer

to the ruins of this
crumbling building.

It faces an uncertain future.

It faces an uncertain future.

[Jawahar] The government
is not paying any attention.

And it's very difficult
to approach here.

It's such a thick forest,
so I think

it will just remain
like this.

[dramatic music playing]

[Kasper]
In southern Britain,

is a common land
where history

is hidden in plain sight.

[Sascha] At first glance,
there doesn't seem to be

[Sascha] At first glance,
there doesn't seem to be

much out of the
ordinary here at all.

It's shrubs, grass,
pleasant fields.

You would've never imagined
that something

Earth-shattering happened here
in this region.

[Dominic] There are chain
link fences and barbed wire

all around it.

Today people just walk past.

But at one stage,
this was very high-security.

[Kasper] These fortifications
were put in place

to protect
a precious resource,

hidden inside
a concrete vault.

hidden inside
a concrete vault.

[Dominic] Tucked away
at one end

is the most striking
part of the site,

long dome-like structures
covered in grass,

possibly as camouflage.

[Kasper] Buried within
are hidden rooms

built at a time
of national panic.

This place
looks like something

out of
a science fiction movie.

Its heavy doors,
and the security around it,

Its heavy doors,
and the security around it,

it really gives
the impression of something

that's either from the future
or heavily technological

from our present.

[Claire] I grew up
fairly close to here

but I never came here
as a child.

This was like
a massive no-go area.

[Kasper] Long ago,
this was a place

of state secrets
and maximum security.

But in 1983,
that security was breached.

[dramatic music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

[Kasper] At one end
of the site

is a reinforced building
that few people

have been permitted to enter.

Rebecca Mordan
has been given access.

This is
a really exciting room.

Gosh, it's like
something out of a film.

[Claire] Some of the rooms
have these strange

purpose-built troughs full

purpose-built troughs full

of like a weird white powder.

It's like talcum powder.

It's like to absorb something.

[Dominic] This place
is clearly a rat run.

You go through a series
of rooms

passing this absorbing
powder

and then you get
to this room with this big,

heavy metal chute.

It's becoming quite clear
what this is for.

[Kasper] This is a
decontamination chamber.

It was built in the 1980s
when the world faced

It was built in the 1980s
when the world faced

nuclear annihilation.

[Claire] The Cold War
was a massive

overhanging gray cloud on
our childhood in the 1980s.

And it seeped into everything.

It seeped
into our television programs.

[man] If there
is a nuclear attack

and you survived the initial
effects of an explosion,

you will have at least
a half hour to get

you will have at least
a half hour to get

to a public
or home fallout shelter.

[Kasper] Built at a time
of global crisis,

this is Greenham Common,
a former United States

military airfield
and key strategic base

against the Soviet Union.

[intense music playing]

[Dominic] Any Soviet spy
would kill

for the secrets kept there,
so security was very tight.

But on one night in 1983,

But on one night in 1983,

three unauthorized people

snuck onto the base
and into the control tower.

[intense music playing]

[Kasper] In 1980,
Greenham Common was chosen

to host a new iteration
of the atom bomb,

the cruise missile.

But not everyone was happy
to see its arrival.

[Claire] The cruise
missile program was very,

very controversial
in Britain.

And one group decided
that they were gonna

And one group decided
that they were gonna

be the ones
to put a stop to it.

I remember
there being people waiting

and sitting you down
and you come and sit with me

at the banners or would you
want to come to the fire?

Are you warm enough?

[Kasper] Rebecca
Mordan's mother

is one of many who answered
a call to arms

for what was to be
a women-only protest.

A chain letter
spread across the UK.

This was a time before
the Internet so still

This was a time before
the Internet so still

had to go through snail mail.

And that letter invited
those who read it to come

to Greenham Common
on December 12th, 1982.

[Kasper] When
the missiles arrived,

they were met by a crowd
of protesters

some 30,000 strong.

These Greenham women
determined to protect

their children's future,

built camps
all around the base.

So, this is one
of the gates for the base.

So, this is one
of the gates for the base.

The American Military
added razor wire.

They then added dogs
and sentries and more police,

they got military police
and English squaddies,

British squaddies,
all protecting

the Americans who were living
right in the middle of base.

[Kasper] The protests
made global headlines,

an embarrassment
for the British government.

They ordered the police to
move the protesters by force.

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[Rebecca] There's
definitely feeling

that particularly
when a lot of outside

police were brought in,
there was a much higher risk

of violence to the women.

[Kasper] But the group
of ordinary women

wouldn't be got rid
of so easily.

One night, three protestors
outside the base discovered

an open pipe.

And they
realized quite rightly that

it was probably
an overflow pipe.

So they crawled into it,
not knowing

where they'd come up
and where they came up

was on actually on the runway

was on actually on the runway

or near the runway
for the whole base.

They make their way over
to the control tower

for the most heavily-guarded
nuclear airfield

in the country and
they haven't locked the door.

[Rebecca] They just literally
waltzed in

and they found
state secrets.

They found log books
about what to do in the case

of nuclear emergencies
and they wrote their names

all over all of it.

[Kasper] By the time
the women were discovered,

they'd been inside the
control tower for five hours.

they'd been inside the
control tower for five hours.

This wasn't just embarrassing

for the government,
it was a humiliation.

[Kasper] But the control tower
wasn't the biggest breach

of security
at Greenham Common.

[Claire] The key thing
on this airfield

is not the control tower
or the runways themselves,

it's the silo, the big,
big structure

that actually houses
the vehicles

with the nuclear
warheads on the back.

with the nuclear
warheads on the back.

[Kasper] The protesters
drew up a plan

to storm the nuclear bunkers.

[Rebecca] The Greenham
women waited until it was

New Year's Eve and they
reckoned all of the squaddies,

most of the base,
the military police and that

would all be in town
celebrating.

[Sascha] This was
incredibly dangerous.

You'd have to keep in mind
how important this site was

and how crucial it was
to keep these weapons secure.

The soldiers were all armed
with assault rifles

The soldiers were all armed
with assault rifles

and their orders were
to shoot intruders on sight.

[indistinct chatter]

[Rebecca] They managed
to put ladders up,

put the carpet over
the razor wire,
get on to silos

where theoretically
the nuclear missiles

were kept.

[Claire] These women
are not there

to do malicious harm.

All they can do is sing
and dance at the soldiers

responsible for the security.

[Kasper] The dance
on the bunkers

was broadcast
around the world.

was broadcast
around the world.

How much does that
get under your skin

if you're in charge
of guarding the world's

biggest nuclear deterrent
and you've got a bunch

of ragtag or middle-aged women
dancing and singing

on top
of your prized possession?

[Kasper] The activists
remained outside

the base for over a decade.

Their watch ended
when the final missile

was removed
and the airfield closed.

[Dominic]
There's no doubt that

[Dominic]
There's no doubt that

the Greenham Common protesters

were one of the most
iconic images

of the 1980s,

which was a decade
of real conflict in Britain.

[intense music playing]

[Kasper] In 1997,

the fences that had
surrounded Greenham Common

for 50 years
were finally torn down.

And the 800 acre-site
returned to public use.

[Sascha]
The anti-nuclear movement

has made some really, really
important accomplishments

has made some really, really
important accomplishments

and certainly brought

the nuclear issue
out into the open

in a way that
simply wasn't possible before.

[intense music playing]

[Kasper] On the northern edge
of Johannesburg,

within a huge area
of parkland

lies a sweeping structure.

[Sascha] This is a very
impressive building,

[Sascha] This is a very
impressive building,

multi-wing edifice.

And it doesn't look like
it's that old,

built maybe 50 years ago.

[Kasper] Though it might look
quite new from the outside,

internally, it's a whole
different story.

The inside is just
completely ravaged
and ripped apart.

There's paint that's peeling
from the walls.

It looks like something out
of a horror picture show.

It looks like something out
of a horror picture show.

[Sascha] This is
a pretty scary place.

There are gaping holes
in the ceiling.

There's what looks like
blood stains on the wall.

It's definitely not
the kind of place

you'd want to be
alone at night.

[Kasper]
As you venture further,

the more ominous
the building becomes.

[Dr. Alicia]
There's medical equipment,

confidential documents.

It looks like people
were just there one day

It looks like people
were just there one day

and then they suddenly
got up and left.

[Fran] In one room,
there are giant refrigerators

that look so big,

you could fit a body inside.

And then there's
huge broken slabs.

[Kasper] This building
is rumored to be

one of the most haunted

in South Africa.

[Sascha] It's said
that paranormal activity

often concentrates in places

that have had a lot
of deaths and births.

that have had a lot
of deaths and births.

So what is it
that happened here

that might cause it
to be haunted like that?

[intense music playing]

[intense music playing]

[Kasper] In Johannesburg,
South Africa

is a modern building
with an intriguing past.

It was intended to help
those in need,

but not everyone
got the care they deserved.

This is Kempton Park Hospital.

It was completed in 1978

and at the time,
it was the largest

medical facility
in the region.

medical facility
in the region.

It's a huge hospital
as you can see,

400 beds.

It had a maternity section,

had all the surgical
disciplines.

It had a medical ward.

It had
an intensive care unit.

[Kasper] Dr. Nick Wolmarans
was a consultant surgeon

and head of the emergency
department at the hospital.

[Dr. Nick] This used to be
an excellent facility

and to see it in this
dilapidated condition,

and to see it in this
dilapidated condition,

is very disturbing.

I worked here for ten years.

I've treated
a lot of patients here

and it was
an amazing place to work.

[Kasper] When it was built,

it had a very specific
purpose in mind,

and the clue
is hidden in its design.

[Dr. Nick] I walked along this
passage for a very long time,

I never noticed
how wide this passage is.

And one of the hospital
group's CEO told me,

And one of the hospital
group's CEO told me,

this was built
for disaster purposes.

With the idea that

in the case of a disaster

coming from the airport

or the explosive factory
not very far from here,

they could park

and accommodate beds
in this passage.

[Kasper] At the time,

the hospital was the height
of technology.

This is a very
spacious theater.

This is a very
spacious theater.

Look at the size.
Look at the high ceiling.

Look at the equipment.

They don't make
and build theaters

of this size anymore.

[Sascha] In such an expensive

and advanced facility,

one would imagine
that the staff

would be
very highly-qualified

medical professionals.

But it turns out
that Kempton Park Hospital

was hiding a horrific secret.

[Fran] In 1982,
the hospital took on

[Fran] In 1982,
the hospital took on

a pediatrician
called Dr. Esterhuizen.

He had his own practice

and he came
highly recommended.

It's believed that during
his time at the hospital,

he treated more than four
and a half thousand patients,

mostly babies
in the pediatric ward.

Dr. Esterhuizen
was so confident

in his abilities
and his expertise

that he put himself forward
as head of department

and he had a lot of support
from his colleagues

at the time for this.

at the time for this.

But it turned out
that Dr. Esterhuizen

was not who he seemed to be.

[Kasper] Dr. Wolmarans
was working at the hospital

at the same time.

This is the pediatric ward

where Dr. Andre Esterhuizen
worked.

He worked here
for approximately
three to four years

in the late '80s and '90s.

As time went on,
a lot of parents

and colleagues
were very concerned

of his way
he treated the children.

of his way
he treated the children.

A lot of children
had serious complications.

[Kasper] One of those children
was in Dr. Wolmarans' care.

[Dr. Nick]
I had a very sad experience

with one of my patients,

a four-month-old baby

which I operated
for a groin hernia

and postoperatively,

the anesthetist told me
that the child aspirated

in the recovery room.

My anesthetist called
Dr. Andre Esterhuizen

and he looked after
the child.

Unfortunately, extubated
the baby at the wrong time

and she stopped breathing
and unfortunately died.

[Kasper] Alarmingly,
this wasn't the only child

to have died under
suspicious circumstances.

At that point,
that hospital staff

started to make more
specific investigations

into Esterhuizen,
his diagnoses,

into Esterhuizen,
his diagnoses,

and his treatment.

[Kasper] Dr. Wolmarans
was at the forefront

of the investigation

and what he discovered
shook the hospital

and its staff to the core.

[Dr. Nick] When I phoned
the medical council,

they told me that
there is no such a person

or doctor in their, uh,

doctor's files and, uh,

he never qualified
as a doctor.

[Dr. Alicia] He only had
a high school diploma

and he had been masquerading

as a physician
for all of these years.

[Kasper] Eventually,
Dr. Esterhuizen

was taken to court.

[Fran] Apparently,
some of the testament

they used during the trial

were just horrendous.

One mother told the court

of her baby ending
up with cerebral palsy

after Esterhuizen
had done four lumbar punctures

on her child

on her child

when she was just
four-months-old.

[Dr. Alicia]
He was ultimately charged

with culpable homicide,

impersonating a doctor,

and defrauding his patients,

and he was sentenced
to 18 years

in prison.

However,
nothing can bring back

any of the children
that he lost

due to his negligence.

[Fran] The big question is,

how did the hospital
never check

his credentials
when they hired him.

It makes you think,
"Was this huge scandal

It makes you think,
"Was this huge scandal

part of the reason
that the hospital

closed so suddenly?"

[intense music playing]

[Kasper] This is Kempton
Park Hospital.

When it was built,
it had a lifespan

of 100 years.

But it only lasted 18.

So what went wrong?

[Dr. Nick] I climbed
these stairs every day,

going up the theater
and to the wards,

and unbeknown to me,
they closed this hospital.

and unbeknown to me,
they closed this hospital.

[Kasper] At the time,
the local health department

blamed it on staff shortages

and underutilization,

but this just didn't add up.

[Fran] Reports from staff
working there at the time

denied any staff shortages

and they said that working
conditions were good.

[Sascha]
Closing a public hospital

next to one of
the biggest townships

in the country
seems an odd move.

in the country
seems an odd move.

Especially when other
hospitals in the region

were reported as
being close to capacity.

[Kasper] It seems the reason
this hospital really closed

is to remain a mystery

to both the public
and the staff.

[Dr. Nick] Nothing was said,
even up to today,

after 25 years, you know,

we do not know why
the government wouldn't keep

a magnificent asset
like this going.

[Kasper] Today,
the hospital sits abandoned

but it's not as quiet
as it might initially look.

People still come,
drawn by the terrible stories

of what took place.

[Fran] The site
has become infamous

for the specters that wander
the hospital at night.

And given what happened here,

it's perhaps no surprise

that it's rumored to be full
of the ghosts of children.

that it's rumored to be full
of the ghosts of children.

[Kasper] Off the southeast
coast of Georgia,

in the windswept
Atlantic Ocean,

is a breathtaking
island wilderness.

[Prof. Geoff] Just the sort of
lush green place

with sawgrass,
palm trees, marshes,

and then it opens up into this

and then it opens up into this

sort of great estate

and you see the remains
of what looks to be

a massive stately home.

[Fran] You can see that
the grounds of this place

were extensive.

And I bet in the day,

they were quite impressive.

You could still see
ornamental lawns.

And amongst them, there's
a few outbuildings as well.

Whoever lived here
was pretty wealthy.

[Prof. Geoff] And it doesn't
look like a place that's

just sort of garden variety
dilapidated by the years,

just sort of garden variety
dilapidated by the years,

it looks like
something violent,

something terrible happened

to reduce it
to such destruction.

[Kasper] Further in,

a series of curious
brick constructions

are revealed.

You can see these strange

chimney-like structures.

So you're wondering
what happened here,

was this a site
of manufacture?

[Kasper] Look closer

and a very different
picture emerges.

[Fran] To some of the people
that called this place home,

it wasn't a particularly
pleasant place to be.

[Prof. Geoff] Clearly
we're standing in the midst of

some important piece
of American history.

[Kasper] Today,
the National Park Service

is the custodian
of this remote island

and its buildings.

and its buildings.

The only way to reach
its rugged coast is by boat.

[Robinson] This island
has many fascinating stories.

You could spend
a lifetime studying

the history of this island
and not fully be able

to understand everything
that happened.

[Kasper]
Park Ranger Robinson Barker

has spent many years
investigating

the island's secrets.

The Family that lived here
most recently

is the Carnegie family
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

is the Carnegie family
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Originally,
the Carnegies immigrated

over to America from Scotland

in the 1840s.

And the young brothers,
Thomas and Andrew Carnegie,

worked their way up
until they amassed

a large wealth
in the steel industry.

[Kasper] As the story goes,

Thomas' wife Lucy
was so enthralled

by the island's beauty,

she insisted it be bought
at any price.

In 1884, the Carnegies
built this mansion

In 1884, the Carnegies
built this mansion

and called it Dungeness.

It was the heart
of the estate

that they built for them
and their nine children.

[Prof. Geoff]
Carnegie spared no expense

in the construction
of Dungeness.

He not only built
this munificent main house

and its outbuildings,

but he added
a heated swimming pool,

squash courts,
and he had 200 servants.

[Kasper] This is Cumberland
Island National Seashore,

[Kasper] This is Cumberland
Island National Seashore,

once the exclusive playground

of one of America's
wealthiest families.

For many years,
their life here was idyllic.

But before
the Carnegies' arrival,

it had a very dark
and evil past.

[Prof. Michele]
What happened here,
what people did here

came at a terrible cost,

a terrible human cost.

[Kasper] The Carnegies removed
most of the structures

from this time
but one building remains.

from this time
but one building remains.

[Robinson] This house was used
as the overseer's home

during the Greene-Miller

plantation here
on the island.

Over in front of me
would have been

a large cotton field

where enslaved Africans worked
throughout the day

as they grew crops here
for the market.

[Kasper] The Greene-Miller
family took up residence here

in the early 1800s.

They were the first
to make use

of the island's
natural resources,

of the island's
natural resources,

ushering in a shameful cycle

that would endure
for decades.

But something was coming

that would give hope
to the exploited people.

[intense music playing]

[Kasper] On Cumberland Island

are the ruins
of a grand mansion

built on the site

of a once vast
cotton plantation.

Slave labor
made the owners rich

but a looming conflict

offered salvation
to the oppressed.

[Prof. Geoff]
Cumberland Island has
a really interesting history

during the war of 1812,

where the British tried
to clamp a blockade

up and down
the American Coast.

up and down
the American Coast.

[Robinson]
On January 10th of 1815,

Rear Admiral Cockburn
invaded Cumberland Island

and set up camp down
in the Dungeness area

using the Greene-Miller
Dungeness house

as his officers'
headquarters.

[Prof. Michele] British law
prohibits slavery
at this point.

He takes advantage of this.

He knows that if he can get

enslaved people
on British vessels

that he can spirit them away
to freedom

and this is exactly
what happened.

and this is exactly
what happened.

[Kasper] But in 1815,

with the fighting
officially over,

a treaty was signed
between the warring nations,

it stated all slaves

must be returned
to their owners.

[Prof. Geoff] Cockburn says,
"The hell with that."

He takes any slaves
he can get

and he ships them off
to Canada or the Caribbean.

In all, Cockburn ships
out 1,500 freed slaves

from Cumberland Island.

[Kasper] Tragically,
this would prove to be

[Kasper] Tragically,
this would prove to be

no more than a short reprieve

for America's
oppressed people.

Once again, this island

would become a place
where slavery thrived,

and the clues can be seen
in the landscape.

[Kasper] And one man
was infamous

for his cruel desire
to make profits

from the forced labor
of people.

[Prof. Geoff] Born on
the island in 1790,

Robert Stafford worked

on the Miller-Greene
plantation

on the Miller-Greene
plantation

and had a really good sense
of just how profitable

cotton and slavery was.

[Prof. Michele]
These chimneys,

these structures
that are left,

these are the only
lasting physical legacy

from this time period.

They are actually the chimneys

that were part
of the slave quarters.

[Robinson] So based on
archeological investigation

of the Stafford slave cabins,

we believe these cabins
were fairly small,

about 16x21 feet long.

about 16x21 feet long.

A single room,
a small kitchen area,

sleeping quarters,

and that's just about it.

[Kasper] At the height
of his empire,

Stafford owned
most of the island

and 348 slaves.

[Prof. Geoff]
Stafford had no qualms
about reintroducing slavery

on the island.

He was a dyed-in-the-wool
southerner

with a great belief in the,

as they called it,
peculiar institution.

But the slaves
who were forced to toil here

But the slaves
who were forced to toil here

against their will,

change was coming,
albeit slowly.

[Kasper] Once again, war would
offer a route to freedom.

This time, its legacy
promised to endure.

[Prof. Geoff] After Union
victory in the war in 1865,

slavery is abolished
in the South

and that's gonna have
a big impact

on Cumberland Island's
economy.

Most of the slaves
had escaped to the mainland

leaving Stafford
with no real means

leaving Stafford
with no real means

to run a plantation economy.

[Fran] Most other owners,

they sold for a pittance
and moved on.

But Stafford refused.

[Kasper]
Until his dying breath,

Stafford remained
a stalwart of the South

and its strong beliefs.

And Stafford is proof
of the aphorism

that only the good die young.

He lives to a ripe old age
of 86,

takes a slave wife,
has six children,

and leaves them nothing.

[Kasper]
For the former slaves

that stayed on the island,

there was a glimmer of hope.

[Prof. Michele]
They would work,
they would do menial work,

but they also could create

on the north end
of the island,

a small community
for themselves.

They used reclaimed materials
from old buildings

to build their own structures.

And in 1893, very importantly,

they erected
the first African church

which would become
an incredibly

important community center.

[Kasper] After the tragic era
of slavery passed,

the island was transformed
under the stewardship

of the Carnegies.

But not even
their enormous wealth

could save it from a descent

into ruin seen today.

[Robinson]
The Dungeness Mansion

was eventually closed down
in 1925,

almost ten years after
Lucy Carnegie passed away.

And at that point,
it started to

And at that point,
it started to

fall into disrepair
to some degree,

and eventually
it did burn in 1959.

The exact origin of the fire

is not a hundred percent
certain

but it's believed that
it was poachers

illegally hunting
on the island

but no one was ever caught
or convicted,

that is as the story goes.

[dramatic music playing]